Senator Lieberman: USPS Assured Us That No Mail Processing Centers Will Close This Year

Lieberman Reacts to Postal Service Announcement

WASHINGTONHomeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., Thursday issued the following statement in reaction to the U.S. Postal Service announcement that it would delay closing mail processing plants until 2013.

“I appreciate that the Postal Service is moving forward with its downsizing in a way that is consistent with the Senate-passed 21st Century Postal Service Act. The PMG assures us that no mail processing centers will be closed this year, which means the House still has time to pass a bill so it can be reconciled with the Senate-passed bill. While the PMG is moving cautiously now, the financial condition of the Postal Service continues to deteriorate, and he will not be similarly restrained next year. Congress must approve legislation as soon as possible to return the postal service to solid financial ground before essential services are lost for millions of people.”

12 thoughts on “Senator Lieberman: USPS Assured Us That No Mail Processing Centers Will Close This Year

  1. We were lied to also and even after the real news that has been all over the web and in papers near and far was posted on our bulletin boards, my co-workers still uttered “but,” and that the plant manager had said something different. They are all lieing to us!! It is anybodies guess why except this tactic is nothing new. Money grunging cowards is all they are. Our plant is on the list to close this summer and like I told my co-workers, it will not be a secret after the machines start to disappear. It is most sad for our American way of life and the service people expect and deserve. I feel for people feeling forced to retire but I am in the worst position along with quite a few people I work with….we are only halfway to retirement. One word, SUCKS!! Pull the band aid off already!

  2. Talk about lying. Why cant they just tell the employees the truth. We were told right up till 9:30 last week that there would not be a meeting. It was anounced at 9:35 that we would indeed have one at 10. What are the secrets. Are they afraid if they tell us the truth we may actually be able to make decisions and plans? Maybe some people would go ahead and retire, I get more news from online than I do from work. And do not believe they are working with the unions. I am a union rep and most of what they have said up to now is just not true. The employees are suffering greatly, but even worse, all of our country is about to lose something we have always taken for granted. Our Mail.

  3. Fort Lauderdale will be closing by June 2012. Alot of jobs will be gone. If you want to drive on that hellish I-95 for 50 miles you might have a job in miami. Thats not a given…just wait till they give you a bid in LITTLE HAITI!!!! Forget it. His job was to get rid of people and hes doing it, one person at a time. I just feel sorry for all of the people who have big mortgages and will more than likely go into forclosures!

  4. If all of Congress did what they were supposed to do- pass legislation to help the Postal Service- Donahoe would not have been forced to start taking steps to cut costs.. Congress is ultimately to blame for this mess…

  5. Joey boy, your final 18 months are going to long ones, if you still live in a world where you believe anything you are told. Assurance is a quality found only in a few, and unfortunately there are none in the people with whom you have to deal with. Why don’t you visit a workroom floor in your local friendly Post Office if you want to know the truth…………….Long live the true Israel, the church of the Living GOD.

  6. remember folks the PMG is a politician so take everything he says as well as any congressional politician with a grain of salt

  7. Tucson processing plant will close. 147 jobs gone. No more one day mail in town. Tucson processing center is the largest to close. It serves one million people in the metro area and all of Southern Arizona.

    There is something very wrong this picture.

  8. The Florence , SC center is being closed, excuse me, consolidated to Columbia, SC by the end of this month. I believe it leaves about 250 people without a job. Just amazing that the Post Master General can move around with his nose so long from lieing to the United Sates of America.

  9. Closings are off the table…but the consolidations are a GO! Thanks for the usual nothing, Congress.

  10. Joe if you’re surprised that the Postal Service lied to you, you should try working there. It’s an every day thing. Please recognize that this POS Postmaster General need to be FIRED immediately. Replace him with Ralph Nader, someone who actually understands the problem and will fix it WITHOUT cuts in service. This current Postmaster is getting his pockets lined by someone, he is NOT working in the best interests of the USPS.

  11. The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reaffirmed previously announced plans to close 229 mail processing plants and eliminate 28,000 jobs, but the closures will be completed by the end of 2014, a year longer than previously planned.

    In stretching out the closures, USPS leaders appear to have bowed to pressure from members of Congress concerned about job losses.

    “We believe we can achieve all our workforce reductions through attrition,” the Postal Service’s chief operating officer, Megan Brennan, said in a webinar with reporters Thursday. The agency plans to offer an early retirement incentive, Brennan said, but she did not offer details.

    The closures will be staggered:

    • 48 plants by the beginning of September.

    • No closures from September through December, during the election and holiday seasons.

    • 92 closures in early 2013.

    • 89 closures in 2014.

    In all, the cuts will leave the Postal Service with 232 plants, about half of its current network of 461 plants, a step that Postmaster General Pat Donahoe said is necessary to address plummeting first-class mail volume. In all, the reductions are expected to save $2.1 billion annually.

    Under legislation approved by the Senate last month, dozens of plants would get a three-year reprieve from closing. The House has not yet acted on the bill.

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