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Postal service to close district offices in N. Reading, Manchester, N.H.

E-Mail|Link|Comments () March 20, 2009 07:46 PM

By Globe Staff

US Postal Service district administrative offices in North Reading, Mass., and Manchester, N.H., are among the six to be closed around the nation under cutbacks announced today by the Postal Service, which has been battered by the struggling economy.

Shepard Fairey

Selectman Sean T. Delaney of North Reading said he had not heard about the closings, but "it's a concern of mine any time a local business shuts down or lays off employees."

"It's a tough time for anyone to be without employment and I'm sure it would have some impact on the town of North Reading," he said, adding that he would look into it further.

The Manchester office serves both New Hampshire and Vermont and its operations will be transferred to the office in Portland, Maine.

New Hampshire's congressional delegation has sent a letter urging Postal Service officials to reconsider the decision to close the Manchester office. They called the consolidation shortsighted and said eliminating an efficiently run, centrally located office is no way to overcome financial troubles.

In addition to closing offices, the Postal Service is cutting management and offering early retirement to 150,000 workers, the agency said today.

The agency also made early retirement offers last year but unions discouraged their members from accepting the offers and they were not widely used. The Postal Service did not say whether the new proposal would include financial incentives.

The American Postal Workers Union issued a statement today saying: "Retirement is a personal matter, and the union defers to the decisions of employees who meet the qualifications."

However, the union said it continues to challenge the Postal Service's authority to offer voluntary early retirement without including severance pay.

There are 80 district offices. The other four to be closed are located in Lake Mary, Fla.; Edison, N.J.; Erie, Pa.; and Spokane, Wash.

District offices handle administrative functions and officials said the closing should not affect customer service local mail delivery. The closings are expected to take about five months. The functions of the six offices are to be assumed by 10 offices nearby, USPS said in a statement.

The first quarter of the fiscal year -- October through December -- is usually the agency's busiest, but it still posted a loss of $384 million for the period.

Officials said the recession contributed to a 5.2 billion-piece mail volume decline compared with the same period last year. If there is no economic recovery, the Postal Service projects volume for the year will be down by 12 billion to 15 billion pieces of mail.

Postmaster General John Potter has asked Congress to consider allowing the agency to cut mail delivery back to five days-a-week to save money.

The Postal Service does not receive a taxpayer subsidy for its operations.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.