IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WZMQ) – Members of local labor unions, postal employees, and concerned citizens congregated outside the USPS public input meeting at Pine Mountain Ski Resort, determined to express their apprehensions regarding the postal changes.
While the Union President and Kingsford postal employees picketed ahead of the public input meeting, the retired Kingsford Postmaster, who served to build the Kingsford mail processing facility, voiced his reservations about the U.S. Postal Service’s plans. He shared his distrust in the agency when it comes to the security of local postal workers’ jobs.
“There’s always a concern. When they want to do that, they don’t always give you the total facts, and then they’ll say ‘well there’s not enough work here’… I didn’t want to see the mail leave here for numerous reasons. I’m a veteran from Vietnam, and we have a lot of veterans in the area at the VA. They get a lot of medications. They rely on mail, because we have vets sometimes, and when we came back, we were not welcomed back by our own people, and some of them are homeless. You know that, and just doing what they’re doing – to me doesn’t make any sense. If you send the mail to Green Bay, it used to be overnight. For some reason, they changed the concept. They might tell us here today that they’re going to be working within the service standards. There’s not going to be any delay in your mail for the service standards. They don’t tell you that they change it to 2 and 3 days. It should be overnight,” expressed Ron Wilinski.
Michelle Yuhasey, APWU 498-499 #1189 President, rallied the crowd: “We need to have standing room only to stop this.”
Brian Lantto of Bricklayers Local 2, U.P. Regional Labor Federation, voiced concerns over the impacts to the economy, and emphasized the significance of the postal service: “We hope that the post office will understand that it’s important.”
Congressman Jack Bergman echoed the call for transparency, stating, “So I’m hoping that the crowd that will come tonight will ask good solid questions, and we will get information from the postal service about what their plan is.”
The meeting was indeed standing room only. The room, with a capacity of 250 was filled and commenters were lined into the neighboring banquet room.
During public comment, concerns were voiced about the impact on water testing across the Upper Peninsula. Dr. Bette Premo, a water quality scientist for Whitewater Associates, outlined the potential consequences: “So here’s why this is a problem for anybody that drinks water in the Upper Peninsula…” she began, explaining how the water testing company in Amasa, Whitewater Associates, works with the local health departments to ensure drinking water across the U.P. is safe. She went on to explain to the public that this needs to be done regularly, and requires a timely and predictable turnaround. In the meantime, her office has even gone so far as to hand-deliver packages to prevent unsafe delays.
Multiple lawmakers made statements to the USPS representatives, including Senator Ed McBroom, who raised further concerns about the lack of transparency from the U.S. Postal Service, reflecting the sentiments of many attendees. Senator Gary Peters’ office also made a statement.
County commissioners joined the chorus of voices, expressing concerns over confusing language and the impact on local facilities. One commissioner highlighted the importance of local processing options like Trico Opportunities, which serves to provide jobs to locals with disabilities, advocating for their role in recycling junk mail. Commissioner Kramer pointed out that the recycling of junk mail was already moved to Green Bay, but would have been much less expensive if it was to remain at Trico. She also pointed out that the county medical examiner requires timely turnarounds for medical testing.
In addition to contacting lawmakers, the local Postal Union President is calling for community members to complete the survey and share their comments and concerns with the United States Postal Service. Community members still have 15 days to be heard. She also says that even if someone submitted a survey prior to the meeting change, they should do so again since they opened a new one when the change was made.
Community members can complete the survey by clicking:
