DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dozens of Volusia County residents made their final passionate plea to stop the United States Postal Service from shutting down its main facility in Daytona Beach. More than 100 jobs could be lost if the facility is closed.
The Postal Service wants to merge the Daytona Beach facility with another facility in Lake Mary. The Lake Mary facility would handle all the mail under the proposed retooling of the area's mail processing.
A huge crowd gathered to send a message to the Postal Service Thursday night. They voiced their displeasure with the notion of job cuts and with the proposal to close Daytona Beach's mail processing facility.
The Postal Service says they are listening.
"We're not going to assume that we've thought of everything, and the wisdom of many people coming together and talking about it has a great deal of value," said Joseph Breckenridge, U.S. Postal Service.
Opponents of the plan believe that the move, which cuts more than 100 jobs, would also slow down mail service in Central Florida.
"When I was hired on at the post office, I was told not to do three things: don't fight, don't steal, and don't delay the mail. What you're proposing will do exactly what I was told not to do," said one postal worker who spoke at the meeting.
However, the Postal Service says they need to save millions to make up for losses in a bad economy and all the business that the Internet has taken from the U.S. Mail. They point to a study that shows a $6 million per year savings, but workers say they have not seen that study.
"We believe everyone has the right to understand your decision making. At this point right now, we don't," a postal worker said during the meeting.
The proposed change would not become reality for months. In that time, one local lawmaker plans to ask President Barack Obama to step in and stop the consolidation.