February 27, 2015 – Roanoke postal employees on Wednesday learned that the U.S. Postal Service is going through with a plan to consolidate the Rutherford Avenue processing center to Greensboro, North Carolina.
The consolidation will begin April 18, and affected employees will be notified next week, according to Carlton Cooper, president of the local chapter of the American Postal Workers Union.
Cooper said the consolidation will affect 105 clerks, 25 maintenance workers and 70 mail handlers, and the transition and movement of equipment will begin in July. He said the decision about which employees will be affected will depend on seniority, with those who have been with USPS longest staying in Roanoke. So he said they have a good idea of which employees will be affected. Not all these employees will lose their jobs, however, and they will have an option of relocating, he said.
Cooper said the Roanoke facility has about 200 full-time clerks, 70 maintenance personnel and 100 mail handlers, plus about 40 management positions. The majority of employees are represented by the union.
Once the consolidation begins, there will no more mail originating in Roanoke with a Roanoke postmark. For example, if someone mails a letter in Roanoke to an address across the street, it will still have to go through the Greensboro processing center. The only mail that will be handled in Roanoke will be packages and express and priority mail. Read more
Truck drivers possibly impacted by Roanoke processing center closing
Some truck drivers may also be impacted when the Roanoke distribution center closes this year.
USPS contracts trucking companies to pick up mail and drop it off at the distribution center.
One of those truck drivers is Carlos Persinger. He works 17 hour days with Powell Trucking LLC to pick up and drop off mail.
However he’s one of several people worried about losing his job when the distribution center closes.
“There are so many contractors that do this in the Roanoke area,” says Persinger. “We’re not talking about five to six jobs. We’re talking about hundreds of jobs. It’s a lot.”
Persinger says drivers can pull in anywhere from $35,000 to $100,000 a year.
WSLS 10 NBC in Roanoke/Lynchburg Va
When Greensboro closed the remote encoding center, jobs were offered us in Charlotte. I had to commute 90 miles every day for 2 years and 3 months until finally getting a promotion nearer this area. Don’t expect any compassion for employees from postal management. Many career employees have quit the postal service as they can’t commute or move.
Who gives a rats ass ,contractors losing work
Career craft employees… If you have no idea what you’re talking about, why not troll somewhere else? I’m pretty sure the 100’s of career employees who are given no option other than moving hours away to keep their current job or be forced into a job they’ve never worked in before probably care very much.