U.S. Mail is Not for Sale: Join the Boycott of Staples—‘It’s That Easy’

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Corporate-Greed/U.S.-Mail-is-Not-for-Sale-Join-the-Boycott-of-Staples-It-s-That-Easy

07/02/2014 Mike Hall





More and more unions, community groups and other organizations are lining up with the Postal Workers (APWU) and backing the union’s boycott of Staples. You can join in, too. As the APWU says, “It’s that easy,” just don’t buy your office supplies at Staples.

In May the AFL-CIO endorsed APWU’s boycott of the office-supply giant in response to the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to privatize retail operations by contracting mail services to Staples, using “postal counters” staffed with low-wage, high-turnover Staples employees rather than postal employees.

The USPS began contracting out postal services to Staples in October. So far, 80 Staples stores are part of the pilot program. But the USPS plans to expand the scheme to 1,500 Staples locations nationwide at the same time the USPS is eliminating public post offices.

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The union says that the no-bid sweetheart deal will compromise the quality, security and reliability that consumers expect and deserve in the handling of their mail. APWU President Mark Dimondstein says that an internal USPS document “makes 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.”

[Boom Sound 416]

1. Why are we supposed to boycott

It seems the usps made a deal to privatize themselves.

Why isn't the protest directed at the USPS?

[Omaha Steve]

3. Protest USPS management yes

Boycott USPS NO!!! Big difference.

[Boom Sound 416]

4. But why boycott staples.

I hear you, but it's hard for me to fault a company who was solicited a sweetheart deal.

[Omaha Steve]

7. IF Staples paid their help at the USPS rates..

I doubt there would be a boycott.

The USPS took counters out of drug stores etc. years ago, because it was a bad return. How is this any better?

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. So who is actually going to DELIVER the mail?

Is that contracted out too?

[Omaha Steve]

13. Wal-mart didn't get that contract...yet

Just repeal the 10 year window Congress passed when it lost control of the House, end of problems.

[Samantha]

16. A person who sits on the Board of Directors for Bain Capital also sits on the Staples Board

I am thinking everyone remembers Romney's Association with both of these organizations.

I do think a boycott of Staples is a good idea, and I am on board for that, but the person in charge of USPO operations is also a turncoat (IMHO).

Sam

[Boom Sound 416]

21. You're second point is my point. Agreed

If memory serves Bain founded staples.

[rhett o rick]

42. So why shouldnt be boycott Staples, again? nm

[Boom Sound 416]

43. That's fair and humorous

I guess, can we just boycott it for the right reasons and protest the postmaster general for the right reasons as well?

[whathehell]

9. USPS is unionized, I believe.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Yes heavily unionized!

And that bothers CON(men)servatives.

[canuckledragger]

18. It's the whole reason they want to break it up in the first place.

It's one of the biggest unions out there, and the repubs are trying to break the USPS back by using ridiculous restrictions like having to fund 75 years worth of pensions, etc. right now:

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/07/20/how-congress-is-killing-the-post-office/

[Samantha]

17. Yes, this is definitely a union-busting effort

The USPO has one of the largest unionized workforces in the United States.

Sam

[Boom Sound 416]

23. It seems though the attempt to bust is within, no?

[tclambert]

26. Yes, the past two Postmaster Generals want to cut back the USPS, and shed jobs.

I suspect they want to establish themselves as real Jack Welch-type job-cutting executives, so when they switch to private sector jobs, they can make the big bucks. Raising stamp prices by about a nickel would solve all their problems, but no, they want to ditch Saturday delivery, close rural post offices, and find some way to pay employees less.

[freshwest]

40. Or boycott Koch and vote out Issa and the Libertarians:

Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:

“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”

Lot more of the list here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298

One can support the Koch brothers, GTA Issa and the GOP and the Libertarian platform or boycott and oust them. I know what side I'm on, and it's not theirs. And it's the GOP Congress who is setting their sights on ending the USPS, but Bernie and Warren have fought back. Now the USPS will have banking services as Warren wanted.

[blkmusclmachine]

2. ,

,

[Armstead]

5. Problem is in my city it's them or Wal Mart for a lot of things

A real Hobson's choice

[customerserviceguy]

30. At least that's a choice

In my town, there are ten places to buy a car, and even six places to buy a tire (not counting the small repair shops and what few 'service' stations may still be left), but there's only Staples. I suppose I could count Target, but I'm boycotting them for screwing over people on compromised data, which is much more their fault than Staples is for making this deal with the USPS.

