Labor Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Preston County Prison Workers Get Pay Bump To Boost Retention

Employees at Federal Correctional Complex Hazelton who are in good standing will receive a 25 percent pay increase — part of an effort to boost staff retention and promote facility safety.

Personnel at a Preston County prison will soon receive a 25 percent pay increase, following union protests over understaffing last year.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Office of Personnel Management approved the pay increase Thursday as part of an effort to increase staff retention at the Federal Correctional Complex Hazelton.

Staffing issues at the federal prison gained attention in 2018 following the deaths of three inmates in a seven-month span, including the murder of an inmate serving a life sentence.

Leadership changes following the incident improved staffing levels at the facility, according to corrections officer Justin Tarovisky, who also serves as union president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 420 chapter.

Tarovisky’s union represents more than 600 workers at the facility, from West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, he said.

But the departure of some members of the facility’s leadership, coupled with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated prior staffing issues to a new degree, Tarovisky said.

“Since that, we’ve drastically declined,” he said. In September, union representatives reported that more than 80 corrections officer positions were vacant.

Tarovisky said that understaffing in correctional facilities poses safety risks for current personnel.

“I mean, we’re a 24-hour operation. It’s not a job where you just leave at the end of the day, you go home, and you don’t have nobody there,” he said. “We have to have correctional officers at the facility to run a safe mission.”

To raise awareness about challenges to the facility, union workers lined a Monongalia County roadside last September, picketing with bright-colored signs demanding new hiring initiatives.

“We need hiring incentives to bring in new recruits,” Tarovisky said. “You have a lot of other law enforcement agencies within this country — whether it’s state police, whether it’s corrections in Pennsylvania — that … were offering higher incentives. So why would you want to come to Hazelton?”

Tarovisky said state officials were receptive to the union’s requests.

In November, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) urging the organization’s approval of a 25 percent retention incentive for staff at the facility.

“FCC Hazelton faces a dangerous staffing shortage that, while challenging, could be improved by providing current employees with a much-deserved pay increase,” he wrote in the letter.

After the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published a report in February that the BOP failed to prevent the deaths of 14 inmates at the West Virginia facility in just eight years — the second-highest number in the nation — Manchin renewed his calls for federal intervention.

Other allegations disclosed in a 2023 DOJ report included the falsification of documents from supervisory staff at the facility; the usage of racial slurs and punitive housing restrictions from workers; and even the assault of inmates by facility staff.

Manchin said that understaffing exacerbated dangerous conditions like these in the facility. Likewise, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said that the 2023 DOJ findings suggested the facility was unable to provide a safe environment for inmates and workers.

Tarovisky credits calls from West Virginia’s senators, plus additional support from U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, with pushing the pay increase forward.

“Unbelievable job, what they’ve done for the staff at Hazelton. This is what we’ve been asking for, and this is what they’ve been pressing on,” he said. “They put all politics aside to represent the people at FCC Hazelton.”

The pay raise will apply to all of the facility’s corrections officers who are currently in good standing. But it will also bump starting salaries at the facility up by 25 percent, which Tarovisky said will help make the facility more enticing in a competitive job market.

“That’s what’s so great about this,” he said. “Now, we can compete even higher with other agencies.”

Manchin applauded the new funding in a Thursday press release, adding that he hopes it will reduce safety risks in the prison.

“The facility has long suffered from severe staffing shortages, especially of correctional officers, that have resulted in a hostile environment for both employees and inmates,” he said. “This pay incentive is much-deserved for current employees and will help recruit new qualified officers and staff, which will promote safer conditions for employees and inmates.”

**Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that allegations of falsified documents and staff abuse came from a February 2024 Department of Justice report. They came from a September 2023 report. The story has been updated with the correction.

More Postal Workers Affected By Facility Downgrade Than Union Anticipated

As many as 90 postal workers could have their jobs affected by the downgrading of a West Virginia mail facility. This figure is higher than union representatives anticipated.

As many as 90 postal workers could have their jobs affected by the downgrading of a West Virginia mail facility — a figure notably higher than union representatives previously anticipated.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced Tuesday that it would carry out plans to transfer outgoing mail processing from the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center to facilities in Pennsylvania.

The decision followed months of deliberation, as well as intense pushback from union workers and state officials concerned with the fate of West Virginia’s only full USPS processing center.

Tim Holstein, vice president of the Charleston-based American Postal Workers Union Local 133, has been an outspoken opponent of the downgrade.

He said union workers worried that more employees would be impacted than the USPS initially estimated. “Multiple members could possibly be relocated or moved out of state, possibly uprooting families and lives,” he told West Virginia Public Broadcasting in February.

