The U.S. Postal Service announced a new strategy yesterday that could keep the nation’s smallest Post Offices open for business, while providing a framework to achieve significant cost savings as part of the plan to return the organization to financial stability.
The plan would keep existing Post Offices in place, but with modified retail window hours to match customer use. Access to the retail lobby and to PO Boxes would remain unchanged, and the town’s ZIP Code and community identity would be retained.
The new strategy would be implemented over a two-year, multi-phased approach and would not be completed until September 2014. Once implementation is completed, the Postal Service estimates savings of a half billion dollars annually.
A voluntary early retirement incentive for the nation’s more than 21,000 non-executive postmasters was also announced.
To see more about the plan, visit: http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm#
So, what do you think about the plan? What are postal customers saying? Comment here.
21 comments:
It seems like a good compromise to me. I live in a rural area, and the post offices around here are important to the communities. But, on the other hand, they are rarely busy. Typically, there are no other customers at the post office when I stop by.
Need to quickly eliminate more top heavy positions to save $$$...
The proposed hours that my office received are unrealistic. I have 2 permit mailers (a periodical & first class mailer). Yesterday was Thursday, the slow day of the week. I would have had to turn away revenue from customers had I currently been under the new proposed hours of operations.
When the current Postmasters retires or "voluntarily resigns", the Postal Service will have a very hard time finding a non-career PMR to work for 2 hours daily at a rate of $9.45 an hour with NO BENEFITS. USPS Headquarters management is well aware of the consequences of their actions. Once a Post Office falls under the new hours of operations plan & they are unable to fill the position, and then guess what happens? There should be some incentive for the PMR in the 2 & 4 hour offices. They should be rated the same as the 6 hour part-time Postmaster position There ultimate wish & goal will come true, the Post Office in that particular rural community will close due to the fact that there won't be any qualified or willing applicants at such a sorry rate of pay. Any old Joe off the street can make more than that in tips per hour waiting tables at a restaurant! Once again we have shot ourselves in the foot.
I like the idea that some of the smaller offices would remain open instead of colsed completely which is better for America. That being said I am very disapointed in our leadership trying to balance the budget on the backs of 13000 employees when we have 547,000 empoyees. Why wouldn't we have some shared sacrafice from everyone. If we all had a 50 cent a hour reduction in pay that would save twice the amount of money. If we were thinking of this sort of thing I would think it should be a percentage so the higher salaried employees would feel the same pain.
I feel they have not looked at the whole picture when cutting hours in certain offices. I have an office that has many newspapers that go out weekly. The printer was already asking how will they be handled if my hours are less. Also people are saying why not charge everyone for delivery. this would be a big boost to income.
It may be a good compromise to some, but in our small P.O., we have been without a Postmaster for going on 4 years (fill-in by clerk from neighboring P.O., which leaves them short-handed), and this winter the janitorial contract was cut - so the clerk-in-charge has to do all the cleaning in addition to mail duties. Unless we are going to allow package delivery on Saturdays, some of our customers that work in other towns until 5 p.m. won't be able to get to us during reduced window hours to pick up certified mail or parcels. But, the good of the many will have to rule over the needs of the few...
I believe we all realize that something must be done. I agree with the comment that this needs to be spread throughout every employee. Why should the Postmaster position be the one that has to take the brunt of this? At least they didn't just give us a two week notice and put us out on the street. Two years does give us time to reorganize our lives!! If this is the way it has to be, we need to find ways to make this as best as possible for our customers. The first thing that needs to be done is parcel lockers in every office with reduced window service. I also hope upper management takes into account the type of businesses in the communities when they set the new hours. My community has a farm implement dealership which mails parts almost daily during the spring, summer and fall for delivery the next day. IF we can't provide this service anymore, we will continue to lose customers and revenues. USPS.COM CAN'T SERVE THE CUSTOMERS LIKE POSTMASTERS HAVE DONE FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
Why is that the working person always gets the cuts.Why doesn't the postmaster general take a cut in pay and not get bonuses and he would be able to keep rural offices open without cutting hours.Also it is so unfair that a postmaster will be cut down to a PMR with no benefits .Postmaser General sure has a way of saying Thank You for all the work you have done.So Mad
doesn't anyone else see thru this smokescreen?????????
