Twinkies disappeared for a while as the bakery (et al) unions overplayed their hands in a power struggle as in who gets to effectively run a company – the company’s owners / managers or the unions (note I didn’t say workers). The unions wanted control and they wanted more money. However, in the public marketplace, the consumer makes the final rule and when the profits could not sustain the greedy unions, the company went under (and afterwards, a box of twinkies went for big bucks on eBay). And now, are we seeing the same thing by the Post Office unions?
The U.S. Postal Service must hire 9,000 employees over the next three months to staff regional part-time post offices as part of a settlement it negotiated with the American Postal Workers Union. The new postal employees will be working at offices that are open for four to six hours a day.
The deal, reached Monday, was declared a “major victory” by the union, which had filed a grievance over the Postal Service’s efforts to limit operating hours at its small regional post offices and use non-union part-time employees.
The basic deal, reached through an arbitration judge, was that the hours at the regional offices would be limited but the workers must all be APWU members and at least a third must be full-time employees.
Er, the Twinkie folks lost out because profits demanded it. Now, the USPS is supposed to be run like a business and does not receive subsidies from the Feds. So should we take this into account?
Created by the federal government, the Postal Service remains under its authority, but operates as an independent business. It does not receive federal funding and must rely on the sale of postage and related products for its operation. It reported losing $5 billion in fiscal 2013.
So, what to do when the unions continue to be greedy and politicians see government as little better as a job placement entity for its favored supporters? While this is a Constitutional responsibility (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads), is this something that could now be outsourced?
And what about the Union? Is this plain nuttiness to go “YAY! We’re adding WAY more workers than the business can support – go Union!”. Are they depending on a bailout from the $17 Trillion broke Feds?
Fundamental Transformation – something for nothing (as long as others are paying for it)…
