Take The Bullard Banner News in Texas. After the nearest USPS plant closed in June, the weekly paper’s route to local mailboxes now detours through a plant 120 miles away. One subscriber reported getting no paper for weeks—then three in a day.

“I can’t begin to count how many have said ‘if you can’t fix it, just cancel my subscription and I’ll read it online,’” said publisher Bill Woodall, who predicted the paper will soon have to charge for web access.

After the plant in Grenada, Mississippi, closed in June, The Calhoun County Journal reported 15-20 calls a day complaining about delivery. In Cape Girardeau, Missouri, not only newspapers are late—water bills are, too, so shut-offs are up, said The Southeast Missourian.

The list goes on. Half the subscribers to some West Virginia newspapers aren’t receiving them, an irate Congressperson found.

Multiply by this year’s 166 mail plant closings.

The union’s members clocked 800 hours of wait time in June—up from 20 minutes in May, when Williamsport’s plant was still open, The Patriot-News reported. The waiting compounds into overtime when the mail finally does arrive: carriers were out till 9 pm delivering it. Local businesses complain they’re getting orders and payments late. –

 
– See more at: Labor Notes