Six districts to close, 1,400 supervisor jobs cut
TweetOrganizational Changes – March 20, 2009
The Postal Service is closing 6 of the 80 district offices, eliminating 521 positions across the country and offering early retirement to nearly 150,000 employees nationwide (excluding Electronic Technicians, MPE Maintenance Mechanics, Part-time Postmasters)
For the remaining 74 districts across the country, there will be a 15% reduction in administrative staffing.
More than 1400 mail processing management positions are also being eliminated in nearly 400 facilities around the country.
District Closings
Massachusetts District – 116 impacted employees (105 are eligible to retire) Boston District and the Connecticut District (Hartford CT) will assume the operations.
New Hampshire/Vermont District – 75 impacted employees (68 eligible to retire) Northern New England District (Portland ME) will assume operations.
Erie District – 63 impacted employees (44 eligible to retire) Western Pennsylvania District (Pittsburgh PA) will assume operations.
Central Florida District – 104 impacted employees (79 eligible to retire) South Florida District (Miami FL) and Suncoast District (Tampa FL) will assume operations.
Spokane District – 71 impacted employees (52 eligible to retire) Seattle District and the Salt Lake City District will assume operations.
Central New Jersey District – 92 impacted employees (63 eligible to retire) Northern New Jersey District (Newark NJ) and the South Jersey District (Bellmawr NJ) will assume operations.
It will take approximately 5 months to close down the functions performed at the impacted districts. We expect this to be finalized by the end of August 2009.
Impacted employees will be given 5 months notice to look for a placement within the Postal Service. If unable to do so, the employee will be given a RIF notice on June 24, 2009. Once the RIF notice is received, the employee then has 60 days before their employment status with the Postal Service will end on August 28, 2009.
Function 1 – EAS positions
In excess of 1400 EAS positions in more than 400 facilities will be eliminated in mail processing operations.
These positions are being eliminated based on a mathematical computation designed to readjust our management-to-craft employee ratio to factor in the thousands of craft employees who have left the Postal Service in the last several years.
An employee who is impacted by this decision will be given 4 month’s notice to look for placement within the Postal Service. If they are unable to do so, the employee will be given a Specific RIF notice on May 27, 2009. Once the RIF notice is received, the employee has 60 days before their employment status with the Postal Service will end on July 31, 2009.
Additional information on the elimination of these positions will be provided.
March 20th, 2009 12:20
WoW! BIG news concerning the Post Office! I think the P.O. is making good decisions concerning positioning its self to stay competitive. (Though it will be tough on the affected employees.)
March 20th, 2009 14:44
When will L’Enfant Plaza get the word and downsize there. Seems they are adding more VP’s. They should also remove the VP’s of regions (ex Regional Postmasters General). That would save a few million in salaries. Also, sell L’Enfant Plaza and domicile themselves in the D.C. CPO, there is room there since no mail is cancelled in the District. Also, whey in each District is ther a Senior Plant manager and a Customor Ssrvice Manager? Combine both into one position.
March 20th, 2009 15:40
here it comes the highway to sell out the post office and the public is now in the fast track. good luck i left in the nick of time
March 20th, 2009 16:13
VERA: The figures of EAS employees who previously took the VER are:
Supervisor Customer Services-374
Supervisor Distribution Operations-96
Other Field EAS-581
Postmasters-928
HQ/HQ-related employees-190
this is a total of 2169 positions which remain open… few if any EAS will actually lose their jobs.
March 20th, 2009 16:19
HQ has already reduced their staffing as well as the Area offices…..
And the point isn’t for people to lose jobs, it’s to eliminiate ones that aren’t needed and move the people to where the work is.
March 20th, 2009 16:34
still not enough, there is no reason to keep more than 1 District in each State & lower the Area Offices to 3-4 or ZERO
STOP all details to HQ & Area Offices NOW
Someone needs to have some GUTS
March 20th, 2009 17:34
lean six sigma???
shoot for 6 area and 60 district.
March 20th, 2009 17:36
It’s a good start, but you need to start closing all of these small Post Offices that are staffed with a PM and a clerk and are also costing rent and utilities. In many cases, box service could be accommodated at a nearby office.
March 20th, 2009 17:47
It sounds good, but there are way to many supervisors running around and playing musical offices. Are office is full of incompetents. The supervision we have are never held to any standards or accountability, they just shuffle on to another position if they can’t do the job. I have great doubts the USPS will actually reduce the ratio of workers to supervision. We are after all talking about a government run entity.
