Lawmaker calls on U.S. Postal Service to delay closures, consolidations until Congress can act on comprehensive postal legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Malden), dean of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, this week sent a letter to Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman declaring his opposition to the consolidation of the Northwest Boston Area Mail Processing (AMP) Center and called on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to delay further action on any postal closures or consolidations until Congress can act on comprehensive postal legislation. Rep. Markey’s letter comes in response to the USPS’s decision to close the facility in Waltham, Massachusetts as part of its plan to reduce the size of its infrastructure. The Waltham plant employees 400 employees and processes 1.8 million pieces of mail per day.
“It’s no secret that the postal service is facing considerable fiscal challenges, but cutting jobs and creating a poorer service standard is not the way to fix it,” wrote Rep. Markey in the letter to the USPS. Rep. Markey continued, “AMP closures will result in slower delivery time for USPS customers. These delays will hurt consumers and businesses not only nationally, but especially here in the thriving high-tech Route 128 area, Greater Boston and MetroWest business community.”
A copy of the letter to the USPS can be found HERE.
Rep. Markey is a cosponsor of H.R. 1351, the United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011, which would reform the way the Postal Service funds its pension plan. A moratorium on postal closures until May 15, 2012 was enacted with the purpose of giving Congress enough time to pass comprehensive postal legislation before any further actions are taken.
In October 2011, Rep. Markey queried Deputy Postmaster General Stronham about the USPS study to determine the effects of consolidating mail processing operations performed at the Waltham facility.
Postal Excutives should be taken out by Congress and that Congress should push for an appointed Postmaster General . Bring the Postal Service back to days of being a Civil Service. Run the Post Office like a Public Service and stop bringing in people like Donahoe and the like, who keep trying to run the Postal Service like one of those shady banks who ruined the ecomony. People like Donahoe and Potter have drained every ounce of respect that the American Public had in the past, for the Postal Service and the employees they hired. Get back to the basics, hire respectalbe people & bond them. Train them to provide the best service to the American Public “Delivering their Mail” with “sanctity of the mail they are intrusted with”.
Sure there is more electronic mail these days, but there were so many opportunites that Potter & Donahoe missed in their attempt to line their own pockets. The Postal Service could have overseen the entire internet communicating market and could have kept all that illegal stuff from happening by having it overseen by the Postal Inspectors. The Postal Service could have overseen all the Census Operations, as they once took “Honor” in “Delivering to every address, every day”. They could have overseen the entire “perscription drug by mail industry, securing the right pharmacueticals actually made it into the hands of who is suposed to receive it. So many opportunities missed, to increase business and help the Postal Service.
Potter & Donahoe were ,were outsiders, who never had a “True Passion” to uphold the wonderful respect that the “United States Postal Service once held with the American Public. Once congress allow the Postal Service to become part of the Federal Sector the outsiders no longer “Bonded” the employees, they cut their pay, cut their benefits and took away their desire to uphold the standards of public service. Gone was the protection of the mail, good delivery standards.
From the top down people got greedy lining their pockets and the pockets of their buddies, They also got the Karma to that goes with that. The employees they hired also lost their standards, less pay = less work, less benefits = more injuries, less respect = less respect for the mail intrusted to them. That was the beginning of the Postal Services demise.
But it is not to late = Get those excutives out – Bring back the Civil Servants – Bond & hire respectalbe people and give them a decent wage & give them good benefits, and it return, they will serve the American Public well. The Postal Service will gain the respect back of the American Public.
Save the Postal Service – Make it great once Again. Get back to Basics.
Laurie from Califronia
Ask your APWU union stewards why the new printed contract is different from what was sold to and voted on by the APWU lemmings?
Ross the GOP from FL, is evil, when the federal employees who make less than the average wage in private industry, signed to work for the Postal/ Federal workforce, they signed a contract, so either Ross is arrogant or a complete uninformed moron, as many former registered GOP voters, have changed to the no party affiliation, Congress and Federal managers /Postal Managers are the only overpaid people, the Supplement is part of the contract workers signed for years ago, which bridges one to Social Security, if Ross and/or Issa, and/or Cantor try to take this away, we have employees who will not retire due to the Poverty level of the FERS retirement system, the average pension for Federal/ Postal craft employees is 50-53k annually, even 30 years gets you only 15,900 dollars a year, if that much, seems to many “Organized Workers” that this scenario of the GOP hacking workers benefits has become similar to the “French Revolution”, and heads will literally roll,with the GOP heads the First to go.
Management not only was abusive, used threats and Intimidation, against employees, but now the 99% overpaid , will get a better FERS retirement than you the craft, slash and burn, in fact , find Korans, and leave them burning in front of USPS buildings and / or Post Offices, revenge is sweet saith the Imam’s !
