"Tucson mail-sorting center set to close in April" (Congress: 2014, employment)

[breakingbad]

Tucson mail-sorting center set to close in April
How could this happen to a city with a million people living there? Typical Tucson.

[Ztonyg]

There are a number of things that Tucson lacks that typical cities of similar size have (a few examples below):

- An airport with a large selection of flights in proportion to the population. A good percentage of passengers going to/from Tucson make the drive to PHX.

- A major and/or minor league sports team.

- An outlet mall.

- A crosstown freeway.

- A diversified economy.

[tumamoc]

Originally Posted by breakingbad

Typical Tucson.

As if Tucsonans had a choice in the matter?

[Jimrob1]

I haven't been in Tucson very long, and I don't depend on a full time career type job to pay the bills. If I did I would not even consider living here. I do however wonder about a city this size, and its lack of many major employers. I realize there is the UofA and DM, Raytheon and Honeywell. Those employers are not enough obviously, and losing the mail center and 259 jobs is very serious, considering the lack of employment in this region. I don't get the impression the city leaders and politicians take this problem seriously. Quite frankly I'm not sure what they take seriously. Did this state/region really put that much effort, into attracting Tesla to this region? Tesla has decided on the Reno area.

I honestly do not know what the 20 and 30's something's, do for work in this area much beyond service type jobs. When I go to the LA Fitness gyms in the Tucson area at 10 am. I am amazed at how crowded these gyms are with that age group. In comparison to gyms I have been to, in other cities at that time of day. I don't think for a moment they are all students with some time off between classes. I also don't think they are working 3rd shift somewhere, and going to the gym after their job. Something else is going on. I just don't see how they support themselves, and pay for housing, these smart phones and the car in the parking lot. This town seems to be in dire need of some meaningful employers, with a number of jobs to offer. I just wonder do those in authority here in Tucson care at all.

[RickTucsonHomes]

Originally Posted by breakingbad

Tucson mail-sorting center set to close in April
How could this happen to a city with a million people living there? Typical Tucson.

How could anyone with any knowledge of the situation blame this on Tucson? I am no cheerleader of the incompetent boobs that run the city of Tucson, but this has absolutly nothing to do with them. The postal service is one of our many bloated federal agencies. They have lost over 28 BILLION dollars since fiscal 2011. The Tucson facility is one of roughly 240 that have been or will be closed as they restructure. What was Tucson supposed to do to save an outdated business model/inefficient bloated federal agency?

[Bummer]

What's with this BLAME GAME concerning the lack of New Employers or Increased Employment in Tucson?

For the first 7 of the 15 years after relocating to Tucson I worked in a Call Center . . . definitely an EYE OPENER to put it mildly. The Work Ethics (or maybe the correct term is Work NO-Ethics) were in the toilet for many, possibly most, employees.

Attendance was so bad in spite of an above average pay scale and excellent benefits, the company began offering a hefty Quarterly Bonus just for an "acceptable" attendance record which never seemed to be enough.

No wonder most businesses look elsewhere . . . maybe the employees need to Own The Problem and get off the Welfare Wagon.

[beTucsonan]

The mail sorting center closing is just a sign of the times, not really a knock against Tucson. It definitely stinks in terms of job loss and whatnot, but anybody who works for the USPS has to know that their jobs are in danger as very few people use the mail service any longer except for junk mail. Important business documents and packages are almost always FedEx or UPS, there is almost nothing in the way of sending personal letters any longer, etc.. All over the country staffing is down and they haven't even got close to paring down enough to meet the severely diminishing demand.

[borregokid]

Originally Posted by BajaAZ

The mail sorting center closing is just a sign of the times, not really a knock against Tucson. It definitely stinks in terms of job loss and whatnot, but anybody who works for the USPS has to know that their jobs are in danger as very few people use the mail service any longer except for junk mail. Important business documents and packages are almost always FedEx or UPS, there is almost nothing in the way of sending personal letters any longer, etc.. All over the country staffing is down and they haven't even got close to paring down enough to meet the severely diminishing demand.

They need to close more of the rural post offices. I live within 6 miles of 4 rural post offices. Each zip code has its own post office. The post office has actually partnered with Fedex and UPS for a lot of "end" deliveries plus they have partnered with Amazon now for Sunday delivery. I am in a small town right now and was surprised to have a package delivered on a Sunday morning by the Post Office.

[Bummer]

Good point, Borregokid . . .

Closing "duplicate and/or overlapping" facilities makes sense, however, closing the only Southern Arizona Sorting Facility for miles will probably lower efficiency and increase costs overall.

Thanks to the computer and the internet . . . the necessity for a neighborhood Post Office Branch may be declining along with the local Bank Branch.

[Jun2018]

Here are the facts. The Postal Service’s financial report for fiscal 2014’s third-quarter showed earnings increasing in each mail category: packages up 6.6 percent, standard mail up 5.2 percent and first-class mail up 3.2 percent. Overall, revenue rose by $424 million. Why the positive trend? As the economy gradually improves, letter revenue has followed suit. Meanwhile, rising online shopping has boosted package deliveries, making the Internet a net positive (and belying your claim that digital communications are hurting the Postal Service). USPS, which gets no taxpayer money, has a $1 billion operating profit so far this year and has been operationally profitable since October 2012 – earning more revenue selling stamps than it spends delivering the mail. Why, then, the red ink? Simply put: congressional interference. In 2006, Congress mandated that the Postal Service prefund future retiree health benefits. No other public or private entity is required to prefund for even one year; USPS must pre-fund the next 75 years ahead and pay for it all over 10 years. That’s the red ink. Rather than break what works, Congress should fix what it broke by addressing the prefunding fiasco....