postalnews blog

More on the endangered postmark of Rockford, Illinois:

According to the Associated Press, Congressman Don Manzullo, who aims “to deter the U.S. Postal Service from a move that he says would endanger the postmark of the largest city in his Illinois district, threatened Monday to hold congressional hearings if he does not prevail.”

You have to read a couple of paragraphs further to get to this: “Critics also argue Rockford could lose more than 50 jobs at its processing and distribution center if the change were to occur, and Manzullo said the delivery of outgoing Rockford mail could run days beyond the usual schedule.”

Just a thought- maybe jobs and service are the real story? And here’s another- did anyone ask the Congressman why moving the processing 60 miles would delay mail “days beyond the usual schedule.”? Thousands of post offices across the country are 60 or more miles from the processing plants that service them. (Are the roads in the Congressman’s district so bad that it takes “days” to travel 60 miles?)

And it might also be helpful if a reporter asked what exactly would happen to the 50 employees whose jobs might be “lost”. Career postal employees don’t get laid off. If their jobs are moved more than 50 miles, they are eligible for relocation benefits. If there are other vacancies closer to home, they have the option of applying for them. Neither option is necessarily going to be a pleasant transition, but either is better than being laid off.