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Area Mail Processing Proposals:
Locals Fight Back
(This article first appeared in the September/October 2009 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
APWU locals around the country have been busy fighting the consolidation of mail processing operations — even as the Postal Service announced it was considering consolidating more than 3,200 of the nation’s larger stations and branches.
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Southwest Florida Area APWU members have actively courted press coverage. |
A No-Go in Mansfield, OH
After years of struggle, the members of the Mansfield (OH) Area Local breathed a sigh of relief when the USPS announced June 24 that there will be no major changes to the mail-processing operations there. “It’s the second time we beat this AMP study,” local President Wendy Hammon told the daily News-Journal. “The town halls, informational pickets, radio and calls made the impact.” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) applauded the announcement that the move nearly 60 miles away to Akron would not be made, and credited the efforts of postal workers, elected officials and residents. “This proves that by working together, gaining the attention of the decision- makers and making a strong case based on the facts, great things can happen and jobs can be saved,” Jordan said in a statement from Washington.
Suburban L.A. P&DC to Stay Open
In early June, the USPS terminated a two-month-old AMP study of operations at the suburban Los Angeles facility in City of Industry, saying that despite the economic downturn and accompanying decline in mail volume, the Postal Service had been unable to find ways to streamline operations there. The Industry P&DC employs about 900 people and processes mail for more than three dozen post offices. “By scattering employees all across southern California,” Western Region NBA James Scoggins told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, moving processing operations 50miles away to Santa Clarita “not only would affect postal workers, but their families and businesses in the surrounding community.“
Oxnard Threatened
The P&DC in Oxnard, another Los Angeles suburb, is still threatened with a shift to Santa Clarita. According to Channel Islands Area Local APWU Legislative Director Jack Villa, that could mean that about 100 of the 244 career employees there would be excessed. On July 6, union members led an informational picket to let consumers know of the consolidation proposal. On July 8, local APWU President Roberta Malloy and other activists presented a petition with 750 signatures to the Los Angeles office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and asked for her help in preventing the consolidation.
Possible Upheaval in Upstate NY
In upstate New York, postal workers and customers are up in arms about plans to consolidate mail-processing operations to Syracuse from Watertown (60 miles away), Binghamton (70 miles away) and Utica (more than 50 miles away). During an informational meeting in June, union representatives pointed out that USPS regional officials had failed to provide a “clear picture” on mail-processing feasibility studies. “We’re talking about 63 miles between Watertown and Syracuse; that’s about a 350-mile round trip from some of our stations and back again,” said Central New York Area APWU member Michael S. Natali.
An Audit on the Gulf Coast
A southwest Florida consolidation of mail-processing operations from Manasota to Tampa that was approved last spring and scheduled to take place in April 2010 is going to get another look. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan said June 23 that his office had reached an agreement with the USPS Office of Inspector General for a review of the decision to cut nearly 60 jobs. Buchanan said in a statement that the review “will help us determine if in fact the consolidation will save money and improve service. If not, it shouldn’t happen.”
‘Tool Kit’ to Fight Consolidation
An updated tool kit [members only] is available to help APWU local and state leaders in their efforts to stop the Postal Service from moving vital mail processing operations away from the communities they serve.
