USPS To Cut 7,500 Positions, 10 Districts, 2,000 Postmasters

The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe reports on Twitter that Postmaster General Pat Donahoe plans to

cut about 2,000 postmasters, or the people responsible for running post offices.

Those cuts would impact about 30% of administrative workers, about 10% of overall USPS workforce.

to cut about 7,500 jobs.

close and/or consolidate about 10 of the Postal Service’s 74 district offices.

60 thoughts on “USPS To Cut 7,500 Positions, 10 Districts, 2,000 Postmasters

  1. AS A RETIREE FROM THE POSTAL SERVICE AS A CARRIER AND CLERK. I HAD WITTNESSED MUCH DEAD WOOD IN THE SERVICE COLLECTING THEIR PAYCHECK WALKING AROUND WITH A COFFEE CUP WITH SUIT AND TIE. I WONDER IF THEIR WAS A SENSE OF GUILT HOW THEY WERE SHAFTING THE GOVERMENT PAYING THEM FOR HARASSING THE VERY PEOPLE DOING MOST WORK. KUDOS FOR ONES THAT ARE WEEDING OUT THE DEAD WOOD.

  2. @#7 linda on Fri, 14th Jan 2011 1:16 pm

    “The postal service should “break even”—not earn a profit or lose money.
    If a post office is not earning enough revenue to “break even” then that office should be closed. ”

    The Postal Service should break even AS A WHOLE, and not AS INDIVIDUAL POST OFFICES. Netflix pays for both outgoing and incoming postage at either corporate level or at each distribution facility. This means that if Netflix was the ONLY mailer than sends out DVDs, each of the post offices that receive, process, deliver, pick up and send back the DVDs back to that Netflix facility ARE NOT GENERATING REVENUE and should be closed if we follow yours words to a “T.”

    Another example: if Gas Company sends all of their bills out from City A to City B, City A generated revenue. Now if City B residents pay everything online, then City B doesn’t generate revenue, but still needs to provide the service to deliver the mail City A generated. Isn’t that was postage is for, to fund the delivery of mail? If Gas Company paid for all the postage in City A, but City B’s post office closes, do you think they’ll still be using the USPS?

    THIS IS WHY INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE COSTS MORE, BECAUSE YOU NOT ONLY PAY FOR THE DOMESTIC PORTION OF THE POSTAGE, YOU ALSO HAVE TO PAY FOR THE FOREIGN/INTERNATIONAL PORTION, TOO! (I don’t mean to “YELL,” but I don’t know how to do BOLD letters here to show emphasis, if you could even do that.)

    I don’t have a clear nor a complete understanding of the business or accounting practices at the Post Office, and I’m sure you mean well, but I think you have even less understanding of how a post office functions. I’m pretty sure it is rather complicated, but I bet it’s still way less complex than what’s going on behind closed doors at the company formerly known as AIG.

  3. Cut it down to 2 areas. Western and Eastern areas. Use the Mississippi river as the line. Then only have 4 Districts in each area. Alot of districts do busy work that justifies themselfs. The Districts need to focus on helping the Plants and offices fix problems in the FIELD, instead of having DAILY TELE CONFERENCES AND YELLING AT people in the field. The District needs to be PROBLEM solvers, not problem creators. The 74 Districts need to go and be replaced with a more lean and responsive 8 Districts.

  4. I realized that I would never be carrier management before I even made 90 days as I wouldn’t act like an ass and treat people poorly.

    When I got into Maintenance it was another world. Management and craft actually trying to work together to make things work. Unsuitable people like the carrier and plant ops supervisors/managers we all know would never get promoted in our department.

    Regrettably, I daily watch Supervisors/Managers, Distribution Operations demonstrate that a number of them are partially literate, and absolutely none of them have any real understanding at all of the machines they are responsible for. Just push mail in, it comes out the other end. None of them correct poor work practices, few correct poor attendance. When you start with that, it is difficult to achieve results.

  5. wow, after reading your all’s comments, dont really have much to add, you all said it all and then some! LOL! I’ve worked at PO for 24 years and it’s been going down hill for a long time. I just want to say i can’t wait to retire!! I’ve seen PM’s, managers, OIC’s come and go in our office, and honestly only found one or two who actually cared about the employees that they were over! It all starts there! Things change all the time in the PO, so we’ll just have to see what comes of this. I wish all of you fellow bargianig workers all the best in what ever position you hold!

