Lawmakers spotlight “larger statewide problem” with postal service in Massachusetts

Letter Text (PDF)

Boston (August 30, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led his Massachusetts colleagues Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Bill Keating (MA-09) in sending a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy expressing concern over the deterioration of postal service in communities across the Commonwealth, including in communities where postal operations may be consolidated and in rural areas where mail delivery may be slowed.

The letter highlights a litany of United States Postal Service (USPS) management decisions that have led to diminished access to post office retail fronts, increasingly delayed and lost mail, and, for those employed by USPS, workplace dissatisfaction, including:

• The closure of the Medway Main Street Post Office more than a year ago, which has left the residents of Medway without an adequate Post Office location
• The closure of the Watertown Square Post Office and subsequent lack of Saturday service in Watertown
• Poor service and mail delivery delays at the Roxbury Post Office, where residents have experienced mail delays of two to four weeks, lost mail, misdelivered mail, and mail left outside of mailboxes
• Mail delivery delays and months of lost mail in Somerville, Brookline, and other communities
• USPS’ new proposal to slow mail delivery in rural areas and consolidate processing centers, which would likely impact postal service and USPS jobs in Massachusetts

“All these issues with postal service in the Commonwealth are highly problematic and indicative of a larger statewide problem, which has fostered inequitable access to basic postal functions across urban and rural communities,” wrote the lawmakers. “We are now constrained to request an in-person meeting with MA-RI District Manager Scott Manier at which we can learn how USPS will address our concerns.”

Following USPS management’s lack of response to the Massachusetts delegation’s repeated requests for re-opened facilities and improved service, the lawmakers call for an in-person meeting with MA-RI District Manager Scott Manier in the letter.

Senator Markey and the Massachusetts delegation have taken several recent actions to address concerns with USPS service. In October 2023, Senators Markey, Warren, and Rep. McGovern sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy encouraging the USPS to restore adequate postal service to the Town of Medway, which experienced a sudden suspension of service in August 2023. The lawmakers sent another letter in November 2023 calling on USPS to abide by their required timeline for announcing plans to re-open the Medway Post Office and engage in community input processes. In March 2024, Senator Markey and his Senate colleagues sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging him to stop any changes to USPS service standards that would result in job losses and further degrade mail delivery performance, which would have resulted in the consolidation of the Brockton Processing and Delivery Center. Due in part to Senator Markey’s advocacy, in June, USPS announced it would pause the proposed consolidations. In July, Senator Markey joined Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan to successfully fight the closure of the Mission Hill Post Office, which would have created increased stress on the already-faltering Roxbury Post Office.

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