Almost 3 years ago I wrote a rather lengthy diary about the first round of what is called Network Rationalization. When the dust settled there were many changes but not as many as those calling for the privatization of the USPS desired. In response to public outcry, Congress promised to fix this. Everything seemed like it would be okay.
This diary reiterates many of the things I said then because the PMG of the US Postal Service announced back in June that the second phase of rationalization was going to start in 2015. The draconian payments that have been crippling us are supposed to be finished in 2016 but we aren't even making those. Despite this PMG Donahoe had to drop the other shoe.
The second round of downsizing mail facilities is looking more and more like a done deal and First-Class delivery standards are now going to be 3 - 5 days for most people. The powers that be are saying 2 -5 days but 2 days will be the exception not the rule. Unless you are a big mailer with software that gets you automation prices and you drop that mail in a special building called a Sectional Center Facility (SCF), your service is screwed. That means the average American can expect slower service for all of their mail.
Want that bill to arrive on time? Mail it sooner. Sending holiday cards? Next year you will need to allot more time for them to be processed. Think sending your item Priority Mail with 2-3 day service is the solution? That 2-3 day service is only a service standard not a guarantee. Only Priority Mail Express has guaranteed service - meaning if it is not delivered on time, the sender can get a refund of the postage paid.
Welcome to the continuing saga of the USPS and the misguided attempt by certain interested parties to destroy it!
PMG Donohoe aka 'the latest rat jumping ship', has announced that he is leaving and handing the reigns to Megan Brennan. In the mold of his predecessor PMG Potter - just before the major service cuts hit, he is retiring.
We are getting the first female PMG in the history of the USPS but don't be lulled into a false sense of security. She has been a big promoter of so-called rationalization. I could be wrong but her appointment definitely looks to be "meet the new boss - same as the old boss."
I work in a facility that does mail for what would be the fourth largest US city in population if we were a city; the borough of Queens in New York City.
The plan for our facility is to move the sorting of our letters and flats to the Brooklyn facility. Here is how it would work:
1. Mail is sent to Manhattan to be canceled (this is already happening)
2. Manhattan sends all the Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and zip codes starting with the numbers 110 to the Brooklyn facility (this is what they want but currently Manhattan sends the Queens facility all the Queens and 110 zip code mail)
3. Brooklyn will sort our mail and send the sorted mail back to Queens to be sent to all of our stations including the 110 zip codes
They intend to accomplish this despite having to use one of the worst highways in the United States - the Van Wyck Expressway section of I-678. Back in 2012 this 3.1 mile stretch of hell was rated the second worst highway commute in the US. In 2013 it is on a list of 10 of the worst highways in the US in general.
I know this road and there is almost no time of day that this section is not slow or backed up! In addition, the Brooklyn facility isn't even right next to I-678 but is about 3.5 miles away. A good part of that 3.5 miles is residential so all the increased truck traffic will have to go through predominantly residential areas.
In contrast, the Queens facility is right next to the Whitestone Expressway section of I-678 by the Whitestone Bridge. This northern section of I-678 does not clog up as badly as the southern Van Wyck Expressway section. Traffic tends to move well most of the time except for rush hour and again - this building is right next to it! We are in a commercial area and have easy access for trucks to and from the Bronx, Upstate New York, New England, Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties) and Manhattan.
In addition,we have the room to expand that Brooklyn does not. Right now they are talking about redesigning the Queens building to allow for increased parcel processing. It would not take much to add room to keep our letters and flats here. Can anyone say 'really stupid idea'? I can!
If the 'geniuses' have their way, the population of Brooklyn (2,592,149) + the population of Queens (2,296,175) which is almost 5 million people, will now have their mail serviced by one poorly located facility with no room to expand - Brooklyn. This will only get worse over time because Queens is physically bigger than Brooklyn and only lags in population by just shy of 300,000 people. Queens will likely surpass Brooklyn in population in the next 10 years. In my opinion, going forward with this plan is completely insane.
Please keep in mind that we are not the only facility being affected. This is happening across the country! If they can succeed in doing this here, smaller facilities throughout the country might not have a chance to stop this. Closing or downsizing facilities is not going to be good for anybody. It will mean a delay in the mail. This grand plan won't work under the current delivery standards and they know it!
In the minds of the 'geniuses' involved, the solution to this has always been to reduce the service standards for 1st Class mail. They tried this and failed a couple of years ago but now they have finally succeeded in getting that done. It was published in the Federal Register in August 2014.
Wait. You didn't know about this? That's because this was not a major announcement. Could it be that the reasoning behind this is that the less the American people know about this, the easier it will be to screw us over? They want us to pay First-Class prices for reduced service. All of this because of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that set the stage for the possible destruction of America's Postal Service.
Back in June when PMG Donohoe announced that the second phase of network rationalization was going to begin (there is nothing even remotely rational about any of this), Congress, both Senators and Representatives sent him letters asking him to wait until they passed the long promised postal reform. It appears that is all they effectively did - write letters. Well that and put an existing bill from 2013 on the docket. Nothing else was accomplished. They never voted on this and couldn't even agree to put in an abbreviated stopgap measure to prevent this from happening until something better could be put in place.
Since they didn't get it done before the election and are unlikely to do anything now, don't hold your breath once the new Congress is seated.
We all know that for the next two years, one of President Obama's main jobs will be to use his pen to veto bad bills or craft and sign executive orders. Too bad (as far as I know) an executive order can't be crafted to stop this. There is also the matter of the Postal Board of Governors needing to be refilled and approved. This is also something that President Obama and the Senate should address but time is running out for that as well.
Knowledge is power and at this point might be the only way to effect a positive change. Once the USPS as we know it is gone, it will probably be gone for good. I hope we won't let that happen without a fight.
Here are a few links about the various protests that occurred on November 14th.
Flushing New York Protest
National Day of Action - APWU
Video and Images of Day of Action Protests
In conclusion, as with my last postal diary, there may be some who will say these are just scare tactics. I have endeavored to be as factual as I possibly could be. If you believe that what I have written in this diary is overblown or scare tactics, you are welcome to your opinion. I just hope that if you don't agree, you will at least be civil about it.
Thanks for reading.
The Ebon Lady
Dark UltraValia