Lankford, Mullin, Lucas, Cole & Bice Question Postmaster General on Proposed Changes to Tulsa USPS Processing Center

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), and Representatives Frank Lucas(R-OK), Tom Cole (R-OK), and Stephanie Bice (R-OK) sent a letter to the United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy regarding reports regarding a proposal to have mail from Tulsa, Oklahoma to go through a processing center in Oklahoma City. The Members are concerned on how the changes in the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan will impact Tulsa USPS employees.

The Members wrote, “We commend USPS for holding a public meeting on March 7, 2024 at Tulsa’s Hardesty Library to receive community input and to discuss the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan, including the status of its Mail Processing Center Review of the Tulsa P&DC. As part of the presentation, USPS officials stated that there will be no career employee layoffs, and the Tulsa P&DC will not be closed. Rather, the Tulsa facility will be repositioned as a Local Processing Center and modernized to improve sorting and delivery. However, at this meeting, it was also indicated that 21 craft career positions and 5 management career positions may be reassigned, which caused concern and uncertainty among USPS employees in Tulsa.”

“We are writing to confirm the facts about the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan and to learn more about USPS communications to help reduce confusion and ensure that USPS provides timely and accurate information to its employees, customers, and Congress,” the Members continued.
Read the full letter here or below: 

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy:

We support United States Postal Service (USPS) efforts to improve infrastructure and services while also achieving cost savings. We are writing to gather more information about these modernization efforts and to ensure that USPS is appropriately communicating to Oklahomans, both customers and employees, how these changes will impact the work and services offered by USPS. Our hope is that USPS can achieve the goals set out in the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan without unintended hardship for either postal employees or postal customers.

Specifically, we understand from media reports and other sources that USPS is proposing a change that would cause mail from the Tulsa, Oklahoma and Fayetteville, Arkansas regions to first go through a processing center in Oklahoma City before reaching its final destination. We also understand USPS is planning to close its mail processing centers in Tulsa and Fayetteville and combine them with the center serving the Oklahoma City region. USPS employees at the Tulsa Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) are uncertain and concerned about whether they may be laid off or reassigned to the Oklahoma City Regional P&DC as part of this plan. 

We commend USPS for holding a public meeting on March 7, 2024 at Tulsa’s Hardesty Library to receive community input and to discuss the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan, including the status of its Mail Processing Center Review of the Tulsa P&DC. As part of the presentation, USPS officials stated that there will be no career employee layoffs, and the Tulsa P&DC will not be closed. Rather, the Tulsa facility will be repositioned as a Local Processing Center and modernized to improve sorting and delivery. However, at this meeting, it was also indicated that 21 craft career positions and 5 management career positions may be reassigned, which caused concern and uncertainty among USPS employees in Tulsa. 

We are writing to confirm the facts about the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan and to learn more about USPS communications to help reduce confusion and ensure that USPS provides timely and accurate information to its employees, customers, and Congress. Please provide written responses to the below questions: 

1. Under the Delivering for America Ten-Year Plan, what are USPS’s specific plans for the Oklahoma City Regional P&DC and consolidating and/or re-routing services provided by the Tulsa Post Office and P&DC and Fayetteville, Arkansas Post Office, including changes in the operations and services of each facility, and closures or construction/renovation of any facility? 
2. As part of this plan, how many employees at the Tulsa Post Office and P&DC will be: (a) fired; (b) laid off; (c) reassigned to the Oklahoma City Regional P&DC; or (d) re-assigned or re-located to another USPS location? For (d), please identify the specific location(s) where they will be re-assigned. 
3. What are the specific timelines for implementation of this plan in Oklahoma, including timelines for any planned lay-offs or reassignments, and any facility closures, renovation, or openings? 

Thank you in advance for your prompt responses. We look forward to discussing further these matters with you. 

Sincerely, 

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