2006 Postal Reform Law Continues to Drive Up USPS Net Losses For FY 2012
USPS Needs New Math to Explain November 2011 Net Loss of $1.8 Billion
The US Postal Service filed its second month preliminary financial report of the 2012 fiscal year (unaudited) with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) . USPS reported a net operating loss of $1.267 billion for the month of November 2011. This same period last year saw a $456 million net loss. USPS reported a drop of volume in all classes of mail except shipping which rose 32.0% during the month of November. Most all non-personnel expenses such as Vehicle Maintenance Service, Information Technology, Rural Carrier EMA, supplies and services saw an increase. Read more
USPS’s Quasi-Moratorium On Post Office Closings
Filed under: APWU, politics, post office closings, postal, postal news, usps
Below is text of letter from USPS to APWU President Mr. Cliff Guffey
President
American Postal Workers
Union (APWU), AFL-CIO
1300 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005-4128
Dear Cliff,
This letter responds to your inquiry concerning the impact of the Postal Service’s December 13 announcement to delay the closing of any Post Office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012 on those Area Mail Processing (AMPs) where a decision to consolidate has been made.
Please be advised that, for the following seventeen (17) sites, as implementation of the consolidation has begun, the implementation will continue:
• Frederick, MD P&DC into Baltimore, MD P&DC;
• Hickory. NC P&DF into Greensboro, NC P&DC;
• Bristol, VA P&DF Into Johnson City, P&DF;
• Lancaster. PA P&DF into Harrisburg, PA P&DC;
• Ashland, KY P&DF into Charleston, WV P&DC;
• Pikesville, KY CSMPC Into Charleston, WV P8cDC;
• Saginaw, MI P8cDC into MI Metroplex P&DC;
• Oshkosh, Wi P&DC Into Green Bay, WI pane;
• Flint MI P&DC into Ml Metroplex P&OC;
• Bronx, NY P&DC into Morgan, NY P&DC;
• Industry, Cf\ P&DC into Santa Ana, CA P&DC;
• Huntsville, AL P&DF into Birmingham, AL P&DC;
• Mobridge. SD CSPMC into Bismarck, NO P&OF;
• Butte, MT CSMPC into Great Falls, Mr P&DF;
• Helena, MT CSMPC Into Great Falls, MT P&DF;
• Lincoln, NE P&DF into Omaha, NE paDC; end
• Jamestown, ND CSMPC into Fargo, ND P & DC
The following ten (10) sites are affected by the announcement:
• Mansfield, OH P&DF into Cleveland, OH P & DC;
• Bluefield, WV P&DF into Charleston, WV P&DC/Johnson City, TN P&DF;
• Martinsburg,WV CSMPC Into Balt!more, MD P&DC;
• Wheeling, WV, P&DF into Pittsburgh. PA P & DC;
• Springfield MA P&DC mto Hartford, CT P&DC/Central MA P&DC;
• Utica, NY P&DF into Syracuse, NY P&DC;
• North Bay CA P&DC into Oakland, CA P&DC;
• Gainesville, FL P&Df into Jacksonville, FL P&DC;
• Bemidji, MN CSMPC into Saint Cloud, MN P&DF and
• Yakima, WA CSMPC into Pasco, WA P&DF.
If there are any questions concerning this matter please contact me at (202) 268-5421
Sincerely
Patrick Devine
A/Manager
Contract Administration (APWU) :
The following is information sent out to APWU members:
Impact of Moratorium on Approved AMPs (Area Mail Processing Study)
BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND ALL OTHERS CONCERNED:
LAST CHANCE TO SAVE OUR JOBS, BUT WE HAVE HELP NOW.
SO IF YOU EVER TALKED ON THE PHONE YOU BETTER PLAN ON LIVING ON THAT THING FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND MAYBE THE SENATORS WILL COME TO OUR RESCUE.
As you know the USPS on 12-13-11 boldly told all of America that any and all consolidations and post office closing were stopped until May 15, 2012. With this news many of us jumped for joy only to have the rug pulled out from under us when we got the news the USPS had lied to America when they stated the moratorium did not apply to Ashland, Pikeville, Bristol Tennessee, and Harrisburg Pennsylvania post offices. A few Day later on Friday, 12-16-11 after our national union representatives and myself raised a little hell we were told that the USPS was going to honor what they originally stated and that absolutely no post office would be consolidated or closed until after 5-15-12.
However, on the following Monday the USPS sent out the above attached memo identified as doc 44 above stating that Ashland and the other 3 were back on the chopping block.
The USPS on 12-21-11 expanded on their lie by sending a memo to the union stating that 15 more post offices had been added to the chopping block and that the moratorium did not apply to them either.
