Standing Up to Post Office Privatizers

One portentous example of Donahoe’s determination to bust the wages and undermine the performance of USPS is the sweetheart privatization scam he’s set up with Staples. He’s letting this big box retailer place official postal kiosks in its 1,500 stores – only they’re not being staffed by highly trained, publically-accountable postal workers, but by Staple’s own poverty-wage, high-turnover floor staff. In at least one case, Donahoe even cut the hours of service at post offices around a Staples store, then put up a sign directing postal customers to the Staples outlet.

Mark Dimondstein – the feisty president of the American Postal Workers Union – calls Donahoe “Wall Street’s Trojan Horse, the privatizer from within.” But, says Dimondstein, “We intend to stop him.” His union has launched a Dump Donahoe campaign as well as a national boycott of Staples stores. For information and support, go to www.apwu.org.

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This has been reposted from Jim Hightower’s website.