(This article first appeared in the November/December 2015 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Thanks to lower foot traffic at stores and shrinking sales of office basics, Staples’ second quarter profits dropped 56 percent compared to the same period last year. In North America, sales at stores that were open more than a year fell 3 percent.

Could some of the fading sales be attributed to the Stop Staples campaign? All of the evidence says yes! Everywhere Stop Staples organizers speak to customers about the Staples deal, customers agree to honor the boycott and leave. In Atlanta, two customers returned their purchases for a refund! Protesters have been out in full force, regularly demonstrating in front of Staples stores in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. 

In fact, managers at a Philadelphia location were so frustrated by the protests that they placed a trash can near the store’s entrance asking patrons to, “Please recycle flyers here.”

The flyer the sign referred to was “The U.S. Mail is Not for Sale,” distributed by the Stop Staples campaign. The trash can remained mostly empty. 

Proceedings on USPS-Staples Deal Hearing Resume Nov. 2

The hearing on charges that the Postal Service illegally subcontracted work to Staples is scheduled to resume on Nov. 2. The opening days of the hearing on Aug. 17 and 18 were dominated by procedural wrangling. Administrative Law Judge Paul Bogas of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) presided.

Region 5 of the NLRB issued a complaint against the Postal Service on June 26 in response to an “unfair labor practice” charge filed by the APWU against the Postal Service. The complaint asked the NLRB to order the USPS to cancel its Approved Shipper deal with Staples and return work that existed on July 31, 2014, to the APWU bargaining unit.

Both the Postal Service and Staples continued to resist complying with subpoenas issued by Region 5 of the NLRB and the APWU for use at the hearing, claiming that many documents contain confidential, proprietary information. Judge Bogas said he would rule on their claims at the Nov. 2 hearing.

In August, Bogas granted a motion by Staples to intervene in the case, after Staples argued that it could not rely on the Postal Service to defend its interests in the proceedings. The Postal Service supported Staples’ motion.

The judge’s ruling is not supported by legal precedent, attorneys for the APWU and the NLRB General Counsel noted, and announced plans to appeal.

“The APWU deplores the ongoing collusion between the Postal Service and Staples to transfer the work of highly-trained USPS employees who are accountable to the people of the country to low-paid Staples employees,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said.  “This ploy enriches Staples executives while advancing the privatization of the public Postal Service,” he added.

“The APWU will fight with everything we’ve got in the legal arena, but we know the truth: We must defend our rights and interests by increasing members’ participation in the Stop Staples campaign and spreading word of the boycott,” he said.