Postal workers ask Illinois attorney general to intervene in plan for Mattis Avenue facility

May 10—CHAMPAIGN — Local postal workers are calling on the Illinois attorney general to help them stop changes to the Mattis Avenue post office.

Postal worker Barbara Bridges has filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General's Office against the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for "harming Postal Workers and delaying the mail."

"We are asking the AG's office to file for an injunction to stop the consolidation of our processing and distribution center on Mattis Avenue because of the impacts it will have on our workers and customers," Bridges said.

When asked if Attorney General Kwame Raoul has the authority to intervene, his press secretary, Jamey Dunn-Thomason replied, "Our office will review the complaint."

The Postal Service announced in late April that it had decided to move forward with changes to the Mattis Avenue facility.

The decision — which is expected to result in a loss of about 100 local jobs — includes transferring outgoing-mail processing to facilities in the Chicago suburbs of Bedford Park and Forest Park.

"The Champaign facility is not closing and will remain open and be modernized as a local processing center," officials said.

A copy of the final plan can be found at .

In the complaint, Bridges said she and her co-workers at the Mattis facility are asking Raoul's office to use "whatever lawful means necessary to stop this consolidation and to protect the postal distribution network."

In addition to a letter outlining the complaint, Bridges also sent a compilation of about 25 testimonies from unnamed individuals, most of whom identified themselves as postal workers.

Some of their concerns included the possibility of having to relocate or find other jobs, a lack of transparency about the changes, delivery times for items such as medicine or mail-in ballots, and poor working conditions.