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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The U.S. Postal Service said Monday it nolonger plans to close 600 urban and suburban postal branch officesand satellite stations. The facilities in many cities serve as neighborhood post offices.The Postal Service announced last year that it was looking atclosing up to 252 mail-processing centers and 3,700 post offices,as part of a plan to save some $6.5 billion a year. It began backing off the plan last week, saying it no longerplanned to close thousands of rural post offices but would keepthem open with shorter hours. Monday's announcement, provided toThe Associated Press before its official release, addressed 600branches and satellite stations that had been included in theoriginal study for closure and were expected to shut down sometimeafter Tuesday. "Any proposals to close these facilities have been placed on holdand will not close at this time," said a statement from RichardWatkins, Postal Service spokesman in the Kansas City area. "Goingforward, the Postal Service will evaluate how best to incorporatethem into long-term plans for effective and efficient retailservice." The Postal Service has said it will also put forward a new plan forthe mail processing centers later this week. It has been struggling as people switch to email and otherelectronic forms of communication. The Senate offered an $11 billion cash infusion last month, butPostmaster General Patrick Donahoe said that amount fell far shortof what is needed to save the Postal Service in the long term. TheHouse has yet to take action on its own bill. Among the post offices considered for closure was the CapitolSquare Post Office in downtown Des Moines, where a rally wasplanned Monday in support of keeping it open. The American Postal Workers Union, The National Federation of theBlind Iowa, a local law office, and the Alliance of RetiredAmericans planned the rally and informational picket. They say closure would leave downtown residents and businesseswithout easy access to a post office. The elderly and those withoutcars or other transportation to the main post office areparticularly concerned, said Lance Coles, president of the AmericanPostal Workers local union. "You don't quit providing what you do in order to survive," hesaid. Pressure has been building on the Postal Service to extend aself-imposed moratorium on the closure of post offices and mailprocessing facilities. It was set to expire Tuesday. Last week, 100 members of Congress signed letter directed toDonahoe asking him wait until Congress can act. "The USPS is a major employer around the country and employs over500,000 workers," the letter said. "With an unacceptably highunemployment rate, it would be particularly inopportune for theUSPS to close facilities." Some mail processing centers could still close or merge. Forexample, one proposal calls for the Springfield, Mo., center tohave its work merged into the Kansas City operation and the CapeGirardeau, Mo., processing center work moved to St. Louis. In Nebraska, the Norfolk and Grand Island centers may be mergedinto Omaha and Alliance work moved to North Platte. The Postal Service last week reported a quarterly loss of $3.2billion and said without legislative action, it will be forced todefault on more than $11 billion in health prepayments due to theTreasury this fall. The Postal Service is an independent agency of government and doesnot receive tax money for its operations but is subject tocongressional control over major aspects of its business. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as GSM Repeaters Manufacturer , China Portable Cell Phone Jammer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits GPS Jammer.
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