  6. I Am a contractor i pay my own gas use my own car pay my own taxes self employment taxes also I work out of a small post office im always at work i miss no days and am constantly harassed by a postmaster who talks behind are backs customers hear her and tell us she also harasses some of her employees just trying to make a living she has caused me severe stress i dont believe she should continue as postmaster i wish uper management would really take a look at some small town offices

  7. That was funny stuff from Joke Along. Get rid of the useless managers & favoritism.
    Y’all just keep = L-O-L.

  8. Iggy V. – U R so full of monkey butt excretions. Are you black? Unqualified people like you in a higher position (you are being a liar), thinking your excretions don’t stink. Managers like you & your thinking skills (lack of), are the ones that ran the P.O. into the ground!! You are probably a fake wanna be manager, not someone in a higher position. Keep dreaming that one day you will be ‘allowed’ to be a 204B with your hairy self and bag of bananas.

  9. You are so full of yourself, you say back when you were a carrier you got big money for little work! I bet you did, because you were LAZY! and times were different.. You are a PRIME EXAMPLE of what goes into MANAGEMENT and then all of the sudden want to crack the whip! My how fast you forget how LAZY (you were in craft) How many hours did you have to spend on your KNEES to get your Post Master Job? oh I’m sorry you had to do it twice, were your hands tied both times? or did you train first with the monkeys and borrow their bananas so you can get real good on your KNEES and get the job in the BIG CITY? Next lesson, BEND OVER…. KISS A$$… you will never go anywhere in the p.o. they are just using you! however your a very good BUTT KISSER!! and then some!

  10. @1.IGGY V.
    If you are truly a city postmaster, you are very close to violating federal law (attempted union busting), harassment, intimidation (monkey comments!). I really cannot believe that you are a legitimate pm, since you appear to have the education level of a 5th grader. Wait, I may be insulting the 5th graders.
    example a)
    assocoate offices
    example b)
    what I am capable up and wants me to do things her way.

    Try again, and I hope that I get to be one of your “underlings” one day, I will bring you up on DOL charges in a heartbeat! Why don’t you just give your name and office and save us the time…

    You have that mentality of “I am better than you and everyone else, even my boss,
    all the way up to the President.”. If you were so great, you would be the PMG, not just a supervisor. (PM=supervisor at Burger King or McDonalds). Live with it!

  11. One Postmaster for every 3 or 4 offices should be the way to go. Esp small offices. Donohoe is going to be the best thing that ever happened to us. He is in touch with reality and listens to ALL employees, regardless of their position. We also need to cut alot of the bean-counters in the plants, just get the mail out, don’t keep counting it over and over.

  12. Well at least we finally got rid of Pooter, even though we had to give him a 5.5 million dollar retirement package, it was worth it.

  13. Consolidate, then put 1 boss in each post office, give them whatever title they want, then make that person actually work for 8 hours a day OR get rid of all delivery supervisors and 204b’s, let the shop steward distribute the help, pass out overtime. This would probably make all overtime,failure to follow instructions(You better be back by 5pm), and extension of street time grievance’s extinct! If mgmt still had a problem with a carrier’s performance they could still scrutinize it.

  14. PLEASE OH PLEASE ALSO SOMEONE DEAL WITH THE UNWILLINGNESS OF THE UNION TO REPRESENT THE PEOPLE IT IS PAID TO REPRESENT. MAKE THE UNION REPRESENTATIVES DO THEIR JOBS AND NOT JUST USE THEIR POSITIONS IN A SELF-SERVING MANNER. FOR EXAMPLE, HIRING AN EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF UNNECESSARY UNION STEWARDS WHO BY-THE-WAY RECEIVE ‘SUPER SENIORITY’ IN THE CASE OF EXCESSING, ETC. IN EXCHANGE FOR DOING NOTHING! STOP LETTING MANAGEMENT GET AWAY WITH SO MUCH STUFF! OR PERHAPS WE SHOULD JUST CLEAN HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  15. PLEASE OH PLEASE CUT THE INCOMPETENT MANAGEMENT STAFF THAT HAS PUT THE USPS IN THE CURRENT SHAPE IT IS IN AND DON’T JUST TRANSFER THEM AS USUAL TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!

  16. As a POSTMASTER in a large city I came up through the ranks. I started as a letter carrier making big money for little work. I then became POSTMASTER at smaller assocoate offices. Then last year I got my big break and became a city POSTMASTER. No longer will the clerks or carriers make big money for little work, I see to it that for the money they make they will earn every penny of it. That is what a good POSTMASTER can do. I can do so much more to save the USPS but my hands are also tied. My district manager has no clue what I am capable up and wants me to do things her way. I think thats where cuts should start, with all Districts Managers, then the best POSTMASTERS such as myself can replace them in that position. Once there my first task would be to start a program where we train monkeys to deliver the mail and have them work for bananas. With ideas like that it will not be long before I am the King of the USPS.

