The post office in Freistatt, Missouri, closed today — on two days’ notice to customers. The Postal Service says it was unable to negotiate a lease renewal with the landlord, so it declared an emergency suspension. As usual in these cases, the landlord says he was more than willing to reduce the rent and make other accommodations, but his efforts, … Read More
Save the Post Office Rally and March – Portland Oregon
Filmed in Portland Oregon on March 17th The first hour of the video is the speeches and rally at Pioneer Square. The last 30 minutes of this video …is the march to the main Post Office in downtown Portland Oregon. The following information was copied from the Facebook event page: SAVE AMERICA'S POSTAL SERVICE — Save 6-Day and Door-to-Door … Read More
Delivering For America: New York City Rally To Save Six-Day Mail Service
NEW YORK — March 24, 2013. Labor leaders, community activists, and politicians stood together outside Manhattan's Farley post office to protest planned closures of neighborhood post offices, the end of six day mail delivery, and layoffs of postal workers. The speakers, in order of appearance, are: · Charlie Heege, President Branch 36 National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) · Mario Cilento, President … Read More
Is the plan to end Saturday delivery DOA?
Two things happened yesterday that may have put the nail in the coffin on the Postmaster General’s plan to end Saturday delivery. First, Congress passed an appropriations bill that has a provision maintaining Saturday delivery, just as it’s done every year since 1987. Second, at virtually the same moment, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent a letter to Congressman Gerald … Read More
Historic La Jolla Post Office headed for closure & sale
Despite a very well organized resistance effort that's been going on for over a year, the Postal Service has decided to go ahead with the sale of the historic post office on 1140 Wall Street in La Jolla, California. The final decision to relocate retail services was posted today on the wall of the La Jolla post office. … Read More
Postal Service looks to close five large New York City Post Offices
Five large post offices in New York may be closed over the coming months. Most likely, retail services will be relocated to smaller spaces in the neighborhood, and several hundred letter carriers who work out of the back of the buildings will be transferred to other postal facilities. The closures would have a dramatic impact on their communities, and the … Read More
Pitney Bowes funds a study to privatize the Postal Service, could make billions off the plan
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has just published a report about a proposal to create a "public-private hybrid" postal system. The full title is worth noting: “An Independent Review of a Thought-Leader Concept to Reform the U.S. Postal Service.” Under the proposal, two-thirds of the Postal Service — the retail and processing components (the “upstream activities”) — would … Read More
What are the USPS and CBRE up to? The case of the historic structure report on the Berkeley Post Office
The fire sale of the country’s post offices seems to be picking up speed. Yesterday the Postal Service confirmed that it was in contract with a buyer for the 1858 post office in Georgetown, a historic neighborhood in Washington, DC. The sale of the New Deal post office in the Bronx, New York, also appears to be moving forward with … Read More
Legacy for Sale: Historic Post Offices on the Market
The New York Times has an excellent front-page article by Robin Pogrebin about the Postal Service’s push to sell off its historic post office buildings. It includes a great photo scroll, and it’s getting lots of very lively comments. As the Times explains, the Postal Service owns nearly a quarter of its 31,000 post offices (it leases space for the rest), and … Read More
A done deal in Derby: The Postal Service decides first, consults later, ignores the law
On Monday, the Postal Service announced that “it is considering plans” to sell the historic post office in Derby, Connecticut. Such a sale requires a formal review process, and the Postal Service has taken the first steps in that process by informing city officials and the public of its plans. The process involves a fairly complicated legal procedure, and it … Read More
Bailout BS: Darrell Issa’s Misinformation Campaign about the Postal Retirement Funds
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Congressman Darrell Issa, has a website entitled “Saving the Postal Service.” According to the website, “H.R. 2309, the Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act, is the only legislation that saves the Postal Service from financial collapse.” Issa would save the Postal Service by dismantling it. His legislation would end Saturday delivery, cut … Read More
Bailout BS: Darrell Issa’s Misinformation Campaign about the Postal Retirement Funds
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Congressman Darrell Issa, has a website entitled “Saving the Postal Service.” According to the website, “H.R. 2309, the Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act, is the only legislation that saves the Postal Service from financial collapse.” Issa would save the Postal Service by dismantling it. His legislation would end Saturday delivery, cut … Read More
