September 2023 Update
The Local Union is forever engaged in two extremely broad activities. Addressing the issues which impact the Members on a day-to-day basis, that is to say contract administration, and looking down the road to plan for the future. The question of where your Local Union is going to be a year from now, five years from now, or ten years from now, is continually being considered by the Officers of the Local Executive Board and Local Union Council. While no one can predict with certainty what the future may bring, we can look at all the possibilities and evaluate what outcomes may be more likely or less likely. As time passes and as the evaluation continues the likeliness of potential outcomes change.
To be sure, this is not an exact science since things that were thought to be unlikely occurred and things thought to be likely never happened. Still, there’s a point where it stops being a hypothetical exercise because we must be prepared for it all. It is better to be prepared for something that doesn’t happen than be unprepared for something that does. This is because there’s only one thing certain about the future; the future always comes.
For several years we have watched as the Postmaster General’s 10-year plan has been rolled-out in different locations throughout the country. This has caused us to consider what will it look like when the Postmaster General’s 10-year plan reaches the States of Minnesota and North Dakota.
We recently learned that the Postal Service has started to turn its attention toward the Minnesota – North Dakota District. The Postal Service has provided notice to the National Union that it will be conducting a Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) at the Minneapolis P&DC. According to the Postal Service and under Handbook PO-408 an MPFR determines the feasibility of changing mail processing operations to improve operational efficiency and/or service. An MPFR involves the consolidation of all originating and/or destinating distribution operations from one or more facilities into other automated processing facilities for the purpose of improving operational efficiency and/or service. The intent is to use Postal Service equipment, facilities, staff work hours and transportation more efficiently.
Service talks given to employees at the Minneapolis P&DC have indicated that management is evaluating whether to consolidate the remaining outgoing operations into the St. Paul P&DC.
The only conclusion to be drawn from the MPFR is that management is conducting a study. We don’t know when it will be completed, we don’t know what conclusions management will reach, and we don’t know what, if any, changes will occur. We do know it appears that the Postmaster General’s 10-year plan has turned its attention to a facility in Local 323.
This is not a time to engage in speculations or an evaluation of the likeliness of some potential outcome. The future is arriving. So, here’s the question: Will Local 323 be prepared for whatever results come from the MPFR? Remember, we continually plan for a year from now, five years from now, and ten years from now. Not only will we be prepared when the results of the MPFR are released, we’re ready now.
JL