Post Office Closings Delayed Till May of 2012

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced that they will delay the closings of multiple mail processing centers and local post offices for another six months.

The delay comes after a group of 21 senators, led by Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, asked the USPS for time to allow Congress to pass needed reforms to protect the tens of thousands of jobs nationwide and put the organization on a sustainable path.

“What I feared very much is that the post office unilaterally would start making drastic cuts to processing plants, rural post offices and slow first-class mail service before Congress can pass postal reform,” Sanders told the Washington Post. “So it’s a step forward in terms of giving us time with certainty that rural post offices won’t be closed.”

The USPS said it would hold off any closures until May 15, 2012.

Earlier this year, the service said it may close 252, or more than half, its mail-processing plants, 3,700 (12 percent) post offices and end Saturday mail delivery.

In all, roughly 100,000 postal employees could be cut as a result of the various closures, resulting in savings of up to $6.5 billion a year.

During the six months, while Congress works on reforms, the USPS will continue its study on the impact of closures and costs.

To become profitable, the postal service said it would have to cut its operating costs by $20 billion by 2015.

via Washington Post