Ackerman Calls for USPS To Not Shutter Queens Facility
Congressman said closure of processing and distributing center would cut more than 700 jobs.
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-Bayside, is calling on the United States Postal Service to not shutter its College Point processing and distributing center in the wake of a recent town hall during which northeast Queens voiced their anger over the proposal.
The postal service has proposed moving some of its operations to its USPS processing center in Brooklyn. The move would cut 702 jobs in Queens, Ackerman said.
“While I understand the USPS must make difficult decisions to confront its current fiscal condition, I urge you to reconsider a decision that would negatively impact the entire Queens community,” the congressman wrote in a letter to Frank Calabrese, of USPS’s Triboro District.
A public meeting was held at Bayside High School on Dec. 2 to address the proposed closure of the College Point processing and distributing center that is located on 20th Avenue.
Under the proposal, first-class overnight local delivery service would be replaced with a two or three-day delivery policy.
At last week’s meeting, Calabrese said that USPS’s system has dropped from 98 billion pieces of mail to 78 billion pieces during the past five years.
Arthur J caputo
5:08 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Rep Ackerman has been a champion for the employees of the postal service since he was elected for the first time many years ago. The fiscal problem with the postal service is not the decrease in the volume of mail ,although this has had an impact. The current fical problem was caused by the republicans who added an amendment to the budget a few years ago when Bush was president.They changed the way the postal service contributed to the health and pension fund from a 75 year period to an impossible , almost immediate funding which is causing the postal service to make cuts in order to meet the new law.Why did the republicans do this? To cause the financial problem the postal service is now in. Again,why? To PRIVITIZE the mails.To skim off the profits from 1st class and to hell with the rest.They are causing the destabilization of the postal service.Just imagine if Bush succeeded in PRIVITIZING Social Security after the greed of Wall St almost ruined the country. But the final resonsibility rest with the ignorant electorate who allowed this to happen, believing the BS and voting against their own interest. Wake up, there may not be any money for bailouts next time the republicans gain power.Then what?