The consolidation of some mail sorting processes was done earlier this year in Medford and Eugene as a way to save the U.S. Postal Service money. The Southern Oregon Local American Postal Workers Union, #342 is hoping those changes can be reversed before the November election.
Part of the consolidation included removing Medford鈥檚 postmarking machine, according to Union President Jeremy Schilling. Now mail, including vote-by-mail ballots, is sent to Portland to be postmarked. That鈥檚 led to worries about ballots not being counted in time, although USPS has said the change will not affect mail services.
"The U.S. Postal Service is fully committed to the secure, timely delivery of the nation鈥檚 Election Mail. The Postal Service employs a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling and delivery of all Election Mail, including ballots," Kim Frum, a strategic communications specialist with the USPS, said in a statement. "As in previous elections, we will deploy longstanding processes and procedures, as well as allocating additional resources, including, but not limited to, expanded processing procedures, extra transportation, extra delivery and collection trips, daily all-clears and overtime, to ensure that Election Mail reaches its intended destination in a timely manner."
Schilling is optimistic that the consolidation process can be undone.
"There鈥檚 no reason that, if someone wants to send a letter from Talent to Medford, that it needs to go to Portland and then back. That doesn鈥檛 logically make sense. So I believe there is an easy path to keeping our local mail local," he said.
The union's goal is to return the postmark machine and outgoing mail sorting to Medford. Schilling said the machine has been disassembled and is in storage on site.
The Medford plant is still operational, including sorting incoming mail.
Schilling said residents frequently tell him about delays.
"They tell me, like, 'I mailed this letter, it鈥檚 disappeared,' 'I mailed this letter, it took three weeks,' 'I mailed a letter from Grants Pass to Ashland, and it鈥檚 been gone, like nobody knows where it is.' All kinds of things. The local mail has become a disaster," he said.
"Local mail is, and continues to be, a two-to-three-day delivery product," Frum said. "According to our data, from the start of the fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2023) through July 12, it takes less than two days to process and deliver mail sent within the 974 (Eugene) and 975 (Medford) ZIP Code areas. It is the same as this time last year."
USPS has said this shift will improve efficiency and service. It's among the first consolidation efforts undertaken in its 10-year nationwide plan called , published in 2021, which aims to increase financial stability and modernize the aging network with $40 billion in investments.
Further consolidations under the Delivering for America plan were supposed to take place across the country, but after pushback from senators earlier this year, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced they will be paused at least until January. But that pause won't affect Oregon, where consolidation had already occurred.
The union will hold a rally on August 3 at 10 a.m. in downtown Medford at Vogel Plaza.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Kim Frum.
