Postal Service Union Members Warn Altadena about Post Office Closure

While U.S. Postal Service officials continue to say that the is not at threat of closure, officials from a local postal carriers union said Tuesday that Altadena resident should be wary of those claims.

Michael Evans, president of the California State American Postal Workers Union, acknowledged at Tuesday's Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Association (ACONA) meeting that the the hearing required to shut down the Altadena branch has not been scheduled.  However, he said, just because officials have not scheduled it does not mean that it won't happen any time soon.

"[USPS officials] will say something and not really mean it," Evans said.

Before any branch is shut down, the USPS must give a 60-day-notice for public input and list the branch as a possible closure. 

As , the Altadena branch is not on a list of more than 3,000 nationwide branches that could shut down.

At the same time, postal officials acknowledged to Patch at that time that if the postal service's financial situation does not change for the better, up to half the branches in the country could be closed in the next five years, making any one branch vulnerable to being shut down. 

USPS officials were invited to come to Tuesday's ACONA meeting, but did not attend.  In lieu of a representative, the postal service sent out a statement denying there are any plans to close Altadena's branch any time soon.  The statement also said that the service has 10 year left on the lease for its current location in Altadena, but that it might seek a smaller space after that lease expires.

The issue of branch closures has been reported on locally in recent months, as a mail service facility in Pasadena is currently being targeted for shutdown.

Altadena residents at the meeting Tuesday also noted that many neighborhoods have had their carrier switched or delivery times changed in recent months.  That issue was also the discussion of a recent Patch article: