July 6, 2010
Huntington Council, Administration Supports Local Postal Workers
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Prior to the placement of a resolution to support workers at the Huntington Mail processing center within the Virginia Avenue post office, more than one council member did not know the full ramifications of the resolution. They do now. Attributing the ‘grab’ to postal union leaders, the perennial Charleston/Huntington rivalry has their eyes on swiping jobs from Huntington to improve Charleston’s mail processing status.
As most knowledgeable readers know of government process, the initial phase of a decision often begins with public comment and a public hearing.
However, David Daniel, president of the KYOVA local, believes that the decision has already been made. “The United States Postal Service is fickle; they do not like to be stopped.”
“They have already decided,” Daniel said, stating that the move will mean the loss of over 50 jobs. Only a few of the 55 employees would be added at the Charleston processing center, Daniel said. The employees would be placed on a “list” and if they did not make a selection on their own from available jobs nationwide, the U.S. Postal Service would make the decision for them. “[So,] we’re not talking about our people going to Charleston, but on a list…”
Councilman Jim Ritter sponsored the resolution on Huntington City Council’s agenda, which while having no force does express the support of the City of Huntington and the Wolfe Administration.
“Our [processing] services are the best in West Virginia and 22nd in the nation,” Ritter said, adding that the Charleston processing facility has a national ranking of 225th.
But, Daniel stressed, “Charleston is bolstering Charleston by management strategies to make sure Charleston survives.”
“We implore the powers that be” to reconsider, stated Brandi Jacobs-Jones, director of Finance and Administration.
As expressed by the union leader, Charleston’s postal supervisors have already been able to remove the priority mail processing center from Huntington. The arrangement can cost a day in delivery time, as for instance, priority mail items destined for Huntington first go to Charleston.
“Everything we send [out now] priority mail is delayed,” Daniel explained.
In fact, the 456 zip code has a similar anomaly that delays mail. Letters which are mailed , for instance, in Proctorville or even Chesapeake, Ohio, and addressed to, say, South Point or Ironton, Ohio, first go to Columbus, Ohio for processing. That means that it takes about five days for a letter to be delivered between Proctorville and Chesapeake. It should be overnight, Daniels said.
Dates for public hearings have yet to be announced. Postal Union leadership encourages as many residents as possible to attend. Daniel stated that “no one has been hired since 2005” in Huntington for processing jobs. “By attrition they are doing away with these jobs.”
Beside delivery in all types of weather the letter carriers union gives back to their communities through their food drive in which they drop off mail then return on that Saturday to pick up items to be donated to food banks.
Although likely unseen except from its walls, the mail processing portion of the Virginia Avenue facility takes up about 75% of the square footage. When the location was conceived, Huntington was designed to be a “gateway” postal processing facility.
Daniel explained that businesses looking to move to a community often consider the presence of a mail processing facility in the same equation as, for instance, air service.
While Huntington postmarks between 70,000 and 300,000 pieces of mail daily, the Ashland center stands to to loss full time positions for part time flexible positions, said David Dunkle, executive vice president of the KYOVA Ashland local.
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Huntington Council, Administration Supports Local Postal Workers
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Prior to the placement of a resolution to support workers at the Huntington Mail processing center within the Virginia Avenue post office, more than one council member did not know the full ramifications of the resolution. They do now. Attributing the ‘grab’ to postal union leaders, the perennial Charleston/Huntington rivalry has their eyes on swiping jobs from Huntington to improve Charleston’s mail processing status.
As most knowledgeable readers know of government process, the initial phase of a decision often begins with public comment and a public hearing.
However, David Daniel, president of the KYOVA local, believes that the decision has already been made. “The United States Postal Service is fickle; they do not like to be stopped.”
“They have already decided,” Daniel said, stating that the move will mean the loss of over 50 jobs. Only a few of the 55 employees would be added at the Charleston processing center, Daniel said. The employees would be placed on a “list” and if they did not make a selection on their own from available jobs nationwide, the U.S. Postal Service would make the decision for them. “[So,] we’re not talking about our people going to Charleston, but on a list…”
Councilman Jim Ritter sponsored the resolution on Huntington City Council’s agenda, which while having no force does express the support of the City of Huntington and the Wolfe Administration.
“Our [processing] services are the best in West Virginia and 22nd in the nation,” Ritter said, adding that the Charleston processing facility has a national ranking of 225th.
But, Daniel stressed, “Charleston is bolstering Charleston by management strategies to make sure Charleston survives.”
“We implore the powers that be” to reconsider, stated Brandi Jacobs-Jones, director of Finance and Administration.
As expressed by the union leader, Charleston’s postal supervisors have already been able to remove the priority mail processing center from Huntington. The arrangement can cost a day in delivery time, as for instance, priority mail items destined for Huntington first go to Charleston.
“Everything we send [out now] priority mail is delayed,” Daniel explained.
In fact, the 456 zip code has a similar anomaly that delays mail. Letters which are mailed , for instance, in Proctorville or even Chesapeake, Ohio, and addressed to, say, South Point or Ironton, Ohio, first go to Columbus, Ohio for processing. That means that it takes about five days for a letter to be delivered between Proctorville and Chesapeake. It should be overnight, Daniels said.
Dates for public hearings have yet to be announced. Postal Union leadership encourages as many residents as possible to attend. Daniel stated that “no one has been hired since 2005” in Huntington for processing jobs. “By attrition they are doing away with these jobs.”
Beside delivery in all types of weather the letter carriers union gives back to their communities through their food drive in which they drop off mail then return on that Saturday to pick up items to be donated to food banks.
Although likely unseen except from its walls, the mail processing portion of the Virginia Avenue facility takes up about 75% of the square footage. When the location was conceived, Huntington was designed to be a “gateway” postal processing facility.
Daniel explained that businesses looking to move to a community often consider the presence of a mail processing facility in the same equation as, for instance, air service.
While Huntington postmarks between 70,000 and 300,000 pieces of mail daily, the Ashland center stands to to loss full time positions for part time flexible positions, said David Dunkle, executive vice president of the KYOVA Ashland local.
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