The survival of the U.S. Postal Service is in the best interest of both postal workers and mailers, and the two groups must work together, H. Robert Wientzen, outgoing president/CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, told letter carriers this week.
Wientzen spoke at the National Association of Letter Carriers 64th Biennial National Convention in Honolulu. He is the first DMA executive to address the convention.
“We — mailers and postal service employees — have something in common,” he said. “We all need a postal service that is reliable; offers affordable rates; provides a continuation of the high-quality, universal service that you've provided since the late 18th century; and, importantly, is flexible and competitive enough to survive in the rapidly changing, increasingly Web-driven communications and delivery marketplace.”
The DMA and NALC should work together to overcome challenges confronting the postal service, he said. The groups can cooperate on promoting beneficial legislation and collaborate on finding creative ways to boost mail volume.
The DMA does not always see eye to eye with postal labor unions. For example, the American Postal Workers Union and its president, William H. Burrus, who referred to large mailers as “vermin” in the union's newsletter last year, oppose workforce reform proposals that the DMA supports.