You know who is going to love this idea? All the people like me who live in the burbs, and can't get to the Post Office between 10 AM and 5 PM, or whatever the window hours are. Every once in awhile, they need to mail something, and without this, they're stuck with FedEx/Kinko's and the UPS Store, and if they want to do a quick mailing of a birthday present instead of an impersonal gift card, they'll enjoy being able to load stuff into a flat rate box, and get it to Cousin Eddie for a reasonable price in quick time. Of course, while they're at it, they may pick up a printer cartridge at Staples, and that's why Staples jumped on this deal. The suburbanites are definitely going to make this work.

Besides, I've seen USPS-contracted outlets at convenience stores for quite some time, back in my old hometown of Vancouver, WA, there's one in an ARCO station, and one in the east end of town at a Shell station. They're always bustling, and where else can you mail a package at 3 AM?

The union workers will still be delivering the packages, and the more the USPS can take from FedEx and UPS, the more work those workers will have.

[Armstead]

34. I'd feel better about that if the employees were USPS

You make good point about the convenience factor.

However, with his, the roster of jobs that pay middle-class wages and benefits shrinks more. Instead USPS jobs that provide a decent quality of life will be replaced by low-wage insecure McJobs.

Instead, they should look at leasing space in Staples or some otehr arrangement in which workers don't get screwed yet again.

[customerserviceguy]

53. The USPS

was on a collision course with modernity in any case. A hundred years ago, the process of gathering, sorting, moving, and delivering mail to households and businesses was incredibly labor intensive. As soon as automatic sorting equipment became on line (hence, the ZIP Code) it's been moving away from that.

Postal jobs just join the list of jobs that have been phased out by technology. I used to be what we called a 'paperboy' some four decades ago, and there aren't nearly as many of them anymore, either. Inevitably, the low-paid entry level job is going to take over the few parts of most business processes that are not taken over by technological advances.

It happened that way with agricultural jobs, then manufacturing jobs, why wouldn't it happen to service jobs as well?

[Armstead]

54. Work is work.

In theory we can move towards a world in which robots do almost everything, and no ne has aa job or income except the tiny "managerial class" at the top.

Everyone else would be "modernized" out of a job and livelihood, and we would have a dystropia that can barely be imagine. Not to mention a totally dysfunctional "economy."

In order to avoid that we have to make human and social values as important as "efficiency" and free market economics " and protect a middle class working population, regardless of whether they are turning bolts on an assemble line ot making burgers.

Whether someone is standing behind the counter at a Post Office or in Staples, they deserve a decent wage and benefits. The USPS may not be as "efficient" as Staples in a Romney-eque value system, but that boils down to a matter of actually paying people,

[customerserviceguy]

55. Can't you imagine a world

a couple hundred years from now where humans are not needed to grow things, tend them, harvest them, make them into food and other materials essential for living? Think about the world presented in the show "Star Trek", it depicts a life where people do exploration, and nobody has to stoop to pick a crop.

I see us eventually moving to that way of life, and while that may seem alarming to some of the folks of today, I would submit that the lifestyle of the the US in the 1950's would have seemed equally shocking to people from the 1750's.

We're moving beyond the era of the working class family that gets enough to survive with one wage earner. We'll still have a professional and managerial class for many decades to come, but I have to say that the manufacturing and service economies of the last hundred years may have been a very transitional stage that will be unique in human history. As a species, we're moving from a time when everything is hard, to a time when nothing is hard, as far as providing for daily needs of food, clothing and shelter. A transitional period would provide opportunities, and its own hardships. The labor movement was the product of the new hardships that the transition from an agricultural society to an industrialized society presented.

There may be new social structures developed to deal with an era of abundance. I'd submit to you that a welfare state (for lack of a better term) is one of those institutions. When you have so very much produced by a society, you can tax off a little of it and provide it to those who either don't wish to or cannot produce enough of their own sustenance. This flies in the face of the Calvinist theology that makes up the conservative movement, and it's why they oppose progress.

I can see some growing pains along the way that will appear to some as a dystopia, but I do see that we will find ways to get past them to a world of abundance for all some day.

