MARTINSBURG, WV - Postal workers rallied against what they call the Postmaster General's "slash-and-shrink" tactic. Within months, more rural post offices will cut hours in half, mail will reduce to a five-day service, and local sorting facilities, like in Cumberland and Martinsburg, will close.
"From Cumberland it's going to take roughly 300 miles just to run that letter across the street," says Al Bosley, USPS processing clerk in Cumberland.
USPS workers say the bulk of the problem comes from the 2006 Postal Accountability Act.
"The post office has to pay a $5.5 billion payment for future retirees for the next 75 years condensed into a 10-year time frame. So that's the biggest thing causing the bleeding of the post office," says Phil Jones, president of the American Postal Workers Union, Local 513 in Cumberland.
These employees are protesting the possible privatization of postal services, saying email is not the new snail mail.
"Forty-six cents for a stamp to mail a letter and to take care of paying your bills is really cheap compared to what it does cost for internet service," says Tom Dodge, USPS truck driver in Baltimore.
These cuts may save USPS some money now, but they'll cost jobs and efficiency.
"This is not making the post office more efficient, it's actually decreasing service and decreasing efficiency. McDonald's in Cumberland wouldn't ship their hamburgers to Baltimore to be cooked and have them sent back, that would be ridiculous and same thing for the mail," adds Dodge.
"The same thing that happened on Wall Street is basically happening with the post office now: greed, it's a big business," says Jones.
"From Cumberland it's going to take roughly 300 miles just to run that letter across the street," says Al Bosley, USPS processing clerk in Cumberland.
USPS workers say the bulk of the problem comes from the 2006 Postal Accountability Act.
"The post office has to pay a $5.5 billion payment for future retirees for the next 75 years condensed into a 10-year time frame. So that's the biggest thing causing the bleeding of the post office," says Phil Jones, president of the American Postal Workers Union, Local 513 in Cumberland.
These employees are protesting the possible privatization of postal services, saying email is not the new snail mail.
"Forty-six cents for a stamp to mail a letter and to take care of paying your bills is really cheap compared to what it does cost for internet service," says Tom Dodge, USPS truck driver in Baltimore.
These cuts may save USPS some money now, but they'll cost jobs and efficiency.
"This is not making the post office more efficient, it's actually decreasing service and decreasing efficiency. McDonald's in Cumberland wouldn't ship their hamburgers to Baltimore to be cooked and have them sent back, that would be ridiculous and same thing for the mail," adds Dodge.
"The same thing that happened on Wall Street is basically happening with the post office now: greed, it's a big business," says Jones.
Comments
i have had 13 different mail persons in the last 21 years i also went to buy a stamp at post office it took 35 minutes to purchase i stamp
dave h.
March 19, 2013 at 6:43 am
This is what happens when you over staff, underwork, and over pay employees for decades. You loose your shirt and must make cuts. Now maybe someone will see what its really like to do some work.
allen m.
March 17, 2013 at 9:33 pm