  17. speaking of wastes our area office is renting offices for1.2 million a year someone tell me why they shouldnt be in trailers in the parking lot of our big processing centers? also the “voice of the employee program” total waste for most employee dump it lets back to our core job delivering the mail

  18. Does anyone remember last week when Donahue talked about RIF’s and another VER?Who do you think will get the offers.Not the craft.He’ll probably offer all the PMs and District people a nice package for leaving.Then he’ll blame the craft for the PO losing money’because of the Unions unwillingness to take pay/benefit cuts.This stuff makes me laugh.

  19. I am a carrier, I LOVE MY ROUTE, it is long, it is over 8 hours, it is heavy, it gets a lot of parcels, it’s curb side-you know the curbside where the cars park, the basketball hoops are and where the trash cans go and stay for 3 days{day before, day of, and day after} I can do my route on most days, in 8. But I have an on the job injury with medical restrictions, 8 hours only, so my supervisors, postmaster, and other mgmt. from above, are trying to fire me for anything they can think of , they make me and others in my situation, Suffer each and everyday with, what DOIS says, with what the district says, or simply what I did not accomplish, on the daily basis, I am taken to the office for discipline, verbal warnings and formal discussions, about 3 times a week now, {my union is trying to help}. So let me tell you, I hope they start with my office when they remove those useless paper pushers, and bring in some mgmt that have a clue of the job that they are asking us to do, Maybe a requirement should be that they have carried mail sometime in this century . Oh, by the way, I have never had a customer complaint, missing parcel, missed scan, missed delivery, missed express, ect….I’m just a carrier that loves her job and has a bad back because it if…I wish I didn’t. but if that is all I would have to deal with is my chronic daily pain
    Well life would be just fine with me, I love Being a Mail Carrier, and I get to deliver in the best city ever, my legs are tan year round, and we only get about 10 days of “BAD” weather a year, I will carry until Dr. says no more, oh, he told me to go on disability 2 years ago, guess all that supervisor yelling has help me say no to giving up!

  20. Good idea to get rid of all the Poster Masters. Next, get rid of the clerks starting with the carriers

  21. Bye Bye: I have been a clerk for over twenty in a big plant. People like you are a dying breed. Workers will bust their tails for a supervisor like you because they know that you are only doing your job, but you have their back at the same time. Upper management is intimidated by people like you because you don’t follow their “Do as I say not as I do Dogma”. The real world on the workroom floor and in the street is totally different from looking at a report and some mindlees statistics to base your aproach on. The people get the mail out.
    My goal is to do the best job possable every day as a worker, with supervisors that are real and have my back I will go the extra mile for them to return their kindness and fairness to me. I will try to look out for their six too.
    Enjoy retirement , later Gator.

  22. I wonder if postal management can suck a dick as well as a hooker. They are about the same open wide, and enjoy yourself.

  23. Nope. Misinformation. Cut service to 2000 cities and eliminate the Postmaster positions? Nope. It ain’t gonna happen.

  24. I wish we could get rid of some of deadwood in the greensboro district. We have management that is stupid, incompetent and just dumb. They think they are above the ordinary rank and file workers, but they don’t know shit. It is something to see why their thru put is fucked up, you treat the workers like shit. Get with the program your pdi campaign is not going to work. Treat workers like humans and with respect and you will get it in return. Maybe the new pmg can cut some these management slugs and we can get somewhere. Greensboro as your numbers go lower than whale shit, ask yourself is it getting me anywhere? No because the harder you push workers push back and and you get those nice low numbers. Management have a nice day.

  25. I work in a office in sayreville nj ,where a regular carrier and a pm supervisor wanted the shop steward to file a grievance because a te missed her annual leave for te’s by one day.and make her an unassigned regular.to my understanding,is it the supervisor’s job to tell a te of her annual leave date, instead she as a supervisor wanted this to happen. so pm supervisors should be let go.. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN can a te become a unassigned reg for missing her annual leave date by a day…………………………

  26. what’s s-up? favorite line of a supervisor/ acting manager. too many “acting” positions. too many 204B’s. a few couldn’t even pass the simple math test, but manage to stay on as a 204B. USPS is run like the current president & staff is running this country – right into the ground! supervisors, acting managers, all a useless assortment of personalities. most are a joke, for employees to laugh at. poorly trained, unqualified people trying to run a business, like the current president, just ain’t gonna work. stop voting with the unions, they are bringing the country down. what has your union done for you, but collect your dues…..think about it.

