Ernie Grecco, President of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council, AFL-CIO Unions has called for a boycott of Staples office supply stores. In calling the boycott, Grecco and the Council join the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) in an attempt to stop the privatization of post office services. The Postal Service has entered a contract that allows Staples stores to operate “postal counters” that offer stamps and other mailing services— activities normally performed by post offices. The NALC and APWU charge that these postal counters are staffed by low wage employees while the Postal Service is staffed by highly trained, accountable workers.
Privatization of the post office long has been an objective of conservative legislators. Having low-wage workers perform the duties of postal service workers undermines postal operations and strengthens the effort to privatize the postal service. Other attempts taken by conservative legislators to weaken the postal service include efforts to stop Saturday mail deliveries and the passage of legislation that requires the postal service to fund retirement programs seventy-five years into the future. That law has caused the postal service to report a deficit in recent years. NALC President Fredric Rolando
