It’s Time to Stand Up and Fight Back

“Attacks are being waged from all quarters – Congress, Wall Street and the Postmaster General himself,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said in the opening of his “State of Our Union” message to the delegates at the union’s 22nd national convention. “Privatization is not a distant danger but a direct and immediate threat.  A congressionally manufactured financial crisis is being used to justify new assaults on postal jobs and on the 239-year old public Post Office.”

“To survive the onslaught, we must transform our union into a fighting; activist organization and we must build a Grand Alliance with the people of the country to defend our national treasure, the United States Postal Service,” Dimondstein said.

Alerting convention delegates to the war being waged against programs and services beneficial to the working class, he said “Everything that stands for the public good – public libraries, parks, education, utilities, transportation and public postal services – are under severe attack, as are public sector workers and unions.”

“In this context we can best understand the full-fledged drive to privatize postal services, a drive propelled by domination of the Postal Service, the Board of Governors and the Postal Regulatory Commission by big mailers,” he said. 

Stepping up

“The Stop Staples campaign is an excellent example of the APWU’s fighting capacity,” he said. 

“At every stage of the struggle, you have stepped up! Your terrific activism has put the Postal Service and Staples – along with every other retailer in this country – on notice: The U.S. Mail is not for Sale!” 

“The Stop Staples campaign is an essential component of defending the public Postal Service and our good, living-wage jobs,” Dimondstein said. 

He also emphasized that it is vitally important the APWU involve young workers, such as Postal Support Employees (PSEs) in union activities. “Longer-term union leaders should encourage, uplift and mentor the next generation. Younger activists should never be seen as a threat; they are an asset. We need the spirit, energy and ideas of young workers – our future!”

Postal union solidarity 

Earlier this year the national presidents of the four postal unions formed a Postal Union Alliance for the purpose of halting the attempted destruction of the USPS.  “The simple truth is we will either rise together or we will fall separately,” Dimondstein said. “I’m pleased to report that our budding unity has already led to a joint legislative strategy and agreement on the fight to expand postal services. It has also manifested itself in enthusiastic support from our sister postal unions in the fight against Staples.” 

“Our unity also has manifested itself in our unequivocal support for six-day and door delivery. And we are in the process of developing a coordinated fight against the new round of threatened plant consolidations.”

Improve and expand postal services

To help protect jobs, Dimondstein said that postal workers must advocate for improved and expanded postal services. One way to enhance service is by offering basic banking,

This idea took center stage with a report by the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) in January, which advocated that the USPS provide basic financial services to the “unbanked.” According to the Inspector General, offering financial services would create a revenue stream for the USPS of approximately $9 billion a year! 

“The APWU will be up to the task of building a movement to compel the Postmaster General and the Board of Governors to expand postal services to provide an array of financial services,” Dimondstein said.

A winning strategy

Dimondstein advised delegates a winning strategy requires that a Grand Alliance be built with postal worker allies – seniors, retirees, veterans, students, civil rights organizations, immigrants’ rights groups, faith-based organizations, neighborhood associations and the labor movement.

“It’s hard to kill a service the people support. Therefore, the privatizers, including top-level USPS executives, are bent on disrupting service to such a degree that people won’t consider the Postal Service worth fighting for. This is the underlying reason for the congressionally-manufactured financial crisis,” the union president said.

“Building the grand alliance is the only way we will ensure that a vibrant public Postal Service exists for many years to come. It is the only way we will move Congress to act.”

Fighting spirit

Dimondstein expressed his belief that the APWU, in concert with the other postal unions, friends and allies, are up to the many challenges, thanks in part to the fighting spirit of APWU activists.  

“Brothers and Sisters, from the workroom floor to the streets, from our neighborhoods to the halls of Congress, it is time to educate, organize, mobilize and galvanize. It is time to stand up and fight back!  In the words of the great anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, ‘Let us march on, ’til victory is won,’ ” Dimondstein declared.