Crowd wants postal jobs to stay put

GARY | A sizable crowd turned out Monday night to hear U.S. Postal Service officials' plans for the Gary mail processing center, and they weren't pleased with what they heard.

A proposal is on the table to transfer mail processing from Gary to south suburban Bedford Park. First-class mail volume has dropped precipitously, and 252 processing centers around the country are under the microscope, said Lynn Smith, U.S Postal Service Greater Indiana District manager.

No decisions have been made, and Monday's meeting was to provide information and gather public comment.

"We do not want to lay off employees," said Bernice Grant, Greater Indiana District senior plant manager.

In the past, the Postal Service always has trimmed payrolls via attrition, chiefly by not replacing retirees. There are no current plans to lay off employees, but it remains an option.

Nationwide, the consolidation of mail processing will lead to 35,000 fewer positions. The Gary-Bedford Park consolidation would eliminate 156 positions and save $13 million annually.

Officials turned out in force to tell Postal Service officials they were making a mistake.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, said a study of the proposed consolidation wasn't on the mark, especially when it came to transportation considerations. He said Gary has "an established and robust" transportation system, being at the hub of four interstates.

Moreover, postal jobs should be kept in Indiana, he said.

"I'm sick and tired of people in Northwest Indiana (having to go) somewhere else to work," he said. If the post office wants to consolidate, it should look at Northwest Indiana rather than south suburban Chicago, he said.

Lake County Clerk Michael Brown spoke of how much his office "depends on mail service." Moreover, Lake is the second largest county in the state, he said, and closing its facility while leaving others open doesn't make sense to him.

Gary Councilwoman Carolyn Rogers, D-4th, said her constituents "should be able to keep their jobs and keep doing effectively what they've been doing."