In a big win for advocates of the public Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Service management announced it was ending its deal to privatize some operations through Staples retail stores.
The announcement came in a letter to the American Postal Workers Union, the union said Thursday.
“Staples will be removing all signage and will discontinue postal services at the national retailer’s roughly 500 U.S. locations that handle postal services by the first week of March 2017,” the union said in a news release. “In response, APWU is calling off the boycott of Staples effective immediately and will notify its many supporters and allies.”
Three years ago, the union challenged the USPS’ scheme of privatizing postal retail operations and shifting postal services from neighborhood post offices to Staples locations. The union contended that this privatization effort undermined the public’s right to good quality and secure postal services and represented a shift of good living wage positions to low-wage jobs, thereby hurting the well-being of the communities.
Beginning in 2014, the APWU held protests, rallies and other demonstrations outside Staples retail locations and the Staples headquarters with crowds that at times numbered in the thousands, proclaiming “The U.S. Mail is Not For Sale!” APWU members from across the nation joined the campaign and participated in street protests and leafleting efforts to educate customers about the dangers of privatized postal services which would result in the decline of service to the postal customers.
The union organized a national boycott of Staples stores that was joined by other labor groups including the AFL-CIO, The National Association of Letter Carriers, The National Postal Mail Handlers Union, the Service Employees International Union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, the Communication Workers of America, and, perhaps most importantly, the nation’s two largest teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. A significant portion of Staples revenues is generated by the sale of school supplies.
Following the AFT’s convention in July 2014, where the union’s leadership announced that it would ask its 1.6 million members, colleagues and family members to boycott the chain and buy school supplies elsewhere, Staples and USPS announced that they were ending the mini post office idea and would handle postal services through the already existing “Approved Shipper” program.
APWU at the time called this “a ruse.” The union and its allies maintained the boycott and continued protests outside Staples stores across the country, expanding protest activity beyond the pilot program locations.
In February 2015, Staples announced its planned $5.5 billion merger with Office Depot. APWU became the largest public opponent of the merger, which was eventually blocked by the Federal Trade Commission.
The union also prevailed on a number of cases before the National Labor Relations Board adding more pressure against the USPS/Staples deal.
“This is a big win,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Staples is out of the mail business which they should never have gotten into. Our members take great pride in their training and their responsibilities; they swear an oath; they perform a public service. The quality of service at a Staples store isn’t comparable. The public should have confidence in the mail. Important letters, packages and business correspondences shouldn’t be handled like a ream of blank paper.
“This is also a win for those who care about the neighborhood post office and for all those in our society who think that workers should earn a fair living wage with decent health care and a pension, rather than the Staples model of minimum wage, part-time hours and no benefits.”
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In a big win for advocates of the public Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Service management announced it was ending its deal to privatize some operations through Staples retail stores.
The announcement came in a letter to the American Postal Workers Union, the union said Thursday.
“Staples will be removing all signage and will discontinue postal services at the national retailer’s roughly 500 U.S. locations that handle postal services by the first week of March 2017,” the union said in a news release. “In response, APWU is calling off the boycott of Staples effective immediately and will notify its many supporters and allies.”
Three years ago, the union challenged the USPS’ scheme of privatizing postal retail operations and shifting postal services from neighborhood post offices to Staples locations. The union contended that this privatization effort undermined the public’s right to good quality and secure postal services and represented a shift of good living wage positions to low-wage jobs, thereby hurting the well-being of the communities.
Beginning in 2014, the APWU held protests, rallies and other demonstrations outside Staples retail locations and the Staples headquarters with crowds that at times numbered in the thousands, proclaiming “The U.S. Mail is Not For Sale!” APWU members from across the nation joined the campaign and participated in street protests and leafleting efforts to educate customers about the dangers of privatized postal services which would result in the decline of service to the postal customers.
The union organized a national boycott of Staples stores that was joined by other labor groups including the AFL-CIO, The National Association of Letter Carriers, The National Postal Mail Handlers Union, the Service Employees International Union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, the Communication Workers of America, and, perhaps most importantly, the nation’s two largest teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. A significant portion of Staples revenues is generated by the sale of school supplies.
Following the AFT’s convention in July 2014, where the union’s leadership announced that it would ask its 1.6 million members, colleagues and family members to boycott the chain and buy school supplies elsewhere, Staples and USPS announced that they were ending the mini post office idea and would handle postal services through the already existing “Approved Shipper” program.
APWU at the time called this “a ruse.” The union and its allies maintained the boycott and continued protests outside Staples stores across the country, expanding protest activity beyond the pilot program locations.
In February 2015, Staples announced its planned $5.5 billion merger with Office Depot. APWU became the largest public opponent of the merger, which was eventually blocked by the Federal Trade Commission.
The union also prevailed on a number of cases before the National Labor Relations Board adding more pressure against the USPS/Staples deal.
“This is a big win,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Staples is out of the mail business which they should never have gotten into. Our members take great pride in their training and their responsibilities; they swear an oath; they perform a public service. The quality of service at a Staples store isn’t comparable. The public should have confidence in the mail. Important letters, packages and business correspondences shouldn’t be handled like a ream of blank paper.
“This is also a win for those who care about the neighborhood post office and for all those in our society who think that workers should earn a fair living wage with decent health care and a pension, rather than the Staples model of minimum wage, part-time hours and no benefits.”