BREWER, Maine — It was obvious from the jammed parking lots and the crammed conference room that Wednesday night’s public meeting was a priority for postal employees and customers alike.
Approximately 350 people were on hand to listen to U.S. Postal Service representatives explain a controversial consolidation proposal that includes the closure of operations at the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution facility in Hampden. Maine’s only other facility, a plant located in Scarborough, would take over duties for the entire state.
Both U.S. senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, who toured the Hampden plant last month and met with postal workers, personally attended the meeting. Both were strident in their opposition to the proposal.
“What the Postal Service doesn’t seem to fully appreciate is how much its plans would harm so many Maine businesses, their customers and their employees,” said Collins. “This proposal could create a death spiral from which the Postal Service might never recover.”
Snowe is also against the proposal, which resulted from a nationwide USPS study begun in September to evaluate potential savings through consolidation of services and facilities for the nation’s financially beleaguered mail service.
“I just do not know how this current proposal enhances the productivity and competitiveness of the U.S. Postal Service,” said Snowe. “Some businesses are already considering shifting to private carriers if this goes through.”
The USPS study estimates a potential annual savings of $7,566,932 if the proposal is initiated. Forty-two jobs would be lost.
Snowe recounted some early projected cost-saving figures in the USPS’ initial feasibility study summary, noting a figure of $797,000 in savings realized from the cutting of two management positions at the plant. After she questioned the salary figure for just two full-time management positions, that number was revised down to $177,053.
“You have to ask, given some of the figures I’ve asked about and they’ve revised, how accurate are the other savings in the other categories in these proposals?” Snowe said.
According to USPS representatives, drastic decline in mail volume because of competing electronic mail alternatives and economic conditions worldwide have resulted in declining business and an excess of employees and equipment at some USPS facilities.
Snowe and Collins led off the public comments section of the event, which involved 30 total speakers — 12 politicians at the state and local levels, eight postal employees and several customers.
Kevin Marquis, president of the Aroostook Letter Carriers Union, drove down from Houlton for the meeting.
“This really impacts our area,” Marquis said. “And we’re throwing away trust.”
Several people made mention of the top-heavy nature of the USPS when it comes to upper-level officer salaries.
Another fiscal hindrance for the financially strapped American mail institution is a legislative requirement through the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act to pay 75 years’ worth of health care benefits between 2007 and 2017, which makes for an average of $5.5 billion a year.
“The overpayment into the federal retirement system is one of the things we have to look at,” said Snowe. “Clearly there’s a strong consensus to redress that problem because it has placed enormous financial pressure on the Postal Service.”
Tom Rizzo, USPS spokesman for the Northern New England District, which includes Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, said the USPS’ financial situation — it has announced it has to cut $20 billion in operating costs by 2015 to turn a profit — is a very complicated one.
“That law was passed by the House and the Senate, so yes, I guess you could perceptively pose that as a law of unintended consequences,” said Rizzo. “And that’s why we need the support and involvement of our senators to help us with this situation.”
Even Tim Doughty, president of the postal workers union in Scarborough, where Hampden’s processing operations would shift if the proposal was enacted, is against the idea.
“My problem is everything is predicated by change in our delivery system,” Doughty said. “But we’re all about quickness and getting things there fast these days.”
Doughty was referring to the proposal’s support of the replacement of first-class mail with a two- to three-day service standard.
John Porter, president of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that when businesses and people are in crisis, they tend to panic.
“You make bad decisions when you panic,” Porter said.
“Too often when in crisis, the Postal Service turns to rate hikes and service cuts instead of eliminating bureaucracy and improving efficiency,” said Collins.
The USPS has said it will not make any decisions at least until May 15, and that the proposals are only those and not final.
“The financial situation has just deteriorated so much that we’ve had to put forth this very bold and controversial proposal that’s left a lot of our employees and customers asking a lot of questions,” Rizzo said. “And we’re listening to all questions and all suggestions.”
Rizzo, Mike Powers, USPS marketing manager for Northern New England; and Deborah Essler, USPS northern New England district manager; said meetings such as the one held Wednesday help put a human face on the services, businesses and people affected.
“We really wanted to know what the public thought and what you saw tonight was some very well-thought-out content,” said Essler. “It wasn’t just emotion and tonight was really perfect the way the crowd conducted itself and gave us specifics to look at.”
Too many managers for the operation, need to get Leaner.
Better also to cut back hours, eliminate Saturday delivery to balance the load vs man-hours.
“This proposal could create a death spiral from which the Postal Service might never recover.”
I agree with this statement or the USPS will end up going postal on itself.
Where was LePage.
Great question. Where was our Governor?
Are not USPS full timers mostly unionized? If so they might as well not exist in the penguin’s universe. It’s fortunate he didn’t show up to insult them. After all why would he support good paying jobs with benefits?
I don’t think Penguin’s handlers allow him to be in the same room with the media or an open microphone anymore.
He didn’t need to be there. He knows the hand writing is on the wall. The USPS is broke. What else can you do, but cut expenses? Its reality folks.
I would hope he was doing what he is supposed to be doing governing our state. This is a federal event. All you left wingers out there should be writing your pal obama.
Lot of us independents and non-affiliateds are against this move (like a lot of others). And what does the Prtesident have to do with this. The USPS is a private concern administed by Congress, not the executive branch. Need I say more?
Yeah. “Maine is open for business” –from Portland and south. And the Rs for jobs? LOL.
It’s hearings like these, with the endorsements of Senators like Collins & Snowe that lead the US to build airplanes that the Air Force doesn’t want (Osprey), ships the Navy doesn’t want and advanced weapons systems that are of no use to the Army. Why is it that Republican whining about Goverment spending only seems to apply to social services. We don’t need this overstaffed, underworked facility. It’s running with a full complement of staff and pumping out half the mail volume it did 5 years ago. There’s not enough work for these folks and this facility is redundant.
