U.S. postal workers protested at 50 Staples (SPLS) locations over a partnership between the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the retailer.
The partnership between the USPS and Staples has post office stores opening inside around 80 of the retail chain’s locations. The program lets people buy stamps, send packages and use Priority and certified mail all from inside a Staples store. Hundreds of postal workers turned out to protest these new locations, reports Salt Lake Tribune.
The issue that postal workers have with the Staples and USPS partnership is that the in-store post offices aren’t manned by postal employees. Instead, the deal has Staples employees manning the counters. Postal unions claim that this is the first step to taking away jobs from trained postal employees and privatizing mail, Salt Lake Tribune notes.
“Staples employees receive minimal training. With all the concern about privacy and identity theft, that’s just not the right way to handle the U.S. mail,” Mike Evans, the California president of the postal workers union, told The Los Angeles Times. “Highly trained, experienced postal employees, who swear an oath to protect your letters and packages and who are accountable to the American people, should handle mail.”
The opinions contained in this column are solely those of the writer.
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