![\"1aa-APWU-small\"](\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/1aa-APWU-small.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe problem? \u201cIt\u2019s a ruse,\u201d said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. \u201cStaples and the USPS are changing the name of the program, without addressing the fundamental concerns of postal workers and postal customers.<\/p>\n
A USPS spokesperson confirmed the APWU\u2019s assertion, telling the Boston Globe, \u201cWe look forward to continuing the partnership, whether it\u2019s called Retail Partner Expansion or approved shipper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStaples and the USPS have made it clear: They intend to continue to privatize postal retail operations, replace living-wage Postal Service jobs with low-wage Staples jobs, and compromise the safety and security of the mail,\u201d the union president said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it\u2019s a duck,\u201d he added. \u201cThis duck may have a few less feathers, but it\u2019s still a duck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis attempt at trickery shows that the \u2018Don\u2019t Buy Staples\u2019 movement is having an effect. We intend to keep up the pressure until Staples gets out of the mail business,\u201d Dimondstein said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe announcement that Staples and the USPS are abandoning the no-bid deal is just \u2018spin.\u2019 They hope to convince boycott supporters that the battle is over,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teachers Incite Fear<\/strong><\/p>\n Why did the vote by AFT members incite such fear? School supplies account for roughly one-third of Staples\u2019 revenue, according to published reports. Speaking at an AFT rally in Los Angeles after adopting the \u2018Don\u2019t Buy Staples\u2019 resolution, AFT President Randi Weingarten said, \u201cPostal workers are the most amazing public servants. Who does Staples really want and need to come into its stores every single day? Teachers. The best way we can help is if we say to Staples: \u2018You do this to the postal workers, and we aren\u2019t buying supplies in your stores.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Noting that both postal workers and school employees are facing the imminent threat of privatization, APWU President Mark Dimondstein said, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to privatize\u00a0 public services that people support, so the strategy of the privatizers is to defund, demoralize, demonize and dismantle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate the tremendous support we have received from the AFT and from so many others in the labor movement, most recently the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, the International Association of Firefighters, and UNITE HERE,\u201d Dimondstein said. \u201cThis is the true meaning of solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAnd public school teachers spent more than $1.3 billion out of their own pockets on school supplies and educational products in the 2009-2010 school year, according to research released in 2010 by the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA).<\/p>\n