WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Senator Gary Peters (D- MI) spoke with WZMQ 19 News about the United States Postal Service (USPS) decision to switch the Iron Mountain processing facility to a local processing center.
The move was met with swift criticism from Peters, who called it “a bad decision that the Postal Service is making.”
“I am not pleased at all with the news about the processing center,” said Peters, who spoke at length with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Wednesday, pressuring him to pause the decision.
“I had a long conversation with him yesterday and asked him to pause this decision, that we should certainly have information as to what they believe will be the impact. And if the impact is a detriment to on time delivery, it shouldn’t go forward,” said Peters.
The decision, announced earlier this week, is part of an effort to consolidate and cut costs.
“The Postal Service is an independent entity. It’s not part of the federal government, they are governed by a board of governors. They have to at least break even and they have to figure out ways to make that happen,” said Peters. “But in my mind, you can’t do that by hurting the actual service delivery for people. The Postal Service has to maintain the standards that they have in place while looking to reduce costs,” Peters added.
If the decision holds, it means all outgoing mail, even within the U.P., would be sent to a regional processing and distribution center in Green Bay, WI.
“To have that processing center down in Wisconsin means the things that are being sent within the U.P., for example, has to go to Wisconsin first before they come back,” said Peters.
There are concerns over what the decision would mean for one-day mail delivery, which is critical for many residents in the U.P.
“Things like water testing that is done in the Upper Peninsula, we have to get those tested within a day. We have veterans who get medications and others who get medications via mail- that can’t be delayed,” said Peters.
Peters said he’s waiting to hear back from the Postmaster General after their recent conversation. He hopes there will at least be a pause on the decision while more information and input are gathered.
