CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The postal workers union is asking elected officials and state residents to help it convince the U.S. Postal Service to move the time of a public meeting scheduled for later this month in Charleston.
The USPS is hosting that meeting on Jan. 30 at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center to take public comment on its ongoing review of the Charleston Processing and Distribution facility at Southridge and the possible moving of some of its operations.
Right now that meeting is set for 2:30 p.m. on that day. American Postal Workers Union Local 133 Vice President Tim Holstein said that meeting needs to be at 6 p.m. so people who work can get there.
“The Postal Service is making all of these public meetings at a time when the public is working. Some offices have been successful across the nation, we’re trying to get that public meeting time changed to 6 p.m. so the residents and members of the union can actually be there to voice their concerns,” Holstein said.
The union has reached out to elected officials and now the general public urging them to request the USPS move the meeting time.
“We’re trying to get as many people and as many of our elected officials to send a response to the postal service,” Holstein said.
Holstein said the public can email [email protected] and request the meeting be moved.
Holstein said similar situations have happened across the nation.
“What we’re seeing across the nation is they want the public’s input but they want it as little as possible. That’s why they are making the times at 2:30 and not when the public can actually be in attendance,” Holstein said.
The union is concerned the postal service may move some of the operations to a pair of postal facilities in Pennsylvania.
The facility has 800 employees and 500 of them are represented by the union. It’s the only operational processing and distribution center left in the state of West Virginia.