Workers rally to stop US Postal Service changes

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Dozens of postal workers rallied for a transparent mailing process Thursday afternoon in Imperial Beach.

“The postmaster general is, in many opinions, is there’s writings on the wall going to privatize the postal services," said Bob Waterhouse said, president of APWU local 197.

He says the postmaster general removed public input out of the decision process for closing postal offices.

"Whereas before, they would propose to close something they'd have a townhall meeting and the community would get together and let them know whether or not they wanted to keep it or if they wanted to take it away," Waterhouse said. "And what they did was they took delivery services out of this office (Imperial Beach Post Office) right here and they consolidated it with Chula Vista.”

Dwight Halverson, an Imperial Beach resident, says he’d be disappointed if the local post office closed.

"They would have to rely on other services that cost more, especially with lower-income areas," he said.

In response to the rally, the U.S Postal Service released the following statement :

"We’ve seen this movie before. We know how it ends. The rumors about the Imperial Beach post office are unfounded and will be proven wrong, again. It will remain open for business as usual and we will continue to serve that community with dedication and pride, as we have for more than 80 years. End of story.”

“They’re going to tell us probably in a few weeks before they close anything down that they’re going do it, they give very little notice," Waterhouse said. "Last year, they did everything they could to go around specific protocols just to take the delivery services out of here, they didn’t tell us, I had to hear it from one of the employees who heard it from the grapevine.”