This is where our help comes from. We should all stay on the phones to ever congressman and senator you can for the next few days. With us and the other now complaining about the lies the USPS have told something may be done.
We should all ask they be charged with fraud in a government matter which is criminal.
To tell a lie this large giving people false hope is terrible and even worse when you consider they did it at christmas.
The PMG needs to be removed immediately if not sooner.
Some have said it is not worth the bother cause we are going to go anyway, but this is not true.
Remember, the longer you delay the better chance you have to stay.
Life turns on a dime. If we stay till May anything could happen. There might be an earthquake the gobbles up Charleston or the 75 billion could be released to the USPS which would stop all of this.
Senator contact info below or go to the link below for more senator congressman info:
http://capwiz.com/apwu/home/
Lance Coles
Statement on Delay of Closing or Consolidation of Post Offices and Mail Processing Facilities (Dec., 13, 2011)
The U.S. Postal Service, in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators, has agreed to delay the closing or consolidation of any Post Office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012. The Postal Service will continue all necessary steps required for the review of these facilities during the interim period, including public input meetings. The Postal Service hopes this period will help facilitate the enactment of comprehensive postal legislation. Given the Postal Service’s financial situation and the loss of mail volume, the Postal Service must continue to take all steps necessary to reduce costs and increase revenue.
APWU is urging its members to contact the following Senators
Contact WV Senator Joe Manchin III
Washington, D.C. Office:
303 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-4801
Phone: (202) 224-3954
Fax: (202) 228-0002
Charleston Office:
300 Virginia Street East, Unit 2630
Charleston, West Virginia 25301
Phone: (304) 342-5855
Fax: (304) 343-7144
Contact Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
Washington, D.C. Office:
208 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-1703
Phone: (202) 224-4343
Fax: (202) 228-6917
Bowling Green Office:
1019 State Street
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
Phone: (270) 782-8303
Contact Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell
Washington, D.C. Office:
317 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-1702
Phone: (202) 224-2541
Fax: (202) 224-2499
Louisville Office: (more district offices)
601 West Broadway, #630
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Phone: (502) 582-6304
Fax: (502) 582-5326
Contact Ohio Senator Rob Portman
Washington, D.C. Office:
338 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3504
Phone: (202) 224-3353
Fax: (202) 224-9075
Columbus Office:
37 West Broad Street, Room 300
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: (614) 469-6774
Contact Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown
Washington, D.C. Office:
713 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3503
Phone: (202) 224-2315
Fax: (202) 228-6321
Cleveland Office:
1301 East Ninth Street, Suite 1710
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Phone: (216) 522-7272
Fax: (216) 522-2239
Save the Post Office named most valuable of progressive websites
“MOST VALUABLE WEBSITE: Save the Post Office
Nowhere was the assault on public services more aggressive than in the push to downsize the Postal Service. Battered by a Congressional mandate that pensions be prepaid for the next seventy-five years, the USPS announced plans to eliminate services, lay off tens of thousands of workers and close as many as 3,700 local offices. The American Postal Workers Union and the National Association of Letter Carriers stepped up to fight the cuts, making powerful arguments against the slide toward privatization. And Steve Hutkins’s website, savethepostoffice .com, became an essential resource for a network of grassroots groups in all fifty states defending local post offices—along with the idea that the founders were right when they argued that a strong postal service does not just deliver mail; it builds communities and links them as a nation. Best of all, Save the Post Office has made smart arguments for expanding the USPS by doing things like renewing the old postal banking system.”
The Progressive Honor Roll of 2011 | The Nation:
Collins: PRC Opinion On PO Closures Increases Urgency To Pass Postal Reform
Filed under: Congress, post office closings, postal, postal news, PRC, press releases, usps
Washington, DC – December 23, 2011- U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and one of the authors of bipartisan postal reform legislation, today issued the following statement regarding the Postal Regulatory Commission’s advisory opinion on the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to close almost 3700 post offices and other retail facilities. The Postal Service is required to ask the PRC for a non binding opinion on nationwide service changes.
The PRC said “the Commission’s primary finding is that the (closure plan) was not designed to optimize the network. The Commission recommends the use of modern optimization tools and techniques to better maximize net retail revenues while fulfilling statutory service obligations.”
“The Commission’s unanimous findings support my and many of my colleagues’ skepticism about the wisdom of mass postal closures without a more thoughtful, transparent, and data-driven process,” said Senator Collins. “Fortunately, such a process is included in the 21st Century Postal Reform Act, which I authored along with Senators Lieberman, Carper and Brown. Our bill would require the Postal Service to find savings and internal efficiencies first – before raising prices and cutting service that could drive away the very customers keeping the mail in business. Today’s PRC opinion only highlights the increasing urgency for Congress to pass comprehensive postal reform if we are to preserve the Postal Service for the next generation of Americans.
