The move, which reduced hours of operation at 13,000 rural post offices from an eight-hour day to between two and six hours a day, was made with the aim of saving about $500 million per year. The USPS announced in May it was cutting back on the number of operating hours instead of shuttering 3,700 rural post offices. Since 2006, the Postal Service has reduced annual costs by $15 billion, cut the career force by 28 percent and consolidated 200 mail-processing locations. Research by the post office and major news organizations indicated that 7 out of 10 Americans support switching to five-day service. USPS officials have pushed for eliminating mail and package delivery on Saturdays for the past few years, but recent data showing growth in package delivery, which is up by 14 percent since 2010, and projected additional growth in the coming decade made them revise their decision to continue package delivery only. To close its budget gap and reduce debt, it needs to generate $20 billion in cost reductions. The service reduction is the latest of Postal Service steps to cut costs as the independent agency of the U.S. "People will say this is a responsible decision. "America's mailing habits are changing and so are their shipping habits," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said. The USPS had a $15.9 billion loss in financial year 2012. While post offices that open on Saturdays will continue to do so, the initiative, which is expected to begin the week of August 5, will save an estimated $2 billion annually. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays, but will continue to deliver packages six days a week, the USPS announced at a news conference this morning. The day is also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day.Weekend mail delivery is about to come to an end. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act grants every federal employee a day off to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, discovered President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved African Americans in rebel states 2½ years earlier. "We have come far and we have far to go, but today is a day of celebration," said Harris, the nation's first Black vice president. The president signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Thursday in the East Room of the White House, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and key lawmakers in the swift passage of the bill. Learn: What to know about Juneteenth: Holiday marking Emancipation Proclamation takes on extra importance in 2020 For that reason, the Postal Service will be operating on June 18 and 19, 2021, on a normal schedule, serving our customers to the best of our ability." Closing down our operations without providing appropriate time would lead to operational disruptions and be a disservice to our customers and those who rely upon us. "We are part of the nation’s critical infrastructure and our customers are relying on us to deliver our essential services. Unfortunately, it is not possible to cease the operations of the Postal Service to accommodate an observance over the next 24-48 hours," the postal service said in a statement. Postal Service is fully supportive of the new Juneteenth National Independence Day Act and making June 19 a federal holiday. Mail delivery will go on as scheduled on Friday and Saturday even though Friday is a federal holiday under a new law signed Thursday by President Joe Biden.īiden gave federal workers a day off when he signed a bill on Thursday making Juneteenth, celebrating the end of slavery in Confederate states, into the country's newest holiday. WASHINGTON – Neither rain nor snow nor hail nor sleet – or even the new Juneteenth federal holiday – will stop the mail.
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