The proposed closure and consolidation of Bluefield’s Processing and Distribution Facility by the United States Postal Service is a flawed and poorly conceived idea.
The postal service says it is launching what it calls an Area Mail Processing study to determine if the Bluefield facility should be consolidated with existing postal centers in Charleston and Tennessee. We fear this study is a prelude to a closure. After all, the postal service has already proposed the consolidation of two postal centers in southern West Virginia in the last six months. And now it looks like Bluefield is the newest target.
The idea doesn’t make a lot of sense. Postal officials need to stop and consider the high percentage of elderly and low-income residents in the greater Bluefield region who still utilize the postal facilities on Cumberland Road. They still pay their monthly bills by mail. They still buy stamps. They still purchase money orders right here in Bluefield. We are a community that still utilizes our local postal facilities. The mail volume is still strong in Bluefield.
U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., has asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to review the consolidation process and to ensure that the postal service is complying with applicable law. He correctly points out a “disturbing scenario” in which distribution and processing facilities around the state are being consolidated into Charleston, and then moved out of state, entirely.
“The disruption and delay of mail service in rural communities cannot be allowed to continue,” Rahall said last week. “Smaller towns deserve the same level of mail and delivery service as big cities.”
Adding insult to injury is the anticipated loss of dozens of jobs if the local processing and distribution center is closed. At the moment, the postal service employs 96 people at the Cumberland Road site, including supervisors, clerks, maintenance personnel, administrators and other positions, according to Cathy Yarosky, a communications program specialist for the United States Postal Service.
Yarosky says if a decision is ultimately made to consolidate the facility, the postal service would work closely with employees to minimize disruption and follow collective bargaining agreements. She says all impacted career employees would be reassigned so that no one loses a job. However, she adds once a decision is made, postal officials will have to see what impacted employees want to do. She admits some may choose to retire.
We seriously doubt that all 96 employees will be able to pack their bags, and head to Charleston or Johnson City. Many of these workers have roots in the Bluefield area. They have families, children and homes. They can’t simply relocate.
If we are going to save our local postal center, we must speak out. And we must do so in a clear and unified voice. There will be opportunities for public comment. Citizens must attend these meetings in mass.
We must also voice our opposition to this closure plan to the postal service, and to our lawmakers in Washington. And our local elected officials must speak out and communicate their concerns to postal officials.
Editorials
February 6, 2011
Unacceptable — Postal service should scrap closure plan
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