Changes to the Paducah post office are starting this weekend with all mail processing moving to the Evansville, Indiana, location after today.
American Postal Workers Union Local 2500 Vice President Gerl McKinney said that change could add one or more days to delivery times in the region, which could be critical for some.
“Grandma and grandpa are gonna notice that the medications that they get through the mail may take a little longer getting here,” he said. “Most of our health plans nowadays encourage you that if you have recurring prescriptions that you go and get those through a mail program rather than get them from your local pharmacy.”
McKinney added that pickup times from the blue mailboxes are also changing to earlier in the day. So mail dropped in those in the late afternoon will sit for almost another full day before being picked up.
McKinney retired from the U.S. Postal Service two years ago, and he said this move and the service’s cuts nationwide are a discouraging trend.
“Generally, if you cut your service you lose business. And in a time where everything is geared to go faster and, you know, instant I’m not sure the Postal Service is doing itself a favor and retaining customers by slowing down our service,” he said.
The Paducah office isn’t losing any employees but McKinney said many of their hours are being cut, some significantly. He says a union contract protected workers from being laid off.
