NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
The United States Postal Service (“we” or “us”) provides a variety of classes of mail service to the public, without undue discrimination among our many customers. This means that within each class of mail our price does not unreasonably vary by customer for the levels of service we provide. This fulfills our legal mandate to offer universal service at a fair price. We conduct our operations primarily in the domestic market, with international mail representing less than 4% of our total revenue.
Our services are divided into two broad categories: mailing services and shipping services, which account for 88% and 12% of our revenue, respectively. First-Class Mail and Standard Mail account for about 94% of our mail volume, while Priority Mail and Express Mail represent significant services we provide in our shipping category. The principal markets for our services are the communications, distribution, delivery, advertising and retail markets. Our services are sold and distributed through over 36,000 Post Offices, stations, branches, contract postal units and a large network of consignees.
Our labor force is primarily represented by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), and National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA). More than 85% of our career employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements.
By law, we also consult with management organizations representing most of the employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements. These consultations provide an opportunity for nonbargaining employees in the field to participate directly in the planning, development and implementation of programs and policies affecting managerial employees in the field.