When the final report came out on Tuesday, Holstein said workers’ fears were actualized.

In January, the USPS released an initial report that estimated changes to the facility would bring a net decrease of 24 postal workers.

At a first glance, that number is similar to the net decrease of 23 postal workers from the final plans released in April. But the final report also included a breakdown omitted from the initial report.

This laid bare the full extent of changes in store for workers, Holstein said.

Forty-one career employees — 28 career mail processing clerks and 13 career maintenance workers — could be transferred out of the Charleston facility.

In calculating a net decrease, the USPS offset this number with employees gained at the Pittsburgh-area facilities. But Holstein said transferring facilities is not a simple process, and that it might not be a viable option for some employees.

“It’s very difficult to uproot your family and your life, especially if you’ve lived in a particular area, and move to another place that has a higher cost of living,” he said.

The report also said that 25 postal support employees and 24 mail handler assistants could lose their positions. These are non-career roles, which lack the protections of career positions and can be terminated by the USPS.

Positions At Stake

Position	Number Of Workers Affected	Eligible To Be Laid Off?
Mail Processing Clerks	28	No
Postal Support Employees	25	Yes
Mail Handler Assistants	24	Yes
Maintenance Workers	13	No

According to the United States Postal Service, a total of 90 workers at the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center could have their positions affected in the months ahead.
Graphic Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Together, that means a total of 90 career and non-career workers could be impacted through transfers and layoffs, respectively.

Holstein said that by providing just one number — the net decrease — the USPS misrepresented changes to the facility. The net figure was nearly four times lower than the cumulative number of positions impacted.

In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, USPS Spokesperson Susan Wright did not address these claims.

However, she wrote that numbers included in the initial report were based on USPS estimates at the time.

Wright also wrote that “all bargaining employee reassignments will be made in accordance with the respective collective bargaining agreements.”

Still, Holstein said that the release of the final report reignited concerns over USPS transparency among workers.

While the net employee decrease was included prominently on the report’s third page, the full breakdown was included pages into the report, with terms and figures Holstein described as convoluted.

Hours after the report came out, Holstein said he had to pull out a pencil and perform arithmetic to fully grasp the number of positions affected by the downgrade.

“Once you get deeper into the math, you’re finding out that they’re using a net combined number that makes it more palatable for the public … in hopes that we’re not going to start digging into the numbers,” he said.

Union representatives were not alone in expressing disapproval of the final plans. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., released a statement Tuesday expressing concern over how many workers could be impacted.

“I am disappointed that USPS has decided to move forward with plans to shrink the role of the Charleston facility,” she said. “It is also very disappointing to see the number of jobs impacted by these changes has grown from USPS’s initial findings.”

While the USPS describes their plans as final, Holstein said he and fellow workers will continue to challenge them within the boundaries of their positions.

“The fight is not over,” he said. “Until we start to see a relocation or the non-career employees let go, we’re still on the fight. We’re still going to give it 100 percent.”

Tim Holstein said he had to do handwritten arithmetic to understand the full extent of staff changes at the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center.
*Photo Credit: Tim Holstein/American Postal Workers Union Local 133*

USPS Will Move W.Va. Mail Processing To Pittsburgh, Despite Pushback

The USPS announced Tuesday it will consolidate a South Charleston facility and move some mail processing operations to the Pittsburgh area. The changes follow months of pushback from union representatives.

After months of deliberation, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced Tuesday that it will consolidate a South Charleston facility and move some mail processing operations to the Pittsburgh area.

The decision follows intense debate over the future of the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center, which is the only full USPS mail processing center in West Virginia.

Plans for the consolidation were announced in fall 2023. Union representatives worried the shift would bring layoffs for temporary employees, or location reassignments for career employees.

They also said mail delivery times could increase for West Virginia residents if processing services were moved out of state.

State lawmakers — plus Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. — echoed concerns over the consolidation publicly.

But USPS officials have denied claims that delivery times could be impacted by the facility change.

In a press release Tuesday, they also confirmed that no career employees would be laid off through the new plans.

That doesn’t mean workers will be unaffected. Temporary workers could still be laid off through the restructuring, and full-time employees could be reassigned to locations outside Kanawha County.

However, any staff changes will follow collective bargaining agreements from the local postal workers union, according to the USPS press release.

The changes come as part of a ten-year plan from USPS to restructure operations nationally.

Members of the Charleston-based American Postal Workers Union 133 have hosted informational pickets since late 2023 over the proposed downsizing of a local mail processing facility.
*Photo Courtesy of Tim Holstein/American Postal Workers Union Local 133*

Some union representatives have expressed concerns that the changes will reduce jobs and mail services for rural communities most acutely.

