Business groups call on Congress to overhaul Postal Service

Organizations that represent major customers of the Postal Service are asking Congress to actively pursue postal reform legislation following Postmaster General John Potter's announcement Friday of a "transformation plan" that combines substantial cost-cutting with a goal of turning the Postal Service into something more like a traditional business.

"We call on Congress to expeditiously create the legislative environment needed for the Postal Service to realize the long- term plans set out in its transformation plan," H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, said Monday in a statement.

"We are concerned that many in Congress may view the transformation plan as a cure for what ails the Postal Service," Wientzen said. "The reality is that the plan, while ambitious, can only work on the margins of existing law without Congress' help."

The transformation plan received a more pessimistic appraisal from American Postal Workers Union president Bill Burrus, who decried the plan's proposals on collective bargaining.