  27. One Stupivisor sits around looking on the computer doing nothing, another follows, stares at employees doing “nothing”, another is just a big brown-noser, suck face and I don’t know what they are in my office, they are supposed to be working and be a clerk, what a joke at my office, sometimes there a about five of them in the same area pretty much doing the same thing, nothing

  28. Finally rid them useless over paid ‘postmasters’ from those teeny tiny wood frame stand alone buildings that don’t profit. You all know who was postmaster at Crockett CA. – well she was working at the Target store one Xmas……..also lazy, played politics, etc. Useless. The supervisors are not well trained, they know nothing about productivity, nothing about how to move the mail…just all politics and kissing some other higher up’s behinds. Most managers and supervisors are on their own little ego trips. They forget that they are ‘nothing’ when they leave that building, because they have to sit on the toilet like everyone else, but they want to play big shot and show off at work. Most employees have more than them managers and supervisors anyway, financially more, and definitely more in the brains department. So, you freakin’ supervisors and managers that done employees wrong, what goes around, will come around back to you. When you look in the mirror just know you are some kind of miserable freak, running yourselves like idiots when employees are laughing at your non sense, when you sit on that toilet think about how you spent a day bothering certain employees because you are just plain racist, making a big fool of yourself. Supervisors are the biggest waste of money.

  29. I gave the USPS 30 years of my working life. I made good money and raised my family. From the day I started all I heard was doom and gloom. I was part time for 10 years. Worked my arse off. Was told by fellow emps to slow down I was making them look bad! When one of them was promoted to Supervisor, guess who he wanted to work for him? I was part time for 10 years. I had some terrible bosses and some really good ones. I finally got a full time job. I was promoted several times. I retired as Postmaster. I had employees that made more than I did. (Which I did not begrudge.) I fought for my Employees every time some higher up wanted to stiff them. Some of the things that were tried were terrible. There are some Supervisors and Postmasters that will do anything to make themselves look good.
    The last 15 years the Postal Service changed direction. Statistics and reports became more important than delivering the mail! I spent the majority of my day trying to wait on Customers while trying also to answer e-mails and complete numerous redundant reports. The USPS needs to go back. Back to delivering the mail, correctly and on time.

  30. It would be nice to know which districts are impacted and exactly what other positions (other than 2000 postmasters) are being eliminated. I guess we won’t know until Tuesday. Heck, maybe Donahue doesn’t even know.

  31. i hope alot of the 204b’s will go back to carry mail and assign them to the routes they #!*#ed up, o by the way they can pivot on theses routes.

  32. I am a carrier and I don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs. Most people are just trying to make living no matter what their title. I hope that if people have to go, they go through attrition, retirements, retraining, voluntarily through incentives, etc.

  33. I was wondering while you all were moaning about how bad things are, has any of you thought about how to bring in some more revenue? Perhaps created an outlet for your customers to learn more about Postal Products and Services? Or are you all under the illusion that these cuts will NEVER REACH YOU. Wake up people! Your attitude is half the problem, the other half is your inactivity to make change happen!

  34. The postal service should “break even”—not earn a profit or lose money.
    If a post office is not earning enough revenue to “break even” then that office should be closed.

    One option might be to have one postmaster oversee more than one office. Without a postmaster’s salary for each office there should be enough revenue to cover the cost of utilities, insurance, and rent. Each office would then be able to stay open and continue to provide customer service.

  35. THis is to Cathy , yes they can run with out a Post Master , ours can not make any changes , can not schedule OT , every decision has to be approved by the District , so why have a Post master , A supervisor can do the same job.

  36. Don, just shows how little you know. An OIC is just an interim Postmaster. You really think post offices can run without someone in charge? Yeah, right…

  37. The time has arrived.the postal management has been fat and overweight for long period time. It is time to lose that fat fromthe top who gets paid most.

  38. ALL PM positions should be eliminated. The position is so obsolete. The small towns should just have an OIC. Large cties don’t need one at all. All they are, are PR positions.

  39. but after firing the 2,000 postmasters, we will hire 6,000 more to replace them. but we will be saving a lot of money since they won’t be making as much money as those we let go. Doesn’t that make sense?

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