would the postal service run more efficiently w/o unions?

[traininthedistance]

USPS service has always seemed fine to me.  Yes, it can be slow if you have one person behind the counter and a long line of people sending packages, and better weekend hours would be nice, but that's an argument for increased staffing levels and/or self-serve kiosks for simple things.  (Preferably both if possible.)

The real problem with the USPS, of course, is that the internet has just killed demand for first-class mail, since people email and pay bills online and read news sites rather then getting letters and bills and magazines.  But, of course, they still need to make the same appointed rounds- what was supposed to be a profitable monopoly that subsidizes package and rural delivery has now become a millstone.  Arguing about the effects of unions here is mostly an irrelevant sidetrack: they didn't create this mess, but neither can they really fix it.

[traininthedistance]

If USPS had such great customer service, how come absolutely nobody uses them in the one area they don't have a legal monopoly on (package delivery), even though they're usually cheaper?

A lot of people use USPS for package delivery, including myself (on the rare cases I deliver packages at all).  Excluding one-day (rush) deliveries, they do more business than FedEx in fact.

And, of course, FedEx and UPS both rely on the USPS to handle last-mile duties for several classes of deliveries (SmartPost and SurePost).  Obviously they trust the Postal Service to get the job done.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/19/us-usps-newspro-idUSTRE79I5VK20111019