March 20th, 2009 17:50
Get rid of the mysery shopping program. How much money does the postal service pay for that. BIG $$$. We know what our customers need and want. What we need to do is to expedite our premiere service -our express mail. How much money do we pay back for late express mail delivery.
The people that are making these Postal decision for all of us are the ones that don’t touch the mail, or talk to the customers.
March 20th, 2009 17:59
I agree with Vicki….the decisions are being made by people who have never touched the mail. Why aren’t employees and retirees ( who no longer need to worry about reprecussions) even asked for their insight on ways to cut cost and maintain service?
March 20th, 2009 18:43
I agree with farmer. How about the Postmasters spending time checking up on other AO’s or other projects. They always stop in when my postmaster is gone to lunch and I’m the only one in the office. There seem to be too many other “things” for the postmasters/supervisors to do besides doing their job and that leaves their offices without supervision – if you can call it that. I regards to supervisor jobs that are being cut – that should have happened a long time ago. I have worked for 2 different plants and the plants could be run with one MDO per shift & working lead people in each operation. They could pay each working lead person a level higher pay and still come out ahead vs. paying a supervisor to hang outside or in the breakroom and not have a clue as to what is really going on.
March 20th, 2009 19:25
good riddance
March 20th, 2009 19:25
I’ve been saying for years that this day would come, and it will get worse. This downhill slide began years before the economy began tanking. The internet – email, online billing, online bill payments, every newspaper and magazine available online, etc. began this loss of First Class Mail and publication delivery — and it will get worse as older non-internet users leave and are replaced by today’s younger generation. I’m guessing the USPS will eventually be at 400,000 or less employees within the next 5 years.
March 20th, 2009 20:02
The biggest joke is the districts having Ad Hoc EXFC teams. These teams do nothing but manipulate service scores by wasteful redelivery of less than perfect automation. The districts use these ad hoc teams to meet their EXFC goals and then they reap big bonuses in their NPA. It should be investigated by the OIG. There is an army of EXFC teams. We also pay a firm to test us. What a sham.
March 20th, 2009 20:50
I HAVE BEEN A LETTER CARRIER FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS.I FEEL THAT THERE SHOULD BE ONE MANAGER FOR TWO STATIONS.THE IMMMEDIATE SUPERVISORS CAN RUN THE STATIONS. IF A PROBLEM COMES UP THE MANAGER CAN BE CONTACTED.MY MANAGER JUST WALKS AROUND ALL MORNING ANYWAY.WHAT A SAVING TO THE POSTAL SERVICE THAT WOULD BE NATIONWIDE.MOST STATIONS A NOT TOO FAR FROM EACH OTHER.
March 20th, 2009 21:16
Good Vicky, also those people who answer the 1800 number have never worked inside the usps, they always said to the customers go to the near post office station to solve the problem, who hire this people anyway?
March 20th, 2009 22:33
Our supervisors do nothing. they surf the internet to shop and plan their vacations. When a customer calls our hotline they tell the customer to call the 1-800-xxx-xxxx to complain instead of dealing with it. They also leave EARLY to go home and use a carrier as a 204B to finish off the day on OVERTIME. We are still training associate supervisors in our district. How can we eliminate a 12 year boss and hire a rookie with 1 year of service. SH#T rolls downhill, but at least it is FINALLY starting at the top
March 20th, 2009 22:39
I think the P.O. should close on Sat. and still offer priority and express mail on Sat. and Sun. for the right fee and have the PTF’S rotate the work between them. Pay all the reg. the same level the T-6′s get so that isn’t a issure, the customers will be happy and there won’t be mistakes. Or better yet, still close on Sat. keep the above plan and go to a 10 hr day,4 days a week and keep the T-6′s. Have 1 PM for the area offices and same with the supervisors.
March 21st, 2009 05:38
If I were still working, my throat would have a large lump in it. But I retired at 60 years old even though people thought I was doing it too early. No, I am glad I was not in the Postal work force these last couple of years as it would have been a turmultuous work environment. One I could not have worked in. For those still there, I truely wish you the best.
And for those anticipating your job lose, I wish you luck. My personal feeling has always been that the Management level was top heavy even though I was management. But I never fell into the Red Tape, bullying part of management. I retired as a Level 13 Posmaster still having to do the daily grind like all the hard working clerks, mailhandlers and custodians. They did not call us “working” Postmasters for nothing.
