Tom Bates, the Mayor of Berkeley, California, has written a letter to Ruth Goldway, Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, informing the PRC that he is “personally appealing the sale of the Berkeley Main Post Office because this transaction is not a relocation of services, it is in fact a sale of the historic building.” Mayor Bates notes that the … Read More
Dumbfounded in Dumbo: Residents wonder why automated post office remains locked
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has a story about an automated post office in DUMBO (for non-NYer's, that's "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass," a hip neighborhood in Brooklyn): "DUMBO’s only post office – an unmanned 'Self-Service Kiosk' at 84 Front Street — has been shuttered since last Wednesday and snail mail customers are growing increasingly frustrated. “'I mailed a package … Read More
Building a powerful nationwide grass-roots movement to Save the People’s Post Office
Dave Welsh, a retired letter carrier and an organizer with Save the People’s Post Office, has written a lucid and informative summary of the grass-roots movement to stop the dismantling of the Postal Service for private profit. It starts like this: "Without question, the big-business class – and their agents in USPS headquarters, the executive branch and Congress – are … Read More
Berkeley sleep-in on post office steps goes into third day
About fifteen protesters camped out on the steps of the Berkeley post office for the third night since the rally on Saturday. Protesters denounced the Postmaster General's decision to sell historic post offices in Berkeley, the Bronx, and LaJolla,, close thousands of post offices and mail processing plants, end door-to-door and Saturday delivery, and lay off 100,000-plus unionized postal workers, in what they … Read More
Gretna gears up to save the post office, again
For nearly 70 years, the people in Gretna, Louisiana, did their postal business at a beautiful post office built in 1936. It had a New Deal mural entitled “Steamboats on the Mississippi,” painted by Stuart R. Purser in 1939. In 2003 the Postal Service announced that it wanted to close the post office and sell the building. The city of … Read More
Postal Service reduces hours at post office, then cites declining revenue to close it
The rationales offered by the Postal Service when it wants to close a post offices are often not very rational, but what’s happening in East Irvine, California, is a good example of just how irrational the logic of postal management can get. In 2011, when thousands of post offices were being reviewed for closure, the Postal Service often cited a … Read More
The GOP’s Relentless Quest to Destroy The US Postal Service Is Almost Done
There's an excellent piece in today's Occupy Democrats by Salvatore Aversa about the Issa-led quest to destroy the Postal Service. "The fight against the United States Postal Service continues," writes Aversa. "While the Post Office looks for ways to save itself, Republicans, led by Representative Darrell Issa, continue to look for ways to destroy it. Representative Issa, leader of the … Read More
Postal Service defends mailbox removal – WIVB
The Postal Service continues to remove what it considers underperforming blue collection boxes. Customers in Buffalo, New York, were dismayed to see some of the boxes they depend on just disappear one day. WIVB reports the following: On Clinton Street, a blue mailbox has always been present outside Bruce Beyer's home. But last June, a sign appeared. Then this past … Read More
Remember the Postal Service’s new fashion line? It’s back in the news
In February the Postal Service announced that it was going into the clothing business with its own line, "Rain, Heat and Snow." The big new idea for generating revenue generated a lot of derision in the media, including this ironic slideshow that some people took seriously, and the Postal Service quickly pulled the press release from its website. Now the … Read More
Killing the Post Office on the Altar of Privatization. Our Commons on the Auction Block
DailyKos has a good piece on the latest developments concerning the Berkeley Post Office. It starts like this: "We petitioned. We wrote letters. We got the City Council and the Mayor to write letters. We rallied and marched. We got our state reps and Barbara Lee, our US Representative, to make entreaties. The decision to sell the historic Berkeley Post … Read More
Hurdles in sale of Bronx GPO
Bronx Times reporter David Cruz has been following the story on the sale of the Bronx GPO since the beginning, and he has a new story today about the efforts to stop the sale. "The sale of the iconic Bronx General Post Office may not be as easy as the U.S. Postal Service thought," writes Cruz. "Residents, labor groups … Read More
No end in Climax: The temporary suspension of the post office goes on and on
The owner of the building that formerly housed the post office in Climax, Georgia, has asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to do something about the de facto closing of the post office last year. Morgan Wolaver, the landlord, has submitted an extensive Memorandum to the PRC arguing that the Postal Service illegally closed the post office and that the Commission … Read More
Occupation of post office thwarted in Portland, protestors celebrate birthday of the Post Office
Dozens of demonstrators rallied and attempted to occupy the Main Post Office in Portland on Friday in protest of postal privatization, but a heavy presence of Department of Homeland Security police, Postal Inspectors and a half dozen postal managers standing inside the post office lobby prevented the protestors from entering the building. That didn't stop them from breaking out into a rendition … Read More
APWU Joins the fight: Save Historic Post Offices From the Auction Block
The APWU has joined the fight to stop the sale of historic post office buildings. The union has created a guidelines document that it's distributing to local and state leaders who are engaged in efforts to stop the Postal Service from selling historic post offices. Finding common ground with communities fighting the sales, APWU President Cliff Guffey and Legislative and Political Director … Read More
