Postal Service will delay closings

December 14, 2011|Associated Press

About 100,000 postal employees could be cut as the struggling agency tries… (Dan Cepeda/Casper Star-Tribune…)

WASHINGTON - The Postal Service agreed yesterday to delay the closing of 252 mail processing centers and 3,700 local post offices until mid-May.

The cash-strapped agency said it would hold off to give Congress more time to pass legislation that would give it more authority and liquidity to stave off bankruptcy. The Postal Service, which is expected to default Friday on a $5.5 billion payment to the Treasury, is forecast to lose a record $14.1 billion next year.

Last week, the Postal Service said it was moving forward on cutbacks. It had planned to begin closing processing centers as early as April and shuttering some post offices early next year.

“There continues to be extreme urgency, and our financial crisis continues,’’ said spokesman David Partenheimer. The agency hopes for “comprehensive legislation that allows the Postal Service to return to profitability.’’

The planned cuts in first-class mail services would slow delivery and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

Last Thursday, 21 senators from mostly rural states led by Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, asked congressional leaders to add language to proposed legislation that would halt closings for six months. Closings could cost 100,000 employees their jobs.

Savings of up to $6.5 billion a year are anticipated.