You are right. Mail volume has plummeted yet they have a full staff of employees standing around all night doing less then nothing. There is no mail volume anymore in Northern Maine. Faxes, cell phones, texting, emails have killed snail mail. Many corporations have either moved out of Maine or gone bankrupt. It is over people, unless you people want to be taxed, to support Postal Employees, doing nothing all day. A few more years there will be no Postal Service anyway and the Hampden Facility will just be a bad memory. Ironic how the just say NO to JOBS Senators are trying to justify these obsolete jobs.
I work for a small business and we use the mail every day. It needs to be timely! And it needs to be just as timely in Bangor or Caribou as it is in Portland.
Doom and gloom. you must be dealing with anecdotes and personal opinions.
I believe the GOP has sabotaged the Postal Service by Mandateing Retirement Funding years in advance for employees that dont even exist yet.
One can only quess the motive.
The motive is very clear. The USPS is the largest public union in the country. If the USPS goes bankrupt then a large number of union jobs are gone.
There is your motive.
It probably is a result of large number of retirees and soon to be retirees (boomers) depending on future contribution from a progressively smaller USPS workforce. I don’t know the projections but suppose there is a 5-1 ratio of workers to retirees now and later 1 worker (because of tech) to 5 retirees. How do you suppose that is going to work?
better to have the current bunch to pony up now than the taxpayer later.
Without that fully funded retirement for the next 75 years requirement, which I am guessing includes workers that have not even been born yet, the USPS would be operating in a profit.
Lets pass a law that all private corporations had to fully fund pensions for the next 75 years and see if they could run at a profit.
they all ready have enough money to last 20 years so why do they need to fund up front ? What if you did that to every company i the ISA how long would they last ? You could blame it on the workers
How about getting the real projected ratio before making a wild guess on costs
I don’t know the number but if the postal force (according to another poster) has cut 50% of its work force in the last 5-6 years, what is going to happen in the next 5 years?
Let’s hope it works!
Hope you enjoy paying $2 to mail a letter if Fed Ex or UPS get involved.
Yes you are right just send a letter to Bangor from Waterville will cost 10.00 bucks using UPS i know i went to the UPS store in Waterville an you will half to put it in a large envelope so they can put there large shipping label on it
Paying two dollars for a first class letter would hasten the demise of the USPS and drive more communication to the net. Like it or not, the USPS is caught in the maw of the IT revolution. Perhaps a discussion that highlights where the USPS might still be able to compete is in order. The UK and Germany have privatized much of their postal operations. If socialist countries are privatizing portions of their mail system, perhaps we need to consider the same options.
Sure!
Internet orders get shipped over the Telephone Wires!
I do ebay. Some goes USPS but more goes UPS. Its cheaper.
Anything less than 2 lbs mails cheapest through the USPS.
Most of my items fall in that range. But tracking is better discounts are better and yes I get them.
USPS doesn’t give discounts
The post office package tracking sux.
Never updated..
UPS is not cheaper, go online USPS shipping, get a scale, print your own, so you can send 2-3 day mail flate rate by UPS?, it took my shoes 2&1/2 weeks from UPS.
try 10 bucks to send a letter from Waterville to Bangor that’s what i was told at a ups store in Waterville
such a fool, and only to hurt unions. Just shows the insanity of the right towards the word “union”. By the way, the postal service is mandated by the US Constitution. Still, they need to improve their budget situation. Some suggestions: 1) Sat delivery must end 2) close some of the smaller offices 3) issue fewer stamps 4) start selling private advertising on usps vehicles and inside PO lobbies 5) simplify rates to save clerk time and to make it easier for customers. Get rid of confusing and arbitrary thickness and envelope size variable rates 6) get Congress to change the law on pension contributions 7) try to renegotiate union contracts now.
AFSCME is the largest public union in the country.
I suspect you find a motive in ANYTHING. The point is to restructure at a LOWER rate. Grow up, accept that both parties are equally as corrupt and stop being a pawn of EITHER PARTY. I could point to a dozen pieces written by the LEFT saying the postal service needs to be cutback. So are you saying the PO doesn’t need to make cut backs and restructure? :That the postal service is doing just fine???
SOME OF YOU, EVERY SINGLE POST HAS GOT TO BE ABOUT THE OTHER PARTY. STOP COMPLAINING AND OFFER SOLUTIONS.
There ARE solutions already introduced in Congress.
Congress has failed to act on them.
The WORST SOLUTION is a House Bill authored by Darrell Issa. The best bill is H.R.1351 authored by Representative Lynch.
Snowe and Collins put on a GREAT SHOW but neither are burning up the highway to FIX THIS POSTAL PROBLEM.
Here is a solution!
GOP
Stop trying to destroy the government!
here is the motive the PO pays 5.5 billion for future bennys but it does not go into a fund for future bennys it goes directly into the fed reserve and reduces that current years national defict by 5.5 billion in return the PO gets an IOU that can be turned in in 75 years. Of course by then everyone involved now will be dead and the PO will be told Lucrative promises made 75 years ago cannot be kept, in reality the PO is being taxed to surport the public not the public being taxed to surport the PO. Just ask Ms. Collins she wrote the bill that screwed the PO
Why does a place like Blaine have a post office when a person can pee on Mars Hill from where it sits? The postal service is still needed but things do need to change within it’s system. the fact the we are here on a web site talking back and forth says alot about how things have changed over the years.
90% of my mail is junk. All of my bills are paid online as well
It is so nice you are able to get to the next town. I would wager there are people in your nieghborhood that can’t. They may rely on prescription medicines by mail or any number of other items. Consider yourself fortunate but don’t consider yourself only.
Do you have proof that they stand around all night long show us movies of them standing around all night long .
You have no idea what you are talking about….these people DO NOT STAND AROUND ALL NIGHT.
