No junk mail, no postal service - Letter Carriers Union Opposes 'Do Not Mail' Bill

[The Straight Story]

Letter Carriers Union Opposes 'Do Not Mail' Bill as Harmful to Postal Service and American Public



WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The national president of
the National Association of Letter Carriers union told key Washington state
legislators today that passage of bills to create a "Do Not Mail" registry
would be detrimental to the Postal Service, its workforce, and the general
public.

NALC President William H. Young, whose union represents 221,000 active
city letter carriers in the nation, expressed his "fierce opposition" to
the legislation in letters to Washington House Commerce and Labor Chairman
Steve Conway and Senate Consumer Protection and Housing Chairman Brian
Weinstein as Conway's committee held a hearing today on the legislative
proposal. About 5,500 letter carriers reside in Washington state.

Young said the proposal "could jeopardize the very future of America's
postal system," adding that while it may be well-intentioned, it is being
erroneously promoted as similar to "Do Not Call" limits on telemarketers.

"Unlike the annoying phone calls that were routinely timed to coincide
with the dinner hour, postal patrons are free to choose when and how to
deal with the mail they receive," Young said.

"Elimination of a significant portion of advertising mail could be
devastating," he said. "This 'third class' mail now constitutes more than
50 percent of all mail, and its loss could mean reductions in current
levels of service or, even worse, the collapse of all postal services. In
sum, it would be detrimental to the Postal Service, its workforce and to
citizens themselves to limit the mail delivered to postal patrons."

Young said letter carriers, as other citizens, have environmental
concerns about the waste of natural resources, but added that most
advertising mailing is printed on recycled paper and postal patrons can
recycle that mail.

The NALC represents all city delivery letter carriers employed by the
U.S. Postal Service in the 50 states and U.S. jurisdiction.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/02-08-2007/0004523772&EDATE=

[unpossibles]

1. but recycling it still uses money and resources

what a stupid reason to not do away with junk.

[skipos]

2. Interesting. But how much waste is created by junk mail? nt

[AndyA]

3. Recycling is one thing, but what about the printing ink used on that crap?

What about the electricity to run the printers, cut the paper, etc.? All is a waste, and much of that junk mail is thrown in the trash. How much of it is recycled? I think it depends on the municipality.

I don't want intrusive phone calls, and I don't want junk mail filling up my mailbox and trash cans. It's a waste. Let people OPT IN if they want it. That's the only way that makes sense, then you know the people receiving it REALLY want it. I don't even glance at it, it's a waste of everyone's time and resources to send it to me. Most people I know feel the same way.

[wtmusic]

9. Agree - even if it's recycled

it's unnecessary, and therefore a waste of resources and energy.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Unfortunately, their concern is legitimate but

so is the claim that we as consumers should have the ability to reduce the volume of wasted paper and ink. Maybe if the postal service were viewed as essential government infrastructure rather than a semi-autonomous profit center we could sustain our postal service AND cut down on junk mail.

[redqueen]

16. Well said!

PBS, too!

[wicket]

5. Seinfeld episode

Reminds me of the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer tries to cancel his mail completely.

[hlthe2b]

6. I now have to pay $140 a year for a PO BOX because I get

so much junk mail... :mad: I tried requesting companies take me off their catalog and mailing lists, but that quickly becomes a full time job...

So, how to feel? I surely don't want USPS to go down the tubes. I think it should be a Federally funded/subsidized service as it is in most industrialized countries..






To whomever gave me the donation heart... Thanks so much! I'm very touched. :loveya:

[wtmusic]

7. The loss of junk mail would jeopardize the very future of America,

Liberty, and Clearcutting



:cry:

[NashVegas]

8. I'm Sympathetic, But I Can't Think It's Right

If the Postal Service will be losing 50% of its business, will it not also be losing 50% of its work?

Just about every sector in the US has lost jobs, and for far worse reasons than the general public wanting to enforce its 'right to be left alone.'

[mzmolly]

10. I think he's over reacting -

personally. ;)

[StatGirl]

11. As a union member, I'm sympathetic to my siblings, but . . .

. . . I regard this as being no different from telemarketing. Just as outsiders have no right to tie up my phone line with calls I don't want to receive, merchants do not have the right to hire third parties to dump unwanted and unsolicited trash on my property. Even if it's in a box which is designated for said trash.

If first-class mail has to become more expensive, so be it.

But I wouldn't like it either, if I were a mail carrier. :(

(Anyone know how I can get United to stop sending me those endless credit card offers? I seem to get one every week; you'd think they'd have figured out by now that I do not want their frickin' card!)

