BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — "Save Our Service" has been the message of postal workers at the William Street USPS facility since early January.
The USPS announced that as part of a $40 billion investment strategy to "upgrade and improve the Postal processing, transportation, and delivery networks," it was conducting an evaluation of operations and potential future uses of its Buffalo Processing & Distribution Center.
The initial findings of that review were released a few weeks ago, saying in part that it supports keeping the facility open and modernizing it as a Local Processing Center (LPC). This would lead to the USPS transferring mail processing outgoing operations to the Rochester Processing and Distribution Center.
READ MORE: USPS releases initial findings of review of its facility on William Street in Buffalo
This announcement was met with pushback from the local postal union who are calling to "Save Our Service” to prevent the USPS from moving functions to Rochester.
The union organized an informational picket that was open to the public and took place on Friday at the main post office on William Street.
READ MORE: 'This is not what Western New York wants': Picket to save USPS facility on William Street in Buffalo
Alongside the workers are several elected leaders who have been asking USPS to reconsider the move.
All sides made their voices heard at a public meeting on Tuesday night.
"The post office is an icon in the City of Buffalo," said Ed Glinsing of UAW Local 897 Buffalo Stamping. "It should stay there. It's part of America."
Boris Crymes, a former USPS employee who worked at the William Street facility, says this move will impact many jobs.
"You will have to travel to Rochester to get the most jobs," said Crymes. "If you're not doing more for the plant here, how do you expect it to be worth anything?"
Mark Lawrence, a strategic communication specialist for USPS, explains that the Buffalo facility is not closing.
"What we are doing is proposing that some operations relocate to Rochester," said Lawrence. "Therefore, we can take advantage of our improved transportation network. And with that mail going to Rochester, it allows us to transport mail on Fuller trucks and be more efficient with our transportation."
USPS says they plan to invest $17 million to modernize the facility on William Street.
"The LPC is a sort of delivery center in which carriers report to and deliver out of one central location. It will allow the community to drop off packages at that location and be able to get same-day or next-day service for a wider range of deliveries," he added.
When asked about reconsidering a decision after seeing the number of people who showed up to have their voices heard, the USPS representative says this:
"Today is for people to have their voice, and comments can be submitted online as well, so nothing is concrete at this point," said Lawrence. "All comments are being considered, and you know we'll just see how we progress on this matter."
Community members have until March 13 to submit a comment here.
