SAGINAW COUNTY -- Nearly 200 mail carriers and concerned residents packed into a cramped room at Saginaw Valley State University to learn of possible changes to mail processing in Saginaw, along with changes in routes and jobs.
Regional officials from the United States Postal Service told the crowd of a proposal on the table to move mail currently processed in Saginaw down to a facility in Pontiac. The savings are expected to cost about $1 million a year, but carriers question the savings.
“You’re talking about taking the mail all the way from Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake way up north down to Pontiac and urban areas and back the same night. They are saying they can guarantee delivery (without delays) but I don’t see how that’s possible,” said Michigan Postal Workers Union official John Marcotte.
Marcotte also said workers are worried about job displacement with some that could go as far away as Iowa or Pennsylvania. Meanwhile Postal Service spokesman Jim Mruk said the service will try to keep local workers close to home, but may also transfer them to other jobs within the organization. The proposal still has to be voted on, and the process could take several months.
