Postal Workers Oppose Mail Countertops at Staples

Postal workers gathered in front of Staples stores in Los Angeles and across the United States on Thursday in protest of a new partnership between the U.S. Postal Service and the office supplies chain.

In October, the postal service launched a pilot postal countertop project in 80 Staples stores. That program now runs in 82 stores across four states, including California, according to the postal service. This fall, the U.S.P.S. will consider whether to increase the number of in-store countertops to as many as 1,500 nationwide.

Many postal workers oppose the notion of an in-store countertop because they say it signifies a privatization of U.S.P.S. jobs and eliminates the number of living-wage jobs offered by the postal service.

“Many people are outraged that a tremendous public asset is being turned over to a struggling private company," said Mark Dimonstein, the president of the American Postal Workers Union.

In addition, postal workers say the deal jeopardizes the security of the mail service.

At a protest in Los Angeles, Congressman Xavier Becerra joined hundreds of postal workers and several union officials. Becerra said he was blindsided by the decision of the U.S.P.S. to expand the countertop postal operations at Staples.

"Certainly as a member of congress who represents over 700,000 people here in the City of Los Angeles I would have thought we would have been advised before they took this move," Becerra said. 

In a video statement released online, the Postmaster General Patrick Donahue disputed the notion that partnering with Staples signifies "privatization."

"Partnerships like the ones we have with Staples are all about growing our business - this is not new," Donahue said. "In fact, we’ve developed partnerships with over 65,000 retailers over the years, giving our customers greater access to postal products."