'We are concerned': Leaders express worry over central Illinois proposed mail changes

A group of local politicians, including both of Illinois' U.S. senators and one of Peoria's congressmen, sent a letter to the head of the United States Postal Service on Tuesday asking him to reconsider his plans to move mail processing from four central Illinois post offices.

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (5th District), Nikki Budzinski (13th District) and Eric Sorensen (17th District), all Democrats, sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy criticizing his plans to move mail processing from distribution centers in Peoria, Springfield, Champaign and Milan to facilities in Bedford Park, a suburb of Chicago; Des Moines; and St. Louis.

The letter says that the plans would have a negative impact on people who rely on the Postal Service for fast shipping of items such as medications. For instance, having a medication go through Des Moines instead of Milan would represent an extra 350 miles of round-trip travel.

"The initial findings in these reviews support a shift from P&DC operations to smaller local processing centers (LPCs)," the letter said. "We are concerned this may cause communities to lose both jobs and reliability of mail service."

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The proposed moves are part of USPS' "Delivering for America" plan, a 10-year plan to reform the agency's practices and keep it profitable. For Peoria, local mail would be sorted and processed in Bedford Park before returning to Peoria for delivery. The plan was met with criticism from local politicians and postal workers during a meeting at the Peoria Public Library on Feb. 24.

The politicians criticized the early rollout of the plan, saying that on-time mail delivery has dropped and has actually cost the Postal Service money instead of saving it.

"Each year, the ‘Delivering for America’ plan delivers less mail volume, worse delivery times, and additional costs for the postal service," the letter says.

The data used to sell the plan also came under fire from the group, with the politicians saying that DeJoy only looked at short-term models when one that reflected the full 10-year time frame would have been better.

"While we support efforts to modernize the postal service, including processing locations and practices, we remain concerned about the sustainability of these changes," the letter says. "The Government Accountability Office recently found that the postal service only reviewed the impacts of its changes in a 12- to 18-month timeframe instead of the full lifecycle of the initiatives under the ‘Delivering for America’ plan. Failing to account for the full impact of these changes risks further undermining the sustainability of the postal service."

Impact of downsizing and delivery times

The politicians wanted to hear answers from DeJoy and USPS on the impact of the downsizing, including the impact on USPS employees who may be facing the loss of their jobs if the plan is implemented.

"Please provide data that shows that downsizing the facilities in Champaign, Peoria, Milan, and Springfield will improve delivery times," the letter said. "How does USPS plan to evaluate the impacts of downsizing the facilities in Illinois? Does USPS have a plan to provide career postal employees with comparable jobs that will not require relocating or having significantly longer commutes? We look forward to your response."

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Sorensen, who represents a large portion of Peoria and Peoria County along with parts of Tazewell, Fulton and Knox counties in the 17th Congressional District, had written an earlier letter to DeJoy along with fellow U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of the 16th Congressional District urging him to protect the 120 employees who work at the Peoria facility. They said that the plan would have an negative impact on the economy in Peoria if the plan was implemented.

"While we are pleased to hear that USPS is planning to invest in new equipment and upgrades to the Peoria facility, any proposal that would jeopardize timely mail delivery, diminish customer service, or risk local jobs is unacceptable," Sorensen said. "Our constituents rely on the services provided by USPS, and our local postal service centers are important cornerstones of our community."

USPS changes in Peoria proposed

USPS says that Peoria's post office will remain in operation, with new state-of-the-art sorting equipment being installed at the facility, along with other improvements for customers such as smart lockers, fingerprinting services and rapid drop-off stations. The post office estimates that the cost of the improvements would be in the $8 million to $10 million range.

In addition, the postal service says that no employees would be laid off and that any reassignments resulting from the transition would be made in line with existing collective bargaining agreements.

In total, USPS says that they would save around $2 million through the plan. No timetable has been set for the implementation of the changes, as the plans for Peoria remain in a public comment phase.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Mail processing changes could increase delivery times in Peoria area