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About USPS Station and Branch Closures
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(October 2009) The Postal Service strategy for responding to its financial problems can be summed up in a single word: cut. Cut service, cut jobs, cut the postal network. The latest example is the USPS plan to close hundreds of stations and branches, with little opportunity for input from citizens, community leaders, and workers.
The controversy over USPS efforts to close retail facilities in hundreds of communities across the nation has drawn increasing attention as the Postal Service refines its list of stations and branches targeted for closure.
Despite USPS assurances to the contrary, citizens, community leaders, and postal workers are concerned that closing community postal facilities will deprive residents of easy access to important services. Closing these facilities would create hardships — especially for senior citizens, the handicapped, and our neighbors who rely on public transportation. Nearby business would suffer too.
Although the USPS says the closures are part of a nationwide effort to reduce costs, the Postmaster General acknowledges that the savings from closing stations would be “modest, at best.”
The cause of the Postal Service’s financial crisis is two-fold: The sharp downturn in the economy, and a provision of federal law that requires the USPS to pre-fund retiree healthcare payments (a burden no other federal agency bears). Congress recently passed legislation to provide temporary relief from the healthcare payment, and the economy will eventually rebound.
The APWU opposes the closure of stations and branches based on temporary conditions.
Key USPS Actions to Date
On May 15, 2009, the USPS notified [PDF] the APWU about its plans to gut the postal retail network in a letter disclosing that it is “considering consolidating operations in our larger stations and branches.”
At a briefing for APWU officers on June 23, managers provided the union with an updated list [Excel spreadsheet] of 3,243 stations and branches in Level-24-and-above installations that were being reviewed for possible closure/consolidation.
Since then, the list has been revised several times, and Oct. 9, 2009, the Postal Service announced it had reduced to 371 [list-PDF] the number of stations and branches under consideration for closure.
But with each new list, the USPS has cautioned that it “does not represent a final decision on consolidation.”
Union Response
Postal workers have a unique ability to expose the negative effects that station and branch closings are likely to have on citizens who depend on these offices. We are educating legislators and civic organizations, informing the media, and organizing opposition to the proposed closings.
We are also building support for the Access to Postal Services Act (H.R. 658), legislation that will require the Postal Service to meet strict criteria before deciding to close or consolidate important elements of the postal retail network. Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), the bill would modify the procedures the USPS must follow in connection with the closing or consolidation of any postal facility. It would require the USPS to conduct an investigation to determine if there is need for the proposed consolidation, and to notify members of the affected community by mail and in area newspapers. In deciding whether to consolidate, the Postal Service would be required to consider the effect on the community and employees, while continuing to provide “a maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns.” The USPS would be required to post the decision and findings prominently in each postal facility that would be affected, and the notice of the posting “shall be sent by mail to all persons served by such postal facility at least 90 days before a final determination is made, to ensure that such persons will have an opportunity to submit comments.”
Station & Branch 'Tool Kit'
The APWU has prepared a tool kit [members only - PDF] to assist local unions in their efforts to stop the closings. The tool kit includes sample letters to legislators, an itemization of information locals should request from management, a guide for challenging improper Contract Postal Units, and other material.
The national union also has intervened in a proceeding before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) (Docket # N2009-1), which is preparing to issue “an advisory opinion” on the station-and-branch initiative. The APWU has filed interrogatories and made related arguments in PRC hearings, and has asked local presidents to provide specific information about targeted facilities in their areas.
Meanwhile, in a June 9, 2009 letter [PDF] the union reminded management that a Memorandum of Understanding included in the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement requires that “all existing retail operations will remain within the installation of which they are a part.”
