Washington, DC – The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service (C21), an organization of the private sector mailing industry, today released the following statement regarding the proposal by the Postal Regulatory Commission to allow the Postal Service to raise rates significantly beyond inflation. Art Sackler, coordinator of C21, issued the following statement:
“Given the Commission’s statutory responsibilities, this decision was not surprising but it was still disappointing. The more-than-doubling over 5 years at current inflation rates proposed by the Commission would be harmful to postal customers and the Postal Service. While an increase in postage rates may bring some short-term relief to the Postal Service, it may create more harm than good by potentially forcing much more mail out of the system. And once mail leaves, it rarely come back.
“The surest way to restore stability at the Postal Service would be for Congress to pass the bipartisan Postal Reform Act (HR 756), rather than have the Commission require postal customers to pay for obligations imposed by Congress on USPS that exceed any in the private sector and are a major contributor to USPS’ financial difficulties. This common-sense legislation would stabilize the Postal Service without an excessive increase in postage rates. The Postal Service remains an important part of our economy, supporting more than 7.5 million jobs and $1.4 trillion in annual sales revenues.’
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The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service consists of business mailing associations and companies – including newspapers, advertisers and catalogers, e-commerce and parcels, greeting cards, financial services, telecommunications, insurance and other statement mailers, high-tech businesses, small businesses of every kind – and their suppliers – paper, printing, technology, envelope manufacturing, mail services and other companies, who understand the essential role played by the U.S. Postal Service and want to see it sustained, reformed and strengthened to meet the demands of the future.
