As the US Postal Service once again tries to chart its future in an ever-changing market, let’s see how a previous Postmaster General envisioned the future of the USPS:

Jan. 26, 2010 – Timothy Jackson looked out the window of his home in western New York and decided the blizzard would force him to stay home. He knew, however, he had to finalize and mail a proposal to a key client.

Thus begins Marvin Runyon’s brief 1995 essay in Insight Magazine describing what the US Postal Service would look like in 2010. I’m sure Runyon hoped his piece would show what a forward looking, innovative organization he had turned the USPS into. Unfortunately, it served instead to show how out of touch he was with the changes that were already taking place:

With a few additional keystrokes, he electronically accessed his business post office. He had 37 pieces of hard-copy mail in the post-office box. A quick electronic scan identified six as reply envelopes that typically brought him remittances; another three were hard copies of E-mail his staff had sent the day before.

I’m not exactly sure why you would have your staff mail hard copies of emails to you, but I suspect Runyon was the kind of old-school executive who never actually used a computer, but had his secretary print out emails for him to read- so it probably made sense to him.

Runyon then goes on to give an odd description of how his imaginary 2010 customer’s computer would communicate with him:

His computer winked and chirped, and he saw exactly what and how to get his message into the postal system.  He printed the screen and jotted down the name and digicell phone number of a post-office representative in case he should have any questions or need technical assistance. His confidence and comfort level were high as he turned back to the spreadsheets and qualifying forms.

Winking and chirping aside, Insight readers were quick to point out that the services and technologies Runyon promised for 2010 were already available to anyone with an Internet connection. One wrote:

I won’t need the help of the Postal Service in 2010 to do what I already can do today.

Another wrote that Runyon “simply confirmed how out of touch government bureaucrats can be”. (While true, it seems that the writer was unaware of Runyon’s history as a successful auto industry executive, who had previously been brought in to reform the Tennessee Valley Authority by none other than Ronald Reagan!)

Some of Runyon’s other predictions have failed to materialize- “Post-office lines will be a thing of the past”, and “Consumers… will access their local post office electronically and even determine when their letter carrier will bring the mail.”

In fact, there’s really only one innovation predicted by Runyon that has come true.

Self-stick stamps.

Let’s hope the current crew at L’Enfant Plaza are better fortune tellers than Carvin’ Marvin was…

Dec. 7, 2011 — NALC President Fred Rolando and USPS Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced on Wednesday, Dec. 7, that the parties’ 2006-2011 National Agreement has been extended a second time—to midnight Dec. 16, 2011—to give the parties additional time to negotiate the provisions of a new contract. The 2006 agreement had been set to expire at midnight Sunday, Nov. 20.

“We have been working in good faith to hammer out a new contract and we hope that this extension will lead to an agreement that our members can enthusiastically ratify,” President Rolando said.

The entire NALC Executive Council and the USPS negotiating team were sequestered at a hotel in Washington for the seven days leading up to the initial Nov. 20 deadline to work around the clock on the terms of a new National Agreement. As teams continue to work on the terms of a new contract, council committees chaired by the union’s resident national officers have engaged management counterparts in intensive discussions on the full range of contract issues affecting working conditions and workplace rights during daily negotiations that often stretched late into the night.

President Rolando has coordinated the work of all the committees and has taken the lead on the key economic provisions of the contract, including pay, health benefits and other matters such as the structure of the city carrier workforce. As the expiration date approached, the focus shifted to finding innovative ways to reduce the cost of employee health care while preserving and protecting the benefits of NALC’s members.

The 2011 round of bargaining kicked off in August at a time of extreme challenges for the Postal Service, as the congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits has crippled the agency’s finances. Over time, the talks have gathered momentum. In the end, the parties agreed that more time could help the talks succeed.

“We remain committed to negotiating a fair contract that will advance the best interests of the nation’s city letter carriers,” Rolando said.

via National Bargaining – Bargaining Home.

