Senators trying to keep mail-processing centers open

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and 49 other senators Thursday urged the prevention of the planned closing and consolidation of several United States Postal Service mail-processing facilities, one of those being in Youngstown.

The senators sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government asking them to prevent the closing and consolidations in fiscal year 2015 through a continuing resolution, which would give Congress time to pass postal-reform legislation to fund the mail-processing operations, according to a release issued by Brown’s office.

The 2015 federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

“Closing Youngstown’s mail-processing facility will deprive the community of hundreds of good-paying jobs, making it difficult for families to make ends meet,” Brown said in a statement. “Immediate action needs to be taken so workers can keep their jobs and continue providing reliable service for the city.”

The Youngstown mail-processing and distribution center on South Walnut Street employs 126 people, but a spokesman for USPS could not say how many would be affected by the change.

The postal service informed customers in late June about the consolidation of 82 facilities starting in January.

This will be complete by fall mailing season, said David Van Allen of the postal service’s corporate communications.

Van Allen said this is a “continuation of network rationalization activity approved by the postal service board of governors in 2011.”

USPS consolidated 141 mail-processing facilities in 2012 and 2013.

“This rationalization of our network was highly successful, resulted in negligible service impact, required no employee layoffs, and generates annual cost savings of approximately $865 million,” Van Allen said in a statement.

USPS expects the completion of network rationalization to generate an additional $750 million in annual savings.

Van Allen emphasized the Youngstown post office downtown will not close and retail services will continue to be provided there.