When We All Stand Together as Members of APWU, Our Voice is Stronger at the Negotiating Table

The 2024 “Building Union Power” national organizing drive is off to a strong start. We started this campaign on April 1, and locals everywhere committed to do their part to bring up our membership numbers. We know that the more members we have, the more powerful we will be at the negotiating table when contract negotiations start on June 25.

But we are now in the final weeks. APWU members across the country have stood up and joined in this fight with innovative ideas for recruiting new members and growing our collective power as a union.

As you read this, we are over halfway to our goal, but we can’t stop yet.

Here are a couple of unique ways locals and members are recruiting new members during this drive:

• Visiting facilities to see the nonmembers face to face having organizing conversations.
• Letter writing campaigns: writing personal letters to nonmembers with an ask to join APWU.
• Hosting booths at community events such as the Rock and Roll marathon and local Pride parade.
• Visiting Remote Managed Post Offices (RMPOs) that aren’t often visited to talk to nonmember.
• Phone banking.
• Meet-and-greet breakfasts for nonmembers to learn more about their local.
• Hosting Zoom meetings and orientations for nonmembers.
• Stand-up talks with nonmembers during April, May, and June.
• Hosting pizza lunches to learn more about the union.
• Sponsoring union fun days to engage members, nonmembers and their families.
• House visits to nonmembers.

The organizing drive is not over yet though - I encourage you to take some time today and talk to a nonmember during your tour. See what’s holding them back from being a member, and engage them a little deeper. Then ask that nonmember to stand with you; this is how we’ll make progress together in our jobs and our communities.

Make sure everyone at your local is signed up as a member of APWU before June 25. If you recruit a new member before June 25, you’ll get a prize! Learn more at apwu.org/build-union-power.

1187 – New Member Application Round up

Don’t delay or hang onto unprocessed 1187s, now is the time to send them in so that your local gets credit for these new members before APWU’s National Convention.

If you are holding onto 1187s for new members who have not showed up on your Dues Check-Off (DCO) for over two pay periods (PPs), more likely than not we need to look further into the application. After two PPs, please mail or email these applications to APWU National Headquarters advising that the application(s) have not appeared on your DCO.

Now is a great time to do a half-year round up by sending in any 1187s that might laying around your union office or stewards room; verifying your DCO to make sure all the members who should be appearing on your DCO are there; and following up on with those who transferred from other unions to see if they are still listed in Pending status.

Bringing nonmembers into the APWU and asking them to stand with us is challenging enough to do once. Following up and verifying every new member application is essential. Not only do we not want to let these opportunities slip by, but we also don’t want to be making the job of organizing more challenging than it needs to be. Most importantly, we don’t want our new members feeling like their membership doesn’t matter. Every member counts! ■