From WAOW TV Wausau, Wisconsin:

ABBOTSFORD (WAOW) — Potential postal service changes could mean some newspaper readers won’t see the front page until days after it’s printed.

TP Printing in Abbotsford sends 42,000 papers every week through the US Postal Service. With a proposal to end overnight shipping in the works, by the time readers get the paper, the news may not be so new.

“It’s a weekly but it needs to be known now. Not five days from now,” said publisher Carol O’Leary. “We need to be current. We try to be as current as possible.”

Read more: Potential USPS changes could affect newspaper circulation – WAOW – Newsline 9, Wausau News, Weather, Sports.

From WSBT TV South Bend, Indiana:

SOUTH BEND – Businesses that send mail to make money are worried about what postal service cost cutting and changes will mean for their business.

It normally takes the post office one or two days to deliver a letter but if the postal service gets their way people could wait even longer. Bulk mailers, like Mail Data 2020, are not happy about it since universities and non-profits turn to their company to spread the word.

Read more: Bulk-mailers fear proposed mail delays could hurt business. – wsbt.com.

From the National Postal Mail Handlers Union

On Monday, December 5, the Postal Service filed a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), asking for an advisory opinion to relax the service standards for first-class mail and periodicals. The NPMHU condemns this action as extremely short-sighted, and believes that substantial cuts in service like those being proposed could potentially contribute to the end of the Postal Service as we know it.

“A service-oriented business such as the USPS should not be cutting service in an effort to save money” said National President John Hegarty. “At such a critical time for the USPS and for the American economy generally, the Postal Service should be improving service and attempting everything in its power to grow the business rather than degrading service. This misguided action is the definition of “penny wise and pound foolish,” as it will simply drive more and more customers away, sending them to the internet, and to our competitors.” Hegarty added: “I agree that the Postal Service can justify acting and reacting to its financial situation in crisis mode, but that does not mean it should be in panic mode, making knee-jerk decisions that could ultimately ruin the Postal Service.”

Another part of this plan is to shutter more than 200 mail processing centers around the country, and eliminate over 200,000 career positions over the next few years. At precisely the time when the economy is trying to rebound, the last thing that is needed is the addition of 200,000 more workers to the unemployment rolls.

The NPMHU and the other major postal unions have been advocating Congressional passage of H.R. 1351, which would give the Postal Service access to its own money, namely billions of dollars which have been overpaid into the CSRS and FERS retirement systems. Access to these funds would put the USPS on sound financial footing, and give the agency the time to turn its business around, without ruining service. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also has recently introduced a postal reform bill in the Senate, S. 1853, which we also support.

This latest move by the Postal Service is a follow-up to the September 21, 2011 release of its “Proposal to Revise Service Standards for First-Class Mail, Periodicals, and Standard Mail.” The September 21, 2011 document actually was an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which the NPMHU commented on. Below are excerpts from those comments:

At the very outset of its Proposal, the Postal Service candidly acknowledges that one of its core missions over the years has been to build up its mail processing and transportation networks to the point where those networks are sufficient “to achieve” the Postal Service’s current service standards for First-Class Mail and Periodicals, “particularly their overnight service standards.” See 76 Fed. Reg. at 58,434 (emphasis added). Yet in what can only be described as a defeatist—and self-defeating—response to “sharp revenue declines associated with falling [mail] volumes,” id., the Postal Service is now proposing effectively to abandon that core mission by: (i) eliminating the expectation of overnight service for First-Class Mail and Periodicals; (ii) substantially narrowing the two-day delivery range and substantially enlarging the three-day delivery range for such mail; and (iii) dismantling to a large degree the robust processing and transportation networks that have enabled the Postal Service “to achieve” its current service standards for such mail, “particularly their overnight service standards.”

