Jan. 21 rally to oppose proposed closure of Rockford mail processing center

Online Staff Report

A rally against the proposed closure of the Rockford mail processing center, 5225 Harrison Ave., will be from noon to 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, outside the facility. The public is invited to participate in the rally.

A September 2011 United States Postal Service (USPS) study supported moving the operations currently being undertaken at the Rockford facility to a Madison, Wis., facility. The move would cost the Rockford area nearly 200 jobs and cause delays of two to three days in mail delivery to homes and businesses in the eight northern Illinois counties served by the Rockford facility — Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Ogle and Lee.

With the deep decline in mail volume as a result of the current economic conditions and continuing electronic diversion, the Postal Service has an excess of employees and equipment in some mail processing operations. A nationwide consolidation study recommended the closure of 252 mail processing centers and nearly 4,000 post offices. Rockford’s processing center was among the facilities slated for closure, with the operations being moved to Madison.

The Postal Service announced in December that it would delay any final decisions regarding facility closures until May 15, 2012.

The Rockford mail processing center is consistently rated among the most efficient centers in the nation, and Rockford workers provide excellent overnight delivery service to their customers in ZIP codes starting with 610 and 611.

Hundreds attended a public meeting Jan. 5 at Rockford’s Best Western Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center to share their thoughts about the USPS’s recommended closure of the Rockford facility.

A 2006 consolidation study originally recommended the closure of the Rockford facility, but efforts by area elected officials helped keep the facility in operation.

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