March 21st, 2009 06:25
I’m one of those “administrative” people who has taken advantage of the last early out. Now, I’m even more sure that that was the right decision. It is my opinion that the employees of the Postal Service need to realize that this is a business and needs to be managed as such. The days of thinking that we will always be around are gone. If you don’t believe that, take a look at IBM. The Postal Service must take an agressive approach in ensuring that it remains a viable company in today’s economic turmoil. I believe that it is moving in the right direction. Remember, it will take time and perserverance to right-size this organization. Good luck to all my former colleagues.
March 21st, 2009 07:39
when you read the comments of all the post that come across this wbsite. In almost every post there is someone who says lets get rid of management. We fail to realize that management are people too. Now it has come to the possibility of letting over 1400 management positions go and you still complain that is not enough. Not one word is mentioned about craft employees. In my office, all of the routes are under 8 hours but how many carriers come in less than 8 hours. The answer is none of them. The economy is in the garbage and no apparent end in sight, But instead of helping just a little bit. Craft stays out there the full time. We could probably revert 3 of 4 routes just in this office. How much money would this save. Everyone needs to be thankful that we have jobs and look for ways to help out just to keep our jobs. Eliminating management help but that isnt the answer.
March 21st, 2009 11:31
As a rural carrier, we just came out of our mail count. Many rural carriers have to work 6 days a week instead of 5 days a week to keep the same pay, or take about a 10% to 20% cut in pay. I opted for the cut in pay so my sub can still have a paycheck. I agree that management are people too. But, some management people have the wrong mentality. In our office, our PM came in at 8 or 8:30 AM and left early on Friday, no Saturdays. I got yelled at several times in the past 9 months (he’s been in our office 10 months) for missing dispatch after he changed our starting times to 30 mins later (only allowing 5 mins leeway from start time to dispatch). During our mailcount our PM came in 1 1/2 hours early, stayed all day, 6 days a week, helped the clerks get the mail sorted so he could count it and get us out of the office. Now mailcount is over and he’s back to his old hours, leaving early on Friday, no Saturday. We are left waiting for the clerks to get our mail to us and rushing to make dispatch. I will get less pay for the same hours. Management needs leaders in those positions. A leader is someone willing to roll up their sleeves and get the mail moving. A true leader leads by setting the example. My PM said “I am management, I can come in when I want, I can leave when I want, I don’t do mail.” Those kind of management people need to be released from the payrolls. Our previous PM’s came in early and got the mail up so we could go out on the routes. The new guy just wants to set “his” hours and yell at us when the mail is heavy, ice is on the roads, roads are washed out, or what ever else can happen out there that makes us late.
March 21st, 2009 16:55
ATTENTION : PTF DISCOVERS CAUSE OF POSTAL WOES. As a Union activist who has represented letter carriers for over thirty years I have heard this brilliant line of thinking much too much. Anyone who knows the N.A. can see the apparent errors. 15 min breaks reverted routes. I have to assume this place has quite a few routes based on his BRILLIANT idea of reverting 3 or 4 of them. So by his analysis ALL of the carriers in this office are ripping off the P.O. By the number of spelling and grammar errors in that post he probably delivers mail just as sloppily as he writes. I guess the office he works in didn’t go through the I.R.A.P. either. It is better to keep quiet and have people think you are ignorant, than to open it and remove all doubt.
March 21st, 2009 17:15
This is CRAP… Why are MPE’s excluded from this early retirement thing I hear about ??
March 21st, 2009 17:53
NALC President- I’ve been in the PO 22 years as a city carrier, never 204b’d and despise most of mangement, but you know and I know PTF is probably right. I’ve worked in large offices and small offices and in all of them, there’s always a few routes that are short, some more than others. Of course there’s always a few that are over too. In most cases, that’s the way the regulars want it. So, yes some craft employees are ripping off the PO, either by not working long enough or by working OT. And for most of my career, I haven’t cared a whit. But now it’s time to think of someone other than yourself for once, as PTF is saying. The good times are over, get used to it.
March 21st, 2009 20:27
I remember when I was PTF in the peninsula, there were light duty regular employees working 6 days a week why? because the supervisores were their friends, what a waste of money.
March 22nd, 2009 18:19
waste of money ? check this out.. type in ONLY your zipcode and look at managements payscale !! Enjoy…..
http://php.app.com/usps/search.php
March 22nd, 2009 19:34
I have the solution to the 100 millions per year the USPS said is going to save cutting positions, we are 640,000 employees, if we give away 1 holiday per year the USPS is going to save 128 millions and they don’t have to eliminate positions, let’s save our coworkers jobs, I am willing to donate my holiday, what about you guys?
