Staples announced today that its sales are declining, its earnings are less than expectations, and it will close 225 stores in North America by the end of 2015.

"This proves, more than ever," said APWU President Mark Dimondstein, "that it’s a bad idea to turn public services over to a private company that can close stores at will, with no public input and no public comment."

Staples currently has a no-bid, sweetheart deal to operate postal counters — staffed by poorly trained, low-wage, high-turnover employees — at more than 80 of its stores. The U.S. Postmaster General has said he plans to expand this “pilot plan” to 1,500 U.S. Staples’ stores. And bills pending in Congress would make it easier to close and sell off U.S. Post Offices.

What would happen if service is moved to a Staples store, the nearby Post Office is closed and sold — and then Staples closes its store?

The U.S. mail is not for sale. Instead of using public resources to bail out a company that is not succeeding, the U.S. Postal Service should use its unmatched nationwide network of people and facilities to take advantage of new opportunities such as package delivery for e-commerce sales and offering new services — like low-cost basic banking — that meet the needs of American consumers.