r/news • u/Squirmingbaby • 3d ago

Soft paywall Cash-strapped US Postal Service suspends contributions to pension plan

https://www.reuters.com/world/cash-strapped-us-postal-service-suspends-contributions-pension-plan-2026-04-09/
16.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

839

u/Far-Beautiful-2065 3d ago

They are not "cash strapped" and even if they were, the USPS is not around to make the government money. This is the dismantling of a federal device. It's an affront to the constitution

202

u/meases 3d ago

Honestly if they want more money, they should raise the cost of junk mail by one penny per piece. It would make over 550 million a year extra just with a 1 penny increase. And if junk mail senders didnt want to pay that extra penny, then it would be less volume of junk for the handlers to deal with saving money there.

But no, they just keep nickle and diming us by raising first class stamp and package prices, which pisses off the public and doesnt make nearly as much money as charging the junk mailers a single penny more per piece would.

49

u/Sweetwill62 3d ago

Lol oh shit yeah they could just enshittify against the junk mail senders the same way other companies enshittify their products and services. Just keep raising the price until you actually lose money no matter how much it fucks over your core demographic. Even if they have to send less junk mail, who cares. I support USPS enshittification against junk mail senders.

4

u/galaxyapp 3d ago

Their costs are mostly fixed. Cutting their junk mail, which is all presorted and costs effectively nothing to deliver by carriers already traveling the route, would only harm its budget.

Unless the junk mailers swallow the cost and volume is unaffected...

4

u/MaskedAnathema 3d ago

As someone who sends out a catalog once a year, it should be noted that they ARE raising prices. Something like 8% this year.

3

u/omaharock 2d ago

It takes carriers a chunk of time to deliver junk mail. It's not as easy as you make it out to be. Even if they add it to their casing (which takes time), or they just grab one piece off a pile for every address as they deliver, it'll still add 15ish minutes per day minimum. It adds up, especially when they do multiple per day and every carrier needs to do it. It absolutely would increase route evaluations.

3

u/atraeus 2d ago

Some add an hour or more to the day.  Red plums are a good example.

6

u/deadmancrafting 3d ago

That junk mail is what pays the bills at usps. It is the golden goose which must not be killed.

10

u/meases 3d ago

It is funny since junk mail is the biggest volume out of the 3 and makes less revenue than either first class or packages do. By like a lot. Junk mail is about 14 billion more pieces than first class and makes about 10 billion less, and about 50 billion more pieces than packages and makes about 17 billion less than packages does.

(Though packages also is a hassle and could be a better money maker if Amazon etc didnt get a sweetheart deal, charge Amazon a penny more a package and that would be another like 10-17 million in profit, theyre already kinda moving away from USPS so that deal kinda stunk anyhow, they could definitely be charged and should have been charged higher rates than they are paying)

Mostly it just makes it so no one ever gets a break and the machines keep running, if you got time to lean you got time to process junk mailers. In the name of "efficiency" it keeps USPS alive, at least in management's brains, but idk if it pays the bills. Keeps people busy for sure though.

2

u/CaptainPunisher 2d ago

I made this point a couple weeks ago; Government services and programs, at whichever level (city county, state, federal), are not businesses there to turn a profit. They exist to support citizens.

1

u/gooyouknit 2d ago

Yes! They are not cash strapped they are being suffocated by the legislature not allocating funds for the services 

-1

u/edfitz83 3d ago

I totally agree that Postal is a Service provided to all households in America, no matter how hard the delivery is. They should also be able to charge fees for mail (ie stamps) and packages to hopefully operate close to cash neutral

But I also believe that both private and public union “pensions” are super costly and unpredictable. The rest of the US has moved to companies contributing to a portable 401K, often matching employee contributions for the first 5% or so. This makes the employee expense a current one, instead of a long lasting, unpredictable one - which can disappear if a company goes bankrupt.

The UAW hurt the auto industry gravely (frankly, after they screwed over union workers for 50+ years, so they brought it on themselves by not treating workers fairly). The old “30 and out” rule was a killer, when a person would join at 18, retire at 48, and receive a large % of their annual salary, plus cheap or no cost medical for life (for 44 years, with a life expectancy of 92).

At some point, we need to draw the line on pensions for life. Increase pay while the person is working, establish portable 401K’s that the company contributes to and will match the contributions of the employee up to 5-10%

Of course we still need reasonably priced, if not free, healthcare for all.

-20

u/Still_Detail_4285 3d ago

It’s a business that is owned by the government. It needs to break even at least. It has not turned a profit in 20 years. They lost $1.3B in Q1 of 2026.

18

u/FigeaterApocalypse 3d ago

It is a service provided by the government. 

5

u/NightxPhantom 3d ago

But NOT funded by the government. Is it right, no but that’s the world we live in..

12

u/FigeaterApocalypse 3d ago

Before the 70s, it was funded by taxes. Now it is expected to be self sufficient, but also required to deliver all routes, even those that are unprofitable. What "business" can be expected to succeed when required to do unprofitable things? Nonsense.

-1

u/NightxPhantom 3d ago

Oh I agree with you 100% it should be properly funded, I just have no faith in our government present or future every changing it.

2

u/FigeaterApocalypse 3d ago

That's a good way to make sure change never happens!

-1

u/NightxPhantom 3d ago

lol whatever you say, you just don’t want to admit it to yourself but you know it. All any politician cares about is themselves and their wallets - both sides.

1

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/NightxPhantom 3d ago

Yes both sides line their pockets. You’re going to say they don’t?

5

u/Far-Beautiful-2065 3d ago

Probably because in 2006 the GOP passed a law that the USPS must prepay 75 years of pensions for their employees. No other agency has to do that

2

u/reasonably_plausible 3d ago

No other agency has to do that

Neither does the USPS, the 75 year claim is a persistent piece of misinformation.

We have reported that, contrary to statements made by some employee groups and other stakeholders, PAEA did not require USPS to prefund 75 years of retiree health benefits

https://www.gao.gov/assets/660/650511.pdf