From the Rural Organizing Project: On Monday, December 19, the Rural Organizing Project coordinated rallies across the state of Oregon to protest the Postal Service’s plan to close rural post offices. Over twenty-three communities fought back against Congress' move to privatize the Postal Service for corporate profit. Monday proved just how much rural Oregon cares about core community infrastructure that supports EVERYONE, … Read More
The RAOI Advisory Opinion: A Transformative Moment or a Bump in the Road?
It’s been a week since the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued its Advisory Opinion on the Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI), the Postal Service’s plan to close 3,652 post offices. The Postal Service has yet to issue a reply. Maybe the attorneys and strategists in postal headquarters just don’t know what to say. The Advisory Opinion says the plan to … Read More
“Pray for the Postal Service!” by Philip F. Rubio
BY PHILIP F. RUBIO “Pray for the Postal Service!” That was the last line that our letter carrier wrote on her holiday card to us, after we had left her a holiday card the day before thanking her for her service over the past year. We do that every December like many other postal patrons in the United States. I … Read More
Week in Review: Tis the Season
The big news of the week was the Advisory Opinion issued by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on the Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI), the Postal Service's plan to close 3,652 post offices. The PRC concluded that the Optimization Initiative, “notwithstanding its name, . . . is not designed to optimize the retail network,” so the Postal Service should come … Read More
Unbinding the Nation: America and the Post Office
[Yesterday the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued its Advisory Opinion on the Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI), the Postal Service’s plan to close 3,652 post offices. On this Christmas Eve, Mark Jamison shares his thoughts on reading the Opinion.] THE RAOI OPINION points to a very unsettling possibility. Small post office closures are not about “rationalizing” the network — they offer minimal cost … Read More
The Postal Service propaganda machine kicks into gear
Over the past couple of weeks, numerous local news outlets around the country have published op-ed pieces and "letters to the editor" written by District Managers of the Postal Service. The writers argue that Congress needs to give the Postal Service more freedom to act like a business so that it can return to profitability. They advocate going to five-day … Read More
Week in Review: The plot thickens
The five-month moratorium on closing post offices and processing plants was the big news of the week, but that's not all that happened in postal world. Here's a roundup of some of the week's news: Occupy Oregon’s post offices: Yesterday, seventeen Oregon communities protested the Postal Service’s plan to close rural post offices across the state. According to the Rural … Read More
Postal Service Declares a Moratorium on Closing Post Offices and Processing Plants
The Postal Service announced this afternoon that there will be a moratorium on the closings of all post offices and mail processing plants for five months — December 15 to May 15. That is welcome news indeed, and it will give the Postal Service and Congress time to work out a whole host of issues, including the $5 billion pre-funding to … Read More
Week in Review: What a mess
A total mess: The big news this week, of course, was the Postal Service’s request for an Advisory Opinion on its plan to “rationalize” the processing network by closing 252 processing plants. The Postal Service says the plan will save $2.1 billion a year. Most of that savings would be in labor costs. The materials submitted for the Advisory Opinion, … Read More
The Case for Consolidation: Overview of the Postal Service’s Request for an Advisory Opinion
On Monday, December 5, the Postal Service submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) a request for an Advisory Opinion on the proposed changes in service standards associated with the consolidation of the mail-processing network. The plan would close 252 facilities, put around 35,000 employees out of work, and save the Postal Service an estimated $2.1 billion a year. It … Read More
“Time to Save the Post Office” by Ralph Nader
The battered national consensus behind a national universal postal service–conceived by Benjamin Franklin–is heading for a free fall due to bad management, corporate barracudas and a bevy of editors and reporters enamored with the supremacy of the Internet which makes up their world. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is pursuing a strategy of cutting or delaying services while increasing prices. Usually … Read More
More fun with charts: The Times graphs mail volumes
The New York Times has an opinion forum today with six contributors weighing in on the Postal Service’s plan to eliminate next-day delivery for first-class mail. One of the contributors is yours truly, Steve Hutkins of “Save the Post Office,” so many thanks to the Times and editor Katy Roberts for the opportunity to tell a different story about what’s … Read More
The good, the bad, and the ugly: The Postal Service finds its own hired gun
Back in October, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) looked to Wall Street for advice and took on some “hired guns” — the “car czar” Ron Bloom and the legendary investment bank Lazard. It was probably a smart move. Bloom has had a very successful career as both an investment banker and union advocate, and Lazard is widely regarded as … Read More
Week in Review: More news, more of the same
Time for another “Week in Review” already? Seems like only yesterday we were talking about more post offices closing, angry citizens speaking out at public meetings, appeal cases at the PRC, and off-base articles in the mainstream media. This week, it’s more of the same. Occupy the Post Office: This year December 19th will be the busiest day during the … Read More
