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Patience Davis, center, and other crowd members applaud as they listen to several speakers during the public meeting held by postal officals at the Link Centre in Tupelo on Wednesday. Davis was one of the people to speak out against the USPS plan to move mail processing out of Tupelo. (Deste Lee)
Some 200 people attended the meeting in the Link Centre auditorium to learn more about the possible consolidation and have a chance to voice concerns.
After a brief video and words from the USPS’s Mississippi consumer affairs manager and district manager, 20 people from the audience took turns speaking. All criticized the plan, which would cut six jobs from the Tupelo office and save $181,000.
“This plan is wrong,” said Mayor Jack Reed Jr., who called it a “slippery slope” that will descend into further job loss and revenue declines.
“This plan is wrong for the United States Postal Service,” he said. “This plan is wrong for Tupelo. It is just plain wrong.”
Reed’s statement elicited applause from the crowd, which included other city and county officials and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss, and U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both R-Miss.
Tupelo is one of more than 65 cities nationwide whose mail-processing operations were targeted for consolidation with other facilities.
The moves are part of a comprehensive strategy to cope with declining mail volume, said state District Manager Elizabeth Johnson. She provided figures showing a drop of 26 billion pieces of mail in the past year alone and said equipment and resources are sitting idle as a result.
Under the plan, the USPS would send all the outgoing mail that Tupelo currently processes to Memphis, where it’d be postmarked, sorted and shipped out to various destinations.
Tupelo processes mail from ZIP codes starting with 388.
“We need to make significant adjustments,” Johnson said, “just as any business would.”
Johnson said the consolidation would not hurt customer service or mail delivery and that all employees would keep their jobs, though some might be transferred to other cities.
But many who spoke doubted Johnson’s assurances.
Tupelo resident J.W. Young Jr. said his Newsweek magazines, which used to come each Tuesday, have been delayed by as much as one week since they started going through Memphis about five years ago.
Young’s testimony was supported by several Tupelo postal employees, who said the magazines and flat-rate mail already routed through Memphis are consistently late.
“Imagine when they have all our mail,” said Lindsay Miller.
Postal employee John Stanford said nearly half of all Tupelo’s outgoing mail is addressed to other 388 ZIP codes, meaning if it’s shipped to Memphis it’d come right back.
Tupelo resident Tom Hewitt said that doesn’t make sense: “How can money be saved by shipping mail 100 miles away to sort it and then shipping it back 100 miles? I like things to make sense, and that doesn’t make sense.”
Others criticized the relatively small amount of money to be saved by the consolidation and suggested the USPS save it elsewhere.
Postal union member Amanda Berryhill mentioned a $96-per-person meal tab the USPS incurred during a September 2008 conference and said, “had you skipped dessert, you could have saved Tupelo.”
The meal tab, which totaled $355,451, was detailed in an audit released last month by the USPS inspector general. It highlighted more than $792,000 in unjustified expenditures during one five-month period even as the USPS reported losing $3.8 billion.
Some speakers, like Lee County Supervisor Darrell Rankin, questioned the wisdom of cutting six local jobs to save $181,000 when the U.S. government is spending “billions of dollars to stimulate the economy and create jobs” nationwide.
And Tupelo resident Brooks Marr said she most fears losing the city’s postmark. If consolidation passes, outgoing mail will be stamped with a Memphis postmark unless customers bring their mail to the Tupelo post office and specifically request a local postmark.
Marr said the Tupelo postmark is important to tourists who come from across the globe to send cards and notes from Elvis Presley’s hometown. They can’t always find a post office, she said.
“And for our boys fighting and dying in Afghanistan, it really means something to them to get a letter from home with a Tupelo postmark on it,” Marr said to standing ovation.
“Memphis is one of the top 10 highest crime cities in the country,” she continued. “I don’t want my postmark marked in Memphis.”
The USPS will continue its study of the Tupelo consolidation for several more weeks before announcing a decision. The public will be informed when that happens, said Doug Kyle, consumer affairs manager for the state.
Contact Emily Le Coz at (662) 678-1588 or emily.lecoz@djournal.com.
Click here for information from the US Postal Service. The plan would:
- Consolidate processing with Memphis
- Create a savings of $181,000 for the Postal Service
- Result in the loss of six jobs
To comment
Comments must be postmarked by Jan. 28 and sent to:
Manager Consumer Affairs
Mississippi District
P.O. Box 99655
Jackson, MS 39205-9655
As for how much postal employees are paid compared to the private sector, a compedent employee needs at least 3 months training, if they are paid minimum wage they would not flinch at quitting for a job that pays 10 cents more an hour and would think that stealing that birthday card, that may have money in it, would be worth the risk.
So let's let the private sector deliver the mail!! The majority of the mail in the US comes from large business, the majority of the mail is delivered in large "metroplexes". This is the mail the private sector wants, they don't care about grandma mailing junior a birthday card in Thaxton MS, they would remail that for the USPS to deliver, "That's what they are for!" The private sector doesn't care when people get their mail they would just pass on mail to the USPS. That is what the USPS would be doing with the consolidation of Tupelo mail to Memphis, sure they will deliver it, BUT THEY DON'T CARE WHEN IT GETS THERE!!!!
Unions work to equal the playing field!!!
Anyway, people the obvious thing is....they could NOT provide ANY facts for this supposed savings of $181,000. Show us exactly HOW you are saving that amount by moving mail 110 miles away only to truck it right back 110 miles here again??
And the postmaster himself attributed their deficit to DECREASED REVENUES!!
So, I guess you're right, that it's insurance and fuel costs and not decreasing revenue, and the annual report is wrong. Okay, sure, I buy that. I never believe those pesky audited financials either!! Silly me!!
One thing that we do agree on is that the moving of the function to Memphis doesn't make sense. But then the postal service is not known for its logical decision making.
Further,you say that your relative makes what EVERY worker should make and your father was a teamster...number 1, how do you think ANY business could make a profit if its pay and benefits are arbitrarily set? And weren't the teamsters the ones who shot at wildcat truckers when they refused to strike? Now there's a worthy organization. The fact is, the benefits you had were so good because they were artificially imposed by a union. Look what the United Auto Workers has done to THAT industry. Many of the problems that industry is experiencing are directly related to the bloated benefits that their workers receive. Look what the unions did to coal mining. Billy Joel said it best when he said 'the union people crawled away'...notice the unions were about the only liberal organization that was against the health care bill because it would tax employees "cadillac" plans so heavily...of course good ole Obama has a meeting with them, and VOILA! The unions are onboard...certainly because they were given a sweetheart deal like Ben Nelson finagled..yeah, we need unions...sorry, but they have WAY outlived the purpose...
It was reduced but not eliminated. I think it was reduced to something like 2.1 billion from about 6 billion.
The rest of the loss can be explained by gas prices.
Point being, even if they take mail from tupelo and give it to memphis, they will still loose money due to the insurance funding and rising gas prices. And our service in Tupelo will suffer.
And did you expect the post office to bounce into town and hold something like that in Jack Reed's poker parlor? You have got to be kidding with that one. Ask Jack if he would go debate at his opponent's campaign headquarters.
I don't think Thad Cochran is going to let this thing see the light of day, so next time, save those inquiring minds questions for your cheating man. If you can't ask something intelligent, maybe you are the one with NO ANSWER
But, your assertion that their losing money is due to funding an insurance program doesn't seem to be borne out by the numbers and statements in their annual report.
Their annual report shows a DECREASE in Operating Expenses from $80,105,000,000 in 2007 to $77,738,000,000 in 2008 to $71,830,000 in 2009. So, their operating expenses have actually gone DOWN more than $9B over the past 3 years.
They also have 40,000 FEWER employees in 2009 vs 2008.
AND, the Postmaster even stated in the narrative of the annual report that "We concluded the year with a deficit that would have exceeded $7 billion had it not been partially offset through federal legislation that lowered the payment to our retiree health benefit trust fund by $4 billion."
So, their insurance program payments actually went DOWN $4B!
BUT, their revenue, after being roughly flat in 2007 ($74,778,000,000) and 2008 ($74,932,000,000), dropped to $68,090,000,000 in 2009, that's a nearly $6B drop in revenue from 2008!
Their operating margin actually went up to 5.5% in 2009 verses 3.7% in 2008 but it's still down from 7.1% in 2007.
