Orange County's union print and mail market is denser than its reputation. The OC Labor Federation, dozens of building trades locals, the Orange County Employees Association, the United Teachers of Los Angeles affiliate locals operating in OC, and the public-sector locals across cities and special districts all produce regular member and political mail — and almost all of it requires the Allied Printing Trades Council bug.
OC-based union print and mail runs through Allied Printing Trades Council-affiliated shops. We produce under that affiliation, and most of our union and political volume — both candidate mail and member communications — is produced for OC clients and inducted at the Santa Ana BMEU.
Turnaround in OC works in our favor: Santa Ana BMEU induction means a mailer designed Monday, printed Tuesday, presorted Wednesday, and inducted Thursday is in OC mailboxes by Saturday. That same compressed cycle for an LA or IE drop adds 24 hours each direction.
Pricing in OC is competitive but not the cheapest in the state. The shops with real capacity — APTC-certified partner presses, partner bindery, presort, and political experience — are a small handful, and most of the price compression that hits inland California has not hit OC the same way.
Practical advice for OC clients: lock in annual pricing in February, hold press time in October of even years, and run your political mail through a shop that produces from OC rather than ships from out of region. Local matters here.
