By: Stephen A. Albanese, NBA
New England Region

New postal rates went into effect on January 7, 2001 and once again the Postal Service did a poor job of preparing the window personnel and an even worse job in educating the public.  The sad fact is almost every customer who entered a Post Office lobby on January 7, 2001 believed the only change taking place was that a first class stamp went from 33¢ to 34¢.  They had no idea of the magnitude of the postal rate impacts to domestic and international mail.

The job of educating and dealing with a public caught completely off guard was dumped on to the shoulders of window clerks. In many offices information about the new rate schedules came to the window clerks piece meal through Postal Bulletins and flashes.  Many of these came just before the effective date of the changes and in the case of international mail the Amended International Mail Manual came out after the
effective date of the changes.

The following is only a brief listing of changes that went into effect:

• Priority Mail changed from $3.20 up to 2 lbs. To $3.50 up to 1 lb.
  
• Priority envelopes marked flat rate are $3.95 regardless of weight. 
  These flat rate envelopes are causing major disputes with customers, particularly when the piece weighs less than a pound.
  
• International rates have doubled and customers were totally unprepared for that.  POS One clerks get accurate rates from their screen but were uneducated on how the rates worked.  IRT clerks had major problems because the international rate manuals were not issued and not enough copies came out.
• Certified mail rate changed.
  
• Delivery confirmation rates changed.
  
• Even the names of the classes of mail changed and customers were confused by this.
  
• There was little or no signage in the lobbies explaining the changes. There was little or no media coverage explaining things to the public.  Even large mailers were caught by surprise.
  
• Window clerks were left with the obligation of educating themselves,educating the public, and dealing with the public's anger and frustration. The anger was not so much caused by the rate increase, it was caused by lack of notice.  Many customers came into the lobbies with pieces ready for mailing and had to leave with their mail because they were not prepared for the changes.  Even supervisors hid from the public and left the window clerks to face an angry public. 
  
• To add insult to injury an occasional "mystery shopper" visit was a real
  morale booster for these window clerks under attack. Once again craft employees have to save the industry from the people who run it.