The Postal Service’s Proposal is ill-conceived and should unceremoniously be laid to rest. By increasing the delivery time for most First-Class Mail and Periodicals by one day, and by eliminating the expectation of overnight service for such mail, the Postal Service would effectively be abandoning what it itself acknowledges has been one of its core missions over the years and conceding that it is no longer capable of fulfilling that mission on behalf of the American people.

On its face, this is a defeatist approach to the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties. In an effort to reduce its costs, the Postal Service is proposing to severely downgrade its current service standards and dismantle its current mail processing and transportation networks, in a truly radical fashion that is guaranteed to result in a further precipitous decline in Postal Service revenues. Nothing in the Proposal indicates that the Postal Service has made any kind of careful assessment of these revenue losses; nor has the Postal Service compared those revenue losses against the Proposal’s anticipated cost savings, which are themselves overstated. To put it bluntly, the Postal Service has failed to come to grips with the distinct possibility that adoption of its Proposal would not “bring operating costs in line with revenues,” but instead would exacerbate the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties and beget further downgrades in service standards, in a true “death spiral.”

Before embarking on the untested and dangerous path of severely downgrading its service standards and repositioning itself as a provider of second- or third-tier shipping services, the Postal Service should painstakingly exhaust all alternative means of “bring[ing] operating costs in line with revenues”—including means that are calculated to augment rather than further diminish the Postal Service’s revenue streams.

The Postal Service is expected to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking shortly. At that point, interested parties will be allowed to file additional comments and reactions.

We also expect the PRC to invite comments on this proposal, and possibly to hold hearings inviting testimony. We urge all mail handlers to become active in this fight. Write to your members of Congress in support of H.R. 1351 in the House and S. 1853 in the Senate, and stay tuned for further notices as to how you can make your voices heard in this process.

via USPS Moves Forward its Ill-Advised Plan to Reduce Service Standards – National Postal Mail Handlers Union.

New York City – December 6, 2011. Following yesterday’s request by the Postal Service to dismantle its operation and cut back on basic services to the American people, the New York Metro Area Postal Union and community groups are focusing on the upcoming hearings to close post offices in New York City.

Stadium station is located at 951 Gerard Avenue in the Bronx, it serves the community that lives in the shadow of Yankee Stadium and is essential to the people in the community who depend upon the Postal Service the most: the elderly, the disabled, the poor and small business owners. Stadium Station is one of the 17 post offices in the Bronx out of 34 in New York City that is scheduled to be closed. There is a growing grass roots movement to protest these closings.

• What: United States Postal Hearing on Closing Stadium Post Office in the Bronx
• Where: The Lobby of Bronx General Post Office 558 Grand Concourse at 149th Street in the Bronx
• When: Thursday, December 8, 2011 from 6pm until 8pm
• Who: Representative of the USPS, community members, union representatives, elected officials
• Why: Input by the community into the closing of Stadium Post Office

The New York Metro Area Postal Union, APWU is in support of Congressman Peter A. Defazio’s call for the firing of Postmaster Patrick R. Donahoe.

Yesterday’s announcement of proposed USPS service and network cutbacks has produced a flood of news stories, many of them listing processing facilities that are supposedly “scheduled” for closing- here’s one from the Boston Herald:

Seven Massachusetts mail processing facilities are on a list scheduled for closing next year under a budget-cutting plan by the U.S. Postal Service.

Those are in Boston, Brockton, Lowell, North Reading, Shrewsbury, Waltham and Wareham.

If you’re from Massachusetts, it has probably occurred to you that those are all the plants in Massachusetts, with the exception of Springfield. So is all Massachusetts mail going to be worked in Springfield? Probably not- although Springfield doesn’t appear on any of the closing lists, the USPS announced last month that it would be closing, with its mail diverted to Hartford and Shrewsbury. And yes, that’s the same Shrewsbury plant that’s on the list of plants to be closed.

It gets better- while the Boston, North Reading, Waltham and Shrewsbury plants appear on the list of plants to be closed, they also appear on the list of plants set to receive mail from other plants that are being closed.

