Protest Against USPS-Staples "Sweetheart Deal" Set for Thursday

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

It won’t be easy getting into the Staples store at 19^th & L Streets tomorrow, with hundreds of postal workers and their supporters rallying at 11:30a as part of a national day of action with events at more than 50 Staples stores in 27 states to protest the sweetheart deal between the USPS and the office-supply chain. “We must win this fight,” APWU president Mark Dimondstein told Metro Council delegates Monday night.” “And we can win it if we all come together.” The National Association of Letters, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association have also pledged their support for the campaign protesting the agreement between the USPS and Staples to establish postal counters in 82 Staples stores staffed with low-wage, non-union Staples employees rather than postal workers. There are a number of other local actions -- including a noontime Unite Here 23 demo --scheduled for Thursday; see calendar for details.