More Headaches for Staples

The National Labor Relations Board hearing on the APWU’s challenge to the dirty deal between Staples and the U.S. Postal Service resumed in Washington, DC, on May 18, with union President Mark Dimondstein testifying.

Coincidentally, Staples’ poor financial results for the first quarter of 2016 were announced on Wednesday as well. Same-store sales declined 3 percent and foot traffic and the average order size were both down 2 percent.

Just to make sure Staples executives know that the APWU is intent on blocking their attempt to take over postal retail operations, activists greeted them with a spirited protest when they arrived for work at the company’s headquarters near Boston in the morning

Stop Staples organizers distributed flyers outside stores in several other cities as well, informing shoppers about the deal between the USPS and the office-supply chain. Many customers honored the boycott and left, promising not to shop at Staples.

And just last week the Federal Trade Commission handed the company a devastating defeat when it rejected its proposed merger with Office Depot.

 “We won’t stop fighting this attempt to privatize the Postal Service’s retail operations until Staples gets out of the mail business,” Dimondstein said.