USPS To Market Test First Class Tracer
USPS will test a new product called First Class Tracer in a limited market area. The product will enable customers to follow their greeting cards, postcards, and personal and business letters as they travel through the mail processing system.
Here’s how it will work. Customers will purchase an adhesive barcode that will be placed directly under the postage of their individual letters.They will be able to follow the mailpiece using the tracer barcodes by checking the numbers online at www.usps.com, or by using a unique QR code with their mobile device. Read more
USPS Staffing Cuts Are Not Created Equal
From APWU Southwest Florida President Sam Wood via 21st Century Postal Worker:
I know that many of you around the country have been or will be writing and/or contacting your members of Congress and Senate. I sent out my last e-mail with some positive facts about the USPS. I will now give you an update on staffing levels within the USPS so that you can also understand what is wrong with the USPS.
It is important to note that the USPS has made these numbers harder to find since I began writing about this issue in 2009. All of the old information has been hidden or deleted online. Since I compiled the original numbers and kept them, I only had to find the September, 2011 employment numbers to present this information. I hope the following is of help to our membership.
Sure, the USPS has continued to reduce staffing levels across the board in 2011, but it may surprise some that these cuts were not created equal. If you look at the facts, you will see the following staffing changes from 1997 to September, 2011.
Staffing Changes from 1997 through September, 2011:
- Headquarters Senior Management = Total GAIN of +796 Jobs
- Headquarters Employee Staffing = Total Loss of -237 Jobs
- Local Level Management Staffing = Total Loss of -25,016 Jobs
- All Career Craft Employee Staffing = Total Loss of -189,947 Jobs
This comes while USPS Postmaster General, Senior Management Officials and USPS Media Spokespeople continuously go before the media and explain how the mail volume has drastically declined over the past 5 years and speak of gloom and doom and the further decline in mail volumes in the future. Meanwhile, there were/are 796 more Senior Level Managers who make more money than the average employee at USPS Headquarters than in 1997. Why is this? Why the need for more of them? Why isn’t this being discussed?
Since March of this year, more job cuts have been made. Below is the breakdown of where USPS Management has made employee cuts.
Staffing Changes since March, 2011:
- Headquarters Senior Management = Total Loss of 74 Jobs (still at +40.84% gain since 1997)
- Headquarters Employee Staffing = Total Loss of 503 Jobs
- Local Level Management Staffing = Total Loss of 5,224 Jobs
- All Career Craft Employee Staffing = Total Loss of 11,134 Jobs
As you can see, even with 74 USPS Senior Management Job cuts, they are still at a 40.84% gain since 1997. This being while every other employment areas of the USPS has been slashed by well over 20%.
Yes, management has begun reducing Senior Management staffing levels, but not at a rate that will come close to the cuts made in every other area of the USPS.
Employees and Supervisors at the local levels are doing more work with less employees, yet USPS Senior Management employees have been working with increased staffing levels since 1997. The USPS Postmaster General claims employee pay and benefits take up a big portion of the revenue, however, these Headquarters Employees are the highest paid employees within the USPS. The Postmaster General has never (to my knowledge) made negative comments concerning the huge salary increases or bonuses made to USPS Senior Staff Employees. With conversations going on concerning the future of the USPS, this is one of the issues that cannot be overlooked and must be discussed. It is time that USPS Headquarters make the same sacrifices as other employees have made in order to save the Postal Service and stop their attempts to cut service standards or close Post Offices in order to keep their own perks at the expense of all other Postal Employees and USPS Customers.
Congressman Introduces Rural Postal Service Preservation Act
Legislation Would Ensure the United States Postal Service Continues Delivery Service to Rural Regions
Washington, D.C.— Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04), today released the following statement after introducing H.R. 3744, the Rural Service Preservation Act in the United States House of Representatives:
“As the United States Postal Service’s financial picture continues to grow dim and options of reform are being discussed, I along with so many across the nation are increasingly concerned about the prospect of the postal service ending delivery to rural regions,” said Aderholt.
“As the postal service looks for reform and cost-cutting solutions, I believe rural Americans should not be singled out for postal cuts. To make sure that does not happen, I’ve introduced legislation that would ensure rural delivery continues and directs the postal service not to target rural postal employees for buy-out retirements.”
“This legislation is vital to the many rural communities of North Alabama and elsewhere across the country. I hope that my colleagues join me in recognizing the importance of this issue to America’s rural regions and support H.R. 3744,” concluded Aderholt.