First Class mail volume has decreased nationwide, but there is more than enough work for those employees that are employed there.
You paint a stark picture of Maine as a land void of people caused by a GREAT ECONOMIC catastrophe and mass migration(to where?) elsewhere shuttering all business, vacating homes….stray animals coursing down empty streets….are you nuts??
Parcel volume us up over 13% nationwide…USPS delivers for UPS and FedEx the last mile directly to the door of every Maine resident…uh…that would include YOU too.
Once again it is amazing how incredibly misinformed you can be. There are no idle hours or idle hands in this very busy plant. You do not realize how many businesses and other local contractors would be influenced by this ill planned fiasco of closing this plant. I just wish people who spout this nonsense such as you just did had just a fact or two to back this up. There are no people standing around. What is your motive behind these constant unfounded attacks? By the way for the millionth time your tax dollars do NOT pay for this privelege of getting mail brought to your doorstep or carrying a letter across the country for 44 cents. When have you ever done anything for 44 cents?
You have obviously not done your homework regarding this issue. The proposed consolidation will absolutely mean a reduction of service to remote areas of Maine, and do more harm by driving customers into the hands of other companies. This is surely a way to destroy the USPS. Also, your remark about overstaffed and underworked is erroneous. Retirees are not being replaced, and despite what the numbers seem to say, the facility is doing more with fewer people. Management can “tweak” the numbers to say what they want; they’ve been doing it for years. The fact remains that two-thirds of Maine will suffer poorer service if the consolidation happens.
Let’s stop with the dramatics. Nobody is going to ‘suffer’ because it takes 3 days instead of 2 to receive a first class letter. Northern Maine managed to exist when letters were delivered on horseback and then by train, long before anybody had fax machines or could scan email documents. And it will exist in the future, even if we don’t get our handful of car dealer ship flyers and credit card applications until Friday.
So, you must be a Ron Paul voter. Back to the 19th Century (or earlier).
The USPS is broke and needs to be sold to a private company. Everytime there is a change in the USPS, the service gets worse. This is written in their own reports. It use to be you could take a letter in, mail it in your home town and it would get del. the same day…Now it goes to a distribution center and 3 days later it is delieveried……Only in America folks….The employees know how to fix it, but they are too scared to speak up…They want to protect their wages and pensions………….The USPS is modeled after our own government, so why should support itself?
Repeal the 2006 law that mandated the USPS fully pay for retirement benefits for the next 75 years (what private company fully funds their employees retirement for the next 75 years?) is why the USPS is in the financial trouble it is in. Repeal that law and the USPS runs in the black. It is that simple.
No company fully funds retirees because for the most part it isn’t done that way anymore. Most folks have 401ks etc that they own and can transfer.The USPS is one of the few areas where pensions still exist.
Exactly, this is not done by anyone except the USPS, which is under attack by the Republicans, and that is the reason why the USPS is in the financial trouble it is in.
no you are wrong me an my lawyer in Bangor would get letters 98% of the time i would put it in my box on the side of the road an my lawyer would get it at 10 am in the morning. The same would happen he mailed it out that day an i would get it at 2:30 pm the next afternon
It is now possible to get a letter to anyone in the world within 3 seconds by typing an email and hitting send. The days of mailing letters are long gone my friend.
I would be anxious to see anything you order on line delivered through your computer. Your view is so simple and narrow minded you have no conception of how many people including your neighbors, who actually work for a living, indirectly or directly rely on the service provided by the US Postal Service
Try 5 days to get mail
So was you at the meeting last night shooting your uninformed mouth off, or do you just do that from the comfort of your rock? I could tear apart your “facts”, but you are not worthy of any more of my time. What a miserable life you must have indeed…
You dont think Susan Collins would be out to sabotage the Postal Service for privatization do you?
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/images/20061220-6_20061220-2d-0716-1–515h.html
Just thought you would like to know. The Osprey was built for the Marines not the Air Force. They were built to replace the CH-46. What weapon systems are you talking about? Do you know what you are talking about? Maybe not.
The Postal Service plans to consolidate the mail processing operations from the facility in Hampden to a facility 144 miles away in Southern Maine. The result will be slower, less reliable mail service for citizens of Northern, Eastern, and Central Maine. Mail will take longer to arrive. Sending the mail to Southern Maine to be processed will also hurt local businesses and drain jobs from an already fragile economy. The USPS claims the move will ” improve efficiency,” but it has yet to prove that the plan would save money or that it could maintain the current levels of service.
If you could not make the meeting and wish to comment you should write to:
Manager
Consumer & Industry Contact
Northern New England District
151 Forest Ave, Suite 7026
Portland, ME 04101-7024
Must be postmarked by January 26, 2012
I appreciate the senators being there, but I wonder where their stance is against the extreme right who are in favor of cuts without increased tax revenue. I understand the postal service is not funded by our government while being held to a higher standard of employment, but if this hard line was not in place then perhaps we would be more inclined to help our postal service. If this nonsense continues, this and Mainecare cuts won’t be nearly the last thing that affect middle class and impoverished citizens of our country. I would hope our senators take this into consideration when they form their opinions on increased taxes to the so-called “job creators” moving forward.
These are “cuts”, just like Maine Air National Guard “cuts” or Brunswick Air Naval Airbase it”s a paper shuffle that moves big economic dollars from Maine to more politically influential States under the guise of saving money !
Anyone know if in 2006 , how Maine’s delegation voted on the retirement fund rule change for the USPS?
I looked that up and all that I could find was that it was a unanimous vote with NO record of who voted!
Dec 7 2006 109th congress 109 435
Introduced by a Republican and Signed by Bush.
Opps! A picture is worth a thousand words, is that Susan Collins standing right Behind George W. Bush?
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html
Motive?
Read the last line of the Presidential Statement , Something about strengthening free markets!!!!!!
