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(108,903 posts) Fri Apr 25, 2014, 06:55 AM Apr 2014

Post Office Privatization Deal in the Works: Activists Take to the Streets

http://www.alternet.org/activism/post-office-privatization-deal-works-activists-take-streets

American Postal Workers Union protest in New York.
Photo Credit: Jodie Gummow

“U.S. mail is not for sale!” This was the hard-hitting message of hundreds of local activists who joined forces across the country in a national day of action protesting a privatization deal between the U.S. Postal Services and Staples.

The USPS pilot program establishing unsecured postal counters in more than 80 Staples stores in four geographic areas began late last year.

In response, American Postal Workers Union (APWU) members and associates rallied outside Staples stores around the country demanding an end to the deal which they say is aimed at replacing good, living-wage postal jobs with low-wage, high-turnover jobs filled with untrained Staples employees. They say it may eventually lead to layoffs and the closing of post offices.

In New York, members of the New York Metro Area Postal Workers Union (APWU) joined forces outside the 5 th Avenue Staples store to deliver a clear message to the American people:

“What we’re trying to do is send a message to the U.S. Postal Service and Staples that the U.S. mail is not for sale,” Jonathan Smith, president of the New York APWU who led the New York charge explained to AlterNet. “We will not allow them to hire employees with no minimum wage, with no benefits and who are not trained to do the job properly. With all the concern about privacy and identity theft, that’s just not the right way to handle the U.S. mail. The mail needs to be handled by experienced postal employees who swear an oath and who are accountable to the American people. This is a disservice to the American people and the constitution,” he said.