USPS wants to move N.O. mail-sorting services to B.R.

The U.S. Postal Service announced today plans to close its mail-sorting center in New Orleans and consolidate the services in Baton Rouge. The plan also calls for a vastly reduced role for another sorting center in Lafayette. Under the proposal, both incoming and outgoing mail currently processed in New Orleans would be shifted to Baton Rouge, while outgoing mail currently handled in Lafayette would be handled locally. The Lafayette center would continue to handle incoming mail. USPS did not make it clear how many employees might be affected by the consolidation. Postal Service spokesman McKinney Boyd says about 400 people currently work at the Baton Rouge center. The sorting center in New Orleans currently employs about 800, while about 200 workers could be affected in Lafayette. Boyd says the number of employees who will be affected will depend on how many seek transfers, retirement or other positions. The consolidation is a part of a much larger USPS proposal to Congress to close 254 mail-sorting centers and 3,700 post offices as the agency deals with a $23 million-a-day loss that is threatening it with insolvency. Until Congress finishes studying the proposals, the USPS cannot act on the closure plans until at least May 15. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says he will fight “this ill-advised decision, which fails to consider all the factors that will impact future mail delivery costs and the needs of southern Louisiana.”