Postal Workers Plea to Keep Charlottesville Facility Afloat

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Updated: 9:01 PM Nov 17, 2009 Postal Workers Plea to Keep Charlottesville Facility Afloat Postal workers and their supporters are hoping plans to close the Charlottesville Processing Facility fall through. They are trying to get the word out before a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 18. Posted: 6:18 PM Nov 17, 2009 Reporter: Mark Tenia Email Address: mark.tenia@newsplex.com

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November 17, 2009

The United States Postal Service will hold a public meeting in Charlottesville Wednesday to discuss a proposal to shut down a local postal facility.

The proposal is the shut down and consolidate the Charlottesville Processing Facility. While the United States Postal Service says it will increase productivity and efficiency, some postal workers say it will do the exact opposite.

"Everybody from Orange, Virginia to Palmyra, everybody with a '229' zip code, we process their mail," said jimmy Brooks.

Brooks is the President of the local Postal Worker's Union. He says relocating employees, shutting down the Charlottesville facility, and consolidating it with the Richmond facility means mail will travel longer. He believes this change will slow down service for everyone in the area.

"You're looking at another two hour drive of this mail going down the road somewhere else," said Brooks.

However, according to a U.S. Postal Service study, the agency has declining mail volume due to the economy and an excess of employees and equipment. The Postal Service says it is looking for ways to save money that will not affect current service. According to the study, the move could save the USPS about $10 million.

Brooks disagrees. "I don't believe our 180 people here next year are going to make $10 million. We make pretty good salaries but we don't make $10 million in that group of people."

The USPS says the deal is not done and that everything is being taken into account, including opinions voiced at Wednesday night's open town hall meeting at Charlottesville High School (7:00pm).

"What I'm hoping for is that the pubic outcry will be so tremendous that they won't want to take this away," said Brooks.

Brooks says he hopes that message is strongly delivered to USPS headquarters, so he and his fellow postal workers can continue to deliver mail to their customers.

The meeting will be held at Charlottesvlle High School at the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center. For anyone that can't make the meetoing, USPS is encouraging the public to send their comments to:

Consumer Affairs Manager
1801 Brook Road
Richmond, Va 23232-9631.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Wilbur Location: Charlottesville on Nov 18, 2009 at 03:39 PM

The proposed closing is an economic issue, not one of service. We can go on and on with individual examples of failures on both the customer side and the Postal Service side. It is irrelavant. The issue is that the postal service has been bleeding money for more than ten years and has done nothing to address the issue, other than raise the cost of stamps. Like most econoomic activity in the last 8 to 10 years, we have not done what we could pay for, we have done what we were able to borrow for. It makes no economic sense to continue an operation that can be replaced with a more efficient process. Much like all news papers, the postal service has closed its collective eyes to the fact that their service become more of a relic with each passing day.

Posted by: John Location: Charlottesville on Nov 17, 2009 at 10:57 PM

As a mail carrier I see why some mail does not get delivered on time. A lot of people forget to apply postage, while others do not use a return address. If there is no postage or return address, you see why that mail would be delayed. Not claiming the USPS is not capable of making a mistake, but just sharing one example of delayed mail. On line payments also have their problems with overdrafts and double billing etc..Just my 2 cents.

Posted by: Jerry Location: Charlottesville on Nov 17, 2009 at 06:47 PM

Service will suffer, Jobs will be lost, also what happened to the next day service within state, I mailed a payment for a bill from Charlottesville to Richmond on 11-03-09 and it still has not reached the destination yet, even though it was due on 11-13 09, will the post office pay my late charge for me... I doubt it. I will hold them responsible, however what good will that do me. If this happens now, what will happen if the mail moves to Richmond and that means more mail for that plant to process, and then the postal service wonders why so much of their business is going to bill payment online, I can tell you this my bill paying will be conducted online from now on. I tried to support the Post Office, where did that get me. I can just hope that someone will get the message and fix whatever problem we have in the Postal Service, otherwise we will not have a Postal Service and look at the jobs that will be lost then, not just the "little people" but the higher ups also. Thanks a lot ..

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