WASHINGTON (WAND) — The U.S. Postal Service will be pausing consolidation of mail processing facilities until at least next year. The announcement comes after months of concern from lawmakers and protests from workers.
"We've sent letters, we've had all senators, representatives send letters to Postmaster General DeJoy, asking them to reconsider what they're doing," said Mike Disco, Chief of Staff for Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher. "What they're wanting to do is take everything to St. Louis."
Lincoln Land Area Local 239 Union President Johnny Bishop says outreach by local leaders helped lead to the change. He does worry that the change is only temporary.
"My assumption is that he's just putting on pause, because he's got a lot of heat right now," said Bishop. "He's thinking that will calm down, and he'll just continue next year. So this is the time when the lawmakers and everybody needs to get together with the USPS, and the APWU need to get together and figure something out."
USPS previously announced that the Processing and Distribution Centers in Champaign and Springfield would be "modernized" in an effort to streamline mail processing and cut costs across agency operations. This would have meant that outgoing mail would have been processed in Chicago and St. Louis respectively.
Lawmakers and postal workers expressed concerns about delays caused by shipping mail out of state as well as the loss of local jobs.
Related Links
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- USPS to 'modernize' Springfield Processing and Distribution Center
- 'USPS did not listen to our community,' says Sen. Turner
- Union speaks out regarding changes to USPS in Springfield
A letter sent by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich) said the previous consolidation plans would be put on hold until Jan. 1 of next year "at a moderated pace of implementation."
Sen. Peters has been one of many lawmakers across the nation to express displeasure at the far-reaching changes announced by the agency. Locally, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Rep. Mary Miller, State Sen. Doris Turner, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza have all expressed concerns.
DeJoy's letter was a response to a letter sent by 26 senators calling on him to pause changes the "processing and delivery network under the “Delivering for America” plan."
WAND is working to learn how this pause will affect workers and operations in the local processing and distribution centers.
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