08/21/2014 - With the back-to-school season in full swing, the APWU is asking union members and supporters to make sure parents and teachers get the message: Don’t buy your school supplies at Staples.

To spread the word, union members are being asked to pass out rulers with exactly that message in front of Staples stores. The back-to-school message is important because school supplies account for approximately 30 percent of Staples’ revenue. To order rulers for distribution, locals should visit www.StopStaplesStore.com.

The APWU has received significant backing for the ‘Don’t Buy Staples’ campaign from teachers all across the country, including resolutions of support from both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Educators buy a lot of school supplies from Staples and we have found that they are very receptive to the message that “it’s easy” to shop elsewhere.

In addition to the rulers, the APWU has launched an online ad campaign directed to teachers and parents.

Across the nation, postal workers and supporters of public post offices have been protesting a no-bid deal between the U.S. Postal Service and Staples that established knock-off post offices in the company’s stores. The deal threatens the public Postal Service and will result in the transfer of good, living-wage jobs to low-wage jobs.

The Staples deal also jeopardizes service to the people: Uniformed, highly-trained postal employees who have taken an oath to protect the security of the mail will be replaced with workers who have received minimal training. Letters and packages left at Staples stores will be unsecured.

And at the same time that the USPS has been outsourcing work to Staples, it has been reducing hours at many post offices near Staples stores.