EVERETT — People at the U.S. Postal Service headquarters: prepare to get an earful.
A lot of anger-laden comments are hurtling in that direction after a community meeting in Everett Thursday night about the potential closure of an Everett mail processing facility.
At stake is the loss of around 100 local jobs and next-day delivery of first-class mail sent in Western Washington.
The facility in Everett processes 1 million outgoing letters and parcels daily and serves everyone from Lynnwood north to the Canadian border. Businesses also drop off bulk mail.
The Postal Service is studying whether to consolidate operations at 252 locations around the country — including Everett, Olympia and Tacoma — to help stave off financial disaster. The preliminary results show that the Postal Service might save $11.6 million annually if operations in Everett were consolidated with a facility in Seattle.
Officials said the economies of scale would result in savings. However, customers sending mail to locations in Western Washington could no longer expect the next-day delivery they often get now. Instead, the standard for first-class mail would be two to three days.
For two hours, people vented, grilled and even heckled the suit-and-tie wearing Postal Service managers from Seattle who showed up.
People worried about getting their medical prescriptions by mail and their paychecks. Businesses complained about the added hassle of dropping off bulk mail in Seattle. A rural mail carrier in Marysville wondered if the mail sorted for her route would be done as well in Seattle.
Even though the meeting wasn’t supposed to be about labor issues, many of those who showed up identified themselves as postal workers. Some pointed out they are customers, too.
“I’m a customer,” said Janice Herrera of Arlington. “Please explain why I’m paying for first-class mail but getting second- or third-class service? Explain to me why I’m paying more but getting less?”
The managers looked at each other and said nothing for a moment — which caused the whole room to erupt in applause punctuated with heckles.
Gene Brown, from the local branch of the Knights of Columbus, wondered how processing mail in Seattle would affect the monthly mailings he sends out for his organization. Some months they arrive the next day. Other times he said it can take up to 10 days.
How could a Seattle facility meet the need, he asked, “You’re not meeting my needs right now.”
At times, the managers taking all those heated questions indicated they weren’t pleased with the situation either.
“We’re not saying it’s a good plan or a bad plan,” said Don Jacobus, a senior plant manager from Seattle. “It’s a plan, and the plan didn’t originate out of Seattle.”
The Postal Service, which is self-supporting, is on the verge of financial collapse.
For the past few decades, the Postal Service has been focused on expanding its facilities to handle the anticipated growth in people and the letters and packages they send, Jacobus said. But with the more people sending emails and texts, the amount of first-class mail is dropping.
The Postal Service built up its infrastructure with the confidence there’d be more mail, “but we were wrong,” Jacobus said. The Postal Service now has to adjust its business model in response.
There’s another reason, too, one that didn’t come out at the meeting until the Postal Service managers were pressed to talk about it.
The National Association of Letter Carriers contends the Postal Service wouldn’t be in trouble if it weren’t for a requirement that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits for its employees far in advance.
A 2006 law passed by Congress requires the Postal Service to pay 75 years worth of funds in a 10-year period, which is costing the Postal Service more than $5 billion a year, according to the union.
When one Everett woman asked the managers to explain that, this is the response she got from one of the managers: “You’re right.”
The reason the Postal Service isn’t talking about that reason is that a public agency such as the Postal Service isn’t supposed to lobby Congress, said Congressman Rick Larsen.
He’s supporting a house bill, HR 1351, that would allow the Postal Service to apply those billions of dollars to its operations. That might not solve all the Postal Service’s problems, “but they might not need to take the drastic actions they are taking now,” he said.
Larsen said some in Congress want to use the Postal Service’s financial troubles as an excuse to dismantle it.
There will be a 15-day period during which people can submit a written statement to the Seattle District Office, Swanson said. Those comments, along with the comments from the meeting, will eventually go to USPS headquarters in Washington, D.C.
A decision is expected next year.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
Have your say
Comments on the proposal to close an Everett mail processing facility can be mailed to: Manager, Consumer &Industry Contact, Seattle District, P.O. Box 90306, Seattle, WA 98109-9631. The deadline is Nov. 25.
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