In offices in the WNYD, Supervisors and PM’s disappear daily, shopping, drinking at the bars, sex with the craft at the local motel or some other EAS, great bunch!
After the Nov elections the Unions are going to have to reconcile their ignorance by putting all their eggs in the Democrat basket. The Repubs are probably going to control both chambers of government and maybe the presidency. It is time to reflect on what could have been in the first two years of this administration when they(DEMS) did absolutely nothing for us…and the Union was silent.
We are in our death throws and they(Congress) are pre-occupied with birth control for people like that **** from Georgetown who wants to go through college crotch first…NICE!!!
The PMG got the attention of Congress. But getting them to actually vote on some/any USPS legislation is on the docket for the 12th of Never. After November 6th, we may see some lame duck votes outta Congress….but by then, the Post Office could be a dead duck.
Write/call your representatives and tell them we don’t care how much the idiot Georgetown student has to pay for her birth control ….but we do care about saving the USPS and the thousands of jobs that are today hanging by a thread.
Congress won’t use the taxpayer to buyout as well as they did for GM.
Poor postal employee all get screw up.
Can anyone wait on congress to do anything?
Look up conger in the dictionary and you’ll see why that is such a good name for them! Ha!
The USPS will go ahead with the Consolidations, layoffs ?, RIF?, and who knows what else, because Congress is as incompetent as the Pseudo President, Obama, he is too worried about re-election so as the Congress is also, so what else is new, as the workplace
environment gets to the “Going Postal “point, the inaction of Congress points to a potentially violent end, and the loss of service to the Public.
Great. So the congressman wants the USPS to delay some more. Right. Does the congressman, whose salary is secure, realize the USPS is running out of money??? SOON??? Those sorry bastards in congress will sit on their hands and do nothing (fiddle while Rome burns?) unless their constituents raise holy hell for them to actually DO what they are elected to do. Ever write to them about the USPS? Their worthless responses are something like, “We are looking into the matter”. Yeah, SURE you are! The USPS is a prime example of how pathetic our congress has become!
You’ve had a year to enact a comprehensive Postal Bill and all you have done is set on your collective arses because you are worried about re-election. I for one will not vote for an encumbent , what makes you think you know what is good for us. You are the ones that created this mess. Repeal the pre-payment law, you silly geese.
Dear Lawmakers,
the main man has gone postal, you all made this monster, live with it now!
Definitely, closig postal facilities and processing plants will weaken tthe mail service and destroy the mail service as we now know it! Decreasing service certainly will not help the Postal service survival. Nor will Congress, if you do nothing but talk about laws you can pass to help the situation! We appreciate the talk , but employees and customers need you to walk the walk and vote in decent legislation that will keep the mail service going and thousands of americans working! Let me suggest the HR 1351 Bill proposed over a year ago by Rep. J. Lynch, or the S. 1789 with a few changes to it. The HR 1351 would return $50 billion dollars back to the Postal Service. It’s another week now, and nothing has been voted on that will sustain the Postal Service or keep thousands of Postal employees from being uprooted and moved from their homes, losing faith in this great nation! Congress, whether you are democrats or repblican, who cares, americans care about the survival of this country, nothing else! Why don’t you!
what most of the senator dont get right is that .. some of them are so caught up with thier own constituents ( because that is their bread winner!) that they forget to see the whole picture ( USA put together)…ironically .. these constituent make up USA! … and that is why we need leaaders and managers who are not selfish and who are compassionately innovative! ( if you cant figure out what I am saying, that is the problem we are having now 101!)
not if we have many such senators, then it is going to be a big mess and there are going to be problems, I mean after this problem is going to be supposedly fixed… we are going to run in circle and going to be back at the same point, in the future, but with a bigger problem!
so fix it in the right and straight way… with heart and soul… becuase america is watching and believing in you.
Good job Donahoe , you have gotten the attention of Congress. Unfortunately Issa will block any sane legislation put forward. Good bye PO it really is a dinosaur anyway. Three weeks after the closures the mail will back up and people will find new faster and better ways to ship and correspond.
Congressman Markey! Thats all good and well to delay,except for one thing. You and the rest of our elected officials in Washington can only agree on one thing and thats to disagree! Nothing gets done in Washington! The American people are tired of this! I know one thing, elections are coming and I hope all of you are
voted OUT!
Wonder how many years the politicians need to act on any legislation. They have already had months and months. They are good at writing letters but not much else.
Get rid of unions. They are destroying America. The average person does not need a voice. They will be well taken care of.