 In a surprise move, the U.S. Postal Service, announced a moratorium
after meeting with members of Congress. No post offices or mail
processing plants will be closed during the moratorium period which
ends May 15, 2012. However, the study on which facilities should be
closed will continue. The Upham's corner post office is still not
safe.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the
only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151
million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. With nearly
32,000 Postal Service-managed retail locations and the most frequently
visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service
has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40
percent of the world's mail.
Yet it is on the brink of insolvency. Already this year, it has
accumulated $5.1 billion in debt and faces a deadline to make another
$5.5 billion payment to pre-fund health care retirement benefits for
future retirees due later this week, as required by law.
"The U.S. Postal Service must reduce its operating costs by $20 billion
by 2015 in order to return to profitability," said David Williams, vice
president, Network Operations. The changes are being proposed to
address an estimated 47% drop in regular mail expected over the next 10
years.
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The size of the existing Postal Service network is dictated by the
current overnight transit time in existing service standards. Since
the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and
relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its
operations, the only way to reduce costs is to decrease the service
standards thereby allowing a decrease in personnel, equipment and the
number of mail processing facilities.
On September 15, 2011 the US Postal Service announced plans to review
its mail processing network in the hopes of reducing costs. The Postal
Service is currently considering the elimination of overnight delivery
and studying the possibility of closing 3,700 mostly rural post offices
and 252 mail processing facilities.
The Postal Service is proposing, through the rulemaking process, to
move First-Class Mail to a 2-3 day standard for contiguous U.S.
destinations which would allow a cost savings of $2.1 billion through
the elimination of hundreds of mail processing facilities and the
28,000 postal workers by the end of next year.
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On December 12, several Senators met with the U.S. Postmaster General
Patrick Donahoe and the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman
Thurgood Marshall, Jr. and expressed concern over the impact of reduced
service and the loss of thousands of jobs.
As a result the Postal Service agreed to a moratorium which ends May
15, 2012.
They will delay all closings and consolidations but
will continue to review the facilities slated for possible closure and
will continue to study the impact of proposed closures on service and
costs and to solicit community input.
This will give Congress time to work on a plan to save the
service. “The Postal Service hopes this period will help facilitate the
enactment of comprehensive postal legislation,” the Postal Service said
in a
statement.
Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that reforming the Postal Service and
getting it out of its debt spiral is his first priority when Congress
comes back in 2012.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate are working on different bills to
save the Postal Service. The Postmaster Gen. Patrick Donahue has
criticized those bills as not going far enough, although he said that
elements of both bills could work.
While union groups cheered the news of the moratorium, Rep.
Darrell Issa, a California Republican who crafted legislation to save
the Postal Service, said the service has "caved to political pressure"
in agreeing to the moratorium which, he said, "hastens the crisis that
is bringing the USPS to the brink of collapse."
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“The Postal Service hopes this period will help facilitate the
enactment of comprehensive postal legislation,” the agency said in a
statement.
Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that reforming the Postal Service and
getting it out of its debt spiral is his first priority when Congress
comes back in 2012.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate are working on different bills to
save the Postal Service. The Postmaster Gen. Patrick Donahue has
criticized those bills as not going far enough, although he said that
elements of both bills could work.
While union groups cheered the news of the moratorium, Rep.
Darrell Issa, a California Republican who crafted legislation to save
the Postal Service, said the service has "caved to political pressure"
in agreeing to the moratorium which, he said, "hastens the crisis that
is bringing the USPS to the brink of collapse."
A moratorium is just a delay. The Upham's Corner Post Office is
still scheduled for closure.
In a statement from the Discontinuance Coordinator, Michael Foley, none
of the timelines for decisions have changed. If a decision is
made to close the UC Post Office, it would still be closed but a
probable April closing would be delayed until later in May.
Make a commitment to let your voice be heard. Unless the community makes sufficient
"noise" to convince the Postal Service that it should stay open, our post office will be closed.
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