This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has paused proposed changes to the Wyoming mail system until next January, following pushback from workers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, as well as federal and state officials.
The national restructuring plan, called “Delivering for America,” would have moved postal distribution centers in Cheyenne and Casper to Denver and Billings, Montana, respectively. DeJoy said the changes are “reliable and cost-effective”. He added that the plan would improve working conditions, provide new equipment and that “the career workforce will not see layoffs.”
Members of Wyoming’s Washington, D.C. delegation were outspoken against the 10-year mail plan reviewing Wyoming’s logistical mail capabilities. Sen. Cynthia Lummis applauded the decision in a statement, saying, “Folks across the Cowboy State rely on timely mail delivery for their medicine, to pay their bills and to communicate with one another,”” and that such a move by the USPS would prevent that timely delivery.
Rep. Harriet Hageman also worked with Lummis and Barrasso to introduce the Postal Operations Stay Timely and Local Act, or the POSTAL Act. The bill that would prevent the USPS from enacting policy that would close the sole distribution center in a state or “negatively impact mail delivery.”
In a letter to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee,, Postmaster Dejoy tried to clarify the “confusion [that] continues to proliferate in some circles about the work we have underway to rescue the United State Postal Service,” adding that “the review process we are undertaking also includes substantial investment in the facilities we are studying.”
While the closure of Wyoming’s distribution centers have been put on pause, the national project as a whole counties to move forward, despite similar levels of backlash in other states. According to Dejoy, despite the pauses, “We have made our decisions and quantified our investments over the 59 sites.” That includes upgrades and installments to sites like Boise, Houston and Atlanta. A full list of facility projects currently underway can be found at the bottom of Dejoy’s letter.
