Concern Over Post Office Closings in WV Prompts Letter from Sens - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Concern Over Post Office Closings Prompts Letters from WV Senators

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By Douglas Fritz - email

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -

U.S. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) urged the U.S. Postal Service to reconsider closing 150 post offices and consolidating mail processing centers in West Virginia as these actions unfairly target jobs and postal services in West Virginia, as well as other rural states.

The Senators, in a joint letter, specifically asked the Postmaster General to extend the current moratorium on any post office closings and mail processing center consolidations in the state.

Last December, Rockefeller and Manchin worked to convince the Postmaster General to grant a five month delay to rural post office closings and mail processing center consolidations in West Virginia and elsewhere.  The move has temporarily protected services for customers and tens of thousands of jobs nationwide, including more than 160 jobs in West Virginia.

Rockefeller and Manchin did not support the postal reform bill in the Senate because it does little to address the Postal Service's financial problems over the long run and instead disproportionately hurts West Virginia citizens, businesses, postal workers, and retirees.

On March 20, Rockefeller, Manchin, and five other Senators sent a strongly worded letter to the Postmaster General pressing for details about how the Postal Service is spending its money and identified ways to save billions of dollars and raise new revenue before pushing ahead with drastic cuts to post offices and other facilities. 

The letters can be viewed by clicking the links below.