On March 17, 2006 APWU filed an objection  (errata filed on March 20th) to the Postal Service’s  request for an expedited schedule for PRC’s “review of the Evolutionary Network Development (END) plan for consolidation of postal facilities”. 

According to the American Postal Workers Union:

The Postal Rate Commission (PRC) has rejected a USPS motion for expedited Rate Commission review of the Evolutionary Network Development (END) plan for consolidation of postal facilities. The ruling is a victory for the APWU, which opposed the fast-track timetable, and for citizens whose postal services will be negatively affected by changes to the USPS network.

The expedited schedule proposed by the USPS would have prevented a meaningful examination of the effect of END on service, the APWU contended. Adherence to the Postal Service calendar also would have forced the commission to issue an advisory opinion on the consolidation plan based on an incomplete record. The Postal Service is required by law to seek an advisory opinion from the commission when it proposes to make changes in service that are national in scope.

Commissioner Dawn Tisdale denied the USPS request on March 24, during a pre-hearing conference on the proposed schedule, noting that the USPS itself had failed to adhere to the timelines proposed in the expedited schedule. He also indicated he would order the parties to submit briefs addressing the proper scope of the commission’s authority regarding the consolidation plan.

The Postal Service’s proposal would have required all information about the consolidation plan to be submitted to the commission by April 21, 2006, and would have required the commission to issue its advisory opinion on the plan no later than May 5.”

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