MERIDEN - Tom Aresco's six-month mail dilemma is over, and business correspondence is flowing once more to his shop's front door.

Following an Aug. 2 route change, a number of city businesses started complaining that their once-punctual mail deliveries were arriving well after closing time most days, or not at all for days at a time.

But a new compromise plan worked out between the Meriden post office and the National Association of Letter Carriers, Connecticut Merged Branch 20, corrected the problem, said Aresco, owner of Speed Print at 1232 E. Main St.

Since the new route plan took effect Jan. 17, "they're back to normal," he said. "You know (the carrier) is going to be there during the day, and nine times out of 10 it's before the bank closes."

The original change stemmed from an effort by the U.S. Postal Service to save money at a time when the volume of mail, and postage purchased, is shrinking.

The number of routes in the city dropped from 56 to 48, and the post office intended to eliminate 11 carrier positions, transferring those workers to other cities and towns.

Post office representatives promised the delivery delays would be temporary, but they did not improve significantly as the months went by.

The postal union argued that some, but not all, of the routes needed to be reinstated, and complained that the carriers were often on the road past 8 p.m.

The compromise plan enacted this month was crafted by the post office and the union.

"The team process with managers working alongside designated representatives of the union worked very well, said Maureen Marion, a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman.

With the number of routes back to 51, all of the work postal officials put into the earlier adjustments was lost, Marion said, but that's OK because, "for a lot of reasons, that implementation wasn't working."

Cooperating with the union worked well, and Marion said the changes made were likely to stay in place unless mail volume shifts considerably in the future. She expects no personnel to be transferred, but some positions will be eliminated by attrition.

"This keeps customers satisfied," she said, "But if there can be a silver lining to a bad business environment, I think it's that we found the right way to make changes."

Union President Paul Daniels said he's satisfied as well.

"It's a big success for the city," he said. "I hope the businesses are happy because we worked hard to make sure they got priority."

As part of the agreement, Daniels got a guarantee that post office management won't attempt to alter the new routes without union input, and he expects they should largely remain the same for at least six months to a year.

"Things should be good for everyone," he said.

Lisa Logodicio, branch manager of Wachovia Bank at 43 E. Main St, is just happy the new system is getting her bank's large volume of financial correspondences to the door before noon every day.

After the earlier route changes, the bank sometimes went days without a delivery.

"This is good," Logodicio said. "It's very good."

aperlot@record-journal.com

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