Everyone get ready... They are after blood in this count. The following is from today's

USPS News link

The title of this article alone is a slap in the face...

ADDING UP THE RURAL ROUTES. On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Postal Service will begin counting more than 70,000 rural routes. Significant changes in mail volume, standard credits and mail make-up have prompted USPS to conduct this largest rural count ever. A half-hour video, The Importance of Accuracy, hosted by USPS Delivery Operations Manager Jim Kiser, highlights the important steps that must be followed to conduct an accurate rural count. The video will be shown on PSTN-19 at 2 p.m. today, tomorrow and Friday. Employees assisting with the count should view the video at least once.

What I wouldnt give to be able to see that video...

While they work so hard to reduce our evaluations, do the local postmasters and managers not understand that it will hurt their office budget? I have always understood that a good rural mail count helped the office budget. They highlight the "Importance of accuracy". How accurate can it really be when the USPS holds all of the cards. They have the ability to offer price breaks to the mailers, they have the ability to manipulate the mail flow from the plants, they have the ability to intimidate and harass carriers with threats of their jobs, They have the ability to send out USPS mailings ahead of the count to insure we do not have credit for a full year of the numerous mailings the USPS sends out. They began spouting their expected route cuts and potential savings from this count months ago.

We received a response from a National union officer concerning Advo/Valasiss mailings, although not an official response, it was a response none the less. It called us "egocentric" for believing that the postal world revolved around a rural mail count. This response assured us there was no "collusion" between Valassis and USPS to change our mailings. Maybe, maybe not, but my guess would be yes looking back on the USPS track record. But, if they did, we will never be able to prove it.. And, it looks like our National union is not interested in even looking into it. Like I mentioned above, the USPS holds all the cards.. How many more national mailings can be manipulated through price breaks or DMM changes? My point is that we are fighting a losing battle. We have no trump card.

BOHICA my friends. Bend Over Here It Comes Again... Orders from USPS Headquarters will be carried out like the Gestapo. They will intimidate, harass, and flat out manipulate to make their projections a reality. In this poker game we are playing, we dont even hold a pair. Will we ever get tired of holding the losing hand time and time again?