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REDI doesn't support removal of Columbia postal center

Post Office in Columbia

The Board of Directors of Regional Economic Development Inc., or REDI, says it’s not ready for the U.S. Postal Service to cut jobs in Columbia.

The Postal Service currently is considering moving 42 of 133 Columbia postal employees to Kansas City or St. Louis, or possibly shutting the Columbia center down entirely.

Ultimately, the changes could affect local businesses and the speediness of mail delivery in the service area.

REDI is the latest group to join the fight against the plan.

Jim Marsden, a regional president of the American Postal Workers Union, says that he is ecstatic that the company has joined the fight with a formal opposition that cites concerns similar to the unions’.  

“They recognize the importance of timely delivery of mail and how it effects more than just the 133 clerks at the airport. It will affect several people in several communities.”

Marsden says that REDI’s opposition is a major endorsement and can persuade more businesses to come out against the plan, too, and put more pressure on the postal service.

President of the local American Postal Workers Union Jim Marsden also opposes the plan and says that he understands REDI’s concern that service might slow down business in the area.   

“Essentially that’s what REDI is looking for. Not only do they protect the business interest in the area, they try to make it conducive for more business to move into the area.”

Marsden says the proposal will slow mail delivery for the community as a whole.

The Postal Service is set to make its final decision on the plan on April 17.

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