BUT, their net loss went from $2.8B in 2008 to $3.8B in 2009.
They also have 40,000 FEWER employees in 2009 vs 2008.
So, their woes don't seem to be related to the insurance program payments as those would be reflected in Operating Expenses. It seems much more a product of decreased revenues which is stated in the annual report in a number of places.
Name me one other delivery business ( fedex, UPS, ect ) where for 44 cents they will come to your house and get a letter and deliver it to any other address in the USA. Just one. I will bet that you can't.
The postal service is not loosing money because of delivering mail. There was a change in funding an insurance program ( I am not sure which one ) and the post office loses are just about equal to the amount that it has to pay into the fund each year. This is mandate from congress.
Even in these tough times, it is still breaking even on delivery. But having to pre pay into the insurance fund is killing them right now. Take the amount of that from the total loses and you will see much the TRUE loss is.
The Price fluctuation on gasoline also hurts them. It makes it hard to predict what the delivery costs are and they don't charge a FUEL SURCHARGE like other "private company's" do.
I sell a little on the internet and always try to use priority mail flat rate boxes. Fixed cost for shipping and much cheaper than any other service. Don't believe me, check it out.
The problem is as one poster stated below: to many layers. As I understand it a letter I mail in Amory to an Amory address must first go to Tupelo and back to Amory. Who among us could operate our business with such none sense.
Like many big businesses the USPS is administration heavy. Millions of dollars were wasted in the 90's and early part of this century sponsoring Lance Armstrong, and other sports outlets and venues. Milions more are wasted with commerative stamps, phone cards, and the other services offered. Put Washington, Linconln, and Teddy Roosevelt on our stamps and let that be it. I don't need a stamp commerating the guy that figured out the mating habits of Roaches.
Unions have not out lived their time, they have expanded well above their intended purpose. As long as the people running the company will put their bonus above the salary of the worker Unions will be necessary. They should be curbed as to their reach and ability to bargian. It is not the employeers responsibility to provide child care, health insurance, 30-60 paid holidays a year, and the many other fringes that are hurting America. Unions should be able to bargain only for wages and production quotas.
I agree that unions have outlived their usefulness and today seem to just make it harder and more expensive for businesses who employ union workers, including the government. Look what the unions have done to the US auto industry.
The problem with being able to hire/fire at will in the government is not limited to the USPS. When I was in the Air Force it was a well known fact that about the only way you could get rid of an incompetent civil service employee was to promote them!! Perhaps someday, I'll tell you the story of a civil service employee that I supervised that was incompetent and how I was being pressured to promote her and refused to "play the game" and be a part of rewarding her incompetence by promoting her.
Bottom line, unions are no longer needed.
As for the post office, here's what Title 39, Section 101.1 says about it and what it's supposed to do and how it's supposed to operate.
The USPS is created as a government agency under Title 39, Section 101.1 of the United States Code which states, in part:
" (a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people."
Read that last sentence. Aren't they trying to do just what that last sentence says they're not supposed to? Perhaps that should be mentioned in any letters you send in, huh?
BTW, the USPS is not supposed to make a profit. They are supposed to operate as a "break-even" entity. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to manage their business to break even for some time now.
For example, as of May 15th of last year, they had lost $2.3B for the previous two quarters!
In the same time period, the Royal Mail, the USPS equivalent in the United Kingdom, actually doubled their profit to £321 million ($488 million USD). In fact, for the first time in nearly twenty years all four of the Royal Mail’s divisions, including their mail, parcel delivery and logistics business, made money. They did this during a time when their mail volume fell 5.5% and gas was the equivalent of $6/gallon!
I'll bet that the Royal Mail, didn't hold conferences with $96 per person dinners!!
They also, are very illogical in how they run their business. I once lived in an area that was apparently near "the line" between two post offices and I actually got my mail from the post office the longest distance away from me. If I had to go to the post office to pick up a package or certified letter, etc. I literally had to drive past one post office, that was only 6 miles from my house, 7 more miles to the post office that serviced my address. So, rather than a post office 6 miles from me servicing my address, the one that did was 13 miles away! Brilliant!!
Here's a link to the USPS Financials page>.