PALM BAY, FL -- In the hopes of obtaining potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in local and state tax breaks, MC Assembly is using the best leverage it has: its workers. The EMS company reportedly will move hundreds of jobs to Mexico and potentially shutter its flagship plant in Florida without the tax breaks, the company told local officials, reported FloridaToday.com.

MC Assembly employs 540 workers here, where it builds electronics assemblies for the aerospace, defense and industrial end-markets, among others. The company generates revenues in the neighborhood of $200 million a year, according to CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY sources. It also operates a facility in suburban Boston.

A county commission is reviewing the request for tax relief, which based in the company's proposed investments would justify tax breaks of more than $86,000 year over the next decade.

MC indicated that it also seeks to move from its current 100,000 sq. ft. factory in Palm to a 135,000 sq. ft. plant in Melbourne. The company said it plans some $17 million in investments at the proposed new site.