Gazette incorrect on postal workers’ pay

When I started reading your March 5 editorial about how the U.S. Postal Service couldn't compete anymore, I was expecting the usual reasons: E-mail, electronic banking, the recession, etc. Then I hit a fact that really jumped out at me. The average postal worker's compensation is $83,000!

Wow - I've been an employee of the USPS for 16 years now and I've pretty much maxed out the pay-scale (no more raises for me unless it's a COLA), and this was $30,000 more than my base salary.

If this is supposedly the average, then I want to know where you got your numbers from. Nobody in our combined offices, with more 100 employees, makes as much as your “average postal worker,” except our postmaster. Our salaries are easily available online, even down to the name of the employee.

I looked online to see where you got this imaginary number, and stumbled upon Indeed.com. If you put in “Postal Worker” it spits out $84,000, but when you click on the job, none of them are postal-related. If you type in USPS, you get $47,000 and all the related jobs are postal.

I know the Post Office is in trouble, but get your facts straight please. We're busting our tails to get it done faster and cheaper with fewer people and we don't need any more negative connotations than we already have.

Aaron Tompkin

Riverside