Postal Service

     Every few years, U.S.P.S. holds forth a postal exam. Postal jobs are awarded to the applicants with the highest scores, in descending order of their scores. Many persons who passed the exam never get hired before the next exam, because the number of passing, qualified applicants is so many times the number of available jobs. This indicates two things:

     First, U.S.P.S. is paying far too much for labor. Wages aren’t set by Congress as they should be, but by arbitrators when the American Postal Workers Union AFL-CIO and the postal management fail to agree. The arbitrators essentially set all the terms of the document which is strangely called an “agreement,” even though neither side agreed to it.

     Second, some of the country’s best and brightest minds are being put to use running letters through a canceling machine. They are forbidden to run for public office.

     It’s time to cut postal wages. Postal workers who don’t like it will find another job, and the postal jobs will go to people who need a job.

     If it is difficult to get by on a letter carrier’s salary, it is mostly due to zoning restrictions driving up the cost of apartments, and the government taking so much money to squander on politicians’ vote-buying sprees.

     Better yet, shut down U.S.P.S. altogether and allow private businesses to deliver things at rates the businesses set.

     Until then, I object to classifying mail according to criteria that have nothing to do with the cost of delivery, such as the frequency of a periodical’s distribution, or whether it contains more than 75 percent advertising. Each piece should constitute a separate transaction and everybody should have to pay the same rates. Every piece should have postage affixed, the dollar amount of which should be shown; and should get a postmark. All adhesive postage stamps should have a water-soluble primer between the adhesive and the paper, to make it easier for children to collect stamps without exposing themselves to harmful chemicals. I oppose pre-canceled stamps and stamps marked for a particular use, such as “Bulk Rate”.

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