FROM THE 1ST VICE PRESIDENT’S DESK JUNE 1999

Charles J. Denson, Jr.

National 1st Vice President

In the near future the Postal Service will begin shifting some of its jobs. This could be the beginning of the end for the Remote Encoding Centers (REC). As you may or may not know, the Postal Service has some fifty odd centers around the country. Currently, these centers are staffed by both career and transitional employees. With the new generation of computers now in operation in the Postal Service, automation has become much more sophisticated. Since these machines are able to read handwriting, the centers are becoming less important.

These centers, from the very beginning, were embroiled in controversy. From the start, there were grievances, complaints, and protracted arbitrary hearings associated with the staffing of personnel. Now that all the dust has settled, and the decision has been made, it is time to move on to the next chapter. That chapter will begin with the closing of the first centers, probably about nine. The Postal Service will phase out the centers on a gradual basis to eliminate wholesale displacement of employees. The closings will be spaced out over a two-year period. The first two will occur in September 1999 - one in California and the other in Tennessee. They are the only two scheduled for 1999. Seven more centers will be closed between January and September of 2000.

Since the REC’s handle the encoding for many of the processing plants in their areas, closings will cause leftovers that will have to be shifted to other sites still open and operating. All of these sites operate from information that is up-linked to satellites then downloaded by satellite to faraway processing centers, therefore, the shift in responsibilities can be accomplished easily.

The closing of these centers is expected to save the Postal Service in the neighborhood of $12-$15 million dollars. And a reduction of roughly 18,000 employees. The Postal Service has said that the projected move will result in a reduction in the workforce of about twenty percent (20%). All of the centers’ employees have been or are in the process of receiving long range notice about the facility shutdown plans. The Postal Service has also begun planning long term counseling and workfairs for the employees that will be affected by the expected shift in the workforce.

All of the supervisory personnel at the sites slated for closure are being advised to apply for jobs anywhere in the Postal Service where there is a vacancy. The career employees of the facilities that are slated to be closed will be given preferences in job bids within the Postal Service. The bulk of the employees of the Remote Encoding Centers are made up of transitional employees. These employees will not be given any special treatment as far as preferential job vacancies or transfers are concerned. However, the employees who fall in this group will be able to transfer to other REC’s, if they choose or leave to search for other employment. Those transitional employees who do decide to leave the Postal Service will have the advantage of career counseling in job seeking skills in the employment field.

These centers were never meant to be permanent. They were merely a stepping stone to the next generation in the automation process for the Postal Service. This is the beginning of the process of the Postal Service streamlining its operations for the twenty-first century.

AS WE MOVE ALONG IN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

AD MORTEM FIDELIS

cdenson@patriot.net