But the West Virginia consolidation also comes with an investment.

According to USPS, nearly $23 million will be invested in the South Charleston facility to modernize services, improve technology and renovate break rooms.

Still, representatives with the Charleston-area American Postal Workers Union Local 133 (APWU) said they do not see the investment as a cause for celebration.

“While it is to no surprise the regurgitated language specified in this release seems to be positive, postal employees across the United States know otherwise,” Tim Holstein, vice president of APWU 133, wrote in a statement provided to West Virginia Public broadcasting.

Holstein wrote that the union’s concerns with increased delivery times and mail costs have not been quashed.

While the USPS might have reached a decision, Holstein said union workers still plan to challenge the changes to come.

“[APWU President Craig] Brown and I will continue fighting this consolidation to the fullest extent our contractual provisions allow,” he wrote.

“We request that members of the public continue to contact their senators, congressmen and congresswomen in opposition to this now planned change.”

After Charleston USPS Hearing, Union Workers Still Have Questions

When United States Postal Service (USPS) officials hosted a public hearing earlier this week, they hoped it would clarify the downsizing plans for a Charleston mail processing facility proposed last fall.

But representatives with the Charleston-based American Postal Workers Union (APWU) 133 said they left the hearing with more questions unanswered.

The Charleston Processing and Distribution Center is the only full USPS mail processing facility in West Virginia. With one final round of public comments on the USPS plans pending, union workers and state lawmakers are voicing concerns over the future of the facility and West Virginia’s mailing industry at large.

Changes To The Charleston Facility

Droves of concerned residents and postal workers filed into the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center for the hearing Wednesday.

It came on the heels of months of intense protest beginning in the fall of 2023, when the USPS officials shared plans to move some local postal operations to Pennsylvania.

Findings published in January outlined these changes. The report said that certain West Virginia-based mail operations, like handling letters and smaller packages, would be transferred to Pittsburgh-area facilities.

It also stated that millions of dollars would be invested in improvements to the facility, like new mail sorting equipment and refurbished restroom and break room areas.

But Tim Holstein, vice president of APWU 133, said the need for these facility improvements reflects an already strained relationship between local workers and USPS officials.

“My question to the postal service is, if we’re concerned about LED lighting, better bathrooms and break rooms for employees, what have we been doing the last 30 years since that building has been there?” Holstein said.

According to Holstein, union frustrations with the USPS span longer than a few months. But the new slate of proposed changes has thrown into relief worries that union employees continue to hold.

A livestream of the USPS public hearing Wednesday evening shows community members and postal workers arising to address USPS officials and ask questions.
Credit: Courtesy of Tim Holstein/American Postal Workers Union 133

Union And Community Concerns

The proposed changes to the Charleston facility would bring no layoffs for career employees, according to the USPS findings.

In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Susan Wright — a USPS spokeswoman — said the initial plans would only affect 24 career employees, and that they would remain employed by the organization.

Wright did not specify what career changes might come for these employees. But Holstein said alternatives to layoffs, like transferring to another state, do not reflect the best interests of workers.

“We’re concerned that there possibly could be one of our members, if not more,” he said. “Multiple members could possibly be relocated or moved out of state, possibly uprooting families and lives.”

Debby Szeredy, executive vice president of the national APWU, visited Charleston to speak at Wednesday’s hearing. She said it is important that the USPS keeps these jobs local.

“These are good jobs for this community, and we don’t deserve to have them gone,” she said.

Additionally, both Holstein and Szeredy expressed concern that the changes would affect delivery times for West Virginia residents.

USPS officials have disputed this claim. During the hearing, USPS Coordinator Ted Hanson said “delivery services will be unaffected” by operational changes to the facility.

According to Wright, changes to the Charleston facility are part of a ten-year plan to enhance the USPS nationally through operational restructuring.

But Szeredy said that, time and time again, these changes only affect rural facilities and the communities that depend on them.

“Charleston does not deserve this. It’s actually very discriminatory, the case that all these rural sites are on our list,” she said. “There’s a number of them besides Charleston.”

Picketers line the roads of Charleston to voice concerns over potential layoffs at the state’s only USPS mail processing facility.
Credit: Courtesy of Tim Holstein/American Postal Workers Union 133

Eroding Trust

Holstein said that the buildup to Wednesday’s hearing has only exacerbated union frustrations with national USPS officials.

The hearing was initially slated for January, but was delayed with less than a week’s notice. It was rescheduled for Feb. 14, a holiday, and came after the USPS had already released its initial findings.