Just increase the rates on junk mail. That’s about all we get in the mail anymore . Most all our bills, statements and payments are done on line. When ever you read an article about a bussiness in financial trouble these days they always have the words “Union” , “retirement” and “healthcare” in them.
read the history of the Unions. I’m’ sure your job, wages if you have one reflect the long, hard hours that the unions have put in throughout the years, otherwise you would be on a job where they didn’t care if you lived or died.
People both union an nonunion would not have any benefits that they have now plus no safety what so ever
Years ago my grandfather worked as a machinist for a woolen mill in Southern New England. The rented house that his family lived in was owned by the mill. The neighborhood grocery store was owned by the mill. The doctor was an employee of the mill too; and he decided if someone was too sick or to injured to work based on the best interests of the mill and not the patient. The mill managed to get back most of the meager wages that it paid out and to leave the workers with next to nothing.
Clearly there can be an argument made that “unions” have grown too large over the years; but we should never forget what those same unions contributed to the safety and well being of many hard working Americans.
Yes you are right an i would add also that there would be no state or federal agency to cover workers if it was not for the union
This is a great snapshot of what we used to be. We grew and became better and stronger. We could easily go back to the wage slavery and Mill Bucks that were with us until the 1950s.
Once upon a time unions cared about the worker, no more. When I see the delegate get a new car every 2 years then I get a 25cent raise over 5 years pluse increase in healthcare cost to me. It already seems as if they really don’t care.
Maybe that is because unions are growing weaker and they cannot provide enough pressure to keep wages afloat. IN the past when unions were strong, their wages helped increase wages for non-union workers as well. If you are getting the pinch, don’t blame the unions, that is just envy talking. If unions were as strong as they were in the 1960s, we would not have nearly the economic problems we do. Consumers are what make the economy. Unions are what force companies to share their gains with workers. Without them, the money all goes to the top. Does that sound at all familiar? Have you seen the trend line on who has gotten the increases over the last 30 years?
What I’m thinking is that fatazz delegete sold us down the river and gets his rewards from the very people he is paid to watch out for and there isn’t a thing the members can do about it.
Unions are for themselves, they did their job in the day…. But are not needed anymore.
So, so wrong
If you say so…
Yeah!
We won WWII we dont need the Military anymore?
Some people think that we don’t need the Military anymore……….
The post office needs to be re-worked…..
Brought up to the times…..
I never said unions didn’t do good for the American worker but a lot of unions have gone too far with their demands for more pay and benefits and have driven a lot of companies to bankruptcy or to seek relief over seas.And yes I have a job, have always had a job, have never drawn an unemployment check in over 40 years.
I’ll agree with the first three sentences.
So, if I don’t have the internet how will I get my bill?
its people like you that are driving the post office into the ground by using the computer
not all true, mismanagement as in every government agency is one of the largest factors. a number of years ago, in the hinypirate city of san francisco, an employee, in management, was paid by the post office,in the area of $145,000.00 help him move into another home, just 15 minutes from his previous home., and,,guess what, he cried it was not enough help, so, they have him an extra $15,000.00. this was just in moving assistance. not to buy him a home.
gee, why is the postal sevice in such bad shape. i’ll never know.can you figure out why?? this is true,
Pandering at it’s best. I don’t believe one bit they care. The only thing these two care about is reelection.
Pandering??? Another misinformed soul. Snowe & Collins are REPUBLICANS. The majority of USPS workers are hardcore democrats, and members of a UNION, which supports democrats. Ihardly think they are going to support these two now or in the future.
Collins and Snowe are RINOs. They’re as liberal as any of the the liberals that work in D.C.
LOL!! Get a grip on reality, man.
They just don’t carry clubs!
They’re as liberal as any of the the liberals that work in D.C.
No they aren’t!
They are just sneaky!
Obviously, Ds and indepdedents have supported the Senatros in the past. And probably will in the future. Especially if they succeed in saving the Hampden facility.
I think we ought to do………absolutely nothing. Let the USPS keep right on spending money until there is none left to spend. Then all the “whiners(unionists) will be out on the street wondering what happened. At least all the arguing will be over.
Our nation is way beyond broke and nobody wants to cut anything.
Great plan!
cut the greed, tax the rich and this wouldn’t be happening
i send out my bills by mail because i know they will get there all they half to do is hit the wrong key on the computer an it wipes every thing out an all they will say is we did not get so you did not send it in
You can print a confirmation from your pc to serve as proof.
We are broke because we CUT TAXES!
You couldn’t begin to tax enough to cover the spending that Washington does.
Sorry folks…the USPS needs to cut and cut and cut…It is going the way of the telegraph and pony express. Cut back on delivery days, close obsolete or remote locations, lay off (sorry folks) workers, and lift the ban on other carriers (such as Fed Ex and UPS) from carrying non-priority letters (did ya know that law existed?)
Everyone is screaming “cut, cut, cut…” but when cuts come everyone screams “Not in my backyard”. Well, cuts have to happen in someone’s backyard…otherwise those shouting “cut cut cut” had better stop that chant and start shouting “tax…tax…tax”
How many people get there med thru the mail if they cut it could take as long as 15 days or more to get your meds. Now people that pay there bills on the internet are now being charge a fee an the same with credit cards . If you use UPS it would cost 10 bucks to send a letter from Waterville to Banger i know i took a letter to the ups store in Waterville an ask them how much it would cost
My bills are paid automatically or I pay them on line, there are no fees what so ever… Only mail i get is junk mail and that might be 1 piece a week, maybe 2.
Something needs to be done, they always lose money…We do not need mail delivery on Saturday.
You watch companys are stating to charge a fee for paying over the internet it won;t be long before long you will be paying a fee once one start they all do the same look at the air lines
That junk mail as you call it helps keeps the post office going
Keeps the trash company busy too…LOL No one even reads the stuff, right from mail box to trash…
Not every one has access to the internet or do they want to pay bills on line, especially with all of the security problems retailers and businesses have with keeping peoples credit card info or bank info safe.
