What used to be a secure job is now in jeopardy!
The financially troubled United States Postal Service is suspending its contributions to its employee pension fund.
The agency said Wednesday that it has informed the Office of Personnel Management that the $115 million retirement payment made every two weeks will be suspended effective Friday. The action is expected to free about $800 million in the current fiscal year. The post office’s Federal Employee Retirement System account currently has a surplus of $6.9 billion, the agency said.
Because of the surplus, the suspension should not have any effect on current retirees, postal spokesman Dave Partenheimer said.
The post office said it is acting to conserve cash as it continues to lose money. The post office was $8 billion in the red last year because of the combined effects of the recession and the migration of mail business to the Internet. It faces the possibility of running short of money by the end of this fiscal year in September.
“If we don’t heed this warning and act quickly, the Postal Service as we know it will cease to exist in the very near future,” said Sen. Tom Carper, (D) Delware.
No decision has been made about how long the suspension of funds wll last.
