U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown called for an investigation on the effects of a proposed consolidation of U.S. Postal Service facilities in Lima. In a letter sent this week to David C. Williams, the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Brown requested more information on the Area Mail Processing (AMP) Study that is being conducted in the Lima area.

“I remain concerned that USPS simply cannot maintain an adequate level of service if the consolidations occur, which would only serve to reduce the use of USPS in Ohio,” Brown wrote in a letter to Williams. “In addition to a degraded level of service, this consolidation could displace many workers and their families. Not only could many Postal Workers be forced to move great distances to preserve their jobs, but they would leave a social and economic void in the communities from which they have been uprooted.”

AMP studies investigate the potential to streamline USPS services by consolidating service locations. Brown previously requested data on the effect of an AMP decision. He wrote to the Inspector General to formally request that data, and express concern over the effect of an AMP decision on Lima families.

Full text of the letter appears below:

February 16, 2010

Inspector General David C. Williams
United States Postal Service
1735 N. Lynn St.
Arlington, VA 22209-2020

Dear Inspector General Williams:

I am writing in regard to the ongoing Area Mail Processing (AMP) Study in Lima, Ohio.

Over the past four months, I have raised a number of issues with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Ohio about the proposed consolidation of USPS facilities in Lima. I remain concerned that USPS simply cannot maintain an adequate level of service if the consolidations occur, which would only serve to reduce the use of USPS in Ohio. In addition to a degraded level of service, this consolidation could displace many workers and their families. Not only could many Postal Workers be forced to move great distances to preserve their jobs, but they would leave a social and economic void in the communities from which they have been uprooted.

I have asked the Ohio USPS for data and analysis that would shed light on the impact of the consolidations, and have received neither. I am therefore formally requesting the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General conduct an audit of the AMP study in Lima, Ohio.

Please review this request and provide me with your comments. If you wish to discuss this request, please contact me or Patrick Jackson from my staff at (202) 224-2315.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown

United States Senator

We’d like to tell you we’re kidding, but it’s true. The Postal Service, which is studying shutting the Lima distribution and processing center, is actually now building a ramp at the Hanthorn Road building.

This would be the same distribution and procession center that Western Ohio District Manager Chu Falling Star wants to close to save $1.3 million by shifting its work to Toledo. So it only makes sense — if you work for the government — to do building improvements first. Don’t get your hopes up about the meaning of the work. TV station WLIO on Friday quoted a postal official as saying the work was scheduled, so with the uncertainty of the Lima center’s future, it went ahead.

The editorial concludes:

Regardless of whether you agree with… the Postal Service’s decision to close the Lima facility, you understand the need to save money. But, someone at these inefficient bureaucracies should figure out what a slap in the face it is to see money go into improving a facility for the sake of sitting empty.

It suggests the people trying to save money have no idea what they’re doing.

August 4, 2009

Omar M. Gonzalez
Western Region Coordinator
American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
500 Airport Blvd. Suite 450
Burlingame, CA 94010-1940

Dear Mr. Gonzalez:

Please be advised that we are considering consolidating Central Forwarding System (CFS) offices within the Western Area as follows:

• Spokane to Seattle
• Portland to Seattle
• Fargo to Minneapolis
• Sioux Falls to Minneapolis
• Billings to Denver
• Wichita to Kansas City
• Des Moines to Omaha
• Boise to Salt Lake City
• Las Vegas to Salt Lake City and Phoenix

This will impact the employees in the losing CFS units. Reassignments will be made pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 by each affected district office. We will provide you updates as information becomes available.

Sincerely,

Chris A Jordan
Manager Labor Relations
Western Area

More Western Region Impact Statements are located here. Statements for the rest of the country can be found at the APWU Regional Coordinator’s pages at APWU.org.

Now that’s odd- it only takes a day to get mail from this place to anywhere in the state, but it takes four or five days to get it back from a plant 88 miles away? If you were a reporter, wouldn’t you find that a bit questionable? Apparently not in Alexandria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_17gbxI2jvU

The PRC found that the plan’s flaws included:

• Questionable or Incomplete Cost and Service Estimates
• Inadequate Review of Local Impacts
• Insufficient Provisions for Public Participation

The commission analyzed the Area Mail Processing (AMP) process for evaluating individual plant consolidations, and found that:

• AMP Reviews Lack Consistency
• AMP Process Lacks Criteria for Approval
• The Post Implementation Review Process (PIR) is Flawed

The commission also criticized the USPS for failing to fully consider the service implications of plant realignments:

The Postal Service is a service organization, perhaps the largest such organization in the country.  It does not seem prudent, in the Commission’s view, for an organization of its size and economic importance to commit itself to a logistics network restructuring program of this magnitude, without first having a full grasp of its likely effect on the service that it provides its customers.  If the Postal Service’s representations in this docket are accurate, however, that is what the Postal Service is considering.  The Commission recommends that the Postal Service choose a “most likely” network realignment outcome for planning purposes, and estimate the full range of service impacts that would result from that outcome before it commits further resources to this program.

