By Michelle Switzer
The Chamberlain post office has already seen reduced hours as part of the U.S. Postal Service’s POStPlan, and personnel changes are next on the agenda. (Michelle Switzer photo) |
Longtime employees of the Chamberlain and Round Pond post offices could lose their jobs as the result of a U.S. Postal Service effort to eliminate “postmaster relief”
positions, although local and nationwide petition efforts seek to save the positions.
In 2012, the Postal Service adopted its POStPlan, designed to help preserve the nation’s smallest post offices by reducing their hours.
A memorandum of understanding between the American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service dated Sept. 24, 2014 terminates most postmaster relief jobs
across the country, including those in Chamberlain and Round Pond.
Rachael Fossett, a postmaster relief who works at the Chamberlain Post Office, has been in her position at the Chamberlain office for over 22 years.
The Postal Service plans to replace postmasters relief who work in four-hour offices with a new classification of employee it calls a postal support employee,
Fossett said. Both Round Pond and Chamberlain are four-hour offices.
Neither the postal support employees nor the postmasters relief have a say in where workers are placed, Fossett said.
According to Fossett, management has already made moves to replace Round Pond’s postmaster relief with a postal support employee.
Fossett does not know from day to day if or when her job will be terminated.
“The memo basically said we were no longer needed,” Fossett said.
According to Maureen Marion, manager of corporate communications for the Postal Service in the Northeast Area, a postmaster relief is considered a non-career
position. The original intent of the postmaster relief was to work part time and cover periods when the postmaster would not be available.
A postal service employee is considered a career position and has benefits that non-career positions do not have.
“There will be people who end up not having a position in the Postal Service, when they had had one previously,” Marion said. “There has been a lot of work to try to
make a home for everyone.”
An online petition started Dec. 27, 2014, hopes to convince Postal Service management to convert all postmasters relief to postal support employees. The petition
says converting jobs will actually save the Postal Service money in the long run. The petition has 1,533 supporters to date.
Marion said the Postal Service is aware of the petition.
“We can’t speak to it right now, but we are aware of its existence,” she said.
According to Fossett, a local petition had started in Round Pond, and was available at King Ro Market.
“The petition had at least 80 signatures. It was drawn up because the townspeople couldn’t understand the mentality of bringing someone into the Round Pond post
office that doesn’t know anybody,” Lori Crook, co-owner of King Ro Market said.
“We’ve contacted our senators,” Fossett said. “We want people to know what’s happening.”
View the online petition here.