[Armstead]

58. I'd like to, but human nature will never change

Unless there is a huge spiritual breakthrough, we will always have an economy that will reglect present current realities.

It will continue to be impossible to survive without certain necessities that are not free. And people will continue to demand payback for what they provide. As a result, those without the opportunity to earn the resources will suffer, then get desperate and then angry and violent.

In the meantime, we definetly have a harsh economic system in place, and instilling as much equity and decency and fairness is the prinary priority for making the system work for people who are alive now and for the foreseeable generations to come.

[customerserviceguy]

59. Human nature does change

I would guess that people from 200 years ago who worked from dawn till dusk (only because the light bulb hadn't been invented yet) with 60-70 hour work weeks would consider a 40 hour worker of today with a couple of weeks vacation, and call him a slacker! They would look at the ease that modern inventions have brought to work, home life, and leisure.

I can imagine that trend continuing into the future, where the part-time job will become the norm someday. No, not in my lifetime, but I see forces pushing it in that direction. I see the pendulum swinging between unfairness and fairness, just as it did at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and the establishment of unions to bring safe and well-paying jobs to workers with decent benefits.

If healthcare were no longer tied heavily to employment, we could indeed acheive such a world. In fact, single payer is probably the path to such progress.

Good talking with you!

[Enthusiast]

6. Kicked and recommended!

[A Little Weird]

8. I haven't shopped there since I heard of this

I can't think of any examples where privatization has worked out to the benefit of taxpayers.

[daleanime]

14. And that's because...

there are none.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. Fairly easy boycott

Last edited Fri Jul 4, 2014, 07:39 PM - Edit history (1)

The prices at Staples are generally higher than their competitors.

[csziggy]

31. And if the prices are lower, the competitors will price match

Usually.

I just had to buy a toner cartridge for my laser printer - listed at $125 at Office Depot, $86 at Staples. All I had to do was to tell the guys at OD, they checked it online and matched the price. Got me points on my OD Reward Card and saved me a drive across town to a store I didn't want to give business to anyway.

[daleanime]

15. K&R....

[ReRe]

19. K&R

Count me in. I shop there once in a while, but I won't no more!

[MADem]

20. Fuck Staples, and here's why!!!!

That store gave a certain ASSHOLE the capital to fuck over a bunch of businesses!!!

?w=300&h=241

Initially, Bain Capital focused on venture capital investments. Romney set up a system in which any partner could veto one of these potential opportunities, and he personally saw so many weaknesses that few venture capital investments were approved in the initial two years.[54] The firm's first significant success was a 1986 investment to help start Staples Inc., after founder Thomas G. Stemberg convinced Romney of the market size for office supplies and Romney convinced others; Bain Capital eventually reaped a nearly sevenfold return on its investment, and Romney sat on the Staples board of directors for over a decade.[54][69][76]

Pardon my robust use of the Eff Bomb, but in this instance, I think it is merited!

[dobleremolque]

22. Haven't shopped at Staples

since I found out that Romney's Bain Capital had its blood funnel jammed into the company.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

24. Will do!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

25. One more reason

to FIRE ISSA! He's the face behind all this. Link to kind of a cozy article from May here:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-23/darrell-issas-not-unreasonable-push-to-cut-door-to-door-mail-delivery

SNIP###

"For three years, U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has been trying to maneouver a comprehensive postal reform bill though Congress. His rescue plan for the ailing U.S. Postal Service involves eliminating Saturday letter delivery, closing some money-losing post offices, and consolidating the agency’s sprawling distribution network so it can process declining mail volume more efficiently. European countries such as Norway have done some of the same things with success, but so far, Issa hasn’t been able to sell his ideas to his House colleagues, Democrat or Republican."

SNIP###

[Proud Public Servant]

27. WTF?

If you want to boycott Staples because they gave money to Romney, fine. Want to boycott all businesses that aren't unionized? Good luck with that.

But your own article shows that it's USPS that dreamed this up, and USPS that set it up. And in case you hadn't checked lately -- yes, USPS is run by an Obama appointee.

Hate union-busting government privatization moves? Talk to the President; he seems to be presiding over them in this case.

[Omaha Steve]

29. Obama lost his comfortable shoes

So just sit on the sidelines? That is a big help.


