Scranton USPS facility threatened

The use email and online bill paying has continued to reduce the volume of mail handled by the Post Office. Couple that with some budgeting rules that requires the postal service to prepay future expenses and a limit set by Congress on the increase of the cost of postage it's no wonder that the system has a financial crises.




A few reform proposals that I have read make sense. Change the prepay rules and bring them in line with normal accounting standards and let the price of a stamp rise to a rate that reflects the cost of delivering a letter. In most Western countries first class postage is twice or more of what we pay. Even that may not be enough so the Congress should consider funding the USPS shortfall. I don't know when the Post Office became a quasi business instead of an essential public service. It is an essential public service that can not be replaced by the private sector. Fedex, UPS, DSL, etc. can't match the level of service provided by the Post Office.




Locally, budget cuts are threatening local jobs. Postal officials are looking at whether or not they should move the mail processing plant from Scranton to the Lehigh Valley.




There was a meeting last night to get public comment on the proposal. The comments were not supportive of closing the facility.




Scranton post office backers state case




Public Meeting Held on Scranton Mail Processing Facility




Postal officials expect they will save more than three million dollars by moving the processing center but local union members say it would have a much bigger hit on the local economy."The hit will be somewhere between $27 and $30 million, with probably $1.7 million lost in local and state income taxes."





11th CD Democratic candidate Bill Vinsko was at the meeting and posted this on his Facebook page:




I was proud to stand with and support the postal employees union in Scranton tonight at Scranton High School in their bid to keep the Scranton Area Processing Center open and avoid moving operations to the Lehigh Valley. This is a regional issue and concern, which will affect Luzerne and Columbia Counties. We need to do what we can to save jobs like these in NEPA! When elected to Congress, I will work to protect jobs like these!





Congressman Lou Barletta was not in Scranton for the meeting. He was at Wilkes University talking about, what else, immigration.




Immigration in spotlight




“Qué indica es que esta ley; esta cuenta se apropiará de cualquier ciudad de hacer cumplir E-Verifica si el gobierno no lo hace primero.”



Un potro del truco

Update: A response from Barletta spokesman Shawn Kelly

I read your post about the potential closing of the mail processing facility in Scranton. Rep. Barletta is concerned about this issue and was represented at the meeting by a staff member.
More than that, Rep. Barletta isn’t just talking about helping the U.S. Postal Service; he’s actively working to help it and protect its employees. Rep. Barletta is a cosponsor of and strongly supports H.R. 1351, the United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011. This bipartisan bill would allow the Postal Service to apply billions of dollars in pension overpayments to the congressional mandate that requires the USPS to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees.
H.R. 1351 could protect the mail processing facility in Scranton and other postal facilities because it would alleviate the need for some of the drastic cost-cutting measures the USPS is being forced to consider.
In fact, earlier this year, dozens of postal workers took to the streets in front of Rep. Barletta’s Hazleton District Office to thank him for his support of H.R. 1351 and the postal service employees. Rep. Barletta spoke with those employees and personally pledged his support of H.R. 1351. A photo is attached.
As for your comments regarding the illegal immigration forum, it must be noted that illegal immigration impacts American jobs. Even the most conservative estimates say there are 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. How many jobs do they have? Imagine the jobs that would be available to American citizens and those legally in this country if the federal government enforced our existing immigration laws.

H.R. 1351 Gains Momentum on Capitol Hill