APWU Members Give Their All in Labor 2020 Campaign

(This article first appeared in the November/December 2020 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

In the face of continuous attacks on the Postal Service, voter suppression, and a pandemic, the APWU’s Legislative and Political Department launched Labor 2020 – our campaign to mobilize voters, elect leaders who will work to better the lives of working families, and guarantee the future of the public Postal Service.

“APWU members knew that the fate of the Postal Service and the working class were at stake in this election,” said President Dimondstein. “That’s why we worked tirelessly to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

The APWU kicked off our Labor 2020 campaign at all five APWU National Regional Conferences, beginning in July. As part of our campaign, we launched the Labor 2020 page on apwu.org. There, we placed resources to help members and their families check their voter registration status, register to vote, request their mail-in ballots and make a plan to vote. Through the website, members also recorded messages telling us what this election means to them with our Labor 2020 Video Tool.

We worked in unison with the AFL-CIO Labor 2020 campaign. Together, we promoted National Voter Registration Day (encouraging our members to check their registration status), asked members to become election workers, and made thousands of phone calls into battleground states.

Our Labor 2020 campaign was especially urgent, given the level of election misinformation coming from the country’s highest office. In an effort to discourage voter turnout and suppress the vote, President Trump undermined our democratic process by attacking the Postal Service’s ability to securely deliver mail-in ballots with false claims that vote-by-mail leads to voter fraud.

The APWU fought back against this kind of election misinformation by creating a Vote-by-Mail 101 webpage to make sure voters could confidently mail in their ballots. We also disseminated an in-depth candidate comparison, published in the last issue of The American Postal Worker, covering issues from collective bargaining and postal privatization to health care and Social Security. When the National Executive Board voted to endorse Joe Biden in this election, we made candidate information widely available so members could see for themselves who would be on the side of workers and the Postal Service.

Record Participation

In this election season, we are proud to report a record number of APWU members were engaged in the electoral process.

Members made calls into critical battleground states with several programs, including AFL-CIO’s Labor 2020 program and its constituency groups’ programs. Other retirees and members worked voluntarily and independently with the Biden campaign to get out the vote.

As we drew closer to Election Day, we sent thousands of texts to fellow APWU members and their households, reminding them to make a plan to vote. Not only did members make calls and send texts, but they also volunteered to become election workers to ensure a safe and fair election for voters.

“APWU’s Labor 2020 campaign successfully mobilized voters and helped elect a leader who has promised to preserve our union jobs and public Postal Service,” said Legislative & Political Director Judy Beard. “We want to thank the National Executive Board, national officers, local and state officers, retirees, and auxiliary members for all their hard work this election cycle. We especially want to thank members for making calls, sending texts, sharing their reason for voting with our video tool, and volunteering as election workers. Labor 2020 and this election would not be possible without postal workers.”