USPS Postal union seeks support to fight possible downsizing

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Postal union seeks support to fight possible downsizing at Edison facility

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EDISON — Area postal workers are mobilizing to fight possible downsizing at the U.S. Postal Service's Kilmer Processing and Distribution Center on Kilmer Road.
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Members of the American Postal Workers Union Central Jersey Area Local No. 149 are visiting local governing bodies asking them to oppose the potential elimination of the afternoon shift at the Kilmer center. The union has spoken with the township councils in Piscataway and North Brunswick. Piscataway has already passed such a resolution and North Brunswick officials are considering it.

"I believe that, if they take away that shift, the next step would be to shut down the building sometime in the future," Eileen Weisz, who works at the Bayard Street Post Office in New Brunswick, told the North Brunswick Township Council on Aug. 3.

Hank Anderson, president of the Central Jersey Area Local, said union members plan to visit at least six more municipalities in the coming weeks.

U.S. Postal Service spokesman George Flood said the postal service is conducting an Area Mail Processing study to see whether it would be more efficient to consolidate some mail processing responsibilities from the Kilmer plant into other facilities. Flood said the postal service is considering moving some processing from Kilmer to a facility in Trenton.

In addition, the postal service is also studying the possible transfer of some processing from Kilmer to a plant in Kearny, according to a June 30 letter to union officials from Alice Newman, the area human resources manager for the postal service.

The Kilmer facility processes mail for areas with zip codes beginning with 088 or 089.

But Flood said the studies are still in the early stages, and he said no decisions have been made. He said the postal service will only move forward with a plan if it proves more efficient.

But Anderson and other union members believe the postal service is quietly planning to eliminate the afternoon shift, which Anderson said would result in the relocation of 100 employees, earlier drop-off times for postal customers, and longer mail processing times.