PORT ANGELES — First-class mail may take an extra day to reach the North Olympic Peninsula once the Postal Service closes its Tacoma processing center.
Postal Service spokesman Ernie Swanson said in an email that first-class mail that now gets overnight service to Clallam and Jefferson counties “would likely” take two days to be delivered once the consolidation is made.
The Postal Service announced Thursday that it plans to close the Tacoma facility — which handles mail for the North Olympic Peninsula — as it moves to consolidate its eight processing centers in Washington state and cut 300 jobs.
The Postal Service, which has seen a 25 percent decline in first-class mail since 2006, said it is moving its operations from Everett, Olympia and Tacoma to Seattle.
Additionally, facilities in Yakima, Wenatchee and Pasco will be relocated to Spokane.
The Postal Service said no dates have been set for the transition.
In December, it agreed not to close any processing facilities before May 15 to give Congress time to come up with an alternative plan.
Swanson told Tacoma’s News Tribune there will be 97 jobs cut in Everett, 29 in Olympia, 139 in Tacoma, 19 in Yakima, 20 in Wenatchee and two in Pasco.
He also told the newspaper that the Postal Service hopes the cuts can be made through attrition without layoffs, and employees who lose their job can request transfers or move into other jobs, such as letter-carrier, if openings exist.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
