[cripplecreek]

They have their hands tied. The USPS needs a retirement ‘cushion’ that is, to my knowledge, more stringent than any other on the planet.

Wow, a FReeper who actually knows what they're talking about. That's gotta be a first.

Seems to me that few FReepers realize how much an an essential part of the community these rural post offices are. Closing them is one more blow to rural America. Maybe Obama's "rural Council" will come up with an effective method of distributing the mail that prevents us from talking among ourselves and replace it with some Obama approved gossip.

Seems kind of odd to me that so many FReepers are willing to blame the rural offices that might have 1 or 2 (conservative leaning) employees while ignoring the wildly overstaffed urban offices full of your typical urban union liberals.

Back in 08 I was at a friend's house in town when his Obama button wearing mail carrier pulled up in the Jeep. The second mail carrier sat in the Jeep while the first mail carrier walked around the block. He got back to the Jeep drove another hundred yards to the next block where the other carrier got out and walked around his block.

Personally I would ditch the big sorting centers and hand that duty off to UPS and FedEx which already have their own terminals and let them deliver to the local post offices.

Lets not forget that the postal service hires vets first, every time.

[Gasshog]

The small post offices in our rural area have just started migrating to this new shorter-hours system. I can tell you know this isn’t going to end pretty. At least not around here and I expect the nearest office to me will close before the years end.

First thing the managers did was push out all the permanent employees (postmasters) except carriers. Now, the offices are manned by contract employees, some who were previously Sat. only clerks. No insurance, no benefits, no incentive to stay either.

Believe me the unspoken objective is to CLOSE many of these rural offices. Putting inexperienced clerks in charge of these offices is not going to work. One person I know is already about to quit - they got the job b/c they only wanted a few hours of work a week. The former PM told me if they leave the managers will close the offices...Get the picture?

The carriers from three offices will be working out of a fourth which is no bigger than the other three tiny bldgs.

I just want to know when the all the fat-cat managers who thought up this brilliant idea, get the sack. Foolish move with no “Plan B” if these clerks decide to walk out.