Clay rallies support for post office

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

GARY — Mayor Rudy Clay said Thursday he would try to get all of the region’s mayors, clerk-treasurers and other public officials behind his opposition to a possible closing of the U.S. Postal Service’s processing and distribution center here.

The postal service plans to conduct a feasibility study to determine if the center, at 1499 Martin Luther King Drive, should continue its operations or shift some functions to a South Bend facility.

Closing the center and moving its operations east would only hurt the efficiency of mail service in Northwest Indiana for residents and businesses, Clay said. That could mean late pension or Social Security checks to residents and the “loss of millions and millions of dollars” to businesses depending on getting mail on time for their work.

“This particular processing and distribution center not only is  a great service to Gary, but it’s a greater service to Northwest Indiana,” said Clay. “The efficiency of this facility far outweighs the efficiency of the South Bend facility.”

The center now employs 87 people, about 70 percent of whom live outside of Gary, Clay estimated.

Postal service spokeswoman Kim Yates has said a feasibility may lead to a consolidation if it has no negative impact on mail delivery. Use of the postal service nationwide has plummeted by billions of pieces of mail.

Workers at the Gary facility unload mail trucks, operate equipment called “advanced facer cancellation machines” and sort mail for distribution.

Several unions represent the employees, including the American Postal Workers Union of America, which also represents workers in Portage, Merrillville and Lake Station.

APWU local president Benjamin Barnes Sr., suggested poor management and heavy legacy costs are hurting the postal service more than the economy. He also said moving operations out of Gary would have far reaching consequences.

“If this facility is relocated to South Bend, I can guarantee you it’s going to have a greater effect than just the 87 employees,” Barnes said. “But, this is not about employees, but maybe this will be a catalyst that will bring Northwest Indiana together as one.”

The unions are in contract negotiations with the postal service now, but a consolidation doesn’t mean his members will be out of jobs, Barnes said. There are contract terms that allow them to move to other spots or crafts within a geographical area, he explained.

Cynthia Starks, branch manager for the National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 304 said she is waiting for more information from the postal service, but she doesn’t know what to tell her 58 members before then.

“I’m ready for (members) to lash out, but my hands are tied,” Starks said, adding there have been rumors of consolidation since she hired on in 1992.

“To me, the postal service has been trying to find any avenue to close the Gary site, but why now?”