[pdrichards114]

12. Too bad!!!

Most of the delivery is crap. If you lose 50% of your business which is crap, then 50% wasn't worth having in the first place thus is unjustifiable under any sane standard. So too fucking bad!!!

[formerrepuke]

13. Those store ads and flyers go straight from my mailbox into the trash can

..the slick paper stuff- I don't think is recyclable.

[JAYJDF]

14. Once again big business wins, and the individual looses

I think the postal rates are backwards.
Advertising mail should cost as much as first class.
Then maybe our current first class mail costs could be lowered.
Heck, let corporate America pay to keep the USPS up and running.

[NV Whino]

15. Eliminating junk mail would not hurt the post office,

nor eliminate junk mail. It would simply mean that determined junk mailers would start paying first class postage to get their message out.

[Connonym]

17. I'd like to see actual numbers on this

I used to work for the PO and, if I recall correctly, the income from bulk mail significantly subsidizes the cost of first-class mail. First-class mail, especially if the addresses are hand written, require significantly more handling than bulk mail, which is usually pre-sorted before it gets to the PO. I suspect the jump in cost for first class mail would be significant if there was a huge drop off in third-class bulk mail. Certainly the PO needs to change and adapt itself to the times but this I think in this case the real impact should be determined before any change is made. How much would the price of first-class postage go up? What if it doubled or tripled in price? Would that make a difference? And you have to figure, business wouldn't be sending out so much junk if it didn't result in improving their bottom line. Would there be an economic impact to business? I don't care about the big companies but what about small local businesses? Will this negatively impact their ability to compete with larger businesses who have a bigger ad budget? And then what happens at election time? Does this mean the candidate who can afford to send first-class political mail gets a leg up on the candidate who can only afford bulk?

I'm not saying whether this is the right thing or the wrong thing, just that there's more to it than appears on the surface.

[Cerridwen]

18. Fine.

Then fund them as a government agency rather than expecting them to compete and generate income without the constraints unevenly applied to them.

The USPS is set up as a for-profit corporation which is not allowed to make a profit.

The bulk of their self-generated income comes from the "junk mail" you and I receive each day. Most carriers I've met, hate it, too, but recognize it as providing the bulk of their paycheck. Ask them about the Cabello catalog when it comes out and how they feel about it. :D

Tie their wage rate to route size or number of stops or even straight hourly rather than pieces of mail. Most workers paid by the piece have control over how many pieces they generate. Letter carriers do not. This is primarily a rural carrier issue but does, somewhat, impact city carriers as well.

And to anyone ragging on letter carriers or postal workers...you go out and haul around a few hundred pounds of mail each day, for 5, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week, whether it's 115F (no AC in postal vehicles) or -5F while; watching for the stray dog here and there, the occasional mugger, the customer who wants to pummel you because they got a late notice, the idiot who cuts you off in traffic, as you drive with limited visibility equal to wearing a blindfold with pinpricks for eyeholes, because all postal vehicles are 'invisible', have your shoulder(s) 'replaced' or repaired due to the repetitive motion injury (which USPS had investigated and said did not exist) caused by 'casing' your route 5, 6 or 7 days a week; while knowing that if you call in sick, are injured on the job, are hit by another vehicle, are bitten by a dog, mugged or attacked, your employer, the USPS will treat the incident as your fault and attempt to deny to coverage or, at the very least, will use said incident to deny you transfer or promotion or merit increase. And do not even think, to get time off to say good-bye to a family member who is dying. Your supervisor is within his/her right to deny you paid leave.

And that's just the crap I can think of off the top of my head.

[progressivebydesign]

21. The amount of money the USPS spends on ads is staggering.

That's why you're correct that they should be a real agency, not a competitive company. They spend millions on ads, dumb products, sponsorships, etc.

[Cerridwen]

23. They need to be one or the other...

Either they're a for-profit corporation allowed to generate and retain their profit - or they are a government agency funded and supported by the government, i.e., U.S. tax dollars.

Currently they exist in limbo suffering the worst of both worlds.

[kath]

19. There are ways to significantly reduce your junk mail.

One is to notify the Direct Marketing Association:

Start by sending a postcard or letter to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 15012-0643 Include your complete name, address, zip code and a request to "activate the preference service". For up to five years, this will stop mail from all member organizations that you have not specifically ordered products from.
The Direct Marketing Association estimates that listing with their mail preference service will stop 75% of all national mailings. They process 50,000 requests a month and requests are kept active for five years. If you fill out the post office change of address form, the DMA will track the new address (you'll get a few months of mailings to the new address before they catch up to you). It can take up to six months for your request to be fully processed. You can also opt-out online, but they charge $5. The best way is to fill out their online form, then mail them a printout.

