Posted: November 13, 2009

By Philip Newswanger

philip.newswanger@pilotonline.com

The number of post offices slated for closure is a moving target.

The U.S. Postal Service said in May that 3,600 stations and branches were under consideration for consolidation or closure.

Since them, the number of post offices under review for closure or consolidation has been whittled down to 413, including two in Roanoke and two in Hampton Roads.

The Postal Service announced that number on Sept. 2, according to the American Postal Workers Union.

But a USPS news release reported that the list, which it filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission, "does not represent a final decision," the union said on its Web site.

Then the USPS published a list on Oct. 9 with 371 locations.

The two Hampton Roads offices slated for closure are the Buckroe Finance Unit 220 on Buckroe Avenue in Hampton and the Norfolk Business Center 2600 on Eltham Avenue.

The USPS said that it began a review process earlier last summer that examined 3,600 branches and stations.

It operates 37,000 post offices, stations, branches, and contract and community post offices.

Another 56,000 locations such as supermarkets, drug stores and other retailers sell postage and selected postal services.

The filing does not represent a final decision on consolidation, the Post Office said.

To date, no facility-specific final decisions have been made as a result of this initiative.

"No specific dates have been proposed yet for closing post offices in Hampton Roads," said spokesman Hervey Trimyer. "It's still up in the air."

The Cradock Station at 30 Prospect Pkwy., Portsmouth, was listed in a recent article in the Portsmouth Currents section of The Virginian-Pilot as one of six post offices under review for potential closure.

But Trimyer said the Cradock Station isn't listed as one of the post offices under review for closure or consolidation by the USPS.

The Cradock Times, the newsletter for the Cradock Civic League, urged residents to oppose the shutdown of the Cradock Station, which serves about 11,500 residents. The Cradock Station has been at its present site since 1994, and Cradock has had a post office since 1920, the article said.

The postal workers' union is fighting to keep branches and stations open.

The closures and consolidations will represent a loss of jobs for the union. But until a decision is made, it isn't known how many postal workers will be laid off.

Retail employees are understandably concerned that management is taking advantage of the bad economy by slashing services, work sites and jobs, the union said on its Web site.

Many union activists remain convinced that management's goal is to replace stations and branches with contract postal units, which are owned and run by non-postal employees, the union said.

In recent testimony to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the union said the Postal Service study to reduce stations and branches "discriminates against communities with high percentages of low-income, minority and transit-dependent residents."

The union also asserted that the Postal Service used incomplete data to support its conclusions.

The Postal Service reported a net loss of $2.4 billion for the third quarter, which runs from April 1 to June 30.

Ongoing electronic diversion and the widespread economic recession continued to reduce mail volume, resulting in a $1.6 billion decrease in revenue for the quarter, the Postal Service said.

Despite cost reductions against the fiscal 2009 plan of more than $6 billion and actions to grow revenue, the Postal Service said it projects a net loss of more than $7 billion at fiscal year-end.

The organization's financial situation is compounded by its obligation to pay $5.4 billion to $5.8 billion annually to pre-fund retiree health benefits, it said.

The Postal Service has incurred net losses in 11 of the last 12 fiscal quarters, it said.

The fiscal 2009 year-to-date net loss is $4.7 billion, compared to a loss in the same period last year of $1.1 billion, it said.

The Postal Service expected a cash shortfall of up to $700 million by Sept. 30, the end of its fiscal year, which coincides with the federal government's fiscal year. nib