BY MARK JAMISON On the first Friday of each month, economists, policymakers, and professionals in the finance industry wait for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to release the current jobs report. The BLS report, which quantifies unemployment in the U.S., is widely seen as one of the primary economic indicators. While some folks may judge the health of the economy … Read More
The Privatization Ruse
BY MARK JAMISON Accusations that the PMG’s ultimate goal is to privatize the Postal Service are apparently starting to make some of the folks at L’Enfant Plaza a little touchy. On January 17, the Washington Post ran a story about the new postal counters in Staples that included a quote from Senator Jon Tester of Montana: Donahoe “can say whatever he wants … Read More
Occupy.com: Now Is the Moment to Save Our Postal Commons
Occupy.com: For some, the postal service has become an ideological punching bag, proof that “government programs” don’t work and that the state inevitably bureaucratizes services better left to the private sector. In the case of the postal service, this narrative lacks a critical element: fidelity to truth. As an independent agency under the umbrella of the federal government, the United States … Read More
How slowing down Standard Mail paves the way for ending Saturday delivery
The Postal Regulatory Commission is currently reviewing a request from the Postal Service to change delivery service standards for a large portion of Standard mail. The plan is to “load level” the heavy volume of mail that is normally delivered on Monday by delivering some of it on Tuesday. The plan has been presented as a way to "ease the … Read More
WaPo: Staples’ selling postal products without USPS workers stirs fears of privatization
Washington Post: With its steep financial challenges, the U.S. Postal Service desperately needs to find innovative solutions, including new ways to deliver services to the public. A pilot project with Staples stores around the nation does that. But feeling ignored in this equation are postal workers left watching as their jobs go to private employers who can pay their employees less, … Read More
Thinking inside the PO Box
BY MARK JAMISON On January 26, postage rates are going up — about 6 percent across the board, which means a First Class stamp will go from 46 to 49 cents. But there's another rate increase going into effect on that day, and it hasn't gotten much attention. Three weeks ago, deep in the back of the December 26 … Read More
State AFL-CIO Federations to Staples: Postal Workers and Customers Deserve Better
APWU Web News: Local union leaders are winning allies for the union’s campaign against a pilot program that placed postal retail centers in more than 80 Staples stores, reports Northeast Region Coordinator John Dirzius. Jim Bertolone, President of the Rochester Area Local, and Mike Dennehy, Vice President of the Greater CT Area Local, asked their state AFL-CIO federations to send letters … Read More
Alternatives to the Post Office: Expanded Access in FY 2013
The APWU is currently sending delegations to Staples stores in their communities to meet with store managers to protest the postal counters that have been installed at 82 stores, with plans for more. After the visits, the APWU plans to organize a day of action at Staples stores around the country, followed by sustained actions at a number of stores … Read More
Union, Activists and Officials Fight Sale of Landmark Bronx Post Office
DNAInfo: "Bronx officials, activists and union representatives are calling on the United States Postal Service to immediately halt its sale of the Bronx General Post Office – a plan they have contested in the past. "The 170,000-square-foot building on East 149th Street and the Grand Concourse, filled with murals from the 1930s, was listed on the “USPS Properties for Sales” website, run … Read More
Congressional vote blocks Berkeley post office sale
Berkeley's hopes of keeping its century-old post office off the auction block have gotten a boost in Congress, where a bipartisan House bill urges the Postal Service to refrain from selling historic buildings, including Berkeley's, while the U.S. inspector general investigates whether the agency is violating preservation laws. Read more.
Impassioned crowd protests sale of historic post office in Topeka KS
Topeka Capital Journal: Dozens of people delivered impassioned pleas or registered concerns and questions Tuesday afternoon to the U.S. Postal Service regarding its intentions to vacate and sell its historic downtown building and lease a smaller space as a cost-saving maneuver. An open forum was held at 4 p.m. in the third-floor courtroom of the U.S. Post Office at 424 S. … Read More
Film producer buys historic Santa Monica post office
Looks like historic post offices are becoming a fashionable trophy for Hollywood film producers. First Joel Silver (Mad Max, The Matrix) bought the Venice post office. Now SkyDance Productions (True Grit, World War Z) has bought the Santa Monica post office, which was closed back in June. Read more.
Representatives Serrano and Lee: Postal Service Must Halt Historic Buildings Sales
Press release: Washington, DC – Congressman Jose Serrano and Congresswoman Barbara Lee have both called for a halt to the sale of post offices. They have each issued press releases today explaining that multiple provisions included in the omnibus appropriations bill unveiled on Monday urged the U.S. Postal Service to halt sales of historic post office buildings. One provision instructs the … Read More
New York Metro Area Postal Union calls for an immediate moratorium on the sale of the historic Bronx GPO
New York Metro Area Postal Union Press Release: New York, NY – January 14, 2014 – When President Jonathan Smith of the New York Metro Area Postal Union learned that the United States Postal Service was going ahead with its plans to sell the historic Bronx GPO, he wanted to know what was the rationale for selling Bronx GPO, while, at … Read More
Postal Service proposes changing environmental regulations on post office disposals
The Postal Service has proposed a revision of federal regulations that would help it avoid going through an extensive environmental review process when disposing of postal properties like post offices. The Postal Service wants to make things easier because it has many more sales planned for the future. As the posting in the Federal Register says today, “The Postal Service … Read More
Belleview MO post office closes over lease issue
The post office in Belleview, Missouri, in the Arcadia Valley, closed on December 30. It was supposed to stay open as part of POStPlan for four hours a day, but the Postal Service says that the landlord wouldn't renew the lease. There's probably more to it than that, but the news item is brief and the area is so rural … Read More
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