90 will lose jobs at Serco Inc.'s Warrendale plant

Serco Inc. is eliminating about 90 employees at its Warrendale plant that provides transportation equipment to U.S. Postal Service facilities when its contract expires Jan. 31.

Workers at the Thorn Hill Industrial Park location were told about the closing in letters from Serco dated Oct. 20, which said most employees would be terminated during the 14-day period beginning Dec. 19.

The Postal Service is not renewing contracts for eight so-called mail transport equipment service centers to save money, according to Pittsburgh-area spokesman Tad Kelley.

"We've handled less product over the last three years -- 7 billion fewer pieces of mail just this year alone," Kelley said. "Less pieces of mail means less revenues, and we are looking for ways to save money."

Kelley said he wasn't aware how much money the government could save by not renewing the Warrendale facility's contract. The Thorn Hill plant supplies equipment such as mailbags, plastic trays and rolling containers to post offices throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and upstate New York.

Serco spokesman Alan Hill couldn't be reached to comment Monday.

Warrendale employees wrote to U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, arguing the Postal Service would lose money by shutting the Thorn Hill plant.

"Congressman Altmire is very aware of the Serco situation, and is working with Sens. (Arlen) Specter and (Bob) Casey to find a solution," Altmire spokeswoman Tess Mullen said.

The letter to Altmire states Warrendale's location is within minutes of its two largest customers, the Postal Service's bulk mail center and its logistics and distribution center.

Transferring the business to another service center, with Detroit the closest, means adding hundreds of miles of transportation costs, including fuel, for work that costs little or nothing, the letter said.