HELENA, Mont. - The top US Postal Service official on Thursday took his case for rural post office closures straight to the people it will hurt most, telling Montanans that up to 3,600 small post offices around the country need to be shuttered as part of cost-cutting moves.
The agency needs to reorganize in part because of a 60 percent decline in the number of people paying bills through the mail and the cost of paying into employee retirement benefits, Donahoe told the gathering in Helena....
The report by the Government Accountability Office also noted that the proposal to close mail centers faced tough obstacles due to opposition from local communities to the job losses and cutbacks in service. Labor agreements also make layoffs and forced transfers difficult.
The report expressed support for parts of a House postal bill that would set up a new commission to make major decisions on postal cuts, including reducing mail delivery to five days a week.
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