BUFFALO, N.Y. — In a large building at 1200 William Street in Buffalo we have shown you the massive mail processing operation for anything mailed in Western New York.
But now some of that operation could move 90 minutes down the Thruway to Rochester under a U.S. Postal System plan under consideration.
The U.S. Postal Service, in a news release but declining interviews, does emphasize that there will be no layoffs of several hundred current "career employees" and that any such move should help with greater efficiency.
But one local union leader says to consider the recent Thruway closings involving trucks in bad weather.
David Grosskopf Jr., who is the President of Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said, "You mean to now tell me that New York State's second-largest city is not going to get its mail delivery in the surrounding suburbs because, for example, the Thruway is shut down? To us that's just preposterous."
Grosskopf also says there were some jobs affected at the recent USPS consolidation move in the Utica area.
As for the William Street site, it could become a modernized "Local Processing Center." So what does that mean?
Well, again, no postal interview. But Grosskopf, who is watching closely, says it may involve taking some mail delivery work out of nearby local community post offices.
"We believe they'll use that building as an S & DC (sorting and distribution center) model to pull those delivery units out of the neighborhoods into the old plant," Grosskopf said.
Grosskopf said a consequence could be a hitch in local mail delivery.
"Those carriers have to travel to this centralized location, which would be William Street," Grosskopf said. "Get in their vehicles and drive back out into the suburbs, the neighborhoods to deliver mail. There's going to be another degradation of the service standard because those starting times will be later, and the home mail delivery will then be later. "
But as first class mail drops off with online options Grosskopf noted: "Again, we've shifted from mailing letters to delivering packages, and there's no doubt that something has to be done. However, we've got to take that slowly. We've got to make sure all the stakeholders are involved — the union , the public, and our elected officials — and make sure we get this right."
This somewhat controversial postal system "consolidation" has been going on elsewhere around the country with mixed results. The USPS news releases says it is part of an overall "$40 billion investment in the nation's aging postal network."
In 2011, USPS managers tried and failed to actually close the William Street facility with opposition from U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, who is now retiring.
Higgins and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer recently wrote letters to the USPS management requesting more information and clarification.
There will be an information meeting in Cheektowaga, but Grosskopf says it is taking place during the day when many people may not be available to attend.
The press release states "a public meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 3:00 PM at the Creekside Banquet Facility, 2669 Union Road, Cheektowaga NY 14227. USPS will share the initial results of the study and allow members of the community to provide additional oral feedback and perspectives on the Initial Findings of the Mail Processing Facility Review."
There is also a public survey link for public input set up by the USPS.