{"id":8224,"date":"2014-08-14T07:33:09","date_gmt":"2014-08-14T12:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=8224"},"modified":"2014-08-14T07:35:46","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14T12:35:46","slug":"postal-arrestees-charges-dropped-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2014\/08\/14\/postal-arrestees-charges-dropped-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Postal arrestees\u2019 charges dropped"},"content":{"rendered":"

Postal arrestees\u2019 charges dropped<\/strong>
\nActivists vow to escalate pressure on the postal service<\/em><\/p>\n

August 13, 2014 – \u201cI suspect the authorities dropped the charges because their persecution just emboldened us to further spotlight waste, fraud, and abuse at the people\u2019s postal service,\u201d said Rev. John Schwiebert.\u00a0\u00a0 Schwiebert was one of the \u201cpostal protector\u201d arrestees who were charged with \u201cimpeding a mail delivery vehicle\u201d and \u201cblocking a loading platform\u201d in two separate protests against the dismantling and privatization of the US Postal Service.\u00a0 Three activists \u2013 Rev. Schwiebert, Jamie Partridge, and Jack Herbert \u2013 were singled out by postal and federal authorities because \u201cthese individuals have been involved in repeated protests, demonstrations and trespassing incidents\u201d (United States Postal Inspection Service report).\u00a0 The protesters accused postal officials of attempting to suppress their right to free speech and assembly.\u00a0 All charges were dropped on August 1st.<\/p>\n

Two actions generated the federal charges — a demonstration on a postal loading dock last December, protesting the scheduled closure of the Springfield, Oregon mail processing plant, and the blocking of a private truck contracted to transport the US mail, in July of 2013.<\/p>\n

Privatization leads to waste, fraud and abuse<\/strong>
\nThe private company, Dill\u2019s Star Route, Inc., had last year secured a padded, no-bid trucking contract, was in bankruptcy, did not have the proper equipment, had been rejected in the past for \u201cpoor performance and equipment deficiencies\u201d, was recently convicted of major labor law violations, and cost the USPS more to move the mail than if the postal service were to use postal employees.\u00a0 Postal truckers complained to the Office of the Inspector General that the transportation manager had increased the number of truck \u201cruns\u201d from fourteen per day when using postal employees, to twenty-one, then thirty-two, then thirty-eight runs using the private company.\u00a0 The postal service\u2019s own records showed that the Dill\u2019s truck blocked by protesters was carrying no mail.<\/p>\n

Dismantling the postal infrastructure leads to mail delays & revenue loss<\/strong>
\nLess than a month after the Springfield demonstration, which received national press coverage, the Postmaster General announced he was suspending closures and consolidations of mail processing plants.\u00a0 2013 had seen the closure of 141 plants, half the mail processing facilities in the nation, including the Salem, Oregon plant in June.\u00a0\u00a0 This month the PMG has announced\u00a0 he will continue \u201cconsolidations\u201d with the closure of 82 more plants, beginning in January, 2015, including the Springfield, Bend and Pendleton plants.\u00a0 Once completed, the new network will see all mail from the Willamette Valley, from the Snake River to the Pacific, processed in Portland.\u00a0 Mail delivery standards are being degraded to allow two and three day delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cPostal management is tearing apart the infrastructure of the public postal service,\u201d said Jamie Partridge, retired letter carrier and one of the postal protector arrestees.\u00a0 Vowing further direct actions, Partridge declared that \u201cwe plan to escalate this fight to save our national treasure.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \"save-family-wages\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. Postal Service\u2019s own studies (see below), which they attempted to suppress, showed that big mailers leave the system as a result of such delays, costing more in lost revenue than is saved by lowering labor costs, not to mention the dramatic increase in trucking costs as mail is transported hundreds of extra miles to be sorted in the closest still open facilities.<\/p>\n

The Salem, Springfield, Bend and Pendleton plant closures would eliminate approximately three hundred local union jobs, delay Oregon mail delivery, and disproportionately affect small businesses, the elderly, rural communities, the one-half of the public that pays bills by mail and the many who lack access to reliable internet service.\u00a0\u00a0 Oregon\u2019s vote-by-mail system could be compromised.
\nThe protesters, organized by Portland Communities and Postal Workers United, claim that a 2006 Congressional mandate, which forces the U.S. Postal Service to prefund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance, has created a phony financial crisis.\u00a0 Although the USPS has claimed a \u201closs\u201d every year since 2006, due primarily to the pre-fund mandate, the postal service has not made an actual payment toward prefunding since 2011.\u00a0 The USPS has generated an operating profit for the last six quarters.<\/p>\n

