AAA to eliminate 90 positions at Oklahoma City service center [The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City]

Sept. 05--AAA plans to eliminate 90 positions at its northwest Oklahoma City operations center by the end of November as it consolidates emergency dispatch for its Oklahoma members to its Tulsa office.

The Oklahoma City center, which provides insurance services and answers calls for roadside assistance, sent a notice of layoffs to the state Commerce Department on Wednesday. Federal law requires companies to send notices 60 days before a shutdown affecting more than 50 people at a single site.

AAA Oklahoma spokesman Chuck Mai said the consolidation affects jobs providing roadside assistance for AAA members in Oklahoma and several other states. AAA is moving roadside assistance to its state chapters.

"It just wasn't working out for the clubs to do those calls for a multistate area," Mai said. "We found we were losing some of that hands-on service in emergency situations."

Employees affected by the consolidation will be offered transfers to AAA Oklahoma'sTulsa headquarters or can apply for openings in the insurance business unit in Oklahoma City, Mai said.

Severance packages will be offered to those unable to find new jobs with AAA.

Mai said the Oklahoma City center will concentrate on handling claims for AAA's CSAA Insurance Group affiliate. The auto club's center at 3100 Quail Springs Parkway has about 630 employees. Mai said the center can support 820 employees.

AAA has received cash incentives for job creation from both Oklahoma City and the state's Quality Jobs program. The operations center received $1.8 million from Oklahoma City in the last three years through incentives funded by a $75 million general-obligation limited tax bond issue voters approved in 2007.

___

(c)2013 The Oklahoman

Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services