Defending postal jobs in N.C.

November 28, 2011

ASHEVILLE, N.C.--Hundreds of people attended a public forum put on by the United States Postal Service (USPS) at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College on November 21. A day earlier, about 30 people held a preliminary organizing meeting at a union hall to discuss strategies to stop the proposed closure of a mail processing plant that would eliminate 200 jobs and inflict damage on the local economy.

At the USPS meeting, about 250 people expressed their unanimous opposition to plans for sweeping job cuts and closures of facilities. USPS official began the meeting by outlining their plan for "radical network realignment."

Nationally, there are currently 673 mail processing centers. The goal of the realignment is to reduce this number to 203. Obviously, this is not a local issue. A reduction of 35,000 employees is projected. The realignment would result in the national implementation of a "relaxed service standard" of two to three days for local mail delivery.

Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy made a strong statement of opposition and referenced a city council resolution opposing the proposed closure of the local mail processing facility. She was given a standing ovation. Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair David Gantt expressed his solidarity with the resolution and told USPS officials that the Board of Commissioners was preparing a similar resolution.

During a comment period, many people expressed strong opposition, accompanied by cheers and applause from the audience. At 8:09 p.m., the meeting was officially declared over, although the audience objected that many who had signed up to comment had not had an opportunity.

The plan for Asheville claims a savings of $1.8 million in labor costs. The facility employs 200. However, USPS officials claim that only 19 workers and three management positions would be lost; they did not explain what would happen to the remaining employees of the Brevard plant nor where the $1.8 million in savings would come from.


ONE DAY earlier, about 30 people held a preliminary organizing meeting at the Communication Workers of American union hall to discuss ways they might be able to prevent the proposed closure of the Asheville facility and the economic damage such a closing would inflict. Participants included workers from two postal unions, a few Democratic Party and MoveOn.org activists, a member of the Asheville City Council, several members of Occupy Asheville and other concerned citizens of Western North Carolina.

Managers for the USPS say that the closure would still allow the post office to meet its "relaxed standards" for service. But if closed, the operations of Asheville's mail processing facility would be moved to Greenville, S.C., meaning that a letter sent locally within Asheville would make a round trip of 134 miles prior to going out for delivery.

The meeting opened with remarks by local postal workers' union officials, followed by a union video presentation on the conditions leading to the USPS's financial difficulties and a summary of Congress' actions that have affected service.

The primary problem, according to the presenters, was an act of Congress in 2006 that requires the USPS to pre-fund its retirement benefits 75 years in advance, an absurd requirement demanded of no other agency of the U.S. government. Prior to passage of this law, the postal service was in surplus; it has been in deficit each year since.

A new bill, HR 1351, has been introduced in the House to address the funding problem and allow the USPS to recoup overpayments to the U.S. Treasury. The postal unions say this bill, if enacted, would eliminate the present deficits. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a committed enemy of the right of collective bargaining in general and the USPS in particular, spearheaded the effort in committee to prevent this legislation from coming to the floor of the House, and despite the fact that the bill has 75 cosponsors, his committee voted it down on a party-line vote.

In response, Issa proposed another bill, HR 2309, which would restrict the bargaining rights of USPS unions and reduce benefits for workers. Rep. Issa's appearance on screen elicited boos and hisses.

Further Reading

From the archives