How much do you think Fed Ex will charge to deliver a letter to an address, 46 cents like the USPS or $1.50 like they do now?
It is not our governor’s call, but it seems that the touted benefits for postal workers and retirees must be true; thus contributing to the “red” marks in profit. No bailout, please.
Unfortunately, you cannot survive in a paperless world when you pay your employees $20-30 an hour to deliver mostly first class letters and management higher ups gets paid ridiculous wages. The post office works hard but its an entirely different world then the private sector and they have proven for about fifty years then they can never compete in a free market where they are not heavily funded with taxes. If USPS wants to survive at all – they need to model themselves after successful plans like UPS that don’t require bailouts every 6 months due to union mandates exceeding any possible profit. Remember what brought down the “Big 3” auto manufacturers. Lack of profit combined with ridiculous union demands. Figure it out and be honest to your people. USPS employees work hard like the hard of us – but they deserve transparency from the government. No one is entitled to anything in America anymore – pension, healthcare, all these ridiculous benefits handed out like candy when America was in it’s glory – you have to work for it now. There shouldn’t be lots of perks working for the federal government when we are struggling to put bread on the table and feed our kids. Taxpayers give the Post Office the revenue it needs to run an organization it cannot run. You can’t run a business in the red every year and expect success. Repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. The Post Office has serious problems but look at what got us there – the same thing that took down Detroit – lack of sales combined with grossly exaggerated wages. Take care of the employees but do something if you want to stay in business at all.
The postal service does not receive tax money to operate. Why can’t people understand that?
Because they are dumb an to lazy to do research
From Wikipedia
The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.
Key word, not directly.
They do get bailed out by taxpayer money though.
We have seen that with our own eyes.
So yes they are funded by taxpayer money.
”
“The USPS does get some taxpayer support. Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the “Postal Service Fund.” These funds are used to compensate USPS for postage-free mailing for all legally blind persons and for mail-in election ballots sent from US citizens living overseas. A portion of the funds also pays USPS for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies.”
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/…
So yes the postal service does receive taxpayer money.
The government is paying for a service provided by the postal service with the taxpayer money. That’s a big difference than a bailout.
You are grasping for straws…. Read it all…
“Union demands” Lets see, I’m willing to bet they could cut 5 jobs at the top and save as much as they are saying with this whole plant.
what brought down the 3 auto manufacturers was corporate GREED
Look what the ceo’s make
I could certainly survive and prosper in a world with out Sen. Collins.
Eliminate the prefunding of pensions that USPS is required to do and the need to close any USPS facilities disappears. The USPS is about the only organization required to do this. Collins knows this because she has said as much herself. The rest of the Republican Senate may be the problem, and the solution, to Hampden.
Congress passed a requirement that u s p s fund it’s health benefits for 75 years over 5 years .
That was a political move to kill usps so private industry could take over the united states mail.
no private business could or would ever attempt to fund 75 years worth of anything during a 5 year time period.
Who is that Cheerleader in the red dress?
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/images/20061220-6_20061220-2d-0716-1–515h.html
Whats Paul Newman doing at the meeting? Second row in orange.
you need glasses, my friend.
are you an optometrist?
nope…just an optimist
LOL. You mean Lazarus Newman? The guy should be flattered.
Once again, it’s the same thing, but under a different topic. Maine’s population has been in decline for quite a while. USPS mail has been replaced by email, and paperless billing, which is a form of email.
I have already found the postal system in downeast Maine to be slow as Christmas. Bulk mail centers are supposed to handle bulk mail. Apparently the Eastern Maine facility just doesn’t have the volume of bulk mail that it used to have. No amount of whining can argue the fact.
Some of the practices of the USPS are suicidal. For instance, if I mail a letter from our town (over 90 miles from Bangor), to another town resident, the following happens. The truck picks up the mail from the local Post Office, carries it to Bangor, where it is sorted, and then trucked back to our Post Office. That letter weighing less than an ounce has traveled about 200 miles just to be delivered one or two miles. Does that make any sense at all? When these distribution centers were built, people used the mail almost exclusively for business purposes. Now most business is conducted via computer.
The post office cannot continue the way it has done business. I do not want it to fail, so if they have to close the Eastern Maine facility, so be it. Better to have slower mail service than none at all.
One other comment, what bunch of morons passed a law that said the post office had to put 75 years worth of retirement deposits in an account in only 10 years? Looks like our local crazy politicians are at work here. There is no way for a business such as the PO to put that kind of cash away every year and survive. Especially when they are already having declining revenues, and not to mention the high fuel cost of paper letter delivery.
As usual, our elected officials have not only dropped the ball, but let the air out of it as well.
I don’t know about Maine, but not too long ago there were two mail slots and two mailboxes at USPS sations, one Local, the other “Other”. Local mail (same ZIP or series in muti-ZIP towns) was locally processed, the rest sent to a Regional center.
Another poster illustrated the efficiencies of processing centers in setting up individual carrier’s mail routes. They provide other efficiencies and are adjusting their empolyment. Seems as though much of the criticism (including from Congress) and alleged “data” is misleading or even false. Looks like the closing “experts” have cooked the books and are supplying a misleading or false cost/benefit “analysis” (not even worthy of that name).
In the town I used to live in, Waterboro, there were two slots, local mail as there are three zip codes in Waterboro and out of town. Some post offices do have this arrangement, others do not.
Sounds a lot like the DHHS budget shortfall, doesn’t it!!!!!
CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING, CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING…oh, it’s going to affect me? SPEND SPEND SPEND….
That pretty much sums it up.
Pretty much sums up the whole budget mess that business and gov’t are in today……
You are so smart…:)
You are my idol…
I have to agree..
Stevey would be so proud of you..LOL..
