Two major retailers will be the sites of protests in D.C. tomorrow.
Members of the American Postal Workers Union will protest outside of Staples on L Street NW at noon over a deal between the retailer and the United States Postal Service to move mail counters inside stores.
“Staples employees, who work for low wages and meager benefits — and who have received minimal training — operate these unsecured postal counters,” a release states. APWU president Mark Dimondstein said in a statement, “The American people have a right to know that their mail is handled by highly-trained uniformed postal employees who have taken an oath to protect the sanctity of the mail and who are accountable to the people of the country — whether it’s at the Post Office or an office-supply store.”
Several labor groups — including the AFL-CIO, International Labor Rights Forum and United Students Against Sweatshops — will gather outside the Children’s Place in Columbia Heights at 5:30 p.m. on the anniversary of the deadly Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh.
A month ago, Walmart and The Children’s Place each made a small contribution to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund, the victims’ compensation fund under the Rana Plaza Arrangement, which is facilitated by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Each company contributed less than 6% of the amount that labor advocates are calling on them to pay. The $1 million from Walmart amounts to less than $500 per family and the $450,000 from The Children’s Place provides for less than $250 per family. Based on these companies’ ongoing relationship with factories at Rana Plaza, and their ability to pay a much higher sum, the International Labor Rights Forum and allies are urging Walmart to pay a total of $17 million and The Children’s Place to pay a total of $8 million to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund. Walmart is the world’s largest public corporation and therefore bears a responsibility to pay a higher amount. The Children’s Place reported $655.5 million in gross profit in 2013 and its CEO’s compensation in 2012 was $17 million.
