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Postal Service Drops Plans to Consolidate Illinois Facility

APWU Web News Article #44-06, Aug. 2, 2006

In a major win for the APWU and the community, the Postal Service has terminated its plan to move mail-sorting operations and as many as 100 jobs out of the Rockford (IL) main post office.

“This is a colossal victory for the people of northern Illinois and the hard-working Rockford postal employees whose jobs were threatened by this consolidation plan,” said U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R), who received an announcement [PDF] from the Postal Service on July 31. [USPS notice to APWU - PDF]

Gregg Voiles, president of APWU’s Rockford Area Local, called it “a day of elation.”

“It’s like a 1,000-pound weight has been lifted off my back,” Voiles told the Rockford Register Star. “This has been consuming me for the past seven months.” The threatened facility, Rockford’s main post office, has about 300 APWU-represented workers among its 750 postal employees.

“The Rockford local was a model of vigilance,” said APWU President William Burrus. “Union members kept up a steady drumbeat of letter-writing and phone calls, and made sure that elected officials and civic leaders were part of the effort to keep the Postal Service from implementing its ill-advised plan.”

Postal officials in Washington changed course after months of lobbying by the APWU, Manzullo, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D) and Barack Obama (D), state Sen. Dave Syverson (R), and Rockford-area civic leaders.

On June 5, more than 500 people attended a public meeting at a university auditorium, with Manzullo moderating the public comment session that began after a presentation by postal officials. Business owners, postal workers, local government officials, and other citizens were almost unanimous in their opposition to the consolidation plan, saying it posed a threat to efficient service, the Rockford postmark, and the local economy.

“I want to thank Greg Voiles and his postal union colleagues,” Manzullo said, “all the municipal and county officials who sent us resolutions of support, and all the northern Illinois residents and business owners who [have helped] us convince the postal officials to terminate the consolidation study."

In a statement from Washington, Durbin praised the decisions and also saluted the efforts of civic and business leaders. “It shows how effective a community can be,” the senator said, “when they come together to resolve local issues.”

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