‘Stop Postal Service Cuts and Plant Closures’
August 14, 2014
Half of the U.S. Senate has called for a one-year moratorium on Postal Service plans to close mail processing plants and slow down mail delivery.
An Aug. 14 letter signed by 50 senators said Congress should block a proposal by Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe to close as many as 82 mail processing plants; slow mail service, and eliminate up to 15,000 jobs. The letter urged leaders of a key committee to include a one-year ban on the cuts as part of must-pass legislation to keep the government running into the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
“This one-year moratorium will give Congress the time it needs to enact the comprehensive postal reforms that are necessary for the Postal Service to function effectively into the future,” the senators wrote in a letter to Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Richard Shelby (R-LA), the chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
APWU President Mark Dimondstein praised the senators’ action. “Few people seem to be aware of the devastating effect the plant closures would have on the nation’s mail system,” he said. “If the plants are closed or consolidated, it will mean the end of overnight mail delivery in this country.”
He also praised APWU members and supporters at the local and state level who contacted their senators to explain the significance of the Postmaster General’s plans. “We must make sure the American people also understand that PMG Donahoe’s reckless cuts in service are jeopardizing the future of a public Post Office.”
The letter – drafted and circulated by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) – also was sent to Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), leaders of a subcommittee on Postal Service finances.
“At a time when our middle class is disappearing, the loss of 15,000 good-paying Postal Service jobs will harm our local communities and economies,” the senators wrote. “Slowing down mail delivery even further will hurt senior citizens on fixed incomes, small businesses and the entire economy,” the letter added. Closing the plants would require another degradation of service standards that would essentially eliminate first-class mail, even within the same city or town.
“Despite misleading reports about supposed fiscal woes, the Postal Service in fact has taken in nearly $1 billion more in revenue than it spent since the fall of 2012,” the senators noted in a press release.
The letter was signed by 42 Democrats, six Republicans and both of the Senate’s Independents. The senators who signed the letter are:
| State | Senator |
|---|---|
| California | Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) |
| California | Sen. Diana Feinstein (D) |
| Colorado | Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D) |
| Colorado | Sen. Mark Udall (D) |
| Connecticut | Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) |
| Connecticut | Sen. Chris Murphy (D) |
| Florida | Sen. Bill Nelson (D) |
| Hawaii | Sen. Mazie Hirono (D) |
| Hawaii | Sen. Brian Schatz (D) |
| Iowa | Sen. Tom Harkin (D) |
| Illinois | Sen. Dick Durbin (D) |
| Indiana | Sen. Joseph Donnelly (D) |
| Louisiana | Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) |
| Massachusetts | Sen. Edward Markey (D) |
| Massachusetts | Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) |
| Maryland | Sen. Ben Cardin (D) |
| Maine | Sen. Susan Collins (R) |
| Maine | Sen. Angus King (I) |
| Michigan | Sen. Carl Levin (D) |
| Michigan | Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) |
| Missouri | Sen. Roy Blunt (R) |
| Missouri | Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) |
| Minnesota | Sen. Al Franken (D) |
| Minnesota | Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) |
| Montana | Sen. Jon Tester (D) |
| Montana | Sen. John Walsh (D) |
| North Carolina | Sen. Kay Hagan (D) |
| North Dakota | Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) |
| North Dakota | Sen. John Hoeven (R) |
| New Hampshire | Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) |
| New Jersey | Sen. Cory Booker (D) |
| New Jersey | Sen. Robert Menendez (D) |
| New Mexico | Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) |
| New York | Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D) |
| New York | Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) |
| Ohio | Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) |
| Oklahoma | Sen. James Inhofe (R) |
| Oregon | Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) |
| Oregon | Sen. Ron Wyden (D) |
| Pennsylvania | Sen. Bob Casey (D) |
| Rhode Island | Sen. Jack Reed (D) |
| Rhode Island | Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) |
| South Dakota | Sen. Tim Johnson (D) |
| South Dakota | Sen. John Thune (R) |
| Utah | Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) |
| Vermont | Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) |
| Vermont | Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) |
| Washington | Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) |
| West Virginia | Sen. Joe Manchin (D) |
| Wisconsin | Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) |