Saturday, February 26, 2011

February A Record Month For USPS Consolidations

February may be a short month, but it's already a record breaker for one type of downsizing at the U.S. Postal Service.

USPS has launched Area Mail Processing studies this month that could lead to the closing or significant downsizing of 20 processing and distribution centers. The previous record month for such new AMP studies was September 2010, with 13.

The Postal Service has also approved six AMP consolidations this month, deciding to move work from facilities in Daytona Beach, FL; Lufkin, TX; Muncie, IN; Wichita Falls, TX; and Zanesville, OH to those in nearby cities.

Some AMP consolidations in major metropolitan areas affect hundreds of employees and generate millions of dollars in projected annual savings.

But the latest studies are mostly smaller-scale efforts focused on moving work from non-metro buildings to those in larger cities. For example, the Muncie move (shifting originating mail to Kokomo, IN) and the Zanesville plan (all mail processing to Columbus) are each worth about a half million dollars in annual savings.

With a few exceptions like the Bronx, NY P&DC, most of the new studies are also unlikely to yield million-dollar savings. Four of the new studies will focus on facilities in Wyoming towns -- Gillette, Riverton, Sheridan, and Worland -- that have a combined population of only about 50,000.

The other studies launched in February involve facilities in Augusta, GA; Bluefield, WV; Frederick, MD; Gainesville, FL; Gary, IN; Glenwood Springs, CO; Hattiesburg, MS; Hickory, NC; Kinston, NC; Lancaster, PA; Las Cruces, NM; Meridian, MS; Portsmouth, NH; Rockford, IL; and Wareham, MA.

Both the Government Accounting Office and many mailers have urged the Postal Service to shrink its network of approximately 260 P&DCs.

The consolidation efforts usually stir up opposition from postal unions because the affected employees are typically reassigned to jobs in other towns, sometimes more than 100 miles from their current locations. But the pain might be eased for many if, as widely reported, the Postal Service is working on another round of early-retirement incentives.

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5 comments:

Unknown said...

Can't believe we are going broke and all the Supervisors in my processing center just got a 3 1/2 to 5 percent raise!
What a joke. Bet the people that actually move the mail will get nothing in the new contract.

kch8z7 said...

but those same supervisors have not had a raise for three years while you received your 1.5% each year for 1 4.5% total,
you are still ahead.
If you are so unhappy as a craft become a supervisor!
Instead of complaining all the time how about making a difference and being part of the solution,
yea butt hat would be too tough, its always the biggest mouths that do the leastr to help the situation.

Anonymous said...

Shut down all the po processing facilities.
Move all operations local.
Revamp the transportation network.
But most importantly cut all the fat, the folks that do not move or touch the mail.
This means a huge savings by just cutting the non craft ranks to the bone!

Anonymous said...

Nothing will stop managements' bonuses, as you can see, they would rather close and consolidate offices, replace craft with TE's, and threaten 5 day delivery,than take a cut and be part of the solution. Pampering themselves must be preserved at all costs. Employees are being treated like dirt. kch8z7, if you have any ideas on how we can make a difference and be part of the solution, I'm all ears.

Anonymous said...

kch8z7 i don't know where you got your raise info from-- a a rural carrier i only got 2 of my contracted 8 cola raises for the last 3 years. received ONE 1.5% raise [ based on sept 2006 pay not current] crooked as usual mailcounts dropped me from a day off every week to 2 days off [ plus sundays] so i in essence work 13 months a year now---- dump untrustworthy managers . fire another 40k of them, and we would save 5 billion in pay and benefits the first year alone.