Postal Service Halting Plan To Close Urban And Suburban Post Offices

DES MOINES, Iowa — The U.S. Postal Service said Monday its decision to halt the closing of more than 3,700 post offices includes roughly 600 urban and suburban postal branch offices and satellite stations.

The facilities in many cities serve as neighborhood post offices. The Postal Service announced last year that it was looking at closing up to 252 mail-processing centers and 3,700 post offices, many of them in rural areas, as part of a plan to save some $6.5 billion a year.

It backed off the plan to close the 3,700 post offices last week, saying it would no longer close thousands of rural post offices but would keep them open with shorter hours. The mail agency on Monday reiterated that about 600 branches and satellite stations in urban and suburban locations that had been included in the original study for closure also will be kept open, rather than shut down sometime after Tuesday.

"Any proposals to close these facilities have been placed on hold and will not close at this time," said a statement from Richard Watkins, Postal Service spokesman in the Kansas City area. "Going forward, the Postal Service will evaluate how best to incorporate them into long-term plans for effective and efficient retail service."

The Postal Service has said it will also put forward a new plan for the mail processing centers later this week.

It has been struggling as people switch to email and other electronic forms of communication.

The Senate offered an $11 billion cash infusion last month, but Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said that amount fell far short of what is needed to save the Postal Service in the long term. The House has yet to take action on its own bill.

Despite last week's announcement, some customers and postal workers were still under the impression Monday that their post offices were targeted for closure.

The American Postal Workers Union, The National Federation of the Blind Iowa and other groups held a rally Monday in Des Moines in support of keeping it the downtown Capitol Square Post Office open.

Gano Whetstone, 67, a retired teacher, was among the 25 people to attend the rally. She lives in senior citizens housing connected to Capitol Square by enclosed skywalks. In the winter, she can mail packages, letters and cards without going outside.

She said she walks to the post office twice a week. If it closes, she'd have to find transportation to the main post office a mile away.

"It would be awfully difficult to get to the post office with the traffic and everything," she said. "It would be very inconvenient."

Dennis Carmen, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers branch in Toledo, Ohio, was still under the impression Monday that three offices there could be closed.

Two of the offices are in low income areas, where Carmen said the post office is an integral part of the community. If the office at Point Place would close, it would mean customers have to travel eight miles to the nearest post office, he said.

"We had a town hall meeting and it was packed," Carmen said. "The public was just saying how they need that retail outlet there."

Pressure has been building on the Postal Service to extend a self-imposed moratorium on the closure of post offices and mail processing facilities. It was set to expire Tuesday.

Last week, nearly half of the Senate signed letter directed to Donahoe asking him wait until Congress can act.

"The USPS is a major employer around the country and employs over 500,000 workers," the letter said. "With an unacceptably high unemployment rate, it would be particularly inopportune for the USPS to close facilities."

Some mail processing centers could still close or merge. For example, one proposal calls for the Springfield, Mo., center to have its work merged into the Kansas City operation and the Cape Girardeau, Mo., processing center work moved to St. Louis.

In Nebraska, the Norfolk and Grand Island centers may be merged into Omaha and Alliance work moved to North Platte.

The Postal Service last week reported a quarterly loss of $3.2 billion and said without legislative action, it will be forced to default on more than $11 billion in health prepayments due to the Treasury this fall.

The Postal Service is an independent agency of government and does not receive tax money for its operations but is subject to congressional control over major aspects of its business.

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Comments

[dbrett480]

04:32 PM on 05/25/2012

Maybe the post office could compromise by setting up offices in Mail Boxes Etc. and Kinkos/Fed-Ex.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

08:57 PM on 05/16/2012

First class mail, the type that the post office has relied on for its profit for a century and half, has been steadily declining since around 1998. Email has taken its place. Instead, the Post Office relies more and more and direct-marketed junk mail. Once a week, I get a bunch of loose-leaf mail shoved through my mailbox slot which falls down and covers the entryway to my house.

I talked to my PO delivery guy about this, who told me to go to the post office website (uspo.com) and submit a request to stop this. I went. I found the only way available is to send a self-addressed-stamped-envelope to the Direct Marketers Association, along with a check or money order for $1, and within 6-8 weeks I would stop receiving mail from "most" advertisers. I did this. The loose junk mail continued to arrive.

I called the post office directly, more than once, and talked to several people. Finally I learned that businesses can send unaddressed mail to a neighborhood or zip code. If I want to be removed from this, I can go to those businesses directly and request it. However, those businesses contract out their advertising to 3rd parties, and I have to contact those 3rd parties directly. The mail itself, however, doesn't say who it's from. The Post Office won't tell me, because that would violate privacy laws. The lesson: Just learn to live with it.

