Job loss, poor service. Why two congressmen are protesting downsize of Macon mail center

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Two U.S. congressmen are protesting changes to a Macon mail processing center that could see local packages shipped to Atlanta for processing, then returned to Middle Georgia.

Credit: Nati Harnik / AP

Two congressmen who represent portions of Middle Georgia are protesting the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to downsize a Macon mail processing facility.

The move, which would eliminate dozens of local jobs, likely means a package sent from one Macon address to another would first be shipped to Atlanta for processing.

Rep. Sanford Bishop and Rep. Austin Scott are questioning the decision. In a joint letter to the U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the congressmen wrote that downsizing the Macon center would “undoubtedly lead to decreased service standards” and the loss of “middle-class jobs.”

“We are concerned that the transformation of the Macon P&DC into a Local Processing Center (LPC), which, as we understand, would handle only letters and flat mail rather than packages, could lead to further customer disruptions in rural towns and small urban communities that depend on the Postal Service the most,” Bishop and Scott wrote.

The proposed move is part of the “Delivering for America Plan,” a 10-year plan from the U.S. Postal Service to “achieve financial stability and service excellence.” Processing centers in Columbus, Albany and Valdosta have already been closed.

“How might that affect delivery times of local packages, such as the shipment of prescription drugs, within Macon-Bibb County and its immediate surrounding areas?” the congressmen asked DeJoy.

The Macon branch of the American Postal Service Union also criticized the move, according to reporting from 13WMAZ.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Telegraph.