Very nice speech ladies, now lets see how much muscle you have.
Olive Oyle , needs Popeye and a can of spinach!
The only “overpayment” of federal funds that I can see is the overpayment to people like Olympia , Collins Etc. The people that have WORKED all their lives for the postal service are NOT overpaid in their retirement. The politicians are!!!
The BDN seemed to leave out a few interesting facts.
One is the Postal Service made almost a billion dollars since 2006 when you take away the mandated pre funding. That alone shows you that the so called “outrages salaries and benefits” aren’t the reason for them losing money. Some people are just so damn biased when they see the word “union” that they put the blinders on and automatically think it is the unions fault. The APWU just ratified a new contract a little over a year ago and there were no pay raises for two years, they need to pay more into their health insurance and they allowed the Postal Service to create a new pay scale to start new employees out at a lower wage.
Did anyone notice that they were only mentioning 1st class mail at the meeting? What happens to Express mail? Priority Mail? People in northern Maine will be paying the same price as people in southern Maine for less service and it will hit companies hard in this area. There are hundreds of jobs in the Bangor area alone that rely on timely mail delivery and if these cuts take affect they will have no choice but to move to southern Maine to stay competitive or to layoff workers and close their doors. Either way is bad for this area.
Another fact that was brought up was that if the proposal goes through the Southern Maine Plant would be the only one in Maine, NH and Vermont. Sorry, but that plant can’t even begin to handle that volume of mail (and guess whos mail will sit until they get time to process it?). It doesn’t surprise me one bit that they will try this though given that all the district managers (ME, NH and VT are a district) are stationed in Southern Maine. It would make more sense to have the Eastern Maine Plant take all mail Augusta north and have the Southern Maine plant take mail from NH. Then they would be able to keep the delivery timely and use excess processing that is available.
And to those that made the comments about workers standing around all night at Eastern Maine, you couldn’t be more wrong. The employees there have plenty of work to do even with the decline in 1st class volume. They DPS (delivery point sequence) mail for all offices in the 044, 046, 047 and 049 areas. This in itself saves all the local PO’s many hours of sorting mail to carriers and then having the carriers case their mail to be taking out for delivery. Instead it arrives ready to go. Then you have all the parcels that need to be sorted. The employees that get mail ready for the Bangor carriers that are there. I could go on and on but it won’t matter to some because they see the word “union”. All in all there are about %50 less employees there now than 5-6 years ago.
End rant.
Not a rant. Kudos on this insightful and factual post. But then, how many critics of this and other developments acknowledge facts (axcept their own alleged ones).
Beautiful. This legislation was by the Republicans to substantially weaken the paychecks of postal employees since they were unionized.
And the republican hope to take this further. The real goal is to weaken the USPS enough to force privatization. The big contracts will go to UPS and FedEx and we will pay several dollars to mail a letter. This has been the goal since the post office was imperiled by the Bush era law that makes them pre-fund 75 years of pension liability in just 10 years. They passed a law to break the post offices monopoly and allow it to be privatized. It is disgusting.
{It is disgusting}
It sure is!
Its like giving the Pony Express Buckets of Antifreese for the horses to drink at the relay stations!
Them damn Republicans, they are evil SOB’s…
Don’t you know the people that make comments about the post office have no idea what they are talking about . If those same people tried to run the post office it would go under in a month they would half to shut all the post offices down in Maine
All in all there are about %50 less employees there now than 5-6 years ago.
I am just wondering if you do not pre-fund the retirement and there are 50% fewer postal employees in 5 years who is going to pay for them?
The USPS has funded their pension obligations to OPM for future retirees to 90%…in fact, the OPM “all government employee” Retirement Account is funded by the USPS to the current tune of FIFTY PERCENT…the USPS is CARRYING THE WATER for the rest of the Federal Retiree budget…they have OVERPAID OPM AND FERS massively, which is what this whole thing is about….the USPS in 2006 was “reformed” by Congress in to THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGGS.
My words to Congress, including Snowe and Collins is FIX THIS MESS THAT YOU CAUSED.
Ok but what if in the near future the post office is forced to lay off even more what happens to your percentage then?
YOU are one hundred percent correct and spot on my friend….and everything you mentioned is PROVABLE AND A PUBLIC RECORD…the USPS posts their annual reports EVERY YEAR for everyone to read.
Wasn’t Senator Collins the one who proposed the law that funds the Postal Service retirement account decades into the future, which is one of the primary reasons that there is a five billion dollar shortcoming? It’s funny that she was there last night decrying the closing of the Hampden facility.
Thats for Votes!
The solution is very simple. Keep Hamden open, close Scarborough. They can be fed from NH, while Hamden has the largest land mass of our state here.
they want to close places in NH too
Eventually the Scarborough plant will be consolidated into Massachusetts plants.
if you had a choice of keeping this facility open or caring for those in non-medical facilities which would you choose?
Keep it straight. Federal vs. State policies.
OK say they cut post offices an cut other places an slow down delivery how will this improve severice
In English, please.
???
your spelling
….
Yes mail volume has decreased due to technology advances. However, what a lot of people are not seeing is the USPS is very similar to the banks and automakers before the government bailed them out. Upper management makes ridiculous money, plus bonuses. The Post Master General has an assistant, who has an assistant, who has an assistant all who also have an outragious salary and also recieve bonuses. If the USPS were to do away with a fraction of these personnel the large majority of their financial shortfall, and impending crisis would improve almost instantly. These are the people who are crying the loudest yet never even touch a piece of mail. I am not blind that there are other issues that need to be addressed to improve the overall stability of the Post Office, I just like to keep it all in perspective that “you know what” runs down hill. Start your “changes” at the top and work your way down.
Can you please substantiate your claims of assistants having assistants having assistants who have bonuses? Thank you.
