Missoula postal workers raise concerns about plans to remove letter-sorting machine 

Missoula postal workers are raising concerns that plans to remove a letter-sorting machine from the city’s distribution center will slow mail delivery in western Montana.   

Shawn Harding, president of American Postal Workers Union Local 113, told Montana Free Press this week that the union received a one-sentence notice from the post office management Aug. 24, stating the plan to remove one of the four letter sorting machines at the Kent Avenue Processing and Distribution Center. The location processes mail for all of western Montana, he said. 

“They think they can do more with less, and that’s just not the case,” Harding said. “The staff that is here is very stressed just trying to keep up.” 

He added that the union is waiting to hear back from management about setting up a meeting to discuss the plan. 

Janella Biggs, a regional U.S. Postal Service spokesperson based in Washington state, said the removal is scheduled for sometime after the beginning of the year. The removal is part of a regular evaluation of equipment and workflow aimed at improving efficiency and matching capacity to current needs, Biggs said in a statement. The agency’s focus is to keep mail and packages moving and minimize customer impact throughout the changes, Biggs wrote. 

Harding said the machine that is targeted for removal processes between 300,000 and 450,000 pieces of mail per day. Two operators per shift run the machine, meaning six people could lose their jobs if it is removed, he said. That could lead to the loss of maintenance workers and carriers as well, Harding said. 

Less than three jobs will be affected by the change, according to USPS. 

Harding said that in recent congressional hearings on the Postal Service’s financial challenges, some members of Congress have raised concerns about declining service standards. 

“If you want to keep standards up, the worst way to do that is to eliminate a machine that can process 450,000 mail pieces per day,” Harding said.

Harding, who said he’s worked on the processing machines, now works at the retail window at the Kent Avenue post office. 

“One thing I love about doing that is the constant interaction with our customers,” he said. “I hear exactly what’s going on, and they are not happy.” 

At the Kent Avenue post office, there’s often a line out the door and only one person working the counter, Harding said. As union president, Harding said he pushes management to ensure that vacant positions are filled rather than eliminated. That’s why he’s concerned about the loss of the processing machine, especially with the general election coming up in the fall, Harding said. 

Since the removal won’t happen until after the election, processing mail-in ballots should not be impacted, Biggs said. 

Harding said he worries that if the Missoula post office can’t keep up with mail processing without the machine, the Postal Service may once again propose moving processing to Spokane or another location. 

“Trucking it from anywhere else will cause a delay from just processing it in Missoula,” he said. 

Harding encouraged residents to reach out to local, state and federal representatives about any concerns regarding mail service.

“Those of us who work on the lines in the post office appreciate the community support,” he said.