01/06/2015 - The nation will benefit from the departure of Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. In his short tenure, Donahoe has led an all-out assault on the nation’s Postal Service. He has shuttered hundreds of mail processing facilities, slashed hours at thousands of neighborhood post offices, and sold priceless postal real estate. Just this week, he implemented service cuts that will virtually eliminate overnight delivery of first-class mail and slow all mail throughout the country. Patrick Donahoe has run the service into the ground.  

America needs a Postmaster General who will enhance and expand service. There is great potential. The USPS is uniquely positioned to serve the booming market for package delivery created by the ecommerce revolution. And the Postal Service, which already processes more money orders than any other institution, should expand its array of financial services. The USPS Inspector General has reported that this would benefit millions of Americans, especially those who don’t have bank accounts, while generating annual revenues of $9 billion for the Postal Service.

Instead, Donahoe has outsourced work and sent its customers to private companies such as Staples, which uses poorly paid and largely untrained workers. The APWU has opposed the no-bid deal with Staples and cuts in service, and for this Donahoe calls us “narrow-minded.”

We aren’t narrow-minded; we are single-minded in our belief that the Postal Service is a national treasure. It belongs to the people and benefits our entire nation. We call on incoming Postmaster General Megan Brennan to reverse the destructive policies of her predecessor and champion this great American institution.