We Must Make Our ‘Cause’ the People’s Cause!

This article appeared in the January-February 2015 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.

The APWU is gearing up for a major battle: The fight to win a good contract for our members, while we fight for a vibrant, public Postal Service for the people of the country. Negotiations are set to begin on Feb. 19, three months before the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on May 20.

Contract negotiations are always contentious, and 2015 will be no exception: Postal management is using a manufactured financial crisis to justify its disastrous “cut to survive” strategy, and many in Congress and on Wall Street are eager to dismantle the USPS so they can turn over the profitable pieces to their cronies in private industry.

”Despite the obstacles, I believe we can win a good contract,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein.

“To be victorious, we will have to conduct our fight for a good contract very differently than we have in the past,” he said. “Negotiations will still go on at the bargaining table, but to be successful we must win support from the people of the country for our goals – good, stable postal jobs and a strong Postal Service that belongs to them. As postal workers, we understand that the demise of a strong, public Postal Service would mean the end of our jobs.  But we must take that understanding a step further.

“We must make sure the people of the country realize that dismantling the nation’s postal system doesn’t only harm postal workers,” Dimondstein said. “It also robs the people of speedy delivery of their medicine, their online purchases, local newspapers, bill payments, letters and invitations. And it robs communities of a vital public service, secure jobs, a strong tax base, and important infrastructure.

 “We must make sure the people understand that our great national treasure has the potential to expand hours and services – to include postal banking, licenses and Internet services.

“To win support, we will need the active involvement of all APWU members – not just stewards and officers,” he added.

“We will ask all union members to speak out about the threat to the public Postal Service and how a contract that protects good jobs can also protect local post offices. We will ask members to take the message to community meetings, the places where they worship, and small business groups in their cities and towns.”

In 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union defied the odds and won a strike by uniting the demands of teachers with the needs of the students and parents they served, Dimondstein observed.  

“We are not alone,” he pointed out. “Walmart workers are rising up, and fast food workers are demanding a living wage,” he added.  “Our demands – like theirs – are just. And like the workers at McDonalds and Walmart, to win, we must take our case to the people of the country and ask for their support.”

“We also must make sure that we are united within our own ranks,” said Secretary-Treasurer Liz Powell, who is helping to lead the contract campaign. “We must make sure that more senior workers understand the importance of improving conditions for Postal Support Employees, and that new employees understand the importance of protecting retirement benefits. And we must strive together to end the three-tier pay structure that divides our workforce.”

In the coming weeks and months, union activists across the country will call on their co-workers to get involved by joining Contract Action Teams, wearing stickers, buttons and T-shirts, and by spreading the word to neighbors, friends and associates.

Will you answer the call?

Delegates: Build a Contract Campaign

In July 2014, delegates to the union’s National Convention approved a resolution instructing union leaders to conduct a contract campaign that mobilizes APWU members, our fellow postal workers, the labor movement, friends and concerned citizens in support of our contractual demands and in opposition to the priorities and policies of the Postal Service. 

As preparations for the contract campaign got underway, the union’s National Executive Board and all officers domiciled at the union’s national office have signed a pledge that provides, in part, that the officers support “including the entire membership to help win a strong contract that will keep the Postal Service vibrant, with good union jobs, for years to come.” 

The national officers have also pledged to assist locals and state organizations with worksite actions in support of bargaining and activities that may involve the public and the media.