Postal News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2002
REMARKS BY
POSTMASTER GENERAL JOHN E. POTTER
BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING
WASHINGTON, DC
- MAY 7, 2002
Thank you Mr. Chairman. Let me start by addressing two important safety issues. The first is an update on the status of the investigations into the mailbox pipe bombs that were found in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and now Colorado. One hundred and fifty postal inspectors have joined with federal, state and local law enforcement officials in those states to conduct the investigations.
My compliments to acting Chief Inspector Jim Rowan for moving quickly to get additional resources into the Midwest to assist in the investigation. I know he and the Inspection Service are working toward a quick resolution of this matter.
I also want to compliment our district managers in those states for coordinating developments with local customers and employees and remain closely in touch with law enforcement officials.
Throughout the weekend and continuing yesterday, our first priority has been to alert our employees and the public about the precautionary measures that should be taken to minimize possible risks, especially if they noticed something suspicious about their mail boxes. We have sent out precautionary information to our employees, supervisors and postmasters nationwide.
I also want thank our employees from Public Affairs and Communications, Human Resources, Operations and everyone who work through the weekend to make sure the word got out.
With the appropriate measures are in place, we resumed normal mail delivery effective yesterday to all households and businesses.
Once again, the Postal Service and its employees and our customers have been put in harms way by persons as yet unknown. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who were injured.
I want to thank all our employees across the country for their commitment to provide universal service to all Americans, even under the most trying of circumstances.
Now, I want to report briefly on the recent tests for anthrax in the Wallingford, Connecticut plant. Results of precautionary tests, that were initiated by the Postal Service, indicated minute residual traces of anthrax bacteria.
Postal managers immediately called for a clean-up and the affected area was sealed off from the rest of the building. Clean-up work in the affected area started this past Saturday. That work is expected to be completed in eight weeks. Mail service in the southern Connecticut region is not being disrupted.
Mr. Chairman, I want to join you in thanking all those who made the National Postal Forum a success. Having shared the stage with Chairman Rider and Governors Fineman and Walsh and Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan during the Forum, I want to add my thanks for their participation in the candid discussion we had with the mailers on the Transformation Plan.
I especially want to thank Vice President for Service and Market Development, John Wargo and his team for a great National Postal Forum. Their work in putting together an informative series of sessions on implementing the Transformation Plan, gave those who attended, a clearer understanding of what we all have at stake.
We are aggressively implementing the Transformation Plan. We will convene a joint summit to discuss modernizing the rate making process. The summit will take place on Tuesday, May 28th, starting at 9 am at the Bolger Academy in Potomac.
General Counsel Mary Anne Gibbons and Chief Marketing Officer Anita Bizzotto and their staffs, are working with the PRC Chairman George Omas' staff to plan and design a summit which will be open to the public. The PRC and the Postal Service have already posted information about the summit on our websites.
We strongly encourage all our stakeholders to participate in this summit.
An integral part of the Transformation Plan is to improve Postal Service relations with our unions. In that spirit, we are pleased to report that we have reached a tentative five year agreement with the National Association of Letter Carriers. The contract is the first negotiated contract with the NALC since 1987.
The new agreement is being sent to NALC members across the country for ratification.
My congratulations to NALC President Vincent Sombrotto and Labor Relations Vice President Tony Vegliante and their negotiating teams on reaching an agreement.
Now, let me turn your attention to finances, and give you a brief overview of our volume and revenue outlook for the remainder of the year. As you are aware, we are experiencing some of the largest volume declines in our history.
It now looks like our projected volume for this year will be six billion pieces below last year.
Despite the magnitude of this decline, we have been working to reduce our net loss below our earlier projections. To achieve this, we will reduce the number of career employees through attrition by 20,000 this year. In addition, we will cut over 60 million work hours compared to last year. And we are postponing other program expenditures as well.
The effect of these actions will be a $2 billion reduction in expenses to plan. Those savings, combined with the $1 billion infusion of revenue from the early implementation of the rate increase, means our projected net loss will be in the range of $1.5 billion instead of what easily would have been a possible loss of $4.5 billion.
Finally, on a lighter note, I suggest you might want to watch the Arts and Entertainment cable channel this Saturday at 8 pm when a new documentary on the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service makes its debut. It's called "Behind Closed Doors with Joan Lunden" and includes a visit to Headquarters, interviews with craft employees at the Merrifield plant and a walk with a Fairfax, Virginia carrier on his route along the Old Post Road.
It also takes us through the Postal Inspection Service crime lab at Dulles and the Inspection Service training center at the Bolger Academy in Potomac. Again, the program airs this Saturday, May 11th at 8 pm on the Arts and Entertainment cable channel and again on Sunday at noon.
Thank you Mr. Chairman. That concludes my remarks.
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