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Monday, July 2nd, 2012

Postal Plant Consolidations Start Next Month

Author:     JENNIFER LIBERTO
Source:     CNN Money
Publication Date:     June 29, 2012: 3:02 PM ET
 Link: Postal Plant Consolidations Start Next Month
Stephan:   Having just spent two weeks cruising in Alaska I have seen over and over again the importance of the Post Office to the health of the isolated towns where we stopped to take on fuel or buy supplies. People often live far apart in isolation. In Alaska there are very few roads, and the only way one can really get around is by boat or plane. The Post Office is a central gathering place where people trade information or catch up with distant neighbors. To a person every postmaster with whom I talked told me how the cut backs being sought by conservatives, whose real agenda is to privatize the PO, will have a devastating effect on their town. This attempt to restructure the PO is a really, really, bad idea.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service will begin consolidating and closing parts of some 48 mail processing plants, beginning as early as next week, after a last-minute effort to halt the consolidations failed Friday.

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) had asked the service’s regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission to halt the consolidations while it appealed a plan to shrink its network and work force, and slow down the delivery of mail most consumers use.

But the postal regulator decided not to step in, saying that the potential harm to the Postal Service from halting consolidations ‘outweighs’ the potential harm to the union, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The Postal Service plans to move forward with consolidations over the next two months, said spokesman David Partenheimer. Those consolidations will affect 5,000 employees, many of whom would be offered new jobs that might require them to move or retirement packages.

‘We are pleased with today’s ruling by the Postal Regulatory Commission,’ Partenheimer said. He said an ‘important part’ of the postal service’s plan for financial stability requires ‘consolidation of our current mail processing network to better match our existing and projected mail volumes.’

A request for comment made to the APWU was not immediately returned.

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