Post Office Holding Public Meeting Concerning Future Of Tulsa Distribution Center

Changes could be coming to northeastern Oklahoma mail sorting and delivery and Tulsa postal union Local 1348 is trying to stop them.

A few months ago the U.S. Postal Service launched a study to see if it would be cost-effective to close the Tulsa Processing and Distribution Center near 21st Street South and 91st East Avenue and move operations to Oklahoma City.

The Area Processing Feasibility Study or AMP claims that moving mail sorting from Tulsa to Oklahoma City would save the Postal Service more than $11 million.

In that same AMP study, the Postal Service says there will be a net loss of 183 jobs, with the rest of the Tulsa jobs moving to Oklahoma City.  The union says that means all of the center's 583 jobs will disappear from Tulsa.

9/16/2011 Related Story: Closure Of Tulsa Postal Center Would Mean Loss Of 500 Jobs

Union Local 1348 in Tulsa strongly opposes the proposal saying it would change the way Tulsans get their mail.  It says local overnight delivery will not be possible under the proposal and changing how first class mail is delivered would hurt local businesses.

The study says the change would "support a 2 to 3 day service standard for First-Class Mail."

There is a public meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, December 1, 2011 at Tulsa Technology Career Service Center at 3420 South Memorial Drive.

Both the union and Post Office officials say local feedback will play a part in deciding whether the Tulsa distribution center will close.