Clue me in--what do you think is the smokescreen???
I agree about installing parcel lockers; it is imperative that we make our services as easy to use as possible.
I like the parcel locker idea. However, people would need to have a PO Box to get the key to the locker. Those that don't have PO Boxes wouldn't be able to get access. If they don't get much mail, is it really going to be worth it to them to get one?
My office is supposedly going to be upgraded and gain 3 rural routes with no increase in clerk hours to handle the extra work load. I do not expect to get any extra help or pay.
Here's a thought maybe make those in communities of 500 or less go to the PO and get their mail. This would save a lot of money. No carrier running all over the town delivering mail. Oh but wait we couldn't do that because the unions wouldn't allow it. The PO could save lots of money if they wanted to but it's pretty obvious they don't want to. Otherewise they wouldn't be giving bonuses to the top dogs all of the time. Maybe they should take a 25 to 75%cut in pay like the PM's are going to have to. Oh wait we won't even have a job. If they are going to get rid of the people that supervise the carriers, clerks and mail handlers I guess then we could get rid of the MPOO's too. A PM in a level 16 or 18 office could supervise all the PMR's that will take over these offices. Because when they realize what kind of a job they have they will quit and PMG will then get what he wants all of the offices closed. That wood pile just gets bigger every day.
Gee, anonymous on May 16 - those of us in rural Nevada have been doing this for YEARS, and now some of our post offices are slated for closure, even those ones with towns greater than 500 population! You cannot imagine the frustration we face when ordering from catalogs, that the companies demand a street address even if our mail is only delivered to a box number.... Two of our post offices have been without a postmaster, one for nearly 4 years, one for "only" 1-1/2 years; clerks are filling in on "temporary" assignment, but they are doing all the paperwork that a postmaster would do, without the pay and authority... The reduced hours will be hardest on the people that work from 9 to 5 and cannot get to the P.O. to pick up certifieds, packages, etc. during "business hours" (our P.O. is proposed to go down to 6 hours, 9:30 to 3:30). No easy solutions on this one.
Gee, anonymous on May 16 - those of us in rural Nevada have been doing this for YEARS, and now some of our post offices are slated for closure, even those ones with towns greater than 500 population! You cannot imagine the frustration we face when ordering from catalogs, that the companies demand a street address even if our mail is only delivered to a box number.... Two of our post offices have been without a postmaster, one for nearly 4 years, one for "only" 1-1/2 years; clerks are filling in on "temporary" assignment, but they are doing all the paperwork that a postmaster would do, without the pay and authority... The reduced hours will be hardest on the people that work from 9 to 5 and cannot get to the P.O. to pick up certifieds, packages, etc. during "business hours" (our P.O. is proposed to go down to 6 hours, 9:30 to 3:30). No easy solutions on this one.
Another poor decision. We serve all the poeple all the time!
Our office is one that will be going to 4 hours. It is not realistic to assume that offices are only busy in the AM or vice versa. We are a PO Box only office as well, and the previous commenters were right on the money with fighting with companies (even some banks) as to using the proper format for letters and packages. I am also one of the OICs that have been coming here off and on since 2010, and I no longer believe in the idea that you can move up and contribute. That's what our emails always say, but then when you have ideas, they are ignored or in some instances, belittled. I have had to reach for outside help just to try to get things accomplished here with my PMR, and it scares me that with this inherent lack of training, these are the people who will safeguard the mail to come...
Benny,
I read your blog everyday. Today I have a request for a blog concerning an article in today’s USPS News Link. The article states: “The Postal Service believes retired Postmasters make excellent reemployment candidates for these positions because of their knowledge of postal products and services, their community connections and their ability to provide continuity of service”. If this is the case why are they dragging us out the back door by our heels like trash under their feet or an old worn out dirty shoe (Headquarters); but inviting us to come back in the front door with a couple of pats on our behind.
