Employees in the processing area of the Jackson Delivery and Distribution Center got the bad news on September 11h. That's when folks there discovered that they are closing down their processing operations. That work is moving to Lansing, displacing 30 to 50 employees at the Jackson DDC. A good number of those employees are mail clerks and custodial staff. Although his job is safe for now, letter carrier, Kurt Knaup says, "Jobs are disappearing everywhere and the post office is no different....I don't recall anybody ever really getting laid off here...I think that's coming."

Ed Moore, the Manager of Communications for the US Post Office Detroit District says they will try to place those employees in new positions with the postal service.

Meanwhile, Jackson's city officials are sad to see jobs go. Frank Weathers, Deputy City Manager says, "Just the loss of Jobs. We can't afford to lose anymore jobs."

One of the concerns residential customers have surrounds the time the mail will take to travel to their homes and businesses. They anticipate it will take much longer. Jackson Resident Dick Dedrick says, "I think it will slow up the mail here because it has to go up to Lansing, that much time to sort it and that much time to get it back here." Shawn Lingane says she thinks it will be much more complicated. She says, "If it's slow now, I can't imagine what it would be like."

Everyone with a zip code beginning with 492 will be affected by the change in processing operations. However, Moore says there won't be a delay in any kind of service standards and it will not take longer for customers to get their mail. Local Area Vice President Anthony Donoho disagrees. He said in an email that "Communities in and around Jackson must be informed of the potential degradation of service and the potential delays in mail collection and delivery. The seriousness of this matter must not be underestimated.

The situation has left customers and postal employees worried for the future. They are concerned that the other services offered by the post office there will be closed or changed.

Another concern the union has is that there was no Area Mail Processing study which Anthony Donoho says had originally been stated in June of this year. That would have allowed for a public comment period. He says, "This move will not only affect the employees at the Jackson facility, it will also have a negative effect on the communities in which they lived and the communities serviced by the Jackson facility."

Moore says an AMP study is not needed because the facility isn't a District office. He says the goal is to move the processing machinery to Lansing sometime before the Christmas Rush.