Editor’s note: Rep. Health Shuler wrote this letter to U.S. Postmaster Pat Donahoe to express his concern for potential job cuts at the Postal Service.

I write to express my concern for and opposition to plans being discussed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that would result in the termination of 120,000 postal employees by 2015, as well as the USPS’s suggestion to close nearly 3,700 postal facilities throughout the country, many in rural areas. Such closures would put a devastating number of postal employees out of work. This is the time to create jobs, not take them away.

Neither postal employees nor Americans should bear the brunt of policy disagreements between the USPS and the federal government. Frankly, they deserve more.

Though I fully appreciate the immediacy of this situation, the USPS has other options that it can explore before taking such drastic actions that will ultimately hurt both postal workers and their taxpaying customers. For example, it would behoove the USPS to first review the forthcoming plan from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) designed to create a USPS framework for fiscal solvency.

I urge you to exercise abundant caution before taking additional steps prior to the OPM framework proposal. Cogent action is necessary to ensure the USPS does not inflict devastating job losses or facility closures.

Heath Shuler

Member of Congress