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SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday said they will be modernizing their facility in South Charleston and turning it into a local processing center with “no career employee layoffs.”
According to a press from the USPS, $22.8 million will be invested into the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center to turn it into a local processing center. They say the “mail processing outgoing operations” will be moved to Pittsburgh and Warrendale, Pennsylvania.
They say this should “result in expanded and streamlined package and mail processing and distribution capabilities for the facility.”
The facility’s state has been in limbo for a few months now. The USPS conducted a Mail Processing Facility Review to determine if they would consolidate the Charleston location to an out-of-state location like Pittsburgh or Warrendale.
They say “no career layoffs” are a part of the modernization, but it says reassignments and reductions will be made in compliance with their union and collective bargaining agreements. The initial findings report said that more workers could be hired with an estimated decrease of 24 craft and one management position after the initiative is finished.
Prominent politicians in West Virginia and Charleston have been against the closure of this facility, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) previously doubling down on his opposition to the closure saying that West Virginians are the, “hardest working, most loyal workers in the nation.”
