Date Set for Closure of Mail Processing Center

SMITH COUNTY � A date has been finalized for the closure of a mail processing center in Smith County. Sources with the local postal service employee union tell KETK they were informed by management that the East Texas Processing and Delivery Center will close in June. The sources say employees had originally been told that the facility would not close until 2014. They also question the actual savings the Postal Service claims it would obtain from the facility�s closure.

The closure of East Texas P&DC was originally reported in February of 2012, when the decision was made to shut down the facility. Authorities had announced facilities operations would be split between the Shreveport, North Texas, and Austin centers. At the time, employees said they did not want to be �uprooted� or transferred to other cities. One employee estimated that up to 100 of the current facility�s employees would choose not to relocate.

The issue of the processing center�s shutdown was initially broached in December of 2011, when the U.S. Postal Service held a public meeting about the potential closure of several processing centers across the country in order to save money. The Waco and Lufkin centers were also among those slated to close. KETK spoke to McKinney Boyd, spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service early Tuesday morning. An official statement is expected later in the day.