We are extremely beneficial, knowledgeable, hard working, trustworthy, conscientious, & faithful community oriented & involved civil servants. The Level E thru 16 offices is the mechanism that generates & drives the positive CEM (Customer Experience) scores for the USPS Headquarters Executive Officers to publicize & brag about.
Many of us are age mature employees & I feel we are being discriminated against. We have been proud employees who never were embarrassed to profess that we worked for The United States Postal Service. We held our heads high through all the adversity & conflict about our employer. We have professed our profession loudly & never hung our heads in shame. We have given more than what was expected because we love our profession & the community that we serve. Many of us have worked overtime without being compensated for fear of being reprimanded by our associate office post office operations manager. We have brought toilet paper, cleaning products & office supplies from home to stay within our assigned supplies & service budgets.
It seems to me that the positions in Headquarters continue to “GROW” instead of “Growing Business”. They are hiring non postal executives to brainstorm ideas for retail & delivery expansion. Many of these executives are not familiar with the procedures involved with our type of business. We have antiquated internet network systems that were out of date & should have been updated at the time they were installed. They are always rolling out a system or internet application before the bugs or problems have been addressed & fixed. The lost productivity & increased monetary expense associated with these premature releases is unimaginable.
There is considerable monetary waste to promote pet projects of executives that are intended to further promote their career. They do this so they have the ability to say I have done this & that, in order to demonstrate their knowledge, skills & abilities or worthiness. Who cares what the end result is as long as they get their promotions & their time in the spot light.
They are eliminating experienced, seasoned, postal knowledgeable positions in favor of contracting services to non postal oriented companies. Many of these contractors are being compensated at rates that are higher than the comparable postal positions that they have replaced.
I feel extremely offended & insulted by the way we have been treated during this process of delivery & retail optimization. We, the rural communities are the backbone & founding of the post & parcel delivery service. We have been an integral part of “These United States” & instrumental in the westward movement in the United States during our early colonial & frontier expansion.
As for me, once I retire it won’t be cost effective for me to return to the position that I was just eliminated from. I have become so disheartened with the direction our bosses in Washington DC have taken the Postal Service that I will be relieved to not have the burden & fear of being reprimanded just because my boss is looking to climb the ladder of promotion.
YEAHHHH! I am "just" a PMR that has been with USPS for 1-1/2 yrs, but I would find that insulting, too! I retired from a 30-year career with a state govt. agency that was always harping about "doing more with less," and here I am working for a fed. agency that has the same mantra. Our office is being proposed for 6 hours a day; our cleaning contract was cut a year ago, so we have to clean & mop when we have "slack time." That is not new to me: as a Park Ranger and Park Supervisor, I cleaned toilets and dug holes & collected fees and did reports... Even if our small office (750 boxes) is not a revenue-maker, it is a community service, but the middle and higher managers don't seem to remember what that is. The "Village Post Office" concept just isn't a fit with our local, small Mom & Pop-owned store. Public meetings between customers and middle/higher management should take place before these decisions are set in stone!
YEAHHHH! I am "just" a PMR that has been with USPS for 1-1/2 yrs, but I would find that insulting, too! I retired from a 30-year career with a state govt. agency that was always harping about "doing more with less," and here I am working for a fed. agency that has the same mantra. Our office is being proposed for 6 hours a day; our cleaning contract was cut a year ago, so we have to clean & mop when we have "slack time." That is not new to me: as a Park Ranger and Park Supervisor, I cleaned toilets and dug holes & collected fees and did reports... Even if our small office (750 boxes) is not a revenue-maker, it is a community service, but the middle and higher managers don't seem to remember what that is. The "Village Post Office" concept just isn't a fit with our local, small Mom & Pop-owned store. Public meetings between customers and middle/higher management should take place before these decisions are set in stone!
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