TERRE HAUTE —
The U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with plans to consolidate a number of mail processing facilities across the country, and plans to consolidate the Terre Haute operation into Indianapolis will begin in August, according to a spokeswoman for the Postal Service.
“The decision to move mail processing operations from Terre Haute to Indianapolis will begin this summer,” said Mary Dando, USPS Indiana spokeswoman
The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday announced plans to move ahead with a modified plan to consolidate its network of 461 mail processing locations in phases.
The first phase of activities will result in up to 140 consolidations through February.
In August, mail originating in Terre Haute will go to Indianapolis for processing, Dando said.
The consolidation is expected to stop Sept. 1 through the end of the year because of heavy mail volume and not resume until early next year, she said. Dando did not have further information about what happens at that time.
Based on Thursday’s announcement, unless circumstances change, it appears that the Terre Haute mail processing operation will close at some undetermined point in the future, she said.
She said that no one is expected to lose a job, although job duties may change. The postal service is working with unions on an employee retirement incentive program, although no final decisions have been made.
The postal service hopes to reduce the workforce through attrition “without resorting to layoffs,” she said. People may not end up with the same job, “but they will have the option of another job” or they can choose to retire.
“We have never had layoffs in the postal service, ever,” Dando said. “Postal executives are going to work very hard to make sure those who want to remain on will have jobs.”
The consolidations mostly involve transferring mail-processing operations from smaller to larger facilities.
Bloomington, Kokomo and Columbus processing facilities also will be affected and consolidated into Indianapolis, according to the postal service.
According to a USPS news release, about 5,000 employees will begin receiving notifications next week related to consolidating “and other efficiency-enhancing activities to be conducted this summer.”
Unless the circumstances of the postal service change in the interim, a second phase of 89 consolidations is scheduled to begin in February 2014.
When fully implemented in late 2014, the postal service expects its consolidations to generate approximately $2.1 billion in annual cost reductions and lead to total workforce reduction up to 28,000 employees.
“We revised our network consolidation timeline to provide a longer planning schedule for our customers, employees and other stakeholders,” stated Patrick R. Donahoe, postmaster general and chief executive officer of the postal service. “We simply do not have the mail volumes to justify the size and capacity of our current mail processing network. To return to long-term profitability and financial stability while keeping mail affordable, we must match our network to the anticipated workload.”
Megan Brennan, USPS chief operating officer, said the postal service “will be communicating with our customers and employees about these changes in great detail. We will work closely with our customers to ensure there are no surprises as we move forward.”
The list of 140 mail processing locations that could be consolidated by February is available at www.usps.com.
The postal service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
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