Teachers' union voices opposition to USPS-Staples retail program

The American Federation of Teachers last week sent a letter to the top executive of the Staples office supply chain to notify the company that the union has asked its members not to buy school supplies at the retailer until the company ends it participation in a U.S. Postal Service retail program that places USPS counters manned by Staples employees in its stores.

“As you know, teachers are critical to your profits," AFT President Randi Weingarten told Staples CEO Ron Sargent in a Sept. 17 letter. "Last year, educators spent over $1.6 billion of their own money on school supplies and a lion’s share of that money was spent at Staples stores all across the country.

Weingarten noted that some local AFT affiliates had partnered with Staples to offer discounts to teachers and staff to cut costs for local communities and families, but that those partnerships will dwindle as long as the company remains involved in the retail program.

“Regrettably, many of these partnerships have and will continue to end as long as your company continues to participate in the privatization of postal retail operations through the ‘Approved Shipper’ program, which replaces living-wage Postal Service jobs with low-wage Staples jobs and compromises the safety and security of the mail,” Weingarten stated.

The union voted in July to endorse the "Don’t Buy Staples" campaign, which is spearheaded by the American Postal Workers Union. The 3 million-member National Education Association also has endorsed the boycott.