Category Archives: Economics

Boycott Staples!

AFT 2014 National Convention logoAt the 2014 AFT National Convention, to which I was a delegate from PVFT, we learned about the UPWA’s call for a boycott of Staples, because of the arrangement between the USPS and Staples, Corp., that will outsource postal services to Staples stores. By doing so, the USPS is replacing unionized public sector postal workers with non-union, private sector workers, being paid minimum or near-minimum wages. The APWU has called for a boycott of Staples, and the AFT stands in full support and solidarity of this boycott. We rallied in front of the Staples Center with APWU members during the convention. AFT’s joining of the call for a boycott definitely got Staples Corp’s attention, as nearly ⅓ of their total revenue comes from school supplies sales! And the big back-to-school rush is about to commence. Check out  www.apwu.org/issues/stop-staples for more information, and www.apwu.org/issues/stop-staples/staples-materials for downloadable materials, including a flier in Spanish and English.AFT rallies in support of APWU call for a Boycott of Staples

Check out www.apwu.org/news/web-news-article/aft-delegates-adopt-dont-buy-staples-resolution-rally-support-us-postal for APWU’s write-up of AFT’s support. Visit www.aft.org/about/resolution_detail.cfm?articleid=19592 for the Resolution in support of U.S. Postal Workers. And APWU posted about the strong impact AFT’s support had on Staples Corp.: www.apwu.org/news/news-bulletin/aft-strikes-fear-heart-staples-ceo.

AFT rallies in support of APWU call for a Boycott of Staples    AFT-APWU-staples4
d-flyer-Public-Espanol     d-flyer-Public

The Growth of Walmart

This gif is just so illuminating (“horrifying” is what the original post called it), I wanted to share it. This is a post written by Brandon Weber and posted on UPWORTHY, as part of a special Upworthy series about work and the economy, made possible by the AFL-CIO (of which I am a member, through CFT-AFT).

When big box stores (I’ll leave it to you to decide just WHICH big-box stores) come to town, they almost always shut down all the mom-and-pop stores in the area they open in. And it’s a pretty simple formula:

  1. Move in.
  2. Open doors with lower prices than anyone else.
  3. Get employees on welfare and Medicaid because you don’t want to pay well or provide medical insurance.
  4. Force smaller shops out of business.
  5. Raise prices, because now you’re the only game in town.
  6. Rinse, repeat 15 miles down the road.

I’ve heard some say, “capitalism works this way, and great for the owners of [INSERT_BIG_BOX_STORE_HERE] that they’re able to do so well because at least they create jobs.”

To them I say, “At what price?”

walmart-growth

Note: This map only goes to 2006; it’s much worse now, believe it or not.

About:
This image was found on PolicyMic. It was created by Daniel Ferry, Excel Hero, who explains how it’s done. For some of the facts about Walmart’s pay and etc., there’s this from last year. And for even more facts about its pay, here’s an image and data source from a previous post as well.