CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – American Postal Workers Union members in Charlotte protested reported cuts and changes from the United States Postal Service on Tuesday.
The group peacefully walked from the union office to a nearby mail processing center, where they demonstrated for nearly an hour.
“They’re being criticized for [the issues]; they’re taking the brunt of it for everything that’s happening,” said Tony McKinnon, state president for the American Postal Workers Union.
The group maintains many of the changes being reported, like hundreds of possible layoffs and a moving of some Charlotte mail operations to Gastonia, are more trouble than it’s worth.
“They’ve done it in Atlanta and in Richmond, and it’s not working,” said McKinnon.
USPS has been upfront about the changes they are making. Unveiled in 2021, the Delivering for America plan was designed to address what they believe is an outdated system, along with financial losses in the tens of billions of dollars.
In a statement released this week to Queen City News, the postal service emphasized that no career employees will be laid off as part of any current plans and that no post offices will be closed.
Get breaking news alerts with the Queen City News mobile app. It’s FREE! Download for iOS or Android
Union members, however, said this has resulted in jobs going unfilled, some processing centers being closed, and some workers being forced to work long hours and forced overtime.
Earlier this year, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told a Congressional panel that “we’re driving billions of dollars out of the organization and will continue to accelerate that cost reduction as we move forward.”
McKinnon noted, “It’s a plan to try and make us a business. The US Postal Service has always been a service to the American people.”
Source link
#Local #American #Postal #Workers #Union #members #protest #cuts
