Good Job! Despite $15.9 billion loss, U.S. Postal Service Execs Get Pay Raises

Holy crap. Are you kidding me? Only in the bizarro world of federal government employment can producing these enormous losses get you a pay raise.

Despite nearly $16 billion in annual losses announced by the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday, all but one of the top five executives for the nation’s mail service had an overall compensation increase this year, records show.

Unlike past years, when the Postal Service’s politically appointed, bipartisan board of governors awarded executives lucrative deferred compensation deals and incentive bonuses, this year’s compensation increases came mostly in the form of pension plan earnings.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, for instance, earned a base salary of $276,840, but even without a bonus or incentive payout, his overall compensation came to $512,093, compared with $384,229 in 2011, according to regulatory filings.

Fueling the rise was the fact that his retirement account grew by $186,536. A 37-year employee of the Postal Service, Mr. Donahoe was paid $4.76 per hour during his first job as a postal clerk.

Meanwhile, two other executives — Ellis Burgoyne, chief information officer, and Mary Anne Gibbons, general counsel — also received hefty increases in their retirement plans.

In fact, Mr. Burgoyne’s retirement plan grew by more than $270,000, bringing his total compensation to $510,505, slightly less than Mr. Donahoe‘s.

Compensation for Joseph Corbett, the Postal Service’s chief financial officer, rose from $310,483 in 2011 to $315,841 last year, though he earned more than $330,000 in 2010.

In addition, the Postal Service’s chief human resources officer, Anthony J. Vegilante, received $60,000 in retention bonuses for fiscal 2011 and 2012 on top of his $240,000 annual salary, filings show. Nonetheless, Mr. Vegilante’s overall compensation for 2012 dipped to $363,002, compared with $364,667 the previous year.

A sixth postal executive, acting Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Stephen Masse, was not subject to compensation reporting requirements until this year, and he earned $222,919 overall.

Dave Partenheimer, a Postal Service spokesman, said the organization has more than a half-million workers and operates more than 32,000 locations. He said postal executive compensation lags compared with private-sector corporations.

“As we continue to adjust to a changing business environment, it’s important that we recruit and retain the forward-thinking leadership we need to continue to remain viable,” he said. “Compensation is important to that equation.”

Unlike most private companies, however, the Postal Service has borrowed billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury and has a legal monopoly over first-class mail service.