[Cacey]

11:05 AM on 05/15/2012

Too much emphasis is being place on blaming the Post Office Accountability Act pushed forward by a Republican Congres for the Post Office's problems with only slightly less fault being place on Unions (a conflict in direction to say the least). The problem is rooted much more deeply and much longer ago to when the USPS was taken out of the kennel and placed on a leash which could be loosened and retracted at the Government's pleasure. The greatest single problem was not creating a business plan that combined the new services of communication the public was learning such as e-mail and on line bill paying while not educating the users to the need for change. I often hear of the need for daily delivery to remote areas and having driven through the vacant West, I've seen ranches where it took half a tank of gas simply to get to the gas station. Why can't these people pick up their mail while buying gas? Why aren't post offices internet cafes? Why are not postal facilities located in supermarkets where banks have branches? Why is not the USPS fleet running on natural gas? The failure has been leadership and planning and not Congres nor Unions.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

09:35 PM on 05/16/2012

Those are really good points. When Sweden reorganized their postal service in the late 90s, they closed hordes of rural offices. Sweden is a country where most of the population lives in urban areas in the southern part of the country, but there's a vast stretch of area where small groups lie, to the mid and north regions. It just wasn't profitable to leave offices open there. Instead, physical offices were closed and part-time sections opened up in other businesses, to serve rural customers. Some pretty cool additional features were added, to allow mail to be scanned at source and delivered electronically instead of physically. Of course, Sweden is one of the most wired countries in the world, but internet penetration in the 90s there was less than in the US today.

Our government claims the Post Office is an independent part of government, but it isn't allowed to really run itself as a business. They place constraints so it can't realistically compete, by narrowly defining what it is allowed to do. Germany's postal service has proved so successful, after being reorganized in the late 90s, that it could afford to buy DHL and can compete worldwide with UPS and FedEx and others. It'd be great if the USPO were given the leeway to do the same. Except, I hope it wouldn't be through ever more invasive direct mail marketing.

[AZreb]

10:32 AM on 05/15/2012

So the Senate offers $11 BILLION to the USPS and Donahue says that is not enough to keep it going - anyone know any figure in the BILLIONS that would be "enough"?

[StillAmused]

10:29 AM on 05/15/2012

Start by cleansing the House of its amateur 2010 GOP vandals!

"It was only a few years ago that the USPS was considered not only stable, but thriving. The biggest volume in pieces of mail handled by the Postal Service in its 236-year history was in 2006. The second and third busiest years were in 2005 and 2007, respectively. But it was two events: one crafted during the Bush years and another supervised by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, that would cripple this once great institution.

"Perhaps it was its booming history that first drew Congress' attention to the Postal Service in 2006 when it passed the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (PAEA), which mandated that the Postal Service would have to fully fund retiree health benefits for future retirees. That's right. Congress was demanding universal health care coverage.

"But it even went beyond that. Congress was mandating coverage for future human beings.

"It's almost hard to comprehend what they're talking about, but basically they said that the Postal Service would have to fully fund future retirees' health benefits for the next 75 years and they would have to do it within a ten-year window," says Chuck Zlatkin, political director of the New York Metro Area Postal Union.

"It was an impossible order, and strangely, a task unshared by any other government service, agency, corporation or organization within the United States."

http://crooksandliars.com/kenneth-quinnell/more-details-emerge-republican-as

[Steamy]

10:27 AM on 05/15/2012

I never understood how they thought that was ever a good idea!! Personally, I wouldn't miss having mail delivery on Saturdays. If I could still go to the PO to send things, if they had to get out. That may cause more people to open PO boxes so they could have mail on Saturdays if they depend on it. That would be a win/win for the PO too. I know there are peep that carry the mail for others on the day they must take off now, during a 6 day week. They should be kept on and fill in as people retire. Not to mention, the work load would be so much heavier w/a 5 day week. This country isn't ready to loose their Postal Service. Why are they so set on getting rid of it? It just needs better management and delivery on pkgs. to be competitive with UPS & FedX. #HFF

[xiolableu01]

06:17 AM on 05/15/2012

The post office sucks. 2012 and they haven't figured out a tracking system, when UPS and FEDEX clearly have one. Granted a stamp is pretty cheap, but mailing something with absolutely zero way of finding it if it gets lost (and they lose everything) is just unacceptable...

[sanjagtl]

01:33 AM on 05/22/2012

The PO does have a tracking system but you wouldn't know that since you don't use them....duh!!!! And last I knew, tracking systems are via computers, bar codes, scans, etc and we trust a computer to be 100% accurate????? Wow thats about dumb....put all your trust into a mechanical item. So since you clearly don't use the PO please take down your mailbox (and that includes a PO box also).

