The arrangement between the Postal Service and Amazon to deliver packages to members of Amazon Prime on Sundays continues to make news, but details about the deal remain scant. Â In a post a few days ago, we speculated about how much the Postal Service might be making, and we took a look at a PRC docket that might have been … Read More
Select Premier Post Offices Extend Saturday Hours for Holidays
Last May the Postal Service designated 3,100 of its highest-revenue retail facilities as Premier Post Offices. They’re getting special treatment, like improved maintenance and extra training for retail associates. Last week the Postal Service released the Harry Potter stamps, but they were only available at Premier Post Offices. Now many of the Premier Post Offices are opening special hours. Five … Read More
Nader writes the PMG: More of these ll-conceived plans will bring the USPS to ruin
Last week, shortly after the Postal Service's financial report was released, Ralph Nader wrote the Postmaster General a letter. After noting the promising financial results in the report, Nader goes on to say, "the USPS under your leadership has not shown much interest in exploring innovative means to raise new revenue. Instead, you have focused much of your energy on cutting … Read More
Call for a National Day of Mourning 
for letter carrier killed while delivering in the dark
Press Release: Communities and Postal Workers United calls on all postal workers and allies to observe a national day of mourning within the US Postal Service. We call on postal workers to wear black armbands, observe a moment of silence, and lower flags to half staff on the day after his funeral*, to call attention to the brutally tragic killing … Read More
Congresswoman Norton Writes to Postmaster General with Questions Following Tragic Murder of Postal Service Worker
Press Release: Following this weekend’s tragic murder of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) letter carrier Tyson Jerome Barnette in Landover, Maryland, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a member of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S Postal Service and the Census, wrote today to the U.S. Postmaster General regarding long-standing … Read More
PRC dismisses (partly) APWU Complaint on Plant Consolidations
The Postal Regulatory Commission ruled yesterday on the APWU’s Complaint involving the Network Rationalization plan to consolidate 250 or so mail processing plants. The Complaint alleged that the Postal Service failed to comply with legally mandated service standards, and it cited a number of examples where the mail was being delayed due to the plant consolidations. The Commission dismissed … Read More
Postal Service wins appeal on S.F. SRO deliveries
SFGate reports: "A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the U.S. Postal Service's decision nearly five years ago to deliver mail to the front desk or a central collection box rather than to individual mailboxes at most of San Francisco's 500 single-room-occupancy hotels." Read more. The ruling itself is here.
Where you can get Harry Potter stamps — and where you can’t: A list, map, and complaint
The new Harry Potter stamps were released last week, but you can’t get them at just any old post office. You’ll need to travel to one of the 3,100 post offices that the Postal Service has designated as a Premier Post Office. A list of them, along with a map, can be found on Google Docs here. (The original source … Read More
APWU: The Great Postal Giveaway — USPS Sends Jobs, Work to Staples
The APWU has come out strong against putting post offices inside of Staples, staffed with Staples employees. “This is a direct assault on our jobs and on public postal services,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “The APWU supports the expansion of postal services. But we are adamantly opposed to USPS plans to replace good-paying union jobs with non-union low-wage jobs held by … Read More
What Would JFK Do? The Yale Commencement Address
INTRODUCTION BY MARK JAMISON For the past couple of weeks, the media have focused, almost obsessively, on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, November 22 being the fiftieth anniversary of his death. I found myself wandering through some of JFK’s speeches and came across his commencement address at Yale University, delivered on June 11, 1962. In this speech President … Read More
Postal service kills plan to sell Old Chelsea post office
Here's something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. The Postal Service has dropped its plan to sell the historic Old Chelsea post office in New York City. "“I am thankful that after the completion of the public review process, USPS has taken these concerns into consideration and is now exploring options that do not include selling off this historic community … Read More
What does your local post office mean to you?
The Association of U.S. Postal Lessors is doing a survey to learn more about how people think about the value of the post office to their community and the likely social and economic effects of closing the post office. The owner of the building that houses the post office in Licking, Missouri, is encouraging everyone in his town to participate in the … Read More
Harry Reid saves the post office in Sun Valley
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Wednesday that a proposal to shutter the post office in Sun Valley, Nevada, has been officially withdrawn. Reid said he’s glad the postal service listened to residents who would have been affected by the closure, including seniors and disabled veterans. Read more. (And there's an earlier story with video here.)
Old Ukiah post office becoming eyesore
Press Democrat: "Nearly two years after the Postal Service closed Ukiah's historic downtown post office, it remains shuttered and has become increasingly derelict in appearance. 'This is exactly what people were afraid of, that it would become a blighted building in the middle of Ukiah,' said Alan Nicholson, a leader in the city's failed fight to save the post office … Read More
PRC remands decision to close Fernandina Beach post office
The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued an order remanding the final determination to close the historic Fernandina Beach post office on Amelia Island, Florida.  Presumably that will hold up the sale of the building as well.  There’s some background on the sale here.  The Postal Service filed a Motion to Dismiss the appeal based on the view that the post office was part … Read More
Postal Service Counters Replace UPS Services at 82 Staples Locations
Going Postal has the scoop on the Postal Service's new initiative to put post offices inside of Staples. "A new partnership between USPS and Staples Inc. offers a promising opportunity for the Postal Service to expand access to its services. A recently announced pilot program, the first such agreement under what USPS terms its Retail Partner Expansion Program, calls for the … Read More
