Family Life

02.24.12 | Sarah Harnisch

35-thousand postal workers across the country will be loosing their jobs, and hundreds are from New York and Pennsylvania. The U.S.P.S. told Congress last week it will loose 18-billion dollars a year unless it lowers delivery standards for first class mail. Local stamped letters have been delivered within 1 day for 40 years. The postal service also asked Congress to eliminate Saturday delivery and raise the price of a postage stamp by as much as 5-cents.

Perhaps the saddest element of the switch to the digital age, and a drop in mail volume, are the thousands of workers who will be out of work. 700 people could loose their jobs when the postal distribution center in Buffalo, New York closes. Some of the jobs will go to Rochester. In Pennsylvania, the move affects postal facilities in Altoona, Erie, Greensburg, Lancaster, New Castle, Reading, Scranton, Washington and Williamsport. There won't be changes to the retail, business mail entry and vehicle maintenance units at the affected sites. The cost-savings changes are being made in response to a 25-percent decline in first-class mail since 2006.

No post offices are set to close until at least May. If you want to know if your post office is on the closure list, go here.