WV AFL-CIO

[Apwu133]

The following email was sent to the WV AFL-CIO President Joshua Sword by state and local Legislative Director Bob Redman. President Sword later responded that the AFL-CIO are with us 100%

Good Evening, President Sword,

On Wednesday, November 22, the day before Thanksgiving, employees of the Charleston WV, USPS Processing and Distribution Center were given a stand-up talk by their supervisors. Management indicated that two facilities in the Pennsylvania area may be processing mail, otherwise dedicated to Charleston. This will affect over 500 union AFL-CIO members, and more than likely delay the delivery of mail.

Currently, a study is being conducted by the USPS in conjunction with Postmaster General Louis Dejoy’s Delivering for America ten-year plan. The plan is to eliminate Processing and Distribution Centers and merge into Regional Sorting Processing Centers, with Pittsburgh as one of the new centers. The Charleston facility will be downgraded to a Logistics and Distribution Center (LDC). LDCs provide mail processing and distribution to local Post Offices as well as other smaller distribution facilities and are equipped with fixed mechanization for mail processing. However, many mail processing machines will be removed, including several already taken out of the Charleston P&DC in the past six months.

United States Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., who chairs the Senate committee with oversight of the Postal Service, said in a statement he was "concerned that several of the initiatives in this plan will harm service for folks across the country who rely on the Postal Service for prescription drugs, financial documents, running their small businesses, and more."

"Cuts to service standards for first-class mail, limiting hours at local post offices, and making it more difficult for people to access postal products would adversely impact USPS customers across the nation, including in rural and underserved communities." Peters added.

The P&DC started processing mail from its Charleston location in September 1993. Charleston started assumed mail from Huntington, Beckley, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Lewisburg, and Princeton, West Virginia in addition to Ashland and Pikeville Kentucky within the past decade after their closures. This potential job loss will not only affect union employees and their families, but also generate a possible economic decline in the local economy.

Brother Sword, we need your help. Please stand in solidarity with the members of APWU Local 133 and pledge your support. I will keep you updated with our fight as well as any local events to combat this.

Bob Redman

Legislative Director

APWU 133

Charleston WV