PRESS RELEASE: The San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council (CLC) has unanimously voted to picket Congressman Darrel Issa’s main district office in Vista, California (just north of San Diego) on Thursday, Sept 1. NALC President Fredric Rolando has decided to make this a much larger action, and he has sent out a statewide E-Activist. The NALC will be joining … Read More
The Postal Service Means Business
“History Repeats Itself: The Robber Barons of the Middle Ages and the Robber Barons of Today” “The Postal Service has been faced with critical financial problems in recent years.” In the last fiscal year, “Postal Service expenses exceeded revenues” by billions of dollars. “Although postage rates have increased significantly, labor and fuel costs have risen even faster. . . Rising payroll … Read More
Kendleton, Texas
Kendleton, Texas, is rich with history, going back to the 1860s, when William E. Kendell divided his property into small farms and sold the lots to former slaves. It got a post office in 1884, and now the Postal Service wants to take it away. More on this story, on the way. In the meantime, here are a couple more … Read More
First-Class Mail Gets Slower: The Declining USPS Service Standards
by DON CHENEY When Airmail was abolished in 1977, the Postal Service promised America, "All First-Class mail is going to fly." When Third-Class mail was changed to Single-Piece Standard in 1996 and then abolished as a separate category, USPS said it would "all go First Class." Now First-Class Mail is going to have yet another day added to its service … Read More
Post Office Closings: List and Map
The Postal Service can be very withholding about information. It doesn’t like to give out any more than necessary, and sometimes it gives out less than required by law. The AWPU has filed a suit against the USPS for withholding information about postal facility consolidations. The lack of information is particularly problematic when it comes to lists. The list for … Read More
King can’t get no respect: The USPS stonewalls to run out the consolidation clock
If you’ve had a chance to read Craig O'Donnell’s “They’re Coming for Your Post Office,” the story of his efforts to save his post office in Still Pond, Maryland, you know how frustrating it can be trying to get documents from the Postal Service when you’re fighting a closure. The Postal Service is supposed to share the documents because citizens … Read More
PMG caves, DMA wins, USA loses: The Postal Service withdraws its request for a rate increase
The mailing industry has won the battle over the “exigent rate increase.” The Postal Service will be withdrawing its request to the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase postage. No one likes it when rates go up, but this announcement should make people mad as hell. The Postal Service is closing thousands of post offices, preparing to put hundreds of thousands … Read More
How to Save the Postal Service Before It’s Too Late
[In “The Perfect Storm: How Everything Is Coming Together to Take the Postal Service Apart,” a postmaster analyzed the causes of the current crisis. In the following piece, he o makes some concrete suggestions for getting the Postal Service out of the morass. Here is part two of “Notes from a Postmaster.” At my request, the author remains anonymous to … Read More
