Downtown Fort Smith postal union pickets planned

Members of four unions representing employees of the U.S. Postal Service plan a to gather on Sept. 27 outside the downtown Fort Smith office of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers.

Thomas Henry, a former postal union officer, said the “demonstration and information picket” is designed to garner opposition to a recently announced USPS study that could cut up to 35,000 jobs. The picket is scheduled for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Unions involved are the National Association of Letter Carriers, American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Rural Carriers and the National Association of Mail Handlers.

The USPS announced Sept. 15 its national plan would include the study of about 250 processing facilities for possible consolidation or closure, reducing mail processing equipment by as much as 50%, decreasing the nationwide transportation network, cutting up to 35,000 jobs, and revising service standards for first-class mail and periodicals. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said mail volume has declined by 43 billion pieces in the past 5 years and continues to decline.

Also, the proposal would essentially move all mail processing in Arkansas to Little Rock would result in lengthier mail delivery times and the loss of more than 200 jobs in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith.

The new study has also halted the transfer of mail processing from Fort Smith to Fayetteville. Leisa Tolliver-Gay, the USPS spokeswoman in Little Rock, confirmed that the Labor Day weekend plans to begin shifting sorting machines from Fort Smith to Fayetteville has been put on hold pending the outcome of the new national plan.

Womack has said the USPS study represents an “unacceptable course of action,” and that the idea of closing so many facilities “crossed the boundary of reason.”

FINANCIAL ISSUES
Henry stressed that he sees Womack as a supporter in the effort and the picket is not a challenge to any position he as taken. Henry said he has a 4 p.m. meeting with Womack to talk further about postal union positions related to the USPS proposal. J.R. Davis, spokesman for Womack, confirmed the meeting with Henry.

Henry and Shelley Henson, member of the American Postal Workers Union Local 1211, say the problem with the USPS is financial mismanagement, not the lack of mail volume.

They point to a report from the federal Office Of Inspector General which says the USPS over-funded retirement obligations in one fund by $6.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year, and has overfunded a second retirement system by as much as $75 billion.

“The Postal Service has opportunities to use at least $5.5 billion of the $6.8 billion in FERS surplus funds to address its current and future financial condition,” noted the OIG report (PDF).

Continuing, the OIG report noted: “The overcharges associated with CSRS obligations, coupled with the FERS surplus discussed in this report, have adversely affected the Postal Service’s financial position, hindered its ability to operate efficiently in a business-like matter, and hindered its transformation under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA).”

Gay-Tolliver said the service has no comment on the OIG report.

INFORMATION CAMPAIGN
According to “Save America’s Postal Service,” the USPS made a net profit of $600 million in the past four fiscal years. The union-funded group says the USPS is in financial trouble because Congress in 2006 required the agency to within the next 10 years pre-fund retiree benefits for the next 75 years. The group said the pre-funding requirement is “a burden no other public agency or private firm faces.”

Henson recognizes that mail volume is declining, and that the postal service may in the future require significant structural change. However, she says the USPS plan is too much, too soon.

“Once again, we’re doing this (information campaign) to protect our jobs, and also to protect the postal service as we know it. There may come a time when there is not a need for a post office, but that’s not next year,” Henson said.

Henry and other union officials are calling for passage of HR 1351. The bill, filed by U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., would recalculate the retirement obligation constraints now faced by the USPS. Lynch, whose mother was a postal worker, has 211 co-sponsors for the bill. U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, is the only member of Arkansas House delegation to co-sponsor the legislation.

SERVICE ISSUES
Another Henry argument with the USPS is related to service. The USPS says it can consolidate or close mail processing facilities without major degradation of service. For example, consolidating all Arkansas mail processing in Little Rock would result in first-class mail moving from a 1-3 day schedule to a 2-3 day term, and periodicals would move from 1-9 days to 2-9 days, according to the USPS. Express mail and package service would remain the same.

Henry points to a March 31 report by the Office of Inspector General for the USPS to counter the service claim. The report, initiated by a Congressional request, resulted from the review of moving mail processing operations in Lima, Ohio, to Toledo, Ohio.

The report conclusion noted: “While there was a valid business case for the consolidation of the Lima P&DF into the Toledo P&DC, management did not ensure on-time performance and customer service were improved or maintained during the implementation of the consolidation. As a result, customers in Lima Zip Code 458 were negatively impacted. We found that significant degradations in service occurred after the Postal Service transferred all operations and volumes from the Lima P&DF to the Toledo P&DC and management did not project these degradations in the AMP proposal. While management actively addressed delayed mail issues, these service degradations continued when we completed our audit work in March 2011.”

“This (consolidating operations in Arkansas) will be the same. The service is going to be severely deteriorated after this move,” Henry said.