BIG ED video on the subject: http://laborspains.blogspot.com/2012/04/ed-schultz-goes-off-on-gutting-of-post.html

[Boom Sound 416]

32. No, but you're attacking the wrong entity.

[Omaha Steve]

33. Do tell

I have all weekend.

[Boom Sound 416]

35. Just read you're own OP

I'm with your sentiment. But my opinion is not singular in this thread.

[Proud Public Servant]

36. This is entirely in Obama's power to control

The Postmaster General reports to him. Period. I'm all for the unions protesting, but they should be protesting in front of the White House, or at least in front of their own post offices. Seriously, if you're kids' school let McDonalds take over the cafeteria, would you go protest at McDonalds? Or would you take it to the school board? Same principle here. Staples, frankly, hasn't done a damned thing wrong here, except underpaying their workers the way nearly every national retailer does.

Seriously, if this had happened ten years ago, would you be trying to hold Staples accountable instead of the Executive Branch?

[Omaha Steve]

37. I like this approach in the link below

Meanwhile if the AFL-CIO says boycott Staples I will. I don't see many getting up in arms about this yet to make a difference where they protest.

http://nhlabornews.com/2014/02/solidarity/

Solidarity; Multiple Unions Join USPS Unions To Picket Congressman Issa At NH GOP Event

By Bill Brickley | February 17, 2014

Over 150 union workers stood out in below zero degree wind chill Monday night to deliver a message to Congressman Issa. He was the key-note speaker at a NH Republican fundraising dinner. The message delivered to Issa was the US Postal Service is not for sale.

Issa wants to dismantle a highly effective postal service. NALC President Fred Rolando reacted to last weeks announcement that the Postal Service made a $765 million operating profit in the first quarter of 2014 by urging Congress not to dismantle the service. “In light of these results, lawmakers should strengthen the postal network while addressing the remaining problem: the congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree benefits, required of no other public or private entity in the country. Degrading the network and reducing services to the public and businesses would jeopardize the postal turnaround.”

Congressman Issa has other ideas. His 2013 Postal Reform Act HR 2748 will end Saturday Delivery and leaves open the possibility of reducing it further in 2018. Issa’s bill also opens the floodgates to contracting out postal jobs and services at an amazing pace. These actions will clearly accelerate the death spiral. The worlds best Postal Service will be dismantled so its remains can be carved up to be sold off to the highest bidder.

APWU President Mark Dimondstein called Mr Issa “a pure enemy of the Postal Service”. Clearly Issa has a different agenda than ensuring the long time survival of the world’s best Postal Service. Issa, a long time champion of union busting and privatization, likely envisions the vast amount of money that can made by privatizing its services.

FULL story at link.

[Boom Sound 416]

41. So why boycott staples?

[Proud Public Servant]

51. I agree that's a good approach; but

here's why the Staples one really bugs me.

Let's say I'm a person with no knowledge of the USPS Staples deal, and no strong opinion about unions. One day I go to Staples to, say, buy some pens. I'm met at the door by protesting USPS workers who tell me to boycott Staples because they have non-union employees performing postal duties. Initially sympathetic, I ask how that happened. Did Congress pass a law or something? No, they say. Can Staples do this on their own, without government permission? No, they say. So who's bright idea was this? The USPS, they explain. And did Staples do anything to compel it? No, they explain again, they just bid on a government contract and were rewarded with it by the USPS.

In that moment, I'm no longer neutral; in that moment, I think the USPS union is ridiculous. And the next time I see the USPS union protesting about something, I grant them that much less credibility.

In an age of declining union membership, unions need to rely more heavily than ever on popular (non-union) support. Winning popular support -- hearts and minds -- is literally my job. And from where I sit, this is one seriously counterproductive strategy.

[onecaliberal]

28. I already don't shop there

Staying away is easy.

[Fla_Democrat]

38. No.

Why should I boycott staples? Because they "handle" mail? Well, so does the desk clerk at the hotels I stay at when on the road. So does EZ mail or mailboxes etc. Doesn't Kinco's offer mailing service?

Because they will sell stamps? Well, doesn't grocery stores and gas stations sell stamps? Hell, even Office Depot, they place I am suppose to support, while I boycott Staples sells stamps.. http://www.officedepot.com/a/browse/postage-stamps/N=5+543625/

Should I boycott them because they are open longer hours than the USPS? Nope, sorry Staples, F. U. I would rather take off from work to go to a post office, than drop by your store after I knock off because...... well, hell, even I can't think of a logical reason I would do that.

