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WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service has contracted with Staples, without a bid, to establish quasi Postal operations in their stores, thus providing unsecured post office services by low wage workers who are untrained and not vested to Postal standards; and
WHEREAS, The Postal Service and Staples have threatened to expand the operation into all 1,500+ Staples stores; and
WHEREAS, The Postal Service and Staples refuse to staff these operations with Postal Service employees, who are trained and dedicated to provide security and safeguard the sanctity of the mail; and
WHEREAS, this will replace unionized, living-wage Postal workers with low-wage Staples workers, resulting in a significant revenue loss to the City of Pittsburgh; and
WHEREAS, Postal workers and their unions, including the Pittsburgh Metro Area Postal Workers Union, Branch 84 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Local 322 of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the Pennsylvania President of the National Rural Letter Carriers Union, have been in a years-long battle, opposing this unwise shift of mail operations to untried and unreliable privatization; and
WHEREAS, the Postal Service threatens to end six day delivery of mail, close processing plants throughout the nation, and relax requirements for the overnight timely delivery of mail.
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Pittsburgh supports the Postal workers engaged in this struggle to protect living wage jobs in the city; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Pittsburgh recognizes that efficient and secure Postal operations are a valuable asset to the governance of the city and a valuable service to the public at large who interact with the Postal Service on a personal face-to-face basis daily; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Pittsburgh will urge its citizens to become aware of these threats to the Postal Service and the efforts made by the Western PA Postal Workers Solidarity Committee when considering whether to patronize Staples.