Some Mail Stores Didn’t Push the Envelope During Strike

Those mailbox and office-service outfits that seemingly dot every strip mall were sorely tested by the 15-day United Parcel Service strike.

To the extent that the stores relied on UPS before the strike--and UPS handles three of every four packages shipped in the United States--many failed the test. Competitors like Federal Express Corp. and RPS Inc. just weren’t looking for new clients during the walkout.

“We lost 40% of our revenue,” said Jere Whitney, owner of Mailstore & More in Huntington Beach, who said UPS had been so reliable and inexpensive that she almost never had used its rivals.

Like many Americans who love their UPS men and women in brown, Whitney was a big supporter of the Teamsters union drivers who walked out over issues that included pensions and part-time work.

“No amount of full-page newspaper propaganda or phony sentiments will convince anyone dependent on UPS that you have our best interests at heart when your actions prove otherwise,” she wrote to UPS Vice Chairman John W. Alden, who had sent her a form letter apologizing for her inconvenience.

On Wednesday, two days after a tentative settlement was reached, Whitney’s store was slightly busier than before the strike. “We’re back in business and back using UPS,” she said. “I was pretty angry at them. But when you get down to it, they’re the best.”