Commissioner Ruth Goldway wrote in a concurring opinion that the Commission’s opinion “fails to express sufficiently serious concern about the problems that have arisen in initial stages of the Postal Service’s consolidation efforts, in places such as Southern California, El Paso, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada.”

I am concerned that unless the Postal Service management is truly attentive to improving the AMP change process, implementation of network realignment is likely to result in substantial, unexpected, and potentially expensive service disruptions throughout the nation.  A clear example is that the AMP change analysis performed prior to the recent consolidation of the Marina Del Rey facility into the existing Los Angeles facility totally failed to predict the myriad of service disruptions that occurred in the weeks and months after implementation.

…Before the Postal Service implements the dozens of consolidations required by network realignment, it should improve the AMP change process to insure that service disruptions are minimized.  The best way to improve that process is to fully review each consolidation that has already occurred. It should honestly face and thoroughly analyze mis-estimates and determine the lessons learned.  Going forward, the Postal Service should require forecasts of possible changes in service levels to the end users in planning every AMP change, require measurement of customer feedback in any post implementation review, and then accurately measure the net cost savings by including changes in post-implementation workforce, transportation or other adjustments.

ADVISORY OPINION CONCERNING A PROPOSED CHANGE IN THE NATURE OF POSTAL SERVICES

The act encourages the USPS to “expeditiously move forward in its streamlining efforts”, but adds that it must also “keep unions, management associations, and local elected officials informed as an essential part of this effort and abide by any procedural requirements contained in the national bargaining agreements.”

To that end, the USPS is required to produce a plan outlining the steps it plans to take, including “estimated timeframes, criteria, and processes to be used for making changes to the facilities network, and the process for engaging policy makers and the public in related decisions”. The plan must also include “a discussion of what impact any facility changes may have on the postal workforce and whether the Postal Service has sufficient flexibility to make needed workforce changes”, as well as “a comprehensive plan under which reemployment assistance shall be afforded to employees displaced as a result of automation of any of its functions, the closing and consolidation of any of its facilities, or such other reasons as the Postal Service may determine”.

The act requires that any consolidation efforts currently under way include notice to the communities involved of any service changes and impacts on employees. The USPS must also “afford affected persons ample opportunity to provide input on the proposed decision; and take such comments into account in making a final decision.”

Best line in the brief has to be the footnote on page 3. After pointing out the many layers of existing oversight the USPS operates under, the brief notes that ‘At page 74, the OCA [Office of the Consumer Advocate] refers to a need for “continued surveillance” of postal management.’ The footnote asks “Can postal rendition be far behind?”

USPS N2006-1 Reply Brief
USPS N2006-1 Initial Brief
Complete Listing of Briefs filed

The Olympia Local of the American Postal Workers Union will hold an all day informational picket on Thursday, October 26, 2006 at the Olympia Post Office to protest the Postal Service’s plans to consolidate facilities and reduce mail service to the public. The Olympia action is part of a nationwide informational picket by the American Postal Workers Union. Postal workers in cities across the United States will be informing the public about consolidation plans that will reduce service to their communities.

The Olympia outgoing mail has already been consolidated to Tacoma. It is worth noting that the Tacoma Plant cannot handle the extra Olympia mail. The Tacoma Plant is using overtime and often sending Tacoma mail to Seattle in order to handle the Olympia mail. In essence, Olympia mail is being worked in Tacoma and Tacoma mail is being worked in Seattle. The consolidation of the Olympia mail to Tacoma has increased costs and reduced mail service for the average citizen.

However, all too often, the Postal Service no longer acts in the interest of the average citizen. Similar to other government agencies, the Postal Service increasingly acts in the interest of large corporations who have been successful in electing and influencing government officials with large amounts of money. The power of large corporations over the Postal Service is illustrated by the fact that James C. Miller III, a long time advocate for the privatization of the Postal Service, is now the current chair of the Board of Governors for the Postal Service. The governing head of the Postal Service is someone who does not believe the Postal Service should be a democratic institution.

In the case of the Postal Service, the corporate influence has the added element of media power. Time Warner, the Newspaper Association of America, and other large corporate media interests are big customers of the Postal Service and have been actively supporting consolidation and other plans in their self-interest, which often comes at the expense of the general public.

It is difficult for postal workers and other advocates for a democratic postal service to get their views articulated when most of the media is corporate owned and in support of a corporate oriented postal service. Therefore, postal workers will utilize picket signs on Thursday, October 26, as one method of informing the public that unwarranted consolidations will reduce mail service and increase costs for the average citizen in the country.

For more information contact: Clint Burelson – clintburelson@comcast.net or 360-970-2965