Government & Politics
Postal Service to close 82 more centers, slowing some mail delivery
Snail mail is about to get even slower.
The Postal Service, caught in a vortex of plummeting mail volume and brutal expenses, will close 82 more processing centers around the country, bringing the total to about one-third the number there were a decade ago.
In cities that lose their centers, including Springfield, Mo., that will mean the end of overnight delivery for first-class mail, such as letters, bills and birthday cards.
Union officials contend that even in cities that retain a plant, such as Kansas City, delivery times for all classes of mail are likely to increase.
The Postal Service says it has no choice.
“The Postal Service has recorded substantial losses over the last three years and continues to see steep declines in first-class mail volume and revenue,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a video message to employees. “As a result, we find ourselves with excess capacity in the network and few alternatives to reduce costs.”
But from the point of view of the four large postal labor unions, it’s a step in the wrong direction.
“Slowing down the mail is the last thing to do to help the Postal Service,” said Chris Bentley, president of National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 297 in Kansas City. “It’s like a business that isn’t making the profits it used to, but instead of providing better service it starts cutting services and hours. You’re not going to attract business that way.”
Postal employees rallied against the closure plan Friday in Kansas City and elsewhere as the Postal Service Board of Governors was holding its last meeting of the year. But the decision to close the processing centers had already been made in 2011.
The Postal Service has closed more than 350 processing centers since 2005 and in January will begin closing more. Also on the list are centers in Salina, Kan., and Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The closings come on top of other cutbacks that have inconvenienced the public, such as the shuttering of local post offices. Three in Kansas City’s old Northeast area are now open only a couple of hours a day.
“That’s what I hear about from the public,” said Antoinette Robinson, president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 67 in Kansas City. “These are post offices that the inner-city people rely on. The post office said you can go to James Crews station on Truman Road, but one lady said she would have to take two bus transfers.”
The Postal Service would also like to end Saturday mail delivery, but that has been blocked in Congress.
The last round of processing plant closures and the coming phase are together projected to save more than $1.6 billion a year.
But that will not bail out the Postal Service, which announced Friday it lost $5.5 billion this fiscal year even though revenue increased by $569 million. That increase was attributed to a price increase in January and strong growth in package mailing.
A major factor in the Postal Service’s problem is a 53 percent drop in first-class mail volume over the last decade, fueled by growth in Internet communications and online bill paying.
But another major factor has been a congressional mandate that the Postal Service pay now for the health care needs of future retirees. No other business is required to do that. The pre-funding mandate cost the Postal Service $5.7 billion this year. The unions support legislation to alleviate that burden.
When the mail processing centers close, the mail they currently handle will have to be trucked to another city, perhaps in another state. Springfield’s mail will come to Kansas City, increasing the workload at the plant at 1700 Cleveland Ave. That could mean more jobs here.
The Postal Service acknowledges the closings could affect 15,000 employees but says it will try to offer displaced workers other positions. The Postal Service has downsized by more than 200,000 jobs since 2004 through attrition without layoffs. The postal force is now about 500,000.
Twenty percent of first-class mail will still be delivered overnight after the next round of closures, the Postal Service says. Overall, it says, the average time for first-class mail delivery will increase from 2.14 days to 2.25 days.
But the Postal Service acknowledges that in cities that lose a processing plant it will no longer be possible to post a first-class letter for 49 cents and expect it to be delivered in the same city the next day.
“Those locations will no longer have overnight service,” said postal spokeswoman Stacy St. John.
Next-day delivery will still be possible with Priority Mail Express, but it costs more, based on weight and destination.
Bentley of the mail handlers union contends all forms of mail, from letters to packages to periodicals, will inevitably be delayed by the closing of processing centers and that all Americans will be affected.
“If you have to drive a postcard 300 miles up the road and run it through a mail processing machine and then drive it 300 miles back,” Bentley said, “I don’t think anyone outside of postal management would ever try to claim that’s efficient or speedy.”
To reach Matt Campell call 816-234-4902 or send email to mcampbell@kcstar.com
Change at the top
The Postal Service announced Friday that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe will retire Feb. 1 after 39 years with the Postal Service. Megan J. Brennan, currently chief operating officer, will become the 74th and first woman postmaster general.
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