Don’t you just looooooove how we’re so willing to subsidize stuff like corn and big oil, but when it comes to something more of a necessity like the postal service, we’re hands off? Just let the private market take over! God, what a joke.
the corn subsidies to pay for the boondoggle that is ethanol is another waste that needs to go away. it takes more energy to make than it produces and is absolutely crap to my truck and smaller motors that I have around the house.
This is a great example of the lack of decision making on all our politicians. Both political parties have kicked the can down the road. Unions, politicians, demads for greater benefits have all played a roll in creating this problem. The price of a stamp surely could be increased to some point which helps reducs the shortfall. What I don’t get is when this plant was built in Hampden it was called the state of the art. If this was true then why not close the plant in the southern part of the state instead, or is this political?
It’s who ever has the most pull will determan which place closes
Both Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe know full well the Hampden plant will close but by taking the position that they don’t agree, it permits them to have a free ride. They support the southern part of the state since that is where they get the majority of their votes and support. Population is greater in Portland…. Leave it to politicians!!!!
“What the Postal Service doesn’t seem to fully appreciate is how much its plans would harm so many Maine businesses, their customers and their employees,” said Collins. “This proposal could create a death spiral from which the Postal Service might never recover.” If the postal service does not make some of the hard cuts they are going to die anyway. If this facility is in fact running less volume and haven’t down sized accordingly as stated in a couple of response to this article but not substantieated. Then maybe it needs to go. I stated in an earlier article that maybe we need to start postmarking locally again and then ship the rest to the processing center.
The USPS should be abolished. Period.
yup me to i want to pay 10 bucks to send a letter to bangor tha’ts what UPS would charge you
What century do you live in? I can’t remember the last time I ever mailed anything…
What about companys they mail stuff out every day . What about people that don’t have computers they mail stuff out just because you do not mail stuff out dose not mean the rest of us do not mail stuff out .
Just because you don’t personally use a service doesn’t mean it’s unnecessary. What an arrogant mindset.
It’s in the US Constitution!
Or didn’t you Notice that it had been effective all the way back to the Pony Express?
Ok. Where is the Pony Express today?
Its your local post Office !
The union bashing I sort of get…jealousy. What I don’t get is why people think the drive for lower wages overall is helpful to the economic welfare of the state. If the average wage continues to falls t0 $12 an hour, whose going to buy your house? How about that new car? Health insurance? Forget a bout that. Got an extra $3500 to buy some heating oil? Yep, lets get wages as cheap as possible.
The push to lower wages is another way the wealthy and powerful can amass even more of each. There is no cogent rationale for pushing wages down. Working people are struggling and the union is one of the only forces that oppose the current direction. If we allow more unions to be dismantled we can look forward to even greater income inequality. Look, we have had rising inequality for four decades. During the same period, union affiliation has fallen. This is not a casual relationship, it is cause and effect. The postal worker is a great analogy for the working person in America. Everybody can relate to them. We see them doing the work of getting the mail delivered. We know they work for a living and do what they can to get through the day. They are under pressure now. Their wages are being pressured, their jobs in jeopardy, their benefits in jeopardy the very futures in jeopardy. When are the American people going to recognize that the people who are trying to convince them to dismantle the gains of the 20th century are not trying to create a new age where workers have a better life. They are promoting a system that moves the wealth further and further up the income ladder and starves those who live on their paychecks.
Austerity and union busting are the tools of fascists. We are better than this. Our ancestors fought for these accomplishments so their children could live a safe and secure life on the wages they earned. Now those wages are being pressured to allow the already wealthy to enjoy an even larger share.
When will we wake up and realize the powerful corporate leaders are redefining America to meet their wishes, not to produce the greatest good to the vast majority of us.
Postal workers are not unfamiliar to any of us. They are the union workers we see in our daily lives that are trying to make a living for themselves. If we are asked to protect them or protect the economy, understand that is a false choice. We do not need to sacrifice livable wages to remain viable. In fact, we are stronger when our middle class does better. Insist on supporting our postal service and its many dedicated workers. They are our neighbors and we all need each other.
Wow – did Sue and her GOP cronies vote to impose crippling financial mandates on the US Postal Service?
To destroy it – and privatize it?
Will did she?
Yessah
Opps?
Who is that woman in the red dress?
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/images/20061220-6_20061220-2d-0716-1–515h.html
Silly Sue is a stone cold hypocrite that wants us to ignore her voting record.
She voted for the bill that placed purposely destructive financial mandates on the Postal Service.
and now she is “concerned” about postal jobs in Maine…
Remember this when she is up for reelection.
yessah.
Opps! A picture is worth a thousand words, is that Susan Collins standing right Behind George W. Bush?
Now she is in Maine saying { “This proposal could create a death spiral from which the Postal Service might never recover.”}
She reminds me of Clint Eastwood in a Fistfull of dollars , playing BOTH sides!
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html
Motive?
Read Between the lines of the Presidential Statement ,
I’m willing to tax the 1%, if that would help.
If the reps go to these meeting you whine they don’t go to the meeting you whine
In early December I spent the extra money to mail a friend’s Christmas gift via Priority Mail. Instead of arriving within the 2 days I paid for, I was lucky she got her mail after 3 weeks. The reason cited was a huge pile up of mail in the Hampden distribution facility. I can only imagine the nightmare that will haunt us if the Hampden facility closes. We know the USPS won’t be adding the laid off Hampden staff to help out elsewhere. I don’t blame the Hamden staff for my misfortune this Christmas. I suspect they were understaffed and working as hard as possible. It’s time for businesses everywhere to stop assuming it’s always possible to “do more with less” & “work lean and mean”. Those slogans are slave driver mentality.