The activists are calling on postal management to suspend cuts, closures, and subcontracting and allow Congress to fix the finances by repealing the prefunding mandate and refunding the pension surplus.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Twin bills, HR 630, sponsored by U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (Oregon) and S 316, sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont), would fix postal finances and prevent plant and office closures and service cuts.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Senator Collins, Rep. Connolly:\u00a0 Postal Cuts to Drive Customers Away<\/strong><\/p>\n

USPS-funded study shows that planned service cuts will cost more than $5 billion<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

March 22, 2012<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) today revealed further evidence that planned service reductions by the U.S. Postal Service will drive even more customers away.<\/p>\n

The information obtained by Senator Collins and Congressman Connolly was calculated by the Postal Service itself and submitted “under seal” —\u00a0 so as to keep the information secret —\u00a0 to its regulatory body, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which is reviewing the service and financial effects of postal network reductions.<\/p>\n

The revenue and mail volume estimates had not previously been available to Congress and the public and were released in response to Congressional pressure, including a motion Congressman Connolly filed to make the information public and a demand from the office of Senator Collins, Ranking Member on the Senate Committee that oversees the Postal Service.<\/p>\n

The numbers show the catastrophic effects of service cuts just in the first year of implementation:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • $5.2 billion in lost revenue<\/li>\n
  • 9.1 percent reduction in volume of first-class mail<\/li>\n
  • 7.7 percent reduction in mail of all classes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    “As I have warned repeatedly, the Postmaster General’s decision to plow ahead with plans to abandon current mail service standards in favor of reduced access, slower delivery times, and higher prices, will severely damage the Postal Service,” said Senator Collins.\u00a0\u00a0 “Slower delivery and less service will force many customers to pursue delivery alternatives, dealing yet another blow to postal revenues.<\/p>\n

    “Companies large and small that rely on the mail tell me that if service continues to deteriorate, they will conduct more business online and encourage their customers to switch to online services for bill-paying and other transactions.<\/p>\n

    “Today we learn that the Postal Service’s own analysis, submitted secretly to its regulators, reveals that the destructive service reduction plan to delay mail and shut down postal plants will lead to a more than 9 percent decrease in first-class mail and a 7.7 percent reduction in mail of all classes.\u00a0 The Postal Service estimates that the cost would be $5.2 billion in the first year alone – consuming a major portion of the supposed savings intended by the plan.<\/p>\n

    “The Postmaster General should abandon this counterproductive plan and work with Congress on worthwhile reforms to save the Postal Service from a death spiral.”<\/p>\n

    Said Congressman Connolly:\u00a0 “This study, commissioned by the Postal Service itself, shows that weakening mail service standards could lose more money through lost revenue than would be saved through cost savings.\u00a0 No wonder the Postal Service wanted to keep this report a secret: Why would Congress or the public accept closing hundreds of mail processing facilities if it would result in $5.2 billion in lost revenue?<\/p>\n

    “This previously\u00a0redacted study shows that arbitrary downsizing proposals actually threaten the financial viability of the Postal Service,” Congressman Connolly continued.\u00a0 “We need to build a new Postal Service business model that takes advantage of e-commerce and maintains Universal Service, not be forced into false choices which dismantle rather than reform this Constitutionally-mandated public service.”<\/p>\n

    The Postal Service has proposed closing hundreds of mail processing centers across America, leaving many consumers hundreds of miles away and reducing speed of mail delivery for most first-class mail.<\/p>\n

    While the PRC has released projected volume and revenue information for classes of mail at the national level, the Postal Service still is keeping regional marketing data secret.<\/p>\n

    \n

     <\/p>\n

    Portland Communities and Postal Workers United
    \ncontact:\u00a0 Jamie Partridge, 503-752-5112
    \nportlandcommunitiespostalwork@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Postal arrestees\u2019 charges dropped Activists vow to escalate pressure on the postal service August 13, 2014 – \u201cI suspect the authorities dropped the charges because their persecution just emboldened us to further spotlight waste, fraud, and abuse at the people\u2019s postal service,\u201d said Rev. John Schwiebert.\u00a0\u00a0 Schwiebert was one of the \u201cpostal protector\u201d arrestees who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usps-new-bytes","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8224"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8229,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8224\/revisions\/8229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}