Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is demanding answers from USPS regarding its proposed plan to move mail processing operations from the Buffalo Processing and Distribution Center on William Street to Rochester. Gillibrand is concerned that this plan could slow down mail delivery in Western New York and lead to job losses in the local postal workforce. She is calling on USPS to provide more information on the impact of this potential move and to prioritize feedback from the public in its decision-making process.
“Western New Yorkers rely on timely mail delivery, and they deserve full transparency about any plans that might slow it down,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I am calling on USPS to immediately provide a full explanation of the impact of this plan and to carefully consider community feedback before moving forward.”
USPS is currently conducting a Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) and is evaluating “if efficiency could be increased by transferring some mail processing operations currently performed at the Buffalo P&DC to the Rochester P&DC.”
The full text of Senator Gillibrand’s letter to Postmaster General DeJoy is available here or below:
Dear Postmaster General DeJoy,
I write to express my strong concerns regarding indications that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is considering moving mail processing operations from the Buffalo Processing & Distribution Center on William Street to Rochester. I also continue to hear from leaders in the community regarding a lack of transparency from USPS thus far on how such a change would impact the postal workforce in Buffalo as well as the small businesses, veterans, and older members of the community who rely on the timely delivery of the mail.
As you are aware, USPS announced the Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) in November of last year, noting that a potential shift of mail processing operations from Buffalo to Rochester would be contingent on a facility review “[supporting] the business case for change to the facility’s processing operations”. However, western New Yorkers are rightly concerned that these potential changes will worsen their quality of service in the name of the Delivering for America plan, especially given the lack of information that they have received from USPS since the MPFR was announced in November.
I welcome USPS’ decision to host a public meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the initial results of the study, and hope that USPS leadership use the meeting to not only prioritize feedback from the community, but fully explain the impact that moving mail processing operations would have on Buffalo’s valued postal workforce and on mail delivery.
I look forward to your prompt response and the necessary improvements in USPS’ transparency with the people of Buffalo.