TimesLeader.com

Picketing set to target post office transfer plan

BILL O ’ BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE – Representatives of the American Postal Workers Union Local 175 will conduct informational picketing Thursday in opposition to the plan to close some mail-sorting operations at the Wilkes-Barre Post Office.

John Kishel, president of Local 175, Friday said picketing will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday.

A decision on the closing of the Wilkes-Barre Post Office facility won’t be made before June 1 and the public will have the opportunity to offer input at a hearing in April, according to Ray V. Daiutolo Sr., spokesman for the postal service.

The U.S. Postal Service is conducting a feasibility study to determine whether some operations at the Wilkes-Barre facility can be consolidated into the Scranton facility. The study, initiated because the Postal Service is “facing declining mail volumes and growing deficits,” will be completed in about five months, and a public meeting will be scheduled to announce proposed changes.

“We want to let the public know what could happen if some of the services are transferred out of Wilkes-Barre,” Kishel said.

City council unanimously approved a resolution earlier this month that strongly opposes “any and all efforts” to close the Wilkes-Barre Post Office now or in the future.

If part of the operation is shut down, Kishel said a letter dropped at the city post office would not be delivered the next day. Kishel said the Wilkes-Barre post office employs 230. He said at least 100 of them could be moved out of the city to other areas, such as Scranton, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and even Detroit, Mich.