Kellene StockwellChannel 2 News
‘Save America's Postal Service' held a rally at the Bruce Thompson federal building in downtown Reno.
The group says it wants to inform the public about the financial issues currently facing the organization and what's at stake for people and businesses in our area.
The Reno rally was one of hundreds planned across the country Tuesday. It says the rallies are designed to encourage Congress to pass H.R. 1351, legislation that addresses the financial crisis facing the Postal Service.
"The postal service is not going broke delivering the nation's mail. The postal service is going broke because of a Congressional mandate," says Todd Floyd of Nevada Rural Letter Carriers.
Just this month, President Barack Obama said the USPS should be allowed to reduce mail delivery to five days a week to help cut its massive losses.
"If you cut one day of delivery, close down plants, you're lowering service. As you lower service, fewer people might come to the postal service in the future. I don't want to cut service. I want to improve service."
Another proposal calls for closing down 250 processing plants nationwide - including one in Reno.
The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing even more red ink this year as the Internet siphons off large amounts of first-class mail and the weak economy reduces advertising mail. And although the price of stamps has increased from 34 cents to 44 cents over the same period, it is not enough to cover the post office's bills, in part because of higher labor costs.
While the post office has cut more than 100,000 workers in the last few years it needs to cut more, close offices and find other ways to reduce costs to keep operating.
For more information, go to saveamericaspostalservice.org
(The Associated Press also contributed to this report.)
