Kaptur statement on closing of Toledo USPS sorting facility

TOLEDO, OH—Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur issued the following statement in response to news that the U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with shutting down its sorting facility in Toledo:

“I deeply regret this decision by the Board of Governors of the US Postal Service. Despite our repeated attempts to retain services in Toledo, again the Board has backhanded our Postal Workers at the sorting facility.

The Board of Governors of the Postal Service, and certain Members of Congress, are responsible for this latest blow to the Postal Service in our community and region. For too long, the Board has not been acting in our nation's best interests. Many recent Board appointees hold private interests that conflict with the time-tested public service interests of the Postal Service mandate to deliver affordable universal service to all Americans equally.

Rather than fix the law that has forced unreasonable budget cuts across our fine Postal Service, the Board is choosing to allow unwarranted layoffs in communities like Toledo, reducing local services and increasing unemployment and hardship. The Board continues to force an unrealistic policy requiring pre-funding of health benefits for postal workers at levels far greater than any other organization in our society. This is completely unfair and unjustified.

I am a co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation, House Resolution 54, to restore USPS service standards to the level they were at before the Board of Governors imposed its misguided and degrading cuts to those services.

The postal workers at the Toledo sorting facility have earned recognition for their hard work and skill, consistently receiving ratings of Excellence nationally. In my judgment, the Postal Service Board of Governors needs to be the target of complete overhaul, not the hard-working local postal service providers.”

Contact: Matt Sonneborn, (202) 225-4146 or Matt.Sonneborn@mail.house.gov

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