BUFFALO, N.Y. — There are new developments regarding concerns that the United States Postal Service may be seeking to move some mail processing work from Buffalo down the Thruway to Rochester.
On Friday there was a news conference and rally of union workers and local politicians. We also found additional information on an investigation of similar mail delivery concerns elsewhere.
U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins told an assembled crowd, "We will continue to fight this based on the facts. They don't have a basis from which to justify what they are proposing to do,"
Feisty words from the soon retiring but still-in-office Congressman Higgins, with ongoing concerns about a postal service review of operations at the William Street mail processing center in Buffalo, which employs several hundred people.
It is now part of an overall $40 billion national consolidation of regional mail systems, with talk of moving some of that Buffalo work to a facility in Rochester.
So far the postal service has declined interview requests, only sending out press releases claiming greater efficiency.
They have also decided to postpone a scheduled public information meeting which had been set for next week. Their late Friday evening press release stated, "On January 16, 2024, the Postal Service announced a public meeting will occur on January 31, 2024 to allow members of the public to discuss the review, and that Initial Findings of the review would be posted one week prior to the meeting.
"USPS is now postponing the posting of our Initial Findings as further time is needed to finalize any specific improvements we may undertake at the Buffalo P&DC. This will result in the rescheduling of the Public Input Meeting within the next several weeks. Once the Public Input Meeting has been rescheduled, a subsequent announcement will be made."
Union leaders and politicians have raised questions about potential delays in mail delivery. They say based on reports from other areas, perhaps an automated mail sorting device called an advanced facer canceller would be removed from the current Buffalo plant.
American Postal Workers Union Local 324 President Frank Resetarits said, "They took out a piece of equipment that if we lose here in Buffalo, it's going to result in a delay in mail."
A similar plan to reduce operations at the William Street site in 2011 and 2012 was stopped by Higgins and other local leaders, who said they directly approached top postal service leaders in D.C. back then.
Higgins says the 2022 Postal Reform Act Congress actually helped the postal service save $50 billion with retirees shifted to Medicare and additional billions in federal COVID relief funding. He went on to say that "efficiency, make no mistake, they want to close this (Buffalo plant). This nonsense about keeping part of the facility open or certain functions in there. This is the first step toward an elimination of that facility and the great tradition has here in Buffalo and Western New York."
Ironically in Minneapolis, the Postal Service is also facing mounting Congressional and public criticism for delivery delays with Office of Inspector General investigations ordered and audits showing various deficiencies in the mail delivery system.