Postal group firms mollycoddle old bureaucrats

Postal group firms mollycoddle old bureaucrats
Yomiuri
This is the fifth in a series on the issues surrounding the three
postal services and their reform prospects. Postal service operations have been in the red since fiscal 1998,
and one of the worst offenders is the parcel delivery service
Yu-Pack, which faces stiff competition from the private parcel
delivery companies that dominate the market. In fiscal 1999, Yu-Pack recorded a whopping 13.7 billion yen
deficit, according to the Public Management Ministry. Put another way, Yu-Pack loses 43 yen on each parcel it delivers.
On the other hand, the Postal Service Center, in Chiyoda Ward,
Tokyo, reported a 3 billion yen profit for fiscal 2000. The center
does not handle parcels, but simply acts as a middleman for mail
order delivery services. The center also offers cushy postretirement positions for aging
bureaucrats in the postal administration–a practice known as
amakudari (literally, "descent from heaven"). The center offers a furusato kozutsumi (hometown parcel delivery)
service–for the delivery of local specialties such as Hokkaido
melons or Shizuoka Prefecture green tea–and a seasonal gift
delivery service. In both services, customers order gifts at their local post office,
which sends the orders to the center, which forwards the orders to
the various suppliers, who then deliver the gifts to their intended
recipients. And for this simple service, the companies give the
center a 7 percent commission. Of the 93 officials at the center, 77 are former public servants
from the defunct Posts and Telecommunication Ministry. The
ministry's former vice minister, Masato Shinagawa, is now the
center's president–a post that traditionally is handed to the
ministry's former administrative vice ministers. One such past president was Mitsuo Igarashi, who followed the
established custom of accepting head posts at other
ministry-affiliated organizations, thus receiving more than one
salary at the same time. In fiscal 2000, about 4,800 private companies received contracts
from the center, which facilitated 13 million parcel deliveries out
of a nationwide total of 150 million parcel deliveries. According to the center's accounting documents, 15 employees were
added to the roster in the last three years and the center has
amassed about 400 million yen in net assets over the past three
years–despite the injunction that public corporations should above
all serve the public good. The center's director, Kenichi Izumi, however, stressed the center's
benefit to the public, saying, "The center contributes to the
promotion of postal parcel service and local economies." The furusato kozutsumi parcel service was originally handled at
local post offices nationwide. The center took over the lucrative business from the post offices in
1986. Meanwhile, promoting the service has become one more task for
employees of the normal postal services–which, in effect, are
bankrolling the center. Indeed, the center's success rides on the
sweat of postal workers who are obliged to achieve sales quotas. The
center, for its part, has no obligation to share its income with the
ministry. This is just one of the many cases in which a public corporation
receives benefits from a money-losing government organization
without having to pay for them. Any reform of the postal services
will fail if its in-laws escape scrutiny. Yusei Kosaikai, a foundation supervised by the Postal Services
Agency–the arm of the Public Management Ministry in charge of the
three postal services–was established in 1952 in order to promote
the welfare of people engaged in postal services.