A tweet from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum {@PostalMuseum} informed me that the 29th of August was the 121st anniversary of the National Association of Letter Carriers. They helped to pioneer some of the basic labor laws in our country such as the 8-hour work day and the enforcement of those laws through the strength of their union.
The N.A.L.C. is equally active today in their mission to secure pensions, workers compensation claims and combat cuts in postal service. One of their current concerns is the campaign to reduce delivery days to 5 days a week, eliminating Saturday delivery. An L.W.A. member, Carol, sent me a copy of their e-Activist network newsletter written by Fredric Rolando, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers, outlining their arguments for the continuation of Saturday mail.
Selected quotations from their newsletter:
"We must preserve the excellent level of service we provide, six days a week, and seek to add new services that will generate new revenue for the U.S.P.S. Eliminating Saturday mail collections and delivery will slow service, drive away mailers that value Saturday delivery and make the Postal Service's financial problems worse, not better. Saturday mail delivery makes the U.S.P.S. unique among delivery companies and is crucial for the Postal Service's long-term survival. Ending Saturday delivery does little to reduce costs-at most, it saves just 4 percent of costs while cutting out 17 percent of daily deliveries."
The newsletter also makes a call for letters to be written to the Postal Regulatory Commission if you disagree with ending Saturday delivery to the following address:
Postal Regulatory Commission
Attn: Office of Public Affairs & Government Relations
901 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C., 20268-0001
When writing, be sure to cite Docket N2010-1. Presumably, you can also write to them with comments arguing for the ending of Saturday delivery. That's the beauty of a free country.
It's selfish of me, but I love all my delivery days. More chances to get letters are better than less in my book, and I've stated before that it's a service I'm willing to pay more for. It's amazing what you get for a measly $.44 cents. I could survive without Saturday delivery, sure, but I suppose the big question is, can the Postal Service survive without it?
Thanks for the contact info, Donovan. I'd hate to see Saturday delivery go!
Posted by: kelly | August 31, 2010 at 10:38 AM
I too hate to see Saturdays go. Definitely wrote a letter to them saying so.
Posted by: Haley | September 06, 2010 at 05:06 PM
Thanks so much for this info! I'm going to post it in some mail art-ish places, in the hopes that folks will make & send.
And did I miss something? What is Docket
N2010-1? :-)
--JH
Posted by: Jennie Hinchcliff | September 08, 2010 at 12:31 AM
I was just quoting the newsletter, but I'm sure it has something to do with items on their agenda or somesuch other identifier that alerts them that this is regarding the question of continued Saturday Delivery.
Posted by: Donovan | September 08, 2010 at 07:36 AM