U.S. Postal Service officials confirmed Friday that they are shifting operations from a north Fort Worth processing plant to Coppell as part of a nationwide consolidation plan intended to save the financially struggling agency nearly $1.2 billion a year.
Sam Bolen, a spokesman for the service's Fort Worth district, said outgoing mail operations will move to the North Texas Processing and Distribution Center by July or August. Mail will still be sorted at the Jack D. Watson Fort Worth Processing Distribution Center, he said.He couldn't, however, say how this plan will affect the 1,200 employees who work three shifts at the facility at 4600 Mark IV Parkway. Bolen could not say precisely how much money the move will save."The plant is not shutting down; it is part of an operational plan to shift outgoing mail to Coppell," Bolen said. "If you mail a letter, it will go to Coppell, and if it's local, it will come back to Fort Worth, where it will be sorted and processed."In November, the postal service considered closing the Dallas Processing and Distribution Center, a move that would reportedly have saved the agency about $6.8 million and cut 1,000 jobs. It would have added 460 jobs at the Fort Worth and Coppell locations.'Devastating'When Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins heard about the plan to close the Dallas facility, he went to Washington, D.C., twice and met with congressional and postal officials to lobby against the proposal.Jenkins would not comment Friday on specifics of the postal service plan because he had not seen it."Our economy doesn't stop at county lines and neither does our need for first-tier mail service in North Texas," Jenkins said. "Any consolidation plan should take that into account."But Tarrant County Commissioner J.D Johnson, whose precinct includes the Fort Worth plant, is not happy with the postal service's latest decision."I think it would be devastating to the people around here," Johnson said. "We can't afford to lose jobs like that."Saving billionsThe consolidations are part of a multibillion-dollar cost-cutting plan announced Thursday that will close nearly 250 mail processing centers.Up to 140 processing centers will be consolidated by next February -- roughly 48 in August and about 90 next January and February. Closings would be suspended during the Postal Service's busy election and holiday mail season. Another 89 closings would occur in 2014.The consolidations are initially expected to reduce postal staff by 13,000 and save the mail agency about $1.2 billion annually. By the time the full round of cuts is implemented by late 2014, the post office will have 28,000 fewer employees with estimated annual savings of $2.1 billion.'Seamless'Johnson questioned how traffic congestion will affect mail being transported to Fort Worth from Coppell, which is about an hour away.But Bolen said that delivery will be "seamless" and that 80 percent of the mail processed for overnight delivery won't be affected unless it is sent to a location outside the delivery area. He also said traffic delays won't be a concern."I don't think traffic is bad between 11 at night and 2 in the morning, when most of the mail will go to Fort Worth," he said.Sally Davidow, a spokeswoman for the American Postal Workers Union in Washington, said members are being asked to contact their congressional representatives during the Memorial Day recess, which begins Monday."People take it seriously that their post office or processing plant is going to close; they get very upset. There are some representatives in the House who would only be too happy to see the Postal Service fall on its face," she said.Davidow said a bill passed by the Senate addressing some of the concerns is a good starting point for discussion. She said the problem is not the Internet but a law that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund healthcare for retirees at a cost of $5.5 billion a year. There are also concerns over lessening service standards, she said.This report includes material from The Associated Press and Star-Telegram archives.Elizabeth Campbell,817-390-7696Twitter: @fwstlizHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
