In an editorial this morning, the Washington Post blames postal unions for the agency’s financial problems. The editorial acknowledges the annual $5.5 billion trust fund requirement, but suggests that the only parties opposed to the pre-funding requirement are the unions, something that will no doubt come as a surprise to the mailers who have been paying for the pre-funding in the form of higher rates all these years. The editorial mentions the USPS’s $13 billion debt, but not the $42 billion it has already set aside for future retiree liabilities- which just happens to be $42 billion more than the rest of the federal government has stashed away for that purpose.
The Post editorial is unusual among similar recent opinion pieces in that it at least acknowledges that the pre-funding requirement exists. It fails to note, however, that absent the requirement the USPS would have been running in the black, and would have no debt. And the Post doesn’t even attempt to justify the requirement on financial grounds:
It’s not about fiscal responsibility- it’s about “leverage”. After all, if there were no pre-funding requirement, there would be no financial crisis to “solve”!At the moment, postal unions are lobbying Congress to release USPS from its requirement to pre-fund about $5 billion in retiree health benefits, which might enable USPS to meet union contract demands and balance its books – temporarily. Congress must say no. Pre-funding is the only leverage lawmakers have to force a long-term solution. Management has already cut costs about as much as current law allows