APWU Convention Delegates to Protest Decline in Service

Philadelphians are keenly aware of a decline in area mail service in recent months, and Thursday afternoon the APWU will help make sure that residents hear that the dramatic deterioration in service is the result of ill-advised postal policies that can — and should — be changed. 

Postal workers will take to the streets Aug. 17, in a rally at the 30th Street Post Office. The protest will coincide with the convention’s traditional “Blue T-Shirt Day,” when approximately 3,000 delegates will wear the union colors.

“We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder once again, this time with our postal union brothers and sisters, as they demand an end to the degradation of mail service, and an end to the assault on workers’ rights,” said APWU President William Burrus.

The deterioration in service has been caused in large part by the transfer of mail processing operations from 30th and Market streets to a new facility near the airport. The Lindberg Boulevard facility opened last November.

As local news stories have pointed out, it is unlikely that the service problems are only temporary. The fact is that the new facility is grossly understaffed.

More than 700 jobs have been cut — many workers have been “excessed,” some of them hundreds of miles away and with only a few weeks notice – and casuals have been hired to replace career employees, in blatant violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“This is part of a much bigger picture,” Burrus said. “All across the country, the Postal Service has sacrificed service to individuals and small businesses in its quest to perform more favors for the big mailers.

“We intend to put a stop to that. We will encourage the American people to make their voices heard. We will work together to Save Our Service.”