Senate Vote Might Save Mail Processing Center In Duluth

This is most certainly good news for Duluth and the employees who work at the local processing center.  Sen. Al Franken sees the craziness in having mail sent from one local address to another having to be processed in St. Paul.  Let's hope our local processing center is never targeted again to be closed.

The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would slow and in some cases halt the U.S. Postal Service’s effort to close post offices and other facilities, including the mail processing center in Duluth.

By a 62-37 vote, it sent a strong bipartisan message that, though the system is ailing financially, it’s not good politics, especially in an election year, to take a scythe to popular parts of the Postal Service. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said Wednesday that the bill would directly affect Duluth.

“I’m relieved to announce that the Duluth processing center will likely remain open,” a Franken statement read. It would save the 100 jobs there and ease fears about increased mailing costs for businesses.

Franken said it didn’t make sense that mail sent in Duluth to another part of the city should have to be sent to St. Paul for processing.

“Processing centers are key to ensuring timely delivery of everything from newspapers to prescriptions,” Franken said.

Todd Fawcett, president of the local unit of the American Postal Workers Union, said the news in Washington is easing tensions at the Duluth center.

“They’re a little more relaxed,” he said of the workers there.

via Senate vote might save mail processing center in Duluth | Duluth News Tribune | Duluth, Minnesota.