[SusanJae]

06:12 AM on 05/15/2012

When I was growing up my mother was a sales clerk and belonged to a union. My father worked for Eastman Kodak as a security guard but had good benefits and a pension. Like most in our Bronx neighborhood, we were firmly middle class due to those jobs. Most in my family were FDNY, NYPD, MTA etc. All hard-working, mostly labor-level, and mostly unions. All benefits. The stability of large companies and/or unions sustained the middle class giving it stability and a future. Congress has pension plans and great benefits. Many CEOs of failing companies keep large salaries and benefits.

The goal should be to bring more benefits and pensions back to the middle class. Postal jobs have been a staple of that. I don't get how people who are middle class can be so anti-union and anti-pension. It's not the unions and pensions that are destroying us. But I guess when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[Steamy]

11:02 AM on 05/15/2012

SusanJae,
Sorry, you're off on the 'benefits' of Postal Employees. They haven't had a pension plan like the old days since the recruits that in 1985 snuck in under the wire before the plan ended! They had a 50/50 match after that on a 401-K plan and now I don't believe that they get a match. Their union has very little strength to bargain because of the ever looming threat of closure that hangs over them. The only time for raises is 'cost of living'. And for those that complain that they don't get 'Cost Of Living' raises... How many years have you spent at a job and then no raises this year? "The cost of living hasn't gone up." The work an employee does, doesn't reflect the pay that they receive. Some have light areas that they deliver in with wonderful weather, while others have areas with high amounts of mail and extreme weather. Even in the same cities, mail per house is a variable. But they can only walk so far, so fast. Not everybody gets to drive mailbox to mailbox.

Finally... Those that say you pay your mailman's salary... Wrong! Up until the past 5 or so years, the PO operated in the 'black' and it's employees were paid on the cost of stamps. So to pay your mailman's salary, you must buy a lot of stamps!
*All info courtesy of peep that see that your mail gets to you! #HFF

[Alwayspissedoffatsomeone]

12:25 AM on 05/15/2012

More left wing nonsense. Unions muscling those in the Senate to save their donations from union members while everyone else wonders why we still need mail delivered on daily basis. Twice a week will suffice nicely.

[StillAmused]

10:16 AM on 05/15/2012

Especially where you live... in a tree.

You're just ticked 'cause the mailman refuses to climb up to your main branch and personally hand you the Walmart flyer.

[mte1000]

10:44 AM on 05/15/2012

You obviously have no idea how important the USPS is to the American economy. You have no idea how much that this country is dependant on the Post Office. It's not just Postal workers either. Small business owners, large mailers, printers, advertisers....the list goes on and on. The loss of the Post Office would have more of a negative effect on our economy than what happened with the banking industries. All of these flippant comments are not made with much thought. The ripple effect is enormous.

[Alwayspissedoffatsomeone]

10:53 AM on 05/15/2012

No one is talking about the dismantling of the PO just make it competitive and profitable. The day when those on the public dole are gone or at least being phased out. Entitlement benefits and pensions are the root cause of so many problems for government programs throughout this nation today. It's killing many states as we speak.

[mrhandyman3105]

12:08 AM on 05/15/2012

That's right GOP Republicans. Just keep it up. The House cutting funds from the Postal Service forcing them into Announcing plans to close all those facilities and put all those workers out of a job just months before the November elections. All the while giving tax breaks to the Oil Companies and corporations like Fed-X and UPS who don't need them.
Oh yeah! The $6.5 Billion you expect to save will be nothing compared to the trickle down economic effect of those same people no longer buying products, and goods, the foreclosures on their homes, unemployment payments, loss of state revenue, many deciding to retire and collect government retirement benefits, increased Medicare costs, social security, impact to local businesses in lost revenue as they stop or reduce purchasing. And most of all, the indelible memory of which political party caused them their misfortune. Yep, you GOP Republicans are some real bright politicians, especially when it comes to "Trickle Down" economics. You make Obama's re-election a forgone conclusion.

[Steamy]

11:12 AM on 05/15/2012

Please read my response to 'SusanJae' above your comment a few. You will see that it is just recently that anyone got involved with the PO. They left it up to inept management that didn't keep up with the times and have caused all the problems. The funding for the PO wasn't ever from the Government in the past. Just by the cost of a stamp!

[mrhandyman3105]

01:22 PM on 05/15/2012

Let's set the facts straight w/o Republican spin.
The Republicans have been meddling in the Post Office since 2006 during the Bush Administration.
Not inept management by the P.O., just interference by congressional members causing a problem where none existed in order to further the Republican agenda to bust Unions.

