For a constitutionally-mandated service, the USPS has been sabotaged by Congress six ways from Sunday. Read the last sentence of the article. No other federal agency is required to fund 75 years' worth of pensions in advance (meaning, for workers who haven't been born yet!) Nor is it fair to mandate a level of service, such as Saturday delivery, yet not allow the USPS to charge what it should to provide that service. Finally, if commercial mailings (i.e. junk mail) were charged the same rate as your letter to grandma, the post office would be solvent tomorrow.
De Souza had this column written months ago. He trots them out anytime YSU signs a contract with one of its unions. The whole column is silly, but two things in particular made me laugh:
"Boatload" of holidays? We're not taking off for Arbor Day or Cinco de Mayo--you do realize that the ten holidays outlined in the new APAS contract are federal holidays? Also, I'd like to point out that YSU's Maag Library is open on Sundays during the regular semesters, and that Easter Sunday is not on the list of official holidays. This means that as a librarian, I'll probably be at my desk on Easter. I'm fine with that, but I wonder where Mr. de Souza will be? Can I call him greedy and lazy if he chooses to spend the day with his family?
"The trustees should have demanded concessions in the APAS contract. A wage freeze, or even a giveback, would have sent a strong message to the community at large and the campus population in particular."
And that message is: take your education and talent and go enrich Chicago, Seattle, or New York because the largest employer in Youngstown doesn't value them enough to pay a competitive salary.
Postal workers to rally against changes
For a constitutionally-mandated service, the USPS has been sabotaged by Congress six ways from Sunday. Read the last sentence of the article. No other federal agency is required to fund 75 years' worth of pensions in advance (meaning, for workers who haven't been born yet!) Nor is it fair to mandate a level of service, such as Saturday delivery, yet not allow the USPS to charge what it should to provide that service. Finally, if commercial mailings (i.e. junk mail) were charged the same rate as your letter to grandma, the post office would be solvent tomorrow.
September 16, 2011 at 9:21 a.m. permalink suggest removal
At YSU, ‘me-too’ defines greed
De Souza had this column written months ago. He trots them out anytime YSU signs a contract with one of its unions. The whole column is silly, but two things in particular made me laugh:
"Boatload" of holidays? We're not taking off for Arbor Day or Cinco de Mayo--you do realize that the ten holidays outlined in the new APAS contract are federal holidays? Also, I'd like to point out that YSU's Maag Library is open on Sundays during the regular semesters, and that Easter Sunday is not on the list of official holidays. This means that as a librarian, I'll probably be at my desk on Easter. I'm fine with that, but I wonder where Mr. de Souza will be? Can I call him greedy and lazy if he chooses to spend the day with his family?
"The trustees should have demanded concessions in the APAS contract. A wage freeze, or even a giveback, would have sent a strong message to the community at large and the campus population in particular."
And that message is: take your education and talent and go enrich Chicago, Seattle, or New York because the largest employer in Youngstown doesn't value them enough to pay a competitive salary.
July 20, 2009 at 11:14 a.m. permalink suggest removal