Posted on 06/10/2004 7:39:21 AM PDT by Born Conservative
The distribution unit is cutting its work force, but growing military needs bring expansion to the depot.
By JERRY LYNOTT
jlynott@leader.net
COOLBAUGH TWP. - Job gains will outnumber losses at Tobyhanna Army Depot despite a plan to reduce by half the number of workers in the shipping and receiving operations at the Defense Distribution Center. The center, a government facility that is a tenant at the military installation in Monroe County, expects to drop the number of full-time workers to 53 from 100 next year in keeping with a proposal tentatively approved to keep the work in-house.
The depot, meanwhile, plans to add 200 jobs this year, said Kevin Toolan, a spokesman for Tobyhanna. Since October 2003 the depot has committed to hire or has hired 463 people because of a "40 percent increase in our workload due to the global war on terrorism," he said.
Tobyhanna, which maintains and services electronic and communications equipment for the military, employs nearly 4,000 people, including contractors and subcontractors, at the installation.
The Defense Distribution Center last week won out over four private companies competing for the center's work at the depot. The award has not been finalized, as the private companies can appeal the decision of the Defense Logistics Agency, which operates the distribution center.
If the retention of the government distribution center is approved by the agency, the center will have until Feb. 1, 2005, to reduce its workforce, said Jackie Noble, a spokeswoman for the Defense Distribution Center in New Cumberland. The center's proposal also called for reducing the number of temporary workers to five from 22 by next year.
"How we get there might not be actual layoffs," said Noble. As many as 79 people are eligible for regular and early retirement.
Noble said the distribution center has six months to work with employees on the reduction. "Nobody is losing their job this year."
The distribution center is also offering separation incentives up to $25,000, added Noble.
The decision to keep the distribution center's operation in house rather than out source came after a two-year competition. The center's "Most Efficient Organization" proposal was compared to the private bids in the process. Since March 1998, the Tobyhanna operation is the 11th of 16 distribution centers to participate in public/private competitions. The Defense Logistics Agency set a deadline of 2007 to complete the remaining competitions.
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