Postal Service Announces Management Reductions

THE United States Postal Service said Aug. 22 that it is eliminating 1,000 managerial and administrative positions at 39 facilities nationwide in a consolidation move. The agency said the cuts will have no effect on mail service.

The consolidation, which takes effect Sept. 23, is expected to save $30 million to $35 million a year, the Postal Service said.

Jobs will be eliminated through early retirements and other forms of attrition, postal officials said.

Employees affected by the mergers will be reassigned within commuting distance of their present jobs when possible, or they will be relocated, the Postal Service said.

``No processing centers will be shut down, and no one will lose employment,'' Deputy Postmaster Michael Coughlin said. ``The consolidation centralizes decisionmaking and saves money.''

The moves continue a reorganization that began in March 1986. Since then the Postal Service has established 75 field divisions and eliminated 42 district offices and cut the number of management sectional centers from 212 to 131.

After the newest round, there will be 73 field divisions and 94 sectional centers. Facilities that house the management centers and field divisions will continue their mail-handling operations, the service said.

Under the consolidation, the Brooklyn, N.Y., field division in New York will become part of the Queens division, and the St. Paul, Minn., division will become part of the Minneapolis division.