{"id":19423,"date":"2014-07-01T02:50:17","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T06:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.21cpw.com\/?p=19423"},"modified":"2014-07-02T07:30:29","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T11:30:29","slug":"pmg-declares-war-on-service-apwu-to-launch-vigorous-campaign-against-plant-closures-consolidations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.21cpw.com\/pmg-declares-war-on-service-apwu-to-launch-vigorous-campaign-against-plant-closures-consolidations\/","title":{"rendered":"PMG Declares War on Service, APWU to Launch Vigorous Campaign Against Plant Closures, Consolidations"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"APWU_convention\"<\/p>\n

Web News Article #: 127-14<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 30, 2014<\/span> – <\/span>The APWU today denounced plans by the Postal Service to resume the closure and consolidation of up to 82 mail processing plants beginning in January 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a direct assault on service to the people of the country, on postal workers and on the Postal Service\u2019s own network,\u201d said union President Mark Dimondstein. The closure of the plants will require the USPS to degrade service standards and delay mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a Postmaster General who will champion the Postal Service. Instead, PMG Donahoe is on a rampage to destroy it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Donahoe_MUST_Go\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Employees who are reassigned outside their installation are expected to move on Jan. 10, 2015, the USPS said in a June 30 letter to the APWU<\/strong><\/a>. Union leaders received the USPS letter via fax, just minutes before employees were informed of management\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

Muster a Fight-Back<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The APWU president vowed to work with other postal unions and the public \u201cto muster a fight-back similar to the recent campaign to protect six-day mail delivery.\u201d The House Appropriations Committee voted on June 25 to reinstate a provision requiring six-day mail delivery in a funding bill. A week earlier a House subcommittee had approved a bill that dropped \u2013 for the first time in more than three decades \u2013 the six-day delivery requirement.<\/p>\n

The 82 facilities were among 242 sites targeted for closure in September 2011 and February 2012, and most of them went through partial consolidation in 2012 and 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese plants are suffering from last year\u2019s hit,\u201d said Executive Vice President Debby Szeredy. \u201cNow the delays in mail delivery will become even longer, damaging service to individuals, small businesses, and mailers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPackage deliveries, bills and bill payments, election materials, absentee ballots, wedding invitations and letters to family and friends will be adversely affected by this move,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Service standards were reduced July 1, 2012, and approximately 140 plants were consolidated in 2012 and 2013. In January 2014, the USPS posted a notice in the Federal Register<\/em> notifying the public that it was postponing plans to further reduce service standards. Plants consolidations were also placed on hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the decision to resume plant closures is a purposeful attack by the Postmaster General, who is retaliating because he could not get five-day delivery. He\u2019s also frustrated by the union\u2019s powerful campaign against the deal between the USPS and Staples,\u201d Szeredy said.<\/p>\n

Ignoring the Possibilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Postal Service claims the plant closures will generate $750 million in annual savings.\u00a0 \u201cYet he is ignoring a report by the USPS Office of Inspector General that says the Postal Service could generate $9 billion<\/em> by offering basic financial services without any cuts to traditional postal service,\u201d Szeredy said. \u201cSomething is wrong with this mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Postmaster General also neglects to mention that the USPS earned a profit from operations in fiscal year 2013 and in the first two quarters of 2014,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Donahoe claims that there have been steep declines in first-class mail, Szeredy pointed out, \u201cyet he fails to tell the public that the USPS has already given away 60 percent of first-class mail processing to Pitney Bowes and other pre-mail sort houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe APWU headquarters will release a major battle plan to stop the consolidations and the attack on service because the future of the USPS depends on it,\u201d the union vice president said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will make this fight a nationwide campaign and ask all Americans to stand up and fight back.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cGet ready for the crusade.\u00a0 We cannot sit back and let the PMG destroy our Postal Service,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

via APWU to Launch Vigorous Campaign Against Plant Closures, Consolidations | APWU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Web News Article #: 127-14 June 30, 2014 – The APWU today denounced plans by the Postal Service to resume the closure and consolidation of up to 82 mail processing plants beginning in January 2015. \u201cThis is a direct assault on service to the people of the country, on postal workers and on the Postal…<\/p>\n

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