Postal Service rethinks plans

Facility’s permanent closure could cost Hub more than 1,300 jobs

September 16, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

A view of the US Postal Services Boston processing facility (the structure… (Jim Davis/Globe Staff )

The financially strained US Postal Service said yesterday that it may permanently close its Boston processing facility and abandon plans to replace it with a new plant nearby, potentially resulting in the loss of more than 1,300 jobs in the city.

The announcement, part of a nationwide plan to save $3 billion a year by closing more than half the Postal Service’s processing plants, carries broad implications for a large section of the city from South Station to the Seaport District.

While the Postal Service had long planned to demolish its current facility along Fort Point Channel to allow for the expansion of train service at South Station, yesterday’s news means it may not replace it with a new building on a 25-acre government-owned parcel further down Summer Street in South Boston. Instead, the Postal Service said it is considering consolidating the Boston operations with existing facilities in Waltham and North Reading.

Abandoning the new facility in an area of the city that is fast being remade from its old industrial past would leave the property in need of a new redevelopment plan and lead to heavy job losses in a difficult economy. Mayor Thomas M. Menino called on the Postal Service last night to put in place training programs to help find new work for any displaced employees.

“The mayor’s biggest concern is for those employees, especially the longtime employees who have spent their lives working for the Postal Service,’’ said Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce.

A spokesman for the Postal Service said the agency will spend the next three months reviewing whether it should move forward with the facility in Boston or opt for consolidating it with others outside the city.

“We’re processing fewer pieces of mail, so we may want to maximize the capacity we have in other locations.’’ said the spokesman, Dennis Tarmey. He added that the Postal Service will host public meetings this winter to discuss any consolidations recommended during its review.

Since 2006, the amount of mail processed by the Postal Service has dropped to 170 billion from 213 billion, or about 20 percent, due to pervasive use of e-mail and other digital forms of communication, as well as increasing competition from private shipping services.

The agency said yesterday it will review closing about 250 mail processing facilities across the country, and will cut its workforce by as many as 35,000 employees. In addition to the Boston facility, officials are studying whether to shut or consolidate six other Massachusetts plants, including ones in Lowell, Shrewsbury, and Wareham.

Postal Service officials said the cuts will slow the delivery of first-class mail, causing average shipping time to take two to three days instead of one.