Postal union president argues against mail consolidation

Thomas Henry isn’t buying the notion that closing the mail processing center in Fort Smith (on 74th Street) will save money.

The United States Postal Service announced Dec. 3 it is studying the option of closing the mail processing center in Fort Smith and consolidate the operations in Fayetteville. This marks yet another attempt by the USPS to close or consolidate the Fort Smith processing operation, which employs about 70.

A USPS statement provided the following as a reason for the study: “The need for the study comes as the Postal Service faces one of the most difficult challenges in its history. The current economic downturn and continued Internet diversion have led to a drastic decline in mail volume, with the loss of nearly 26 billion pieces in the past year. Mail volume is projected to fall another 11 billion pieces in the coming year. Even when the economy fully recovers, the Postal Service does not expect mail volume to return to previous peak levels, and is projecting annual deficits for the foreseeable future.”

In a recent presentation to the Fort Smith Board of Directors, Henry, the local postal 1211 union president, said he doubts the USPS will realize any real cost savings from moving the mail processing operations from Fort Smith to Fayetteville. Henry rattled off several reasons to support his point.
• The USPS will still own and maintain the large facility at 74th Street.
• The USPS will use more trucks — and fuel — to haul mail from the Fort Smith region to Fayetteville to be processed and then transport back to Fort Smith for delivery.
• The 74th Street station in Fort Smith is very close to the Fort Smith Regional Airport, while the Fayetteville station is many miles — with many of those two-lane — to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.
• If the processing center and equipment is moved to Fayetteville, there will be no redundancy in the event of ice storms in Northwest Arkansas.

Henry also argued that there is no physical way Fayetteville postal workers can process enough mail in the time allowed to guarantee next-day delivery. He predicted an increase in the amount of Fort Smith mail that will take two or more days to be delivered to another — possibly nearby — Fort Smith address.

The empty K-mart building in Fort Smith that is across 74th Street from the Fort Smith mail processing center is an interesting point in Henry’s arsenal of reasons to not consolidate. The approximate 106,300-square-foot building, located on prime property between the heavily traveled Rogers Avenue and Phoenix Avenue, closed November 2009 and has been without a tenant since.

“Fort Smith has an empty Kmart building across the street from the plant. Acquiring this building would allow the Fort Smith plant to expand versus the expense of new construction,” Henry explained, adding that Fayetteville’s building has little to no room to add extra processing machines.

Henry also argues that closing the Fort Smith center will result in the loss of 70 jobs in the Fort Smith region, but says the labor contract does not allow for layoffs — meaning the USPS will not see cost savings from lower labor costs.

Leisa Tolliver-Gay, customer relations coordinator with the USPS, would not comment on Henry’s points, “because all of that is part of the study. That is part of the study, ‘Is it feasible?’”

Tolliver-Gay said the feasibility study will conclude in the next “couple of months,” at which time the Dallas office will review it and send a recommendation to USPS officials in Washington, D.C. She said a decision come within the next 2-3 months, or the Dallas office could ask for more information and delay the decision.