Together, Holstein said that these actions reflected an apathy on the part of the USPS toward union concerns.

“We believe that they did that with the malicious intent to keep the public away from hearing the truth,” he said.

Even lawmakers have taken part in voicing concern over how the hearing transpired.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, published an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail condemning the USPS “for not sufficiently communicating with stakeholders and impacted communities before final decisions are made.”

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t have that public hearing before they put their findings out,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told West Virginia Public Broadcasting Thursday. “That concerns me.”

USPS officials have stated they rescheduled the hearing because they needed more time to compile their findings, but Holstein said that the distrust it planted in union workers remains.

Meanwhile, Wright wrote that she and fellow USPS representatives understand the frustration local postal workers have for the proposed restructuring. “Change is uncomfortable and concerning for most people,” she wrote.

“It is important for our customers and employees to understand the [ten-year plan] is focused on improving all aspects of the Postal Service to ensure we are financially secure and operationally efficient for our immediate and long-term future,” she wrote.

But Holstein said that, until national USPS representatives are willing to work with his union to develop solutions by and for the local community, it is hard to believe they have workers’ best interest at heart.

“The problem is, the postal service has not approached the union in any sort of effort to try to make these changes, or to see what we can implement together as one to be productive,” Holstein said. “They haven’t done that.”

“Until they do that, obviously we look at this as a loss of trust,” he said.

Younger Teens Would No Longer Need Work Permits Under Bill

A bill under review in the West Virginia House of Delegates would eliminate work permits for 14 and 15-year-olds, instead requiring the teenagers to receive a state-issued age certificate and parental consent.

The West Virginia House of Delegates is considering a bill that would eliminate work permits for 14 and 15-year-olds.

Currently, 14 and 15-year-olds must obtain a permit to work in West Virginia. These permits are ultimately under the purview of the state superintendent of schools.

But House Bill 5159 would eliminate these work permits, and instead require that 14- and 15-year-olds just receive proof of their age in the form of an age certificate.

Additionally, it would be up to the state Commissioner of Labor to distribute those certificates.

At a meeting of the House Committee on Government Organization Monday, Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, expressed concern that the bill would remove parental authority over youth employment.

During the meeting, members of the committee proposed an amendment that would require parental consent for an age certificate to be issued to a teenager.

The amendment passed, and Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, said it “tightens up a loophole” in the pending legislation.

For the most part, members of the committee spoke favorably of the bill, citing drawn-out experiences of helping their own children secure employment.

Young, however, voiced concern that removing work permits would still place employers and teenagers at risk.

Young pointed to an incident in Alabama in which a 15-year-old fell off a ladder on his first day at a roofing company and died. Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor found that the company had violated child labor laws.

“The parental consent absolutely helps. However, I still just think this is too onerous, and repealing laws that I think are good laws to have,” she said.

The bill ultimately received majority support from members of the committee, with delegates voting to send it to the House floor with the recommendation that it pass.

More Miners Opt Into MSHA Program To Reduce Silica Dust Exposure

Chris Williamson, the assistant secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor, says participation in the Part 90 program is up 750 percent.

The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration says participation is up in a program that helps coal miners avoid exposure to silica dust.

Chris Williamson, the assistant secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor, says participation in the Part 90 program is up 750 percent.

Last year, MSHA said it would look for ways to encourage more miners to take part in the program, which allows those who have been diagnosed with black lung disease to continue to work in the industry but in positions where they won’t be exposed to as much silica dust.

The move can slow the progression of a disease that’s affecting miners at younger ages and more severely than it did in the past. That’s in part because miners must grind through more rock to extract coal, and that rock dust contains silica.

Part 90 has been around for decades – it even predates MSHA. But Wiliamson and mine health advocates say the program is underused.

Last year, Williamson says seven miners signed up for the program. This year, he says 34 have opted to participate, most of them in West Virginia and in southern West Virginia in particular.

“If those miners either want to continue to work or they have to because of economic reasons, or whatever the rationale,” he said, “there is this right that’s out there that’s incredibly powerful that can help them preserve what bit of health that they have left.”

As MSHA finalizes a rule to reduce the maximum silica dust exposure for all coal miners – to 50 micrograms per cubic meter per shift – Part 90 is a tool that can benefit those who already have the disease but slow its progression.

“I think it’s hard to argue with a 750 percent increase in the number of miners that are exercising their right,” Williamson said. “We know there’s still many, many, many more miners out there that could benefit from this.”

Williamson says the final rule on silica dust should be in place by April. It must be reviewed first by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

To hear more of Chris Williamson’s interview with Curtis Tate and Emily Rice, listen to WVPB next week.