Posted on 01/29/2014 3:58:38 PM PST by mdittmar
More than 200 Postal Workers (APWU) members and supporters demonstrated outside Staples stores in San Francisco and San Jose on Tuesday, challenging an arrangement between the company and the U.S. Postal Service that staffs “postal” counters in Staples stores with non-postal employees. The deal threatens good-paying union jobs and jeopardizes public post offices.
The union is demanding that postal employees be assigned to perform the postal work at Staples stores. If Staples and the USPS refuse, the APWU will ask customers to take their business elsewhere.
The so-called “Retail Partner Expansion” program began in November in 80 Staples stores across the nation in a trial, but Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says he wants to expand the program “as soon as possible.”
APWU President Mark Dimondstein says, “The APWU supports the expansion of postal services and retail hours.” But adds:
We cannot accept USPS plans to replace good-paying union jobs with nonunion low-wage jobs held by workers who have no accountability for the safety and security of the mail.
In earlier actions, groups of APWU members and retirees met with managers of Staples stores at locations around the country and delivered a letter protesting the Staples/USPS privatization of postal services.
Let’s go back to the old days where the receiver of the mail paid the postage and see what happens.
Thy name is irony.
It’s fun to watch;)
“Hey APWU,just put the USPS out of business,start a Nationwide Strike.”
That won’t take a whole lot. These union boys had better start trying to figure out how to save the post office or their jobs are gonna be gone.
My private mail company has done this for years.
I had to quit them because my mail volume diminished t the point where a mail box was no longer justified
There are many thousand such private businesses handling the mails
They did that in Canada more than two decades ago. The result was more convenient locations, longer business hours (including Sundays) and shorter lineups.
Yeah, and 75 cent stamps and no more home delivery.
I'm no union supporter but Canada Post's problems run deeper even than ours.
It’s the only way to save it....attrition the union workers out and make it a free enterprise operation where wages are on a competitive basis. My belief is service will go up along with wages and the liberals will lose a cash cow!!!
I think the only new thing about this is that it involves a large chain—Staples. Around here there is a “branch” post office in a gas station and a bank. The local postal workers go to great lengths to let people know that the people working at the branch offices aren’t really post office employees. And you can tell. The gas station office is open 7 days a week, has later hours and usually has more post office supplies like express mail envelopes and boxes. Oh, and their last mail pickup is 3—the official post office is noon. So I can see why the union would be upset.
Fiscal Responsibility,Limited Government,Free Markets
Give me weakly delivery......
.... or give me zippo....
........frankly.... tell me why the JUNK MAIL is even delivered.... I DO NOT WANT IT...
Before the damn union a stamp was three cents and mail was delivered twice a day. Now the post office is broke, just like the cities of Detroit and Chicago. Kill the unions. All of them.
a first step to privitization and why not
why shouldn’t people be able to obtain “USPS” counter service at all kinds of convenient locations - Office Depot, Staples, Fedex-Kinkos, UPS, “USPS francised Kiosks” in shopping malls, Mail Boxes Etc., and many other places
postage stamps alone have been available for purchase at many of our local super markets and drug stores
why not take advantage of bringing the USPS counter service to all the other locations people go for their daily business and shopping errands, and franchise it out
the USPS could reduce by hundreds of acres expensive and old locations for counter services they now maintain
maybe they could actually get costs down to equaling their revenue
instead of people whinning about their “post offfice is closing” they could have multiple convenient locations for counter services, replacing their old “post office”
Ok, so Monday, I arrived at my local Post Office at 11:30 AM. The freakin door was locked—lunch break!!! People in line on the inside.
Sonsabitches. People who work take noon hour to conduct postal business. Ok, so I went on to my next stop—shopping at Buehlers. They have a Post Office counter there that is open until 3 PM, manned by a non-union person. Mailed my stuff in less than two minutes.
“We cannot accept USPS plans to replace good-paying union jobs with nonunion low-wage jobs held by workers who have no accountability for the safety and security of the mail.”
Now that there is funny, I don’t care who you are.
Offer people an @postoffice.com government-grade secure email address, and they can get all their mail through there, including coupons, junk mail, catalogs, etc.
Offer a paid monthly subscription for those who want privacy and no pop-up ads.
The USPS should then completely abolish home mail delivery, partner with UPS and Fed Ex, and let people pick up their mail at a UPS Store or Fed Ex Office building. I had a UPS Store mailbox last summer, and it worked wonders when I travel.
For rural areas, the USPS could build secure buildings that houses post office boxes.
It's time that Congress let the USPS join the 21st and digitize. There is no need for physical regular mail delivered by overpaid union hacks in trucks anymore.
Also to add, the USPS could buy MoneyGram or Western Union, and offer online bill pay and get into the short-term lending business.
Wow! I had to Google that “Buehlers!” Thought at first you may have taken the day off.
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