ROCKFORD (WREX) -
Protesters take to the street to let people know they don't want to lose Rockford's mail processing center.
Protesters chanted and waived signs in front of the post office on Harrison avenue this afternoon to remind people to get involved and help save a post office the USPS says might not be open for too much longer.
Occupy Rockford protesters say sending mail to Madison, WI won't save any money, but will cost consumers more.
"It's going to mean an extra day in mail processing time which means people elderly folks for instance waiting for social security checks or mail order medicines may have to wait a day or two or even longer depending on when it gets processed," said protester Bill Weiss.
He says it's not just private citizens that will suffer.
"Businesses too are going to suffer because there won't be anything such as next day delivery unless they go to one of the private carriers and it'll end up costing them more than the USPS would have cost them," said Weiss.
The postal service says that a decline in mail volume and the current economy mean they need to cut employees and facilities. They believe Rockford is one place they can cut both.
Occupy Rockford protesters say cutting 200 jobs isn't going to help the local economy.
"We need to support our local businesses we need to support our local people that are in this community. They're our friends they're our relatives and they're the people that we see every day at our house," said Christy Gutowski.
The post office won't be closing any locations until May. Occupy Protestors told us they want people to call their congressman and tell them they want the mail processing center to stay open.
