Postal workers hold picket to protest possible closure

Ronnie L. Taylor, left, a 30-year maintenance worker, joins other postal workers Wednesday as they hold an informational picket in front of the Main Post office

Several dozen postal workers — some of whom carried signs — held an informational picket Wednesday morning in front of the Main Post Office.

Members of the group, among them Ronnie L. Taylor, a 30-year maintenance worker, wanted to bring attention to the proposed closure of the main processing facility behind the main post office.

The U.S. Postal Service has scheduled a public meeting to explain why it wants to move mail processing out of the Toledo facility. The two-hour forum is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd.

The independent government agency said its managers will explain its reasons for proposing to shut the Toledo mail facility on South St. Clair Street. They also will take community input.

Earlier this month, the Postal Service agreed to delay the closing of 252 mail processing centers — including the one in Toledo — and 3,700 local post offices that include five in Toledo, until mid-May.

The Postal Service said its study called for consolidating mail operations now performed at the Toledo facility at processing and distribution centers in Detroit, Pontiac, Mich., and Columbus.