Bill Huizenga

KALAMAZOO, MI — Former United States Post Office employees broke down in U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga’s office while detailing their experience in Kalamazoo.

In a March 18 letter to Postmaster General David Steiner, Huizenga, R-Zeeland, demanded a response to “concerning workplace culture” and delivery delays in his district by April 8.

Huizenga reached out to the Trump appointee in February seeking help in addressing mail delivery delays.

He received no response, per the letter.

“My concerns about mail delivery in the Kalamazoo area have not been taken seriously,” Huizenga said.

His office launched its own investigation, per the letter. A survey garnered 2,000 reports of service delays, and former employees came forward.

“I find it deeply troubling that multiple postal employees came to my office and broke down in tears while detailing an extremely concerning workplace culture set by management at the Kalamazoo Sorting and Delivery Center,” he said.

Management in Kalamazoo instructed carriers to cease mail delivery and exclusively deliver packages, he said, on several occasions.

In an effort to help constituents receive mail, Huizenga’s office sent nearly 30 congressional inquiries to USPS, Huizenga said.

These have been met with copy-and-paste, boilerplate responses, he wrote, calling USPS’ lack of attention “completely unacceptable.”

“In two cases ... USPS neglected to even change the constituents’ names from a previously submitted inquiry,” he said. “In another, a hard copy letter was sent to the wrong Michigan Congressional Office.”

USPS officials consolidated three Southwest Michigan delivery units into the Sorting and Delivery Center on Ninth Street in Oshtemo Township in 2024.

The plan was met with concern by local and state officials.

“In regions where USPS has implemented significant changes, on-time mail delivery has declined. In addition, it is not clear these changes will improve efficiency or costs,” U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said in a May 8, 2024 letter to former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

It rolled forward anyway.

The change is part of a $40 billion USPS project called “Delivering for America.” USPS says the changes will reduce transportation and mail-handling costs.

Huizenga received an “insufficient and completely unsatisfactory” response about 15 minutes after the March letter was sent via email, spokesperson Brian Patrick said.

“We are hopeful that a meaningful meeting can be put together soon,” he said.

USPS did not immediately return a request for comment for this story.