How can we stop the usps from lowering service standards and closing or consolidating mail processing plants? How can we reach our communities? How can we motivate our legislators and neighborhood organizations? How can we reach the businesses in our cities and town?
We must let residents know the effect the reduction in service standards and the closure or consolidation of postal facilities in their communities will have on their town and on them.
Most of these groups don’t realize that they will also take a big hit if service standards are lowered and 82 mail processing plants are shuttered. They may feel sorry that postal workers will be forced to work outside the community. However, they have been told over and over that the USPS is broke and must make cuts. The Postal Service doesn’t dare tell members of the communities how they will be adversely affected.
Who is going to tell the truth? We have to. We have to reach our community and tell them the facts!
The facts are:
• The USPS is not broke. In the last two years, the Postal Service made a profit from operations.
• On Feb. 14, 2014, the USPS placed an “indefinite hold” on Phase 2 of the service standard changes and plant closures and consolidations it had announced in 2011.
• Four months later, on June 30, 2014, the Postmaster General lifted the “indefinite hold” and announced that service standards would be drastically reduced, effective Jan. 5, and 82 plants would be closed or consolidated.
• If carried out, the Postmaster General’s plans would further delay mail service across the country. This action would tarnish the great work that postal workers do every day to service their communities.
Quantifying the Effect
To quantify the effect the planned closures and consolidations would have on the communities whose mail processing facilities are targeted for closure or consolidation, the Postal Union Alliance commissioned studies of the economic impact. The Postal Union Alliance is comprised of the APWU, National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) and National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA).
The Fiscal Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan research organization, conducted the studies. Five facilities were chosen, representing a cross-section of the 82 sites: Tucson, AZ; New Orleans, LA; Newburgh, NY; Youngstown, OH, and Huron, SD.
The studies demonstrate the negative consequences on the economies of the cities, towns, and communities that are slated to lose postal facilities in 2015. They show that job losses and economic hardship would extend far beyond postal employees if the cutbacks are carried out.
Communities would lose good, living-wage, union jobs. Businesses would suffer, and some could even close.
America’s proud, prompt service would disappear. The right, guaranteed by federal law, to receive equal, prompt, affordable and efficient mail service would become an empty promise.
Our members must be a part of the movement to educate our communities. We need you to work with your community to fight this injustice, and to take an active role in democracy.
What does that mean? Join your local union in setting up community meetings. Send letters to the editor of local newspapers. Help your local build community coalitions. Take part in saving your community, as well as saving the future of the Postal Service. When it’s time to retire, we want to leave good, living-wage jobs for our communities’ children and grandchildren.
We have to stand up, fight back and look out for each other.
– See more at: http://www.apwu.org/news/deptdiv-news-article/impact-plant-closures-beyond-postal-sphere#sthash.tosTUpgb.dpuf
Residential delivery should be 3 days a week. Love my Staples they know customer service while window clerks at the PO has the main function of getting customers POed.
Boycott Staples. Look what happened to Sears 20 years ago. I cut up my card and never stepped a foot back in there. Do the same for Staples, union employees and maybe we can stop these closures.
Funny this article that has no author is a day late and a dollor short
Once again panic is setting in on be half of the unions…… do they actually realize that a majority of the general public couldn’t care less? The public will adjust to any changes and all will be just fine. But anytime the unions can get a chance to beat the drum for solidarity they will make it sound worse than it actually is.
What no one seems to understand is, the public does not care about first class letters. Nobody cares whether they get their bills or car wash announcements a day late or on Monday instead of Saturday if we go to 5 day delivery.
I know i don’t care. Get rid of 5 day delivery and then start delivering packages on Saturday and Sunday. The public does care about getting their packages as soon as possible. It is the growing product, first class letters are never going to come back, why chase a dying product?
Christmas help has gotten no training,(not paired with career personnel) many jobs already “tagged” for reversion while the hiring continues, no EAS (Mgmt)reversions and the campaign to get rid of senior Employees forges ahead as work schedules are turned “upside down” to help force out those with seniority. Congress “dove under their desks” to make sure they’re not in session to take the blame for the massive cuts in service and standards to their constituents. Thanks and Merry Christmas to you too and to the USPS…good night!
Recently, all union members received mail urging they help get the word out about the looming plant closures and Staples-to be active in the union’s causes and we all should. But I think that same message should be sent out to every address in America! I’d even be willing to draft up a local letter to our community and box sections, possibly assisted by our local unions as well- and if every local throughout this country or a national mailing got these real issues out- not just to members, but to the customers as well, then prefunding , the closures etc. would have far more support and impact.
Emperor Donuthole gonna see “Rome” burn before he sails away!
Can you tell us how Much Money being SAVED from the LOWER GAS PRICES..? it is the PRE-FUNDING and CONGRESS tht is handcuffing us from doing even more to grow the Business rather then DESTROY IT!!
You are a little late. Congress is out of session and by the time they are back in session the service cuts will have already happened and the USPS will have scrapped enough DBCS machines that it will no longer have the capability of providing OND service whether plants close or not.
He say nothing of how he is going to pay for those jobs. why isn’t he picketing Congress demanding funding? The fact is America demand fist-class service at economy prices, if they really wanted next day service they would pay for express mail which guarantees next day delivery or your money back