The Postal Service must fight against the myopia and shortsightedness that has stalled its reform and modernization efforts, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a speech Jan.6.

"That may sound a little harsh, but it would be too easy to say that its just congressional gridlock," Donahoe said. "As much as we try to have an elevated conversation about the future of the organization, we never get beyond the narrow set of interests that are determined to preserve the status quo."

He said Postal Service unions and mailing groups have worked hard to stop progress at the agency by staging protests or preventing price changes, but that will only hurt the agency in the long run.

Donahoe will retire Feb. 1, 2015, after 39 years with the agency. Current chief operating officer Megan Brennan will take his place.

He said the Postal Service needs the flexibility to hire and fire employees, cut its workforce, expand its modernization efforts and revamp its pricing policies in order to survive in a future of same-day delivery, rapid technological advancement and a more mobile workforce.

11 reforms and efforts the Postal Service wants to see in 2015

USPS would also like the ability to end Saturday letter delivery, while expanding package delivery to the entire week and flexibility to change prices and add new products in the future while closing underused post offices.

Finally, the service wants authorization to further reduce its workforce. The agency has already shrunk by about 320,000 employees since fiscal 2000, but Donahoe said in his speech that the ideal Postal Service workforce could be around 400,000 career employees, down from about 480,000 currently.

Donahoe called on the new Congress to pass postal legislation, and said it would be a great way to build bipartisan consensus while accomplishing needed reform.

"I've been accused of being optimistic to a fault. Perhaps I am, but I believe this new Congress will take a fresh look at the long-term future of the Postal Service and pass the legislation that we need.

The Postal Service also needs to revamp how and when it offers pensions, Donahoe said. He said the agency should switch new employees into a defined contribution plan instead of a traditional pension since younger workers move around more and don't stay at the same place too long.

The agency should also be able to mandate the use of Medicare alongside its existing health insurance plans, which would allow the Postal Service to reduce its obligations on its health insurance debts.

But he said recent efforts to cut costs, close post offices and processing facilities and reduce its workforce had saved the Postal Service $16 billion a year in costs - and without that the agency would be bankrupt.

"Had we done nothing, Congress would likely be bailing us out to the tune of billions of dollars annually," Donahoe said.

The future of the Postal Service will be determined by how much flexibility it gets and whether those narrow interests can put aside their short-term views and compromise on the long-term future of the agency, Donahoe said.

"If given that flexibility, I have no doubt the Postal Service will continue to aggressively adapt to a changing world and a changing marketplace, and do so profitably," Donahoe said.

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