Details of H.R. 3744
- Ensures that the current level of postal delivery service continue for five years from enactment.
- Requires any buy-out used to cut workforce of postal employees be apportioned 10% rural 90% urban.
- Requires that any postal office closures also be made in the same 10% rural, 90% urban differential.
- Defines rural areas with reference to the most recent decennial census and definitions of “rural” from the 2002 and 2008 Farm bills.
Aderholt currently serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security for the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is a member of the Committee’s Commerce, Justice and Science; and Agriculture Subcommittees, and also serves on the Helsinki Commission.
For more information about Aderholt’s work in Congress visit www.aderholt.house.gov.
source: Congressman Robert B. Aderholt Introduces Rural Postal Service Preservation Act.
Video: 50,000 Packages In Limbo At UPS Distribution Center
Some UPS customers said the U.S. Postal Service and Fed-Ex had no problems delivering their packages these past few days.
Thousands of people in the metro area will open their presents a little late this year because the day started out with 50,000 packages in limbo at the United Parcel Service holding facility in Commerce City, Colorado.
source: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/12/24/50000-packages-in-limbo-at-ups-distribution-center/
Senator Carper Issues Statement on USPS Proposal to Close Hares Corner Facility
Sen. Carper Statement on U.S. Postal Service Announcement Regarding Hares Corner Processing Center
WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service, released the following statement on the U.S. Postal Service’s announcement regarding moving forward on the closure of the Hares Corner Processing Center.
The U.S. Postal Service originally scheduled a public meeting regarding the announcement for January 4, 2012. However, Sen. Carper asked the Postal Service to delay that meeting to allow more time for review, and the Postal Service has rescheduled the meeting for January 12, 2012. Additionally, in light of the holidays and a lack of public information on the decision-making process to close Hares Corner, Sen. Carper has sent a letter to the Postmaster General requesting to postpone the meeting further – by at least a week – to allow the public, key stakeholders and elected officials sufficient time to understand the factors leading up to this decision and to fully prepare to make appropriate comments at the public meeting. Delawareans can check Sen. Carper’s website, www.carper.senate.gov, for updates regarding the announcement and to leave questions or comments for the Senator. Read more
PRC Advisory Opinion Finds USPS Proposal for Retail Closures Lacks Proper Analysis
Washington, DC –The Postal Regulatory Commission today issued its Advisory Opinion in Docket N2011-1 on the Postal Service’s Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI), a program that identified more than 3,600 post offices and other retail facilities for possible closure this year.
The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service it proposes. The Commission found that the RAOI is likely to affect access to postal services.
The Commission’s primary finding is that the RAOI was not designed to optimize the network. The Commission recommends the use of modern optimization tools and techniques to better maximize net retail revenues while fulfilling statutory service obligations.
Ruth Goldway, Chairman of the PRC explained: “The Commission was unanimous in expressing its concern that the Postal Service’s plan did not and could not, because of lack of data and analysis, determine the facilities most likely to serve the greatest number, reduce the greatest costs, or enhance the potential for growth or stability in the system. We agree that the Postal Service access network should be right-sized but found that the RAOI was not the proper approach to meet that goal.”
The Commission was unable to develop reliable cost savings estimates because the Postal Service does not collect facility-specific revenue and cost data, or separate retail costs from other operational costs. The Commission found that such data should be available for use in comprehensive facility closing plans.
The Commission review also included examination of an updated Postal Service process to evaluate facilities for closure. While acknowledging significant improvements, the Commission identified methods for enhancing the process to ensure meaningful public participation.
Specifically, the Commission recommends that training for local managers responsible for implementing the process include: (1) the statutory requirements applicable when evaluating a retail postal facility for closure, (2) more robust processes for obtaining and evaluating relevant community information, and (3) information on how other Postal Service initiatives may impact service in the affected area.
A core concern of the Commission is the question of suitable alternative access. Many current alternatives offer only a limited array of services, such as stamp sales and post office boxes. The Commission believes that alternative access for sites being closed must be presently available, viable and an adequate substitute for existing access.
“More than 160 appeals of decisions to close individual post offices, not related to the RAOI, have come before the Commission recently. In each case, we have seen how concerned local communities have been with losing access. With real, practical alternatives available, these communities would be far less likely to feel the loss of a neighborhood post office and would join with the Postal Service in the move to efficient alternatives,” commented Chairman Goldway.
The Postal Regulatory Commission is an independent federal agency that provides regulatory oversight over the U.S. Postal Service to ensure the transparency and accountability of the Postal Service and foster a vital and efficient universal mail system. The Commission holds regular public monthly meetings and posts all of its activities: dockets, appeal cases, Advisory Opinions, etc. on its website: www.prc.gov.