WASHINGTON - September 15, 2011 - The U.S. Postal Service unveiled Thursday a drastic downsizing scheme for the embattled public company, including cutting 35,000 jobs, as it seeks to avoid collapse amid a "new reality" in the economy.

"Faced with a massive nationwide infrastructure that is no longer financially sustainable," the USPS said it was proposing sweeping changes aimed at saving the organization up to $3 billion a year.

Among the proposals being studied were cutting more than half of its processing facilities, limiting service, and eliminating as many as 35,000 jobs, the company said in a statement.