4,000 more post offices on the chopping block: Nothing personal, it’s just business
The Postal Service is in the process of closing some 3,650 post offices as part of its Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI). The first of them will close by the end of the year, and it will take a few more months to work through the list. But the Postal Service is already looking ahead, and word now comes that … Read More
Rally for the Post Office
On Tuesday, September 27, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (local time), members of the four employee unions of the United States Postal Service will join forces with members of our communities to send a message to the nation and its Congress. • American Postal Workers Union • National Association of Letter Carriers • National Postal Mail Handlers Union • National Rural Letter … Read More
This week in history: The Post Office and the Constitution
Remember a time before envelopes when you just folded the sheets of your letter, added a touch of sealing wax, and dropped it off at the post office? Remember when there were no stamps, and it was the person at the receiving end who paid the postage? Remember when the cost for mailing a letter depended on how far it was going, … Read More
Post Offices removed from the RAOI: List and Map
The Postal Service is well on its way in the closure process for most of the post offices in the Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI). Many of these 3,652 post offices have already had a public hearing, and questionnaires are being distributed and other data gathered as part of the process. Some of these post offices could start closing before … Read More
Preserving the People’s Post Office: Nader writes Congress
Remember Nader's Raiders, the group of young activists who went to Washington in the 60s and 70s (and beyond) to work with Ralph Nader in his fight for consumer protection, a clean environment, and accountable government? Among the hundreds of publications that came out of Nader's Center for Responsive Law are two of the best books written about the post office … Read More
The OIG tells the post office to get a divorce
BY STEVE HUTKINS The retail and delivery operations of the post office have been “coupled” for 150 years, ever since the post office started delivering the mail. Now the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) is telling us that these operations should be “decoupled.” It’s not that the two aren’t getting along — it’s just that the Postal Service … Read More
There Used to be a Post Office Here
ABOUT THE VIDEO In 1975 I was playing in Tanya Tucker's backup band for the grand opening of the Super Bowl in New Orleans. In 1979 I was mopping the floor while Tanya's song played on the radio at the Glencoe, IL, Post Office where I was a casual. Though I didn't imagine it at the time, I wound up … Read More
The Postal Service leaves the driving to us
Among the issues being examined by the Postal Regulatory Commission as part of its Advisory Opinion on the Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI) plan to close 3,652 post offices is how far away the nearest post office is to each post office being studied for closure. In its initial presentation to the PRC, the Postal Service provided a chart showing … Read More
Postal unions launch phase 2 of the TV campaign
The APWU has launched Phase of its television ad campaign, in conjunction with the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, APWU President Cliff Guffey announced. Spots will air on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. The ad will run for approximately two months. [full story]
What to do when you learn your post office may close
Over the past couple of months, some 4,400 communities have learned that their post office may soon close. Some post offices that had been previously initiated for closure studies are closing right now. Many communities have received their "final determination" notices saying the post office will close in a few weeks. Many others are in the middle of the … Read More
Consolidating the processing network: A map view of the AMP plan
The Postal Service announced this week that it will be studying 251 mail processing facilities for consolidation. That's in addition to about 40 plants that had already been initiated for study prior to the announcement. If all of these plants were to close, it would reduce the "area mail processing" (AMP) network by over half. The Postal Service provided … Read More
