BY MARK JAMISON The Postal Service didn’t think the folks in Freistatt, Missouri, should have a post office, so they closed it. The Postal Service didn’t think the folks in Freistatt, Missouri, should get rural carrier delivery like their neighbors, so they tricked the town into accepting cluster boxes. Now the Postal Service doesn’t think the folks in Freistatt, Missouri, … Read More
What it’s all about: The war on workers goes to the post office
BY MARK JAMISON What if the postal crisis we’ve read about over the last five years isn’t really about saving the Postal Service after all? What if the story really isn’t about an archaic Federal agency struggling to find a business plan in the face of technological change? Could the real story be much simpler than that? Maybe the real … Read More
USPS: A wholly owned subsidiary of Mailers Inc.
BY MARK JAMISON I am a card-carrying member of the DAV — Disabled American Veterans. The organization has been a wonderful source of support over the years and does fine work on behalf of veterans. So I was disappointed to discover DAV on the membership list of PostCom, the postal lobbying association that represents businesses and organizations that use the … Read More
Betrayal without remedy: The unwinding of the Postal Service
BY MARK JAMISON The United States Postal Service is not a corporation in the traditional sense of the word, but that hasn’t stopped its leadership — the folks at L’Enfant Plaza and the men and women who sit on the Board of Governors — from viewing it primarily as a corporate entity. The post office is in the Constitution, but that … Read More
It’s Presidents’ Day: The good, the bad, and the BOG
BY MARK JAMISON On Wednesday, February 7, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe stood before members of the press and the American people to announce that the Postal Service would end Saturday mail delivery and collections in August. An announcement like this was inevitable. No one who has followed the travails of the Postal Service over the past few years could have … Read More
At what price profit? The battle for the soul of the Postal Service
BY MARK JAMISON The new year has begun, and the country is still waiting for Congress to address the problems facing the Postal Service. In the meantime, the Postmaster General blames the crisis on congressional inaction and the diversion of first class mail to the Internet. His solution is to cut services to the public, eliminate jobs, and dismantle the infrastructure … Read More
Manufacturing Emergencies: An open letter to the PRC on post office suspensions
BY MARK JAMISON [The following letter was recently sent to the Postal Regulatory Commission and Chairman Goldway in response to issues arising from the implementation of POStPlan.] Dear Chairman Goldway, I am writing to you directly but I hope you will share these comments with the other commissioners. As you are aware, I was very critical of the decision in … Read More
How the Postal Service foundered: Parceling out the responsibility
BY MARK JAMISON Over the last several months the situation surrounding the fate of the Postal Service has become increasingly clear. How can that possibly be the case, when Congress has utterly failed in its efforts to pass postal reform legislation, when mail volumes continue to drop, when troubling news about financial losses continue to appear, and when the agency … Read More
Ignorance, incompetence, favoritism, bullying, and obsession: Just another day at the Post Office
BY MARK JAMISON On September 30, 2001, the management of the Postal Service published a document entitled Outline for Discussion: Concepts for Postal Transformation. As the title suggests, this document described the terms of future discussions about what the Postal Service was and what it should become. In April of 2002, the Postal Service issued another document, this one entitled … Read More
An Open Letter to Senator Collins: It’s time for a new vision of the Postal Service
[A few days ago, former postmaster Mark Jamison wrote a letter to Senator Susan Collins of Maine, urging her to exert her influence in Congress to change the direction of the Postal Service before it's too late. Mr. Jamison can be reached at Mij455@gmail.com, and his contributions to Save the Post Office are archived here.—Ed.] Dear Senator Collins: I am … Read More
To NSA or not to NSA? The Valassis Question
BY MARK JAMISON I would earnestly warn you against trying to find out the reason for and explanation of everything…. To try and find out the reason for everything is very dangerous and leads to nothing but disappointment and dissatisfaction, unsettling your mind and in the end making you miserable. — Queen Victoria to her granddaughter Why would the Postal … Read More
On behalf of infrastructure: Rethinking the postal environment
BY MARK JAMISON It's been four years since the Great Recession began to take its toll on postal revenues, and we appear no closer to a resolution to the crisis than when it first arose. Of course, if one looks at it from an historical perspective, the Postal Service has faced an existential crisis since 1968, when the Kappel Commission issued … Read More
By Default or Design: The Demise of the Postal Service
BY MARK JAMISON, FORMER U.S. POSTMASTER Default. It’s an ugly and dangerous word. It gives the impression that the individual or enterprise attached to it has utterly failed. It implies defeat and irresponsibility. The news media use the word with relish. Like a car crash, a hurricane, or a murder, it sells newspapers. Combined with the word “bailout,” it’s … Read More
“A half-vast plan”: A postmaster comments on POStPlan
[Today, Postmaster Mark Jamison of Webster, North Carolina, shared these comments on POStPlan with the Postal Regulatory Commission.] July 27, 2012 Commissioners, I am not an intervener in this docket. I understand that these comments cannot become a part of the record and may not have an impact on your deliberations in this case. I hope, however, that you will … Read More
Free the Post Office
BY MARK JAMISON The United States Postal Service has abandoned the American people. At the direction of its Board of Governors and through the efforts of its primary officer, the Postmaster General, it has abandoned its mission of service and its basic responsibilities to the citizens of this country. In place of an uplifting vision of binding the nation together, … Read More