WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) has joined his colleagues in calling on the United States Postal (USPS) service to protect mail delivery jobs. In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the Senators urge him to stop any changes to the USPS service standards that would result in job losses and further degrade mail delivery performance, especially in rural states like Maine. The letter comes soon after Maine’s postal workers and elected officials voiced their opposition of the USPS’ plans to move some of the Hampden facility’s processing operations to a facility in Scarborough, nearly 130 miles away — raising the possibility of needless delays in delivery.

“Americans all over the country — particularly in rural states — depend on reliable and expedient mail service to conduct business, pay their bills, receive medication including lifesaving prescription drugs, get their Social Security checks, and stay in touch with loved ones,” wrote the Senators. For rural communities, the loss of local jobs and even slower mail service represent further setbacks to the revitalization of rural life.”

“For rural communities across the impacted states, the loss of local jobs — at the Postal Service and nearby businesses that serve postal workers — and even slower mail service represent further setbacks to the revitalization of rural life,” continued the Senators. While the Postal Service continues to work toward financial stability, it cannot come at the expense of the many small businesses, seniors, and other Americans who rely on the Postal Service for their daily life.”

“The Postal Service is at its best when it treats its workers right and delivers mail in a timely fashion,” concluded the Senators. “We therefore urge you to prevent facility changes or outright closures that will result in any job losses and slower mail.”

The letter was signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), alongside Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Col.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard “Dick” Durbin (D-Ill.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacklyn Rosen (D-Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Senator King has been a vocal supporter of the USPS’s critical role in American society and in Maine, one of the nation’s oldest and most rural states that relies heavily on the services provided by the USPS to receive prescriptions and other necessities. Most recently, he joined the Maine Congressional Delegation in writing a letter to Postmaster General DeJoy to address delayed mail across five delivery units in Southern Maine.

In August 2020, King sent a letter to Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), then-Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, highlighting concerns brought to him by Maine constituents about the new USPS policies. That same month, Senator King joined a group of Senate colleagues in demanding answers from Postmaster General DeJoy on the disruptive and harmful changes he ordered that have caused serious delays for postal customers across the country. Senator King has also cosponsored a resolution emphasizing the importance of the USPS, advocated for the inclusion of additional funding in the December 2020 spending bill, and successfully pushed the Trump Administration to release a CARES Act-authorized $10 billion loan to the USPS.

The full letter can be found here or below.

+++

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy:

We write regarding Mail Processing Facility Reviews and service standards at the United States Postal Service, and to urge you to stop any changes that will result in job losses and further degrade mail delivery performance across the network, especially in rural states.

As part of your Delivering For America plan, the Postal Service is conducting “Mail Processing Facility Reviews” to study the network and consider changes at mail processing facilities. The Postal Service’s website currently lists 59 locations where a review is intended, in process, or recently completed in the following states: AR, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WV, and WY. The Postal Service claims that reviews will not result in closures or career employee layoffs, and that facilities losing outgoing mail processing will very likely be modernized and converted to “a Local Processing Center, a Sorting & Delivery Center, or both, consistent with the broader network redesign outlined in the DFA plan.” The Postal Service also claims that these reviews will not result in slower mail delivery.

While the Postal Service states there will be no career layoffs or slowed service, we are concerned these facility reviews will functionally result in both. In many instances, outgoing mail processing will move hundreds of miles to a regional facility, outside reasonable commuting distance and, in some cases, to another state entirely. For example:

• In Wyoming, mail processing at the Casper facility will likely transfer to a facility in Billings, Montana, and mail processing at the Cheyenne facility will likely transfer to a facility in Denver, Colorado. These represent distances of around 280 miles and 100 miles, respectively.
• In Vermont, mail processing at the Burlington and White River Junction facilities will likely transfer to a facility in Hartford, Connecticut, distances of around 230 and 145 miles, respectively.
• In Oregon, mail processing at the Eugene and Medford facilities is transferring to a facility in Portland, distances of around 110 and 270 miles, respectively. These changes are already causing mail delays in Medford.
• In Nevada, mail processing at the Reno facility will likely transfer to a facility in Sacramento, California, a distance of over 130 miles.
• In Colorado, mail processing at the Grand Junction facility will likely transfer to a facility in Denver, a distance of nearly 200 miles. Frequent closures on the highway between Denver and Western Slope-communities have led to significant concerns about the timely delivery of prescription medication, local mail, and Colorado’s mail-in ballots.
• In New Hampshire, mail processing at the Manchester facility will likely transfer to a facility in Boston, Massachusetts, which is estimated to add significant delays to NH mail distribution and threatens as many as a third of the postal worker jobs at the Manchester facility.
• In Illinois, mail processing at the Quad Cities facility in Milan will likely transfer to a facility in Des Moines, Iowa, a distance of around 170 miles.

Wyoming, Vermont, and New Hampshire are set to lose all outgoing mail processing from within the state, forcing many career employees into different positions at locations in another community. Moreover, there are no guarantees about preventing non-career layoffs at facilities under review, coming at a time when the Postal Service is struggling with both turnover and ensuring consistent service across the network.

Furthermore, for communities near facilities under review, it is unclear how local First-Class mail will meet its 2-day standard while traveling hundreds of miles for sorting. This is especially concerning for Americans who need reliable and expedient mail service to conduct business, pay their bills, receive medications, and stay in touch with loved ones. It is also highly troubling for many of the Postal Service’s most loyal customers, such as home delivery medication companies and newspaper publishers. The Postal Service competes with private services for market share, including virtual options, and risks even further volume declines if the mail continues to slow. Long gone are the days where Americans could expect next-day delivery of their local mail; we cannot take yet another step back.

For rural communities across the impacted states, the loss of local jobs — at the Postal Service and nearby businesses that serve postal workers — and even slower mail service represent further setbacks to the revitalization of rural life. While the Postal Service continues to work toward financial stability, it cannot come at the expense of the many small businesses, seniors, and other Americans who rely on the Postal Service for their daily life.

The Postal Service is at its best when it treats its workers right and delivers mail in a timely fashion. We therefore urge you to prevent facility changes or outright closures that will result in any job losses and slower mail.

Sincerely,

###