LOCAL
Letter Carriers to picket over planned Seattle closures
SEATTLE — The Seattle Post Office plans to close all of the downtown Seattle USPS mailrooms located inside big downtown buildings and it is causing quite a stir. Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 79 will be picketing on Thursday, July 14 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in front of the Jackson Federal Building at 915 2nd Ave in downtown Seattle to let the public know how much disruption the closures will cause.
Currently, Letter Carriers report to mailrooms inside large downtown buildings and prepare the mail there. Customers in the buildings just go down to the mailroom and pick up their mail during defined morning hours and then whatever doesn’t get picked up, the letter carrier delivers from the room.
The USPS wants to make the carrier prepare their mail at the post office (either International Station or Midtown at 3rd and Union) and make the customers either come to the station and pick up their mail (for a fee) or the carrier will deliver the mail using a vehicle.
Customers, letter carriers and the general public will all be adversely affected by this decision. Jobs will be eliminated, business will lose productivity while they dispatch someone to leave the office and pick up the mail and 50 more postal vehicles will be added to traffic in the downtown area. Mail truck parking alone will become a huge problem.
“Closure of the downtown mailrooms does not make sense for business or for letter carriers,” said Jo Ann Pyle, President of NALC Branch 79. “Our members want to continue to deliver convenient and high quality mail service. They understand the disruption this action will cause and they want to get the word out to the public in hopes they will contact the Seattle Post Office and express their concerns.”
TAKE A STAND! Join NALC Branch 79 members at the informational picket Thursday, July 14 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in front of the Federal Building at 915 2nd Ave. in downtown Seattle.
For more information, contact NALC Branch 79 at 206-284-3420.
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