USPS Plans to Close the Doors on Service
From the Mail Handlers Union:
(February 23, 2012) Last year, on September 15, 2011, the Postal Service issued a list of 252 mail processing facilities that it planned to study for possible closing and consolidation. The alleged justification for this process was to ensure that the Postal Service would be able to reduce the number of its mail processing facilities to the extent necessary to deal with a drop in mail volume. There certainly has been an unprecedented drop in mail volume during the past few years, and to the extent that the volume is not expected to return, some reduction in the number of mail processing facilities might be justified. But now the Postal Service has made the closing and consolidation of more than two hundred facilities part and parcel of its destructive plans to downsize the Postal Service and threaten universal service by cutting service standards, reducing the days of residential delivery, and otherwise threatening the historic role of the Postal Service in America. The NPMHU will be examining the latest list of closings and consolidations, and will be working to ensure that only sensible closings move forward, and that any closings that do occur are implemented in a manner consistent with the law and the National Agreement. At the same time, we also are working to negotiate a retirement program that will provide an incentive to mail handlers who choose to retire or resign during the coming months, thereby providing additional landing spots for any mail handlers who may face excessing from their current installations. We will continue to communicate about all developments, as they occur.