If Staples starts delivering mail to my house, then I may consider getting nerved up. As long as they are doing a service, that is duplicated on a daily basis in multiple locations, I'm not going to phreak out. As long as they are doing it with the permission, and blessing of the very institution I am suppose to be defending by joining a boycott, I'm not going to loose any sleep over it.

Seems to me if the workers want to get all pissed off and raise hell, they should be looking at their own company, where presumably they have some clout, rather than a outside entity that had no hand in the matter other than saying "yes" to a deal.

If the "US mail is not for sale"..... then maybe the USPS shouldn't be putting a price sticker on it.

[Boom Sound 416]

39. Well said

[Armstead]

44. I assume you don't care about the decimation of the Middle Class

Heck, let's privatize and outsource everything. Get rid of all those inefficient public institutions and useless public employees.

Let's just remove those public sector jobs that actually provide a living wage and some measure of job security and turn them into Staples McJobs.

Great idea.

[Omaha Steve]

49. Some DUers just don't get it

[Cha]

45. Don't Won't. Thanks Steve

[emsimon33]

46. K&R

[marmar]

47. Another reason not to shop there ...............

............. besides the astoundingly high prices.

[Inkfreak]

48. I wonder how long Staples is gonna last.

They just closed a store here in town. My cousin was a manager there.

[Armstead]

50. Thi could be a glorified Government Baul Out for them

If they get the captibe maeket of Post Office customers, it could bail them out.

I'm hoping that's not part of the motivation behind this

[Not a Fan]

52. Stop Saples

I filled out the form with the required the information but it would not process my info. I'll share anyway.

[pipi_k]

56. Every time someone posts

a "Let's all boycott ______!!!!" thread, I write down the name of the person, place, or thing we're supposed to be boycotting.

So far we have:

BP
Hershey
Amazon.com
Florida
All "Red" states
North Carolina
Olive Garden
Chick fil-a
NFL football
Sea World Entertainment
Kock products
fast food
Disney World
Coke (the company)
Abercrombie & Fitch
Cristal
Madea
College sports
Walmart
Regal Cinema
Papa John piza
Denny's
Applebee's
Domino's Pizza
Goodwill
Huff Po
Elton John
Salvation Army
Toyota
Hobby Lobby
and now...Staples


Are people still boycotting those places/people/things?


If people are boycotting to soothe their own consciences, then hey...go for it.

If people think they're going to put all these places out of business...

um, maybe not

[Boom Sound 416]

57. This post should be an OP

[Omaha Steve]

60. You missed this one: Sea Shepherd Unveils "Dead Lobster" T-shirt Design

I still honor most of the boycotts you mentioned.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2008/11/04/sea-shepherd-unveils-dead-lobster-t-shirt-design-966

Sea Shepherd Unveils "Dead Lobster" T-shirt Design



Sea Shepherd artist/activist Geert-Jan Vons fresh from an artistic victory over Disneyland has now set his sights on Red Lobster or as he refers to them "Dead Lobster."

SNIP: Products to boycott:

-- Snow crabs from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
-- Mussels, sardines, lobster and scallops from Prince Edward Island and New - Brunswick Salmon both wild and farmed from British Columbia

The Red Lobster chain of seafood restaurants has the power to end the horrific slaughter of seals. All they have to do is refuse to buy seafood products from Canada. They have decided not to do this voluntarily. They will not listen to the voices of conservation. They will not listen to the scientists who warn that this slaughter is a serious threat to the survival of the seals. They have chosen to remain deaf to the concerns about the incredible cruelty inflicted upon the seals. As the ice floes off Eastern Canada run red with blood every spring, Red Lobster profits from the same industry that is responsible for this bloody carnage.

Geert's image needs to be widely distributed - on protest signs, on T-shirts, on billboards, and across the worldwide web. Click here to download a jpeg of the artwork.

To order your own Dead Lobster T-shirt, please visit our Online Store!

[Llewlladdwr]

61. My local grocery store sells stamps....

Do I have to boycott them too?

[lpbk2713]

62. The GOP has been trying to de-unionize the USPS forever.

That's the only reason I need to oppose this idea.

And Staples has seen me for the last time. Fuggem.