News & information

NALC President Rolando’s statement on USPS’ FY2015 financial report (updated)

The U.S. Postal Service on Nov. 13 released its financial report for Fiscal Year 2015, covering the period from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015. Here is a statement from National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando:

The $1.2 billion in annual operating profits reported today by the Postal Service is terrific news that augurs well for the future. The USPS’ continuing financial upswing shows that dismantling services to the public would be precisely the wrong path to take.

This is the second consecutive year with operating profits above $1 billion. Revenue earned by selling stamps has left USPS operations $2.6 billion in the black in the past two years alone, without a dime of taxpayer money. This also marks the third straight year in the black for USPS operations.

Moreover, this impressive performance is no fluke. It results from two structural factors: An improving economy is helping stabilize letter revenue, and Internet-driven online shopping is sending package revenue skyrocketing—up 11.4 percent over last year.

The timing couldn't be better, with the holidays approaching. The Postal Service projects the delivery of 15.5 billion cards, letters and packages from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve—including a record 600 million packages.

The red ink you hear about has nothing to do with the mail but rather with congressional politics—the 2006 decision by a lame-duck Congress to compel the Postal Service to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. No other entity, public or private, is required to do this for even one year in advance; USPS must pre-fund 75 years’ worth of these benefits in advance. That's the “red ink.”

Today’s good news is consistent with—and reinforces—the growing momentum to move forward with constructive reform that all stakeholders can buy into.

Press coverage

The Associated Press story about the report (carried in a number of places, such as here in The Salt Lake Tribune) noted the Postal Service’s $1.2 billion operating profit in Fiscal Year 2015 and other positive news, and it quoted two people—NALC President Fredric Rolando and USPS Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett, although Rolando was quoted more than Corbett.

The Federal Times story had a good headline (“Postal Service revenue gain allows 'limited flexibility' to invest”) and it did an effective job of getting in both good and bad financial news. The story quoted USPS Postmaster General Megan Brennan along with Rolando and Corbett, with the NALC president quoted more than Brennan and Corbett combined.

The Washington Examiner’s story quoted Rolando more than anyone else, and it noted that taxpayers don't fund USPS.

In a statement Friday, National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando pointed out that the Postal Service reported that its operating profits, as opposed to net profits, were $1.2 billion in the black. It was only because Congress has mandated that the Postal Service aggressively pay down its retiree pension obligations that it is showing a net loss, he said.

“No other entity, public or private, is required to do this for even one year in advance. USPS must pre-fund 75 years’ worth of these benefits in advance. That’s the ‘red ink,’” Rolando said. He noted that it was the second consecutive year the postal service had operating profits above $1 billion.

Government Executive’s story quoted Rolando and Brennan equally, noting that this was the third consecutive year USPS’ revenue exceeded its controllable costs and that its $68.9 billion in fiscal 2015 revenue was a 1.6 percent increase over the previous year.

“The USPS’ continuing financial upswing shows that dismantling services to the public would be precisely the wrong path to take,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “Today’s good news is consistent with—and reinforces—the growing momentum to move forward with constructive reform that all stakeholders can buy into.”