Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler vowed to keep working to protect local post offices after receiving a petition Thursday signed by more than 1,400 people who oppose the closure of Hazelwood Post Office in Waynesville.
“I have seen and heard tremendous local support for keeping these facilities open, and I am relaying that information directly to Postal Service officials,” said Rep. Shuler, D-Waynesville. “As many know, several of our local post offices have recently been targeted for consolidation by the U.S. Postal Service.”
Six of the 80 post offices in the Mid-Carolinas District 6 already have been shuttered in the past year, and the Postal Service has targeted others for closure, including Oteen and Biltmore facilities in the Asheville area. Rep. Shuler was able to help persuade the Postal Service to keep Biltmore open and is working to protect the others.
This week, Congress passed a bill that reduces the amount that the Postal Service must pay into its retiree health benefits fund this year by $4 billion. That should give the Postal Service some breathing room to pursue long-term options other than drastically slashing the number of postal facilities throughout the United States, Rep. Shuler said.
“I am encouraged that this bill will give the Postal Service extra time to make calculated long-term decisions and fully see the results of its early retirement and early-out incentive options extended to eligible employees,” he said. “My father was a mailman in Western North Carolina, and I was raised with an understanding of how important local post offices are to households, local businesses and their communities.”
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