Ms Snow is clearly educated in the Maine State College System. In one sentence she states; ” I just don’t know how this current proposal enhances the productivity & competitiveness of the US Postal Service.” She then follows this gem up with; “Some businesses are already considering shifting to private carriers if this goes throught.” This is the problem with the dolts in Washtington that govern this land. Of course she doesn’t understand, when you have pockets and a business model that doesn’t have to worry about profits, one doesn’t need to foster any understanting (s) about capitalism. It is all about competitiveness MS Snow. Just raise taxes and keep the people on the federal dollar is not a sustainable model.
Collins and Snowe were FOR closing Hampden BEFORE they were AGAINST it.
Look at today the roads are bad but all the post office people still half to work no matter what the weather is . I say every time the schools close because of weather than the post offices should be able to close
How many companys depend on the post office you slow there mail down it cost them money than who will you blame it on not the union .
Collins and Snowe have voted against every jobs bill that has come before the Senate. Now, all of a sudden, they want to save a few obsolete jobs in their back yard. Hey girls, the Mail Volume has crashed in Maine and it is never coming back. Maybe you girls can contribute to the Postal Service a few Million Dollars with all the graft and payoffs you take in every year from the Lobbyists.
This whole argument is taking place online folks! Case closed.
So So right. We are debating the closure of the Hampden Plant on the INTERNET, not by sending each other letters via Snail Mail. Shut this useless, obsolete facility down, already.
From Wikipedia
The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.
Key word, not directly.
They do get bailed out by taxpayer money though.
We have seen that with our own eyes.
So yes they are funded by taxpayer money.
”
“The USPS does get some taxpayer support. Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the “Postal Service Fund.” These funds are used to compensate USPS for postage-free mailing for all legally blind persons and for mail-in election ballots sent from US citizens living overseas. A portion of the funds also pays USPS for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies.”
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/consumerawareness/a/uspsabout.htm
So yes the postal service does recieve taxpayer money.
I see a few people commenting below said they dont, but they do.
Does Suzie the hack know about the death spiral in China?
Xbox workers threaten suicide in China labor tiff
Thursday, January 12, 2012
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/01/12/international/i053718S71.DTL&tsp=1
Eliminating Sat. street delivery would be cost effective and not negative affect individuals and businesses. Saving in eliminating 52 days of using petroleumn products and eliminating carrier work hours would result in reducing massive debt. ELIMINATING SAT. MAIL DELIVERY IS ELIMINATING A WASTED COST THAT AT PRESENT SERVES NO USEFUL PURPOSE AS ELECTRONIC MMAIL HAS PROVED THIS IN DECREASING FIRST CLASS MAIL VOLUME RESULTING IN LOSS OF REVENUE AND NO NEW REVENUE GENERATORS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED.
I’m wondering if that 700 thousand figure included retirement and benefits as well. lt could, let’s be honest people.
Why I need junk mail wasting trees delivered more then five days a week is a mystery. I’m terribly sorry if gram and gramp refuse to enter the twentieth, forget the twenty first century ,but the UPS is a money pit.
Any agency that is subsidized in any manner from the government needs to be closely inspected and improved. SORRY PAPER PUSHERS. You ten over there…. we only need one of you now because of automation. If you have talents then i’m sure the private sector will head hunt you. If not, perhaps you don’t have any particular skill that only YOU can provide.
THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF ENSURING GOVERNMENT JOBS ARE APLENTY. AT LEAST NOT FOR MINDLESS POSITIONS THAT ANY TEENAGER COULD DO NOW.
Other companies DO NOT WANT YOUR BUSINESS, its costs them too much to subsidize. Just like the “phone company”, there needs to be a “universal service charge”. If you get mail delivered to you – pay a dollar a year – for example & move your mailbox to the road – NO EXCEPTIONS (Of course-no one would spend 50 bucks to do this). Approx. TONS of overtime $$ saved. Then, the PO must consolidate where they can – ex. – a small town in CT has 3 postoffices w/in a mile of each other & you would not be able to find any of them, they are hidden. Barely any business in 1, never mind 3 to keep heated, electric, employee costs, trucking cost, ect. One PO makes $150. to $200. a day – sometimes less. Any other REALISTIC suggestions? PO processes free mail for Washington, etc.
Thank God for the UNION, again at it’s best, over paid specialists, doing what they do, in twice the time it should take. beneifit packages to dream for[ by average working folks] and on average an attitude that they deserve even more .it,s worse than the paper makers and where did it get them.
Unions at work again, overpaid workers taking twice as long as needed to do a job,beneift packages to dream for, by ordinary workers. and expectations of more. and yet they never seem to understand that they priced themselves out of competition.see how you do on unemployment and think about it.
No have no idea what they do at post offices an that center in Hampden
Collins ought to know about putting USPS in a death spiral. It was her PAEA legislation of 2006, requiring USPS to pay $6 billion per year to the US Treasury, that pushed them over the edge.
Contractors do hall mail between post offices
Everyone of you that’s whining about the post office had a chance to work at the post office. I bet why you people did not try because you did not want to work,, carring mail an wanted to be nothing but lazy bums
Taking this woman’s pandering, make busy, PR offensive seriously will result in a death spiral to any objective intellect, bound to “auger in.”
my neighbor delivers mail…she’s a carrier….and makes $65000.00 plus benefits a year….need I say more?
Here is a simple solution for those of you who have issues with the postal service: don’t use the service! Purchase no stamps, send no packages and please remove your mail box.
Have the courage of your convictions. Use UPS or FED EX or your computer and don’t wimp out and put that birthday card in the mail. See how much UPS or FED EX will charge.
an all or nothing proposition is not the only option. how about facing up to the reality of huge operating losses that require adequate steps to offset them?
the proposal in question may be the wrong solution, but there’s no denying changes need to be made. one example: drive route 2 north from the newport exit, past the newport post office, then past the east newport office, then past the etna post office, then past the carmel post office – all in the span of less than 20 miles. does any reasonable person think we can’t achieve some measure of consolidation to save money yet without affecting services too drastically?