March 23rd, 2009 10:44
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
March 23rd, 2009 12:32
since were getting rid of the sorry supervisors and the lazy back up 204-b’s that dont have a clue on how to run operations why not go that extra route and get rid of the ridiculius mystery shopper program we can save money there also instead we pay them to come and harrass the window clerks to make sure that they are asking all the questions and to up sale up sale. also since routes are getting downsized why not get rid of rural route carriers and give those jobs to our city carriers since there wont be enough work for the city carriers what happens to the ptf carriers they should have a home also. just like mailhandlers what ya need them for since everything is automated all they do is watch tv in the swing room and cry about no overtime what a waste .
March 23rd, 2009 12:52
since the postal service is making changes they should start with supersivors that dont know how to run the operation and ridiculius attitude and they dont know how to talk to people some of the employees know more than the supervisors why even have supervisors at all that can save you some money employees can run the operations by themselves instead of having supervisors stand on your shoulder looking to see if the job is done another waste of money why stop there get rid of 204-b half of them have no clue what to do anyway
March 23rd, 2009 21:06
It’s about time they get rid of some management. More than 60% of all the management jobs they are getting rid of in these closings are eligible for retirement. Do ya think they made these positions so they could stay on and get a check? I do! In my district, unit supervisors and head supervisors can’t make a call to bring in people to cover routes without the authorization of the next level up of managers. Too many levels of management here and customer service is out the door. It’s all we can do as carriers to provide a good service anymore to our customers. I really believe they don’t care about anything but the bottom line and that will ultimately cause the end of the PO. It always falls on the carrier and clerks shoulders as to our financial woes, let’s see some streamlining of the management and other NON essential employees.
March 24th, 2009 07:16
Mr. Nalc President ( I hope I spelled that correctly). These posts are comments and opinions, just like buttholes everyone has them, including me. That was not very professional of you to attack me on my spelling and grammar. Maybe when I grow up I can be as smart as you. That is not a solution to the Postal service woes but all of it can help as i was suggesting. I did learn something from your comment. I learned how to increase my paycheck by not paying DUES anymore. Thanks
March 24th, 2009 13:42
Does anyone else out there worry that in the future out pensions and health benefits will be cut? I do. The government can’t keep spending all this money and still pay retirees benefits.
March 24th, 2009 22:16
Wow, everyone is so tense here. Loosen up people. You chose your career.
March 26th, 2009 07:23
Another so called Union President who feel the need to putdown a dues paying member who speaks out instead of addressing the problem in an intelligent manner. Things are not the same as 5, 10 or 20 years ago but Union officials continue to instruct carriers not to except pivot time even when route volume has decreased. Seems that the Union President needs to return to the real world instead of sitting around the Union Hall getting paid and holding down a route he never carries.
March 26th, 2009 12:32
What is your Pension Benefit???
John E. Potter
USPS Pension Benefit
$1,350,318
John E. Potter
CSRS Annuity
30 Years
$2,453,057
H. Glen Walker
FERS Annuity
2 Years
$ 60,702
Patrick R. Donahoe
CSRS Annuity
33 Years
$2,522,570
Anthony J. Vegliante
CSRS Annuity
31 Years
$2,171,701
Mary Anne Gibbons
FERS Annuity
23 Years
$ 815,758
March 26th, 2009 14:27
The day has come when all the fat and lazy break extending
f…s: will bring us all down….
March 27th, 2009 13:55
FIRST AND FOREMOST, THEY NEED TO GET RID OF POTTER HIMSELF, JACKASS THAT HE IS. IN WITH ALL THE FAT CATS AT COUNTRYWIDE…IT’S A DAMN DISGRACE — BUT THEN AGAIN, WHY SHOULD I BE SHOCKED.
March 30th, 2009 14:17
This is just the start of a total reorganization process. If there are still employees working for the postal service who aren’t retiring in the next three yrs or so that think that they wont be effected think again. There are just as many good people in management as there are in the craft. I have been both and appreciated and despised both. I know its time for changes but, cheering just because management is taking the hit this time is immature to say the least. Ever hear of the saying “When my neighbor loses his job its a recession and when I lost mine it became a depression”…..Start tightening up and lose the old union mentatlities and be happy we all have jobs right now.
