{"id":7424,"date":"2014-04-23T16:07:39","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T21:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=7424"},"modified":"2014-04-23T16:07:39","modified_gmt":"2014-04-23T21:07:39","slug":"postal-workers-to-protest-privatization-at-more-than-50-staples-stores-in-27-states-on-april-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2014\/04\/23\/postal-workers-to-protest-privatization-at-more-than-50-staples-stores-in-27-states-on-april-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Postal Workers to Protest Privatization At More than 50 Staples Stores in 27 States on April 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON<\/b> \u2013 April 23, 2014 – Thousands of members of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and community activists will engage in National Day of Action on Thursday, April 24, to protest the Postal Service\u2019s sweetheart deal with Staples that is moving mail service into Staples stores. Events will be held at more than 50 Staples retail locations<\/a> [PDF] across 27 states. \"stop-staples\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In October, the USPS announced a no-bid deal to open postal counters in more than 80 Staples stores. The U.S. Postal Service plans to expand this \u201cpilot\u201d project to Staples\u2019 1,500 stores nationwide.<\/p>\n

Staples employees, who work for low wages and meager benefits\u00a0\u2014 and who have received minimal training\u00a0\u2014 operate these unsecured postal counters.<\/p>\n

Although Staples and the Postal Service have worked hard to keep the details of their arrangement a secret, the APWU recently obtained a heavily-redacted copy of the agreement. Despite the fact that many of the pages were blacked out<\/a>, the document provides clear evidence that the Staples sweetheart deal will compromise the quality, security and reliability that consumers expect and deserve in the handling of their mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people have a right to know that their mail is handled by highly-trained uniformed postal employees who have taken an oath to protect the sanctity of the mail and who are accountable to the people of the country\u00a0\u2014 whether it\u2019s at the Post Office or an office-supply store,\u201d said APWU President Mark Dimondstein.<\/p>\n

Research shows that consumers have high regard for postal employees and are skeptical about the Staples deal, according to\u00a0InfoTrends,\u00a0which recently completed a report for the USPS Inspector General. Many postal customers,\u00a0the firm reported<\/a>, \u201cwere uncomfortable with co-location of Post Offices not staffed by USPS employees, such as with the Postal Service\u2019s recent partnership with Staples stores.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I want a real postal employee to handle my mail,\u2019 said one woman from an urban location. \u2018It’s like when you go in to a drug store to get a flu shot. You don\u2019t want to get it from a regular Walgreen’s employee.\u2019<\/p>\n

An internal\u00a0USPS document<\/a> [PDF]\u00a0makes clear that the goal of the program is to replace the good, living-wage jobs held by USPS employees with low-wage jobs in the private sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this isn\u2019t just about postal jobs,\u201d Dimondstein said. \u201cMany people are outraged that a tremendous public asset is being turned over to a struggling private company.\u201d Staples recently announced that it would close 225 stores by 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaples makes business decisions based on the bottom line, not service to the people of the country,\u201d Dimondstein said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a nation, we need to decide what kind of Postal Service we want. Are we going to have a vibrant, modern, public mail system that serves all of the people, or are we going to let privatizers kill this great institution?\u201d The APWU supports expanding postal service\u00a0\u2014 by improving accessibility as well as the variety of services offered, he said.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s National Day of Action follows protests by postal workers and community allies in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Berkeley and other cities since January.<\/p>\n

Many teachers, who regularly buy school supplies at Staples, have joined the APWU in protesting this attempt to privatize postal services. On April 28, the California Federation of Teachers will vote on a resolution asking their members to buy school supplies from other retailers. This will likely be the first of many similar actions by educators to boycott Staples. It\u2019s estimated that 30 percent of Staples revenue comes from back-to-school sales.<\/p>\n

For background information about the Stop Staples campaign,\u00a0click here<\/a> [PDF]\u00a0and visit StopStaples.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0copy of the agreement between Staples and the USPS \u2013 heavily redacted<\/a> [PDF]\u00a0\u2014 is available on the APWU website, at www.apwu.org.<\/p>\n

For additional background information, see these recent stories from the\u00a0Huffington Post, New Republic\u00a0and the\u00a0Associated Press:<\/p>\n