(Last?) Mail Call: The USPS is Considering Shutting Down the Oak Lawn Post Office

View Larger MapJennifer Fulbright, a United States Postal Service employee for 39 years till her retirement in March 2008, is the secretary and treasurer of the Dallas chapter of the American Postal Workers Union. And she called late last week to dispute the USPS's claim that it's not looking to...

By Robert Wilonsky

August 3, 2009

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Jennifer Fulbright, a United States Postal Service employee for 39 years till her retirement in March 2008, is the secretary and treasurer of the Dallas chapter of the American Postal Workers Union. And she called late last week to dispute the USPS's claim that it's not looking to shutter the Dallas Main Post Office -- especially after a recent meeting during which, she says, a USPS higher-up out of Coppell told workers that the Dallas office has too many injured and older employees, none of whom are willing to take early retirement since there's nothing in it for them.

"Right now, the Postal Service isn't offering an incentive to get their older employees to go," Fulbright said. "The economy's in such a mess that older employees aren't leaving."

But the General Accounting Office may have something to say about that: Phillip Herr, head of the GAO, told Congress today that "the Postal Service desperately needs to restructure, for its long-term and current financial viability." To that extent, all kinds of things are on the chopping block -- including ending Saturday delivery and the shuttering of some 700 post offices. And from the looks of this location study list, Dallas could lose but a single location -- the Oak Lawn post office. Also on the list: the downtown Lewisville and Irving locations, as well as several in Tarrant County, including the main Arlington post office.

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