New York Metro Sends Delegations to Staples

The APWU’s New York Metro Area Local sent delegations to three Staples stores on Jan. 8 and 9 to deliver letters protesting the establishment of postal retail units staffed by low-wage, non-union, non-postal workers.

“It felt good to take action,” said Chuck Zlatkin, the local’s Legislative and Political Director. “You see the Staples sign and you want to do something. This was easy — it was fun,” he said.

“The Staples managers all had a similar reaction,” Zlatkin reported. “At first they gave us that ‘deer in the headlights’ look. But they said they would pass our letters of protest on to their district managers or headquarters.”

Six members of the local who work at the USPS New Jersey Network Distribution Center (NDC) visited a Staples store in Jersey City on Jan. 8; five members who work in Manhattan walked a few blocks to a Staples store near their worksite on Jan. 9, and four members who work in the Bronx visited a Staples store in the city’s northern borough, Zlatkin reported.

The Manhattan crew was trailed by reporters for the Chief, a New York newspaper geared toward government employees, and Labor Press, a local organization that reporters on workers’ issues.

APWU President Mark Dimondstein has asked local and state presidents and retiree chapter leaders to organize delegations to visit Staples stores by Jan. 18 to put Staples on notice that we are about to embark on a serious campaign to win these jobs for postal employees.

After the visits with store managers, the APWU will organize a day of action at Staples stores around the country as well as sustained actions at a number of stores where postal retail units have opened.

Has your local organized a delegation to visit a Staples store?