APWU Launches Ad Campaign Against Consolidation in Michigan

An APWU advertising campaign in southern Michigan got underway last week, urging the citizens of Flint and Detroit to speak out against the consolidation of mail-processing operations into a new facility in Pontiac. The campaign is designed to generate interest in community meetings Oct. 22 and 23, when the USPS will discuss Area Mail Processing studies for the two cities. 

“The radio and TV ads will alert citizens to the danger of deteriorated mail service,” said APWU President William Burrus. “The USPS plans have been developed without any input from the American people. They are the result of efforts by big mailers to reduce their own postage costs at the expense of all others.” The Flint and Detroit consolidation studies are among nine ongoing nationwide. 

APWU campaigns have played a large role in derailing many of the other proposed consolidations. In 2006 and 2007, 37 consolidation initiatives were terminated, placed on hold, or reversed. More than 50 consolidations and AMP studies were announced between Oct. 19, 2005 and Jan. 6, 2006. The Flint and Detroit studies were announced May 8, 2006.

The Flint Area Local has organized community support, sought assistance from area legislators, and attracted media interest. “Our members are engaging in grass-roots communication with family, friends and neighbors,” said Debbie Lutz, the local president. “As of Aug. 31, 2007, we were number 5 in the nation on the EXFC scores. We can’t understand why the post office wants to consolidate us when our numbers are so good.” More than 100 jobs could be transferred to the new processing facility, which is more than 40 miles from Flint.

On Aug. 16, U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee (D) joined postal workers in an informational picketing about the proposed move. “It’s a matter of getting your mail on time,” he told ABC-TV news. “Mail is going to be slowed down. They know that and they admit that.” A majority of the members of the Flint City Council also objected to the consolidation in a Sept. 19 letter to Postmaster General John E. Potter.

The Detroit District Area Local has been spreading the word about the pending consolidation of its facility as well. “We have gotten our members and retirees involved,” said local president Dwight Boudreaux, “and we have been in contact with the elected officials in the area, including U.S. Rep. John Conyers and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick. They have offered enthusiastic support.

“We are deeply concerned about losing the Detroit postmark,” Boudreaux said, “and the loss of identity that would go with it.”

APWU ads aired from July through October last year, with radio and/or television commercials broadcast in Beaumont (TX), Bloomington (IN), the Bronx (NY), Canton (OH Cumberland (MD), Helena (MT), Marysville (CA), St. Petersburg (FL), and Yakima (WA), cities where APWU activists had taken steps to inform the public about the negative effects of USPS network consolidation plans, particularly on service for individual postal customers and small businesses.

While the ads are aimed at the general public, the campaign is also designed to reach decision-makers, such as elected officials, local business leaders, and journalists, as well as USPS management.