Official: Public urging kept mail facility open
Commissioners also approved a voluntary unpaid-leave program for county workers.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Lawrence County Commissioner Richard DeBlasio thinks the outpouring of public support was instrumental in the United State Postal Service’s decision to keep the mail processing facility on Cascade Street open.
“I consider this a big win for the county,” Chairman Steve Craig said when commissioners met Tuesday. The board had supported an effort to keep the facility open. They learned after a conference call last Tuesday with Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and federal postal officials that the postal service had decided to let the facility remain open, although about 25 employees will be cut.
DeBlasio said, however, that nobody will lose a job, and that the 25 positions will be eliminated through attrition and transfers to other postal facilities.
In April, the postal service indicated it was considering consolidating some operations of the New Castle facility with the one in Pittsburgh. The local community had responded to the threat of the loss of 190 jobs with petitions and letters to the postal service. One effort was the New Castle Postal Workers Union Local 227 Web site which launched www.savenewcastlemail.com. The site reports more than 12,000 signatures on petitions to keep Cascade Street open.
While commissioners were pleased with the decision, union officials said they fear more jobs will eventually be phased out.
Ken Sasiadek, vice president of NCPWU Local 227, said they are wary because of past actions by the post office in other areas of the country in which operations were eventually phased out despite such promises.
He pointed out that if these operations were moved out of New Castle, there would no longer be a New Castle postmark, and collection times would have to be earlier which would affect local business.
He said a piece of mail would have to be processed in Pittsburgh, which would add an extra day to the time it would take to arrive at its destination.
Neither the postmaster at the Cascade Street operation nor the postal service’s consumer affairs manager will be available until next week to comment, a postal service spokesman said.
Sasiadek said the postal service is expected to set a meeting for July at which public comment on the proposed closing was supposed to have been documented. He fears that last week’s announcement will mean a poor turnout at the meeting, and he thinks this could affect the long term future of the facility. He said his union intends to publicize the meeting once it is set.
Commissioners also unanimously passed a voluntary unpaid leave program, which is intended to save money on personnel costs.
It allows an employee to take off 10 consecutive days with the approval of their department head without affecting staff evaluations, pay increases, longevity, vacation, sick leave, or holiday eligibility. DeBlasio said, “We are trying to do everything we can to stay away from layoffs.”
Craig said commissioners had met in a closed session Monday and expect to shortly conclude the purchase of the Second Presbyterian Church, 439 Countyline St., despite a published report that another buyer is interested in the building.
Closing of the sale has been delayed because the owner, Paul Lynch, is out of town.