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2 days ago		Union: Custodians, bus drivers need salary upgrades
3 days ago		Dozens of Postal workers protest staff changes and consolidation
137 days ago		District, unions strike early labor deal
168 days ago		Flight controllers take labor dispute to travelers
186 days ago		They walk the line
195 days ago		Trash worker strike ends

(Kristine Buls/Examiner)
Members of the American Postal Workers Union protested the commercialization of the United States Postal System.

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Sara Michael, The Examiner
Oct 27, 2006 5:00 AM (3 days ago)
Current rank: # 5,574 of 6,378 articles

Baltimore City postal union officials said postal service is worse than ever before, as dozens picketed Thursday in protest of changes that have frustrated customers who seem to be waiting in line for eternity.

“There was an impact on the service from shifting people around without proper planning,” said George Hayes, director of organization for the local American Postal Worker Union. “It created a lot of problems.”

About 70 or 80 people protested changes such as clerks being moved to the role of mail handler, which left fewer workers to staff post office windows, Hayes said.

Postal Service spokeswoman Freda Sauter said they have made some changes due to a new machine in the city’s mail-processing center. However, these changes did not affect service, she said.

The Baltimore protest was part of a nationwide day of picketing, said Sally Davidow, spokeswoman for the National APWU.

“We are trying to make the public aware of the change in philosophy by the Postal Service in recent years,” Davidow said.

The Postal Service plans to consolidate dozens of mail-processing centers across the country, which Davidow said will mean mail must travel farther to be sorted, resulting in slower service.

Davidow also said the Postal Service favors big businesses that use lower rate bulk advertising mail. These businesses won’t be affected by the consolidations, and citizens will have to bear the brunt of the cost and dip in service, she said.

However, Sauter said closing some centers and moving the duties to larger facilities will make the process more efficient, and some centers that have consolidated across the country have been successful.

Only one center in Maryland, located in Cumberland, is under review and no decision has been made to consolidate it, she said.

Hayes said the union wants the Postal Service to slow down the staff changes and consolidations.

“They say it’s to save money, but what about the service?” he said.

Examiner