Postal workers, manager speak out on possible closing of center

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Mayor Tom Weisner addresses post office officials during the comment portion of a meeting regarding the potential closure of the Fox Valley Processing and Distribution Center on Aurora's far east side on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, at the Copley Theater. | Jeff Cagle~For Sun-Times Media

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Updated: February 24, 2012 8:01AM

AURORA — Fox Valley postal workers will know as soon as late February whether the area’s local processing center on Commons Drive will permanently close.

If this is the case, workers are worried they might be laid off, making it the first time a U.S. Postal Service employee has been let go because of consolidation, although they don’t expect that to happen said Central Illinois USPS District Manager Peter Alan.

“The fact that positions are affected does not mean there are layoffs” occurring, the USPS said in a statement.

For USPS worker Douglas Griswold, this could become a dark reality. So, on Thursday night, Griswold and other postal workers came to Aurora’s Copley Theatre to hear about the potential closure and voice their opinions about the proposed changes.

“If I lose my job, I’ll lose my house,” said Griswold, who has worked for the Postal Service for nearly three decades. “And if I get relocated, well, who can afford to move at this time?”

Because the number of people using mail services has plummeted with the economy — and with the rise of technology — the USPS is searching for options to accommodate the change. One of those ways would be to consolidate, and to close more than half of its processing centers.

The Fox Valley Center is one of 487 such facilities nationwide. By the end of 2013, fewer than 200 of those facilities are expected to remain. The number is already down from 673, which was the number of facilities around in 2006.

Still, Allen remains optimistic.

“We’re going to be around for a long time,” he said, before addressing questions from the concerned audience. “I’m not holding any knowledge back (from you). I’m going to give you a straight answer to everything.”

Griswold and others agree that there is a place for the Postal Service, they just disagree about which road leads there.

Rob Sherman, of Buffalo Grove, made the drive to Aurora on Thursday to sound off on the Postal Service optimization plan.

“Optimization meaning closure,” Allen said earlier in the evening.

Sherman thinks this doesn’t need to occur. Eliminating individual roadside mailboxes and replacing them with cluster boxes seen in many apartment complexes would save on mail carrier costs, he suggested.

“The letter carriers walk through the neighborhoods and waste money,” Sherman said. “(With cluster boxes) we will get our mail earlier, we will save money, and people like me will get some exercise.”

But what about the 85-year-old woman who uses a walker? Do you expect her to walk down the street in the snow to get an important prescription?” one audience member asked.

Griswold proposes getting creative with promoting the mail service, instead.

“I get personally offended when someone sends me an email Christmas card,” he said. “I sent out about 85 this year. Letter writing is not dead.”

So far, besides effecting employees, the closure of the Fox Valley Processing Center will have modest impact on residents. First Class mail — which has drastically declined — might eliminate overnight delivery.

“It’s within our jurisdiction to make that decision,” Allen said. “A major issue with this optimization depends on our ability to eliminate First Class service and overnight mail.”

One employee was disheartened with the idea.

“The economy is coming back,” he said. “People in America are entitled to First Class postal service, delivered by professional mail carriers and sorted by professional sorters.”

If the building closes, it is expected to be put up for sale. Until that happens, non-processing operations would continue at the Fox Valley location.

“With the location and condition of this building, it might be an easy sell, even in this economy,” Allensaid. “Still, we do not intend to move any operations until the sale of the building.””