September 10, 2013
By Stephanie West
One of America’s largest postal unions has complained that the US Postal Service has been violating its mail service standards. The American Union of Postal Workers recently submitted a formal objection to the Postal Regulatory Commission stating that USPS has been violating its obligations to “preserve regular and effective access” to all communities across America.
The claim relates to the current plan by USPS to close more than half of its 461 mail processing plants up to February 2014. The APWU complaint suggests that because USPS had previously reported to regulators a plan that included closing 55 plants in February 2014, it was obliged to maintain its overnight service standard for those plants until February 2014.
The union claims they have evidence of delayed mail resulting from the closure of many mail processing centers. The union said closing 53 of those 55 plants in 2013 meant the Postal Service was effectively violating its agreed mail service standards to provide overnight delivery in related areas through to February 2014.