Confused? Consider Burlington Vermont. It may be closed, and its mail sent to White River Junction, which may be closed and consolidated with Manchester NH, which may be closed and consolidated with Portland ME.

If all of those dominoes actually fell, a local letter mailed in Burlington could face a 500 mile round trip before it got delivered. That’s not likely, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at the USPS documents, or reading the news coverage. Similar scenarios exist elsewhere in the country.

Several news stories do quote USPS officials saying that the plant closing list is not final, but that part of the story doesn’t seem to be getting through.

The bottom line for postal workers and customers is that they really don’t know any more about the local impact of the proposed changes than they did before yesterday’s announcement.

via Postal Service proposes cuts in Mass, nationwide – BostonHerald.com.

Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) commented on the “so-called Postmaster General’s” plans yesterday:

NALC President Fredric Rolando responded to the Postal Service’s announcement that it plans to reduce delivery standards with the following statement. “We are very concerned about the proposal to reduce delivery standards. High-quality service is essential to preserving the value of our networks and to any future growth strategy. Degrading standards not only hurts the public and the businesses we serve, it’s also counter-productive for the Postal Service because it will drive more people away from using the mail. Changes in service need to be part of a coherent business plan that takes advantage of new opportunities, such as delivering the items people increasingly order online. We urge the Postal Regulatory Commission to review the proposal carefully and act to protect the long-term viability of America’s Postal Service.”

via NALC | The National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO.

Degrading Mail Service Will Hurt, Not Help, USPS

“The Postal Service plan will hasten the demise of the USPS,” APWU President Cliff Guffey said in response to the agency’s announcement that it would seek an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission on plans to eliminate next-day delivery of first-class mail and periodicals.

“The USPS should be modernizing and striving to remain relevant in the digital age, not reducing service to the American people,” he said. “Degrading service is a direct consequence of Postal Service plans to eliminate half of its mail processing centers,” said Guffey.

“Dismantling the Postal Service’s processing and distribution network will devastate mail service, damage the economy, and drive customers away,” Guffey said. “The USPS network is still a vital part of the nation’s infrastructure and destroying it will hurt, not help, the Postal Service.”

“Congress must take the necessary steps to protect the Postal Service. Unfortunately, bills currently pending in the House and Senate would result in drastic cuts to the USPS network and service,” the union president said.

H.R. 2309, which was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, would require the USPS to make a minimum of $3 billion worth of cuts in post offices and mail processing facilities within two years.

S. 1789, which was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, would give the USPS short-term financial relief, but, because it fails to adequately address the cause of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties, also would force the agency to dismantle its retail and mail-processing network,” the union president said.

The immediate cause of the USPS financial crisis is a mandate in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund the healthcare benefits for future retirees. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the Postal Service approximately $5.5 billion annually, and forces the USPS to pay a 75-year liability in just 10 years.

In addition, the Postal Service has overfunded its pension accounts. The USPS has overpaid into the Federal Employees Retirement System by more than $11 billion. Two independent actuarial studies have concluded that the agency has overfunded the Civil Service Retirement System by billions of dollars as well.

To save the USPS and protect mail service to the American people,Congress must address these fundamental issues. H.R. 1351, which was sponsored by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), would make drastic cutbacks in service unnecessary. Although the bill has more than 220 co-sponsors, it was rejected by the House committee when the panel approved H.R. 2309. The Lynch bill would permit the Postal Service to apply billions of dollars in pension overpayments to the requirement to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees.

Eliminating half of the nation’s mail processing facilities will severely impact the communities where they are located. Mail service will decline, and the economy of affected cities and towns will be hurt at a time when we can least afford it: Jobs and revenue will be lost, and a community cohesion and stability will be harmed, Guffey pointed out. “We cannot allow that to happen.”

via USPS Plan Will Hasten Demise of a Still-Vital Institution; Degrading Mail Service Will Hurt, Not Help, USPS.