The USPS Wenatchee Carrier Annex at 3075 Ohme Road is the processing and distribution center in Wenatchee from which USPS is considering moving some operations.
The USPS Wenatchee Carrier Annex at 3075 Ohme Road is the processing and distribution center in Wenatchee from which USPS is considering moving some operations.
WENATCHEE — U.S. Postal Service workers at the Wenatchee Processing and Distribution Center (PD&C) held a short picket on Thursday to draw attention to the USPS’s consideration of moving some mail processing operations to the Spokane PD&C.
The picket followed a week after USPS held a public meeting at the Wenatchee Public Library to present its tentative plan to relocate outgoing mail operations from the Wenatchee facility at 3075 Ohme Road to Spokane to help save money.
American Postal Workers Union Local 751 Wenatchee president and Washington State American Postal Workers Union president, Ryan Harris, said the picket began in the afternoon and lasted for an hour.
Harris said the workers felt Thursday was the best day to picket, as many of the postal workers work around the clock and the deadline for public comment on the proposed changes Dec. 14 is approaching.
Only four workers joined the picket and Harris said a schedule change the night before by managers prevented more from participating.
Harris said he suspected the change was done to prevent workers from joining the picket line.
“We’re just trying to get more information out and have people fill out the survey before the 14th,” Harris said.
If operations change, Harris said it would mean a delay in delivery for outgoing mail, which is the main concern of the postal workers.
“Right now, Wenatchee usually has a one-day service,” Harris said. “If we get it in the mail today, we process it that night and turn around and send it and (it’s) delivered the next day.”
Proposed changes also include relocating at least four jobs to different facilities in other cities.
Harris said USPS told the American Postal Workers Union at the national level changes to the mail system could begin in February.
At the Wenatchee public hearing, USPS representatives did not provide a timeline for any changes at the Wenatchee facility.
USPS representatives did not immediately respond to questions on Monday.
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