Congresswoman Waters Opposes Postal Service Plans to End Saturday Mail Delivery

Congresswoman Maxine Waters released the following statement regarding the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plans to end Saturday mail delivery:

"The announcement by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to eliminate Saturday first-class mail delivery starting in August without support of Congress is an arbitrary decision. Our constituents will be disadvantaged by this loss, especially our businesses that depend on timely and reliable mail delivery in order to operate a successful business.

The transitioning of mail delivery to five days a week could affect future employment at USPS and this is unacceptable. At a time when our economy has not fully recovered from the recession, this only adds to its ability to not function as well as it could.

According to the Department of Labor, Postal Service employees reached a peak of 909,000 in early 1999, and the latest data from last month shows 601,300 employees. We cannot continue to allow Postal Service jobs to decline because the direction and growth of the economy depends on Americans having jobs.

I have been vocal in my opposition to proposals that would affect jobs at the U.S. Postal Service including in 2011 when USPS announced plans to close more than 10 percent of its 36,000 post offices throughout the country. Last year, I introduced the Protecting Post Offices Act (H.R. 3916), which would reduce the operating costs of the U.S. Postal Service to provide continued service in urban and rural communities and save 28,000 American jobs. My bill was supported by the American Postal Workers Union and the AFL-CIO.

"Eliminating Saturday mail delivery is not the right answer for the American people. I urge USPS to reconsider its decision, and to continue to provide the six-day mail delivery services that our constituents and businesses rely upon."

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