March 31st, 2009 10:36
I think we are all overlooking one very important point. When you lose your job, it doesn’t matter who did or didn’t do what to who when where or why because you are unemployed! Do yourself and everyone else a favor and preserve your job by maintaining your integrity,and performing your job to the best of your ability. In this sad day that we are in, the negativity will further promote elimination of jobs and service by unconscienable people who thrive on just that type of situation. Stand out and you may be left standing!
March 31st, 2009 17:56
i work in a l+dc in so. jersey. we have 40 204b’s on tour 3 and 3 on tour 2 and most of them are mailhandlers. we are short mailhandlers in the plant. why not save money by putting them back to craft. the 2o4bs are freinds of supervision. so i doubt that will ever happen
April 1st, 2009 23:36
Are the TE’s going to make it?
April 8th, 2009 06:29
It’s about time they trimmed the dead weight. Imagine someone chooch in Ct. Calling Portland, Me. to tell mgt that a carrier didn’t scan a bar code in a mail box. way WAY toomany layers of managment. Glad to see them go. Maybe they will have to WORK at the USPS now. Good luck suckers
April 9th, 2009 16:32
The participation rate on USPS employee opinion surveys is less then 50 percent, and a BONUS is received to management, for every completed form, always trying in some way to get employees to fill them out on the clock some perhaps a few months later again. Throw this in as a terrible waste of money that rewards poor miserable performance to the same people over and over again, and you see it’s just like all the taxpayer bonus bailouts that need to be stopped or taxed 90 percent. thank you
April 11th, 2009 00:19
Why not eliminate supervisors in each office. Make supervisors work six days a week until this economic crisis passes. If these managers would treat thier postal job like they owned the business then we could trim a lot of fat off the government feeding trough. There are only 12 shifts a week yet we see 3-4 supervisors or 3 supervisors and a 204b standing around pushing papers.
Also have you ever seen a postmaster work on Saturday? Not in my area. Again if the managers were truly concerned they would work six days a week thus eliminating a supervisor.
April 25th, 2009 21:00
The Atlanta District spent over $250,000 to inform window clerks to ask every customer to rent a PO Box, even if the customer already had a PO Box. On a daily basis we spend several hours taking priority mail with delivery confirmation to the correct city. Sometimes spending 5 man hours a day to get one letter delivered. The PO worries only about making the numbers look good even if the cost to the PO is excessive. Management needs to listen to the workers and not to the decisions made by people who have never worked in processing or delivering mail.
June 17th, 2010 20:20
I am a mailhandler/204b. This week I worked 6 days, and it will be 8 more days until I get another day off. I supervise mailhandlers and clerks on the dock on T3. Most of these employees take 30 minute or longer breaks, and 45 minute or longer lunches. If they don’t like what I tell them, they holler for a union steward. Most of them have an opinion about how I should do my job, but none of them are willing to step up to get into a position to implement those ideas. If you have never supervised at the post office then you have no idea what you are talking about! I leave these people alone because I know what they go through on a daily basis, but all I get is crap attitudes and smart remarks. Too much management? Yeah. Too much micro-managing? Absolutely. But too many people who are accustomed to long breaks and lunches, standing around when there are things to do, thinking that if it rolls then a tow motor or fork lift should move it. We need to realize that we are the lucky ones who still have good paying jobs. It’s time to suck it up and start going the extra mile. And if I am put back into craft next week, I will be practicing what I preach. I try to be an employee that I would want to hire if I were the business owner. And since I need a job to retire from, I intend to do my best to see that the Postal Service lasts for the next 20 years. If you don’t want to be job hunting in these times, I suggest you do the same. The postal service isn’t perfect, but it pays my bills!
July 13th, 2010 15:55
I see two agency goals; one, the agency wants a younger, more flexible, fitter, fungible, workforce of lower paid widgets; which explains the illegal NRP campaign to purge the agency of injured on duty employees with medical restrictions; and or,
two, the more likely, Old Man Potter, the bean-counters and privateers are trying to drive the old P.O. into oblivion and the hands of private enterprise.
So you can talk amongst yourselves; point fingers; throw blame around; give big smooches to big bottoms… or you can act like a workforce of men and women, conjure up some critical thought and some spine, lock-arms and fight to save the agency and your jobs.
NRP is going down. The FLSA violations are going to be corrected too. So, stop looking for holidays to give away and stop running through your lunches and breaks; participate in your associations and unions. File complaints and appeals… use the law to save your jobs and the Post Office… either that or begin looking for a job with Fed Ex or UPS.
Good Luck!