FORT SMITH: 25 picket at postal stations

Customers, staff reject 2 closings

— Postal workers in Fort Smith staged a rally Wednesday to make the public aware that two postal stations in Fort Smith are on a closure list and what residents can do about it.

About 25 people, many of them members of the American Postal Workers Union Local 1211, picketed along Rogers Avenue on Wednesday near one of two stations on a preliminary list to be closed as a cost-saving measure by the U.S. Postal Service.

The local's vice president, Thomas Henry, said members of the group were giving out information about how to contact public officials.

U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark., has been monitoring the issue but hasn't received much feedback from the public yet, said his spokesman Sara Lasure. The Postal Service's closure process is in the preliminary stage, and Boozman will make any constituent concerns known to the Postal Regulatory Commission when the process has moved further ahead, she said.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed that those stations are not on the final list," Lasure said.

Leisa Tolliver-Gay, Postal Service spokesman for Arkansas, said Wednesday that a date hasn't been set for a decision on which stations will be closed.

Henry said he and other postal workers opposed closing the stations at 3400 Rogers Ave. and at 5200 S. 32nd St. because they are popular and make a profit. People who now can walk to the post offices will have to drive to other branches farther away.

He also said the Postal Service has not publicized financial information to justify closing the two stations and has not held public meetings to gauge what impact the closings would have.

"It's primarily about public service," he said. "The people of Fort Smith have supported the Postal Service, and the Postal Service is not looking out forthe needs of the public."

Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker, who wrangled with the Postal Service over moving Fort Smith's processing station to Fayetteville, made an appearance at the rally. He said it would be tragic if the two stations close.

Many people use the stations and would be inconvenienced by having to travel to a different station, he said. Currently, there are six post offices in Fort Smith and nearby Barling.

Anna Conner said she has kept a post office box at the Rogers Avenue location for years. If the station closed, she would have to change the address for all the mail she receives.

"It would be an inconvenience all the way around," she said.

Tolliver-Gay said the move to consolidate post offices is a sign of hard economic times. She said traditional heavy mailers like financial and credit institutions and the insurance industry have reduced their mailings to cut costs. The amount of mail that runs through the nation's post offices has dropped in the past two years by many billions of pieces, she said.

She said the impact on Fort Smith residents would be slight if the two stations were closed. The Rogers Avenue station is 1.7 miles from the next nearest station, and the station on South 32nd Street is 1.5 miles from its nearest station.

Other conveniences have been added, such as getting services and scheduling mail pickups on the Internet and being able to buy stamps at places like Wal-Mart, she said.

"We're trying to make it as convenient as possible and be smart with our money," she said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11, 16 on 09/24/2009

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