You can also stop credit offers with one phone call:

Credit offers: The major credit agencies all sell aggregate credit information any bidder. Direct mail and credit companies generate mail based on demographics including zip code, income band and credit payment patterns. Stopping this is easy, you just need your address, former address within two years, and social security number. One call does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and Innovis. Dial 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day

Both of the above, and much more info, are from this site:
http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/

[progressivebydesign]

20. This is incredibly stupid. Are they for real?

They operated before the tons and tons and tons of junk mail was sent every day. I watch in our local PO as cans and cans are filled hourly by people dumping the junk mail from their PO Boxes. THey have someone go aorund and dump the cans a few times a day, as they overflow with papers.

Same at home. The POUNDS of mail that I have to sort thru every week is ridiculous. I get 25% of actual, relevant, mail.. maybe less.

Recycling? That's an easy retort for those worried about the resources WASTED with this crap. You can't create a 100 year old TREE with recycled paper. You can only create MORE paper, to be mailed.

ANd.. let's break it down further. The FUEL used to transport all of this paper (and it is millions of tons a year), AND the chemicals used to PRINT the junk mail (those chemicals are polluting our rivers and bays).

It needs to stop. I'm sorry the US Mail folks feel that their own jobs are more pressing than the actual survival of the planet, but they can join the ranks with other outmoded industries, and find ways to evolve and stay employed.

[Cerridwen]

24. They operated before the tons and tons and tons of junk mail was sent every day

Yes they did - they were a government funded agency - they are now required to generate their own monies.

As to it being an outmoded industry? Remember that the next time a check, or present, or your mail order doesn't arrive on your doorstep fast enough or at all because this 'outmoded' industry is gone. The internet and ecommerce can replace a lot of what is done via the US Mail - and has which is why they've generated this income stream - but until someone invents transporters, a whole lotta folks still use the US Mail. And before you mention FedEx, UPS and any of the other carrier companies, keep this fact in mind - the USPS moves in one day the equivalent of what all the other major carriers, combined move in one year. Do you think they'd be ready to handle the increase were it given them? At what cost to consumers?

[Bill McBlueState]

22. How to opt out of junk mail

Until we get Do Not Mail legislation, there are relatively simple steps you can take to rid your mailbox of junk. Have a look here:

http://www.newdream.org/junkmail/form.php

You have to print and mail a few forms to get various umbrella organizations to put you on their opt-out lists. I spent about half an hour doing this a few years ago and now I get very little junk mail.

[elocs]

25. Sorry, I think this is a no-brainer and the union is right.

It's like over the air tv and pay tv. You get ota for free because there are commercials, but you have to pay not to get them. Postal rate increases are frequent enough now and do have an impact upon businesses, big and small, as well as individuals. Even if it were only a 25% loss of revenue, that would be significant. It may seem like a good idea to not get junk mail, but be careful what you ask for because you may get it.

[Megahurtz]

28. Right! n/t

[sandnsea]

26. Don't sell my name

That's the legislation we need. Then we'd only get mail we requested. When I really think about it, most of my mail actually is junk. I get 4 bills a month, one being the phone bill which I can switch to paperless if I like. I get my grocery ads. And I get my receivables. That's it. Every other day of the month, it's junk junk junk. Maybe this really is a horrible waste and we should think about downsizing the postal service.

[marlakay]

27. Would be willing to pay more for no junk mail

I pay most of my bills online and would be willing to pay up to a $1 per stamp if that is what it takes to eliminate junk mail. The waste of trees, the waste of time spent cleaning it all would be worth it to me.

My husband said he went to throw some mail in the large bin behind our post office and it was filled with junk mail. That to me is insane.

How much time do we waste going through the junk mail just to make sure its not a bill or something we need?

[Megahurtz]

29. Actually, this is only a Cheap Attempt

by the Feds to yet streamline again and privatize the Postal Service under the guise of
"We really care about you and care about your feelings about Junk Mail!" :eyes:

It's only another sleazy G.O.P. move.

It will ultimately put many Workers out of jobs, but since it's a Government Job
they will only be forced to move the extra Workers somewhere else.

[not_a_robot]

30. They should also print

The check this guy gets for making such a statement.