Gerl McKinney, local president of the American Postal Workers Union and employee at the downtown Paducah Processing and Distribution Facility, received the news Wednesday. The retail windows in the front will remain open, McKinney told the Paducah Sun, but mail processing in the back of the building will move to Evansville, IN.
McKinney said the closure will cost the office 35 jobs plus an estimated 10 to 12 maintenance jobs will cease to exist after the closure. Some workers will be offered early retirement, he said, but some may have to move out of the city to keep their jobs.
The U.S. Postal Service scheduled the Paducah center as a Tier 3 office. Tier 1 offices are slated to close in May and June, with Tier 2 offices following in a few months. The distribution center could close as early as September or October, McKinney says. At best workers in the distribution center could have a year. The decision does not directly affect mail carriers, McKinney said, but route consolidation could create the need to reduce the number of carriers.
McKinney estimates mail processing will stop by the end of the year. The union has known about the possibility of the closure for months. Workers held a public meeting Dec. 13 regarding options for the branch.
Former Paducah City Commissioner Robert Coleman, a veteran of the Postal Service for 40 years, said the closure is a reality he never thought would come true. He expects the national and local economy will suffer if there are delays in delivery.
Mayor Bill Paxton said the closure is unfortunate but he doesn’t see any way it could have been avoided. He remains optimistic some workers will be able to keep their jobs if they move to a new location although he doesn't want to see anyone leave the city.
Meanwhile, mail processing centers in Carbondale and Centralia, IL, will also be shut down with mail also going to Evansville for processing.
The mail processing center in Cape Girardeau will also be closed, sending mail to St. Louis for processing.
