The Postal Service’s Credibility Deficit

(This article appeared in the July/August 2013 edition of The American Postal Worker.)

Greg Bell, Executive Vice President

The decision by Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe to accelerate the consolidation of more than 70 mail processing plants that were originally scheduled for 2014 underscores the urgency of our struggle to get Congress to pass legislation that protects service and preserves the mail processing network.

Accelerating the consolidations causes unnecessary disruption in the lives of employees, harms communities, delays mail, degrades service, and drives away customers.

It also violates the commitment the PMG made to employees, customers, communities, businesses, and members of Congress that these consolidations would not occur before 2014.

However, the Postal Service is using Congress’ failure to act to justify moving forward with its consolidation program. By accelerating its plans, the Postal Service intends to make our struggle to save these facilities a moot point.

Despite the obstacles, the APWU’s efforts at the national, state and local level continue to garner support for our cause and opposition to efforts to dismantle the Postal Service mail pro cessing network.

Transparency and Credibility

As the USPS Offi ce of Inspector General (OIG) noted in a report issued in March, “Consolidation activities during the 2012 fall mailing season conflicted with information shared with stakeholders. In addition, overall cost-saving projections were revised on several occasions, causing stakeholders to further question the initiative.” (Management Advisory Report # NO- MA-13-004, Lessons Learned from Mail Processing Network Rationalization Initiatives.)

The OIG report confirms what many of us already knew: The network consolidation plan lacks transparency and management’s implementation of the plan undermines the Postal Service’s credibility.

The APWU has been vigorously pursuing greater transparency in the consolidation process, but we’ve had to fight the Postal Service every step of the way.

The OIG report also noted, “Management stated that phased implementation of the initiative provides customers and employees with time to adapt to the smaller mail processing network, meets cost-reduction goals while maintaining service performance, and addresses scheduling constraints due to the holiday mailing seasons. In addition, incremental implementation allows management to develop and use any lessons learned for future consolidations.”

Apparently, very little was learned.

Notwithstanding management’s claims, it’s questionable whether the Postal Service can implement the accelerated consolidations without further delaying and degrading mail service.

Outreach to Congress

Faced with these challenges, many locals have succeeded in persuading their members of Congress to send letters to Postmaster General Donahoe opposing mail processing consolidations. For example, a letter signed by 47 members of Congress urged the PMG to stand by his commitment to keep the more than 70 mail processing facilities open at least until next spring.

“Maintaining operations at the mail processing centers would allow Congress time to take action on postal reform legislation,” the letter said. “It is critically important the Postal Service not preempt Congressional action by unilaterally moving forward with elimination of overnight delivery, allowing for major shutdowns across the country of mail processing facilities,” the letter said.

The letter was signed by legislators who represent districts where impacted facilities are scheduled for accelerated consolidation.

We Are Not Alone

Although APWU members are in the forefront of this struggle, we are not alone. According to a recent report released by the OIG, more than 70 percent of Americans oppose closing mail processing facilities if it would result in a one- or two-day delay in mail delivery. In addition, 74 percent of respondents oppose reducing the hours of operation at post offices.

The report, titled What America Wants from the Postal Service – A Survey of Internet-Connected Americans, was commissioned by the OIG, and conducted by InfoTrends – a leading market research firm. The purpose of the study was to survey Americans’ perception of the Postal Service and the role it plays in their lives.

The significance of the survey is that it shows broad support by the American people for the USPS and the services we provide. The survey validates what we’ve been saying about the impact of cutbacks in service and hours on postal customers, and will help postal workers fight attempts to dismantle and privatize postal operations.

In addition to opposing reduced hours at post offices and closing mail processing facilities, most Americans recognize that the Postal Service provides a public service that should be maintained, even if it is not profitable.

In fact, when asked, “Despite its current financial problems, do you believe the U.S. Postal Service should continue to be required to serve all areas of the country, even if it is not profitable to do so?” 80 percent of Americans who responded said yes. (Among rural respondents 82 percent said yes; 79.3 percent of suburban respondents said yes, and 79.9 percent of urban respondents said yes.) Keep in mind, the survey was conducted among “Internet- connected Americans;” I suspect that if the same question were put to non- Internet-connected Americans, the percentage responding “yes” would be even greater.

The survey clearly shows that the American people want and expect the Postal Service to continue to fulfill its legal obligation to provide universal service to the American people at a reasonable and uniform cost.

When asked, “If the U.S. Postal Service did not exist in five years, would it have an impact on you,” approximately 95 percent said they would be impacted and about 48 percent said they would be significantly impacted.

As the survey demonstrates, significant majorities of the American people believe the Postal Service remains relevant and important to their daily lives.

Because of our continuous and collective efforts, there is growing opposition to cutbacks and attempts to privatize the Postal Service.

As the struggle continues, we must tap that sentiment and turn it into political action that can achieve comprehensive postal reform that preserves service to the American people and good postal jobs for our members.