The Republicans lead by a Darrell Issa of California in 2006 passed a law to make the post office over fund Health care. In 2006, Congress passed The Postal Accountability Enhancement Act. In essence, it requires the Postal Service to fund the benefits of its retirees for the next 75 years; this must be accomplished in the next "10 year time frame".
On Sept. 30 of each year the Postal Service must contribute $5.5 billion to its pension fund. There is no other government agency, private organization, or corporation that is required to do this.
An audit by the Postal Service Office of Inspector General estimates a $75 billion overpayment. The Postal Regulatory Commission (an independent agency approved by Congress) estimates the overpayment to be $50 billion.

www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/opinion/guest/postal-service-is-not-bankrupt-and-it-is-not-funded/article_89407887-2ccb-502d-81d6-4748e94460c7.html

[Devendra Surjan]

12:03 AM on 05/15/2012

A very welcome news. In the election year postal department of Obama Administration has done a commendable job. As per the an old Indian saying it is said " If you do not able to create a job - You have no right to snatch the job". I think the decision has been on this line and therefore congratulations to postal employees who were in worry for the last six month.A good sense continues to prevail on the authorities is expected.

[John Kelley 1]

11:24 PM on 05/14/2012

The hilarious part about this whole GOP strategy to sabotage the USPS is that it hits Republican politicians squarely in their home districts. If the USPS folds, many rural zip codes will cease to receive deliveries. Fedex and UPS refuse to deliver to these areas because of the sparse population and lack of profit.
Those rural zip codes are precisely the locales that GOP politicians depend on to win votes and elections. It's not a wise strategy.

[margatebeach]

10:57 PM on 05/14/2012

The Post Office offers the best rates when I go to ship on eBay ( get an extra discount through ebay shipping) Also, when I ship anything less that 13 ounces I can't beat the USPS rates. UPS & Fedex charge way too much & don't offer Saturday delivery. This year USPS has been shipping very quickly. I don't have to worry about low ship time scores from my buyers. They also pick up all my packages at my door. Fedex & UPS charges extra for this service. Plus they charge surcharges to almost every address I know. With USPS I save time, money & my gas.

[Alwayspissedoffatsomeone]

12:27 AM on 05/15/2012

.....and they (FedEx and UPS) don't lose 5 billion in 3 months either.

[rnl52]

03:45 AM on 05/15/2012

And they (UPS & FedEx) weren't required by a republicon congress to pre-fund pension and healthcare benefits 75 years in advance. In the absence of that, they would be profitable.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

09:06 PM on 05/16/2012

I'd rather pay extra for delivery by UPS or Fedex. Whenever they deliver something, I get the package left on my front porch, and can carry it in and enjoy it.

When the US Post Office delivers something, I get a note saying they tried to deliver it, but I wasn't home, and I can pick it up at the local post office or they'll be back again the next day (or the next). Since I'm usually not home when the postal service comes by, that means I have to go pick it up in person.

That means going to the post office, and standing in line for 30 minutes because there's only a single person working the counter, and that person only seems to serve one customer per 10 to 15 minute interval.

I'm not arguing it would better if we privatized the post office. Europe seems to have dealt with the problems of the internet age particularly well. Germany's postal system is so successful that it managed to buy the private company DHL and expand far beyond its borders.

The US postal service is an utter failure. Most people that have to deal with on a regular basis (unless you're a direct mail advertisers--they'll do *anything* for those people) hate it.

[Ryan Butters]

09:00 PM on 05/14/2012

Lets force UPS and Fedex to fully fund 80 years worth of pensions over the next decade (as Republicans forced the USPS to do in order to manufacture a fiscal crisis), and see how "efficient" they are. I'd be willing to bet that the natural efficiency of the USPS is so much higher, UPS and Fedex would shut down within a year of being asked to do that. And yes the USPS just keeps truckin' on.

[rnl52]

03:47 AM on 05/15/2012

F&F. And not one mention of that in this article. Thats our "liberal media" in action.

[Cacey]

10:04 AM on 05/15/2012

But isn't the irony is that it was Union muscle and Union money that saved this entitlement for those who still use the USPO?

[ckliemt]

06:46 PM on 05/14/2012

US postal service is like Greece ,, they know austerity is the way but can't bring themselves to do it.

[John Kelley 1]

11:11 PM on 05/14/2012

It's not austerity causing the crisis. The GOP is trying to purposefully bankrupt the agency by forcing it to prepay 75 years worth of projected pension funds within 10 years. When the GOP controlled Congress prior to 2006 they pushed through that ridiculous measure knowing full well that the agency just like any other business could never meet that goal. They're short sighted thinking is that the USPS would be run out of business and thus pave the way for far more expensive private delivery companies to take over the USPS business. However, what they didn't calculate was that private delivery companies won't deliver to most of the rural zip codes that only the USPS services, because those locations aren't profitable enough. Guess where the GOP gets most of their political support . . . .rural zip codes. So the GOP plan is not the brightest.

[Alwayspissedoffatsomeone]

12:32 AM on 05/15/2012

Unions are the Achilles heel of business, not the GOP, my liberal friend. Unsustainable benefits is what killed the beast. It's widely known that labor costs, active and retired, are out of control.