APWU Legislative Department Launches E-Mail Alert System

The APWU Legislative Department has established an e-mail alert system to help union members react quickly to important developments. “Legislative matters can change with very little notice,” said Legislative Director Myke Reid. “And with the security measures that are in place on Capitol Hill, letters are often delayed until it is too late to affect a representative’s actions on important legislative issues.

“We are introducing the APWU e-Team, to ensure that our members’ voices are heard quickly and loudly on Capitol Hill. We are asking union members — as well as their family, friends and supporters — to join us by signing up for the APWU e-Team.”

“But e-mail lists for organizations like ours can be effective only if local and state leaders are fully involved,” cautioned union President William Burrus. “For that reason, we are asking each state president to appoint an e-Team coordinator.”

“The e-mail system will enhance communication between the union’s national office and activists at the local and state level on legislative issues and other important matters,” Burrus said.

Union members, retirees, and family members can register on the union’s Web site, www.apwu.org. When they enroll, activists will be asked to provide their e-mail address and home address. “This will enable the union to organize the list by congressional districts, which will provide an effective means of coordinating legislative activities,” Reid said. Each time a member signs-up, the information will be forwarded to the state coordinator.

Using the e-Team system, the national union will transmit legislative news, action alerts, and other relevant information. The messages may ask recipients to contact their U.S. senators and representatives on issues of importance to union members.

“APWU members who sign up for the e-Team will be reached quickly, and will be made aware of breaking news or requests for urgent action,” Reid said.

“We are trying to build a nationwide e-mail list, and we want to enlist local and state presidents to help spread the union’s messages,” Burrus said. “The list will be an important tool for members to join the fight to protect their jobs.”

“We urge you to join the network, and suggest you encourage your co-workers to join as well. The bigger the list gets, the more effective this tool will be,” Reid said.

COPA Contributions Now Possible Online 

APWU members can contribute to union’s Committee on Political Action (COPA) with the click of a mouse.

The new feature at www.apwu.org utilizes state-of-the-art security measures to protect contributors’ personal and financial information. COPA accepts online transactions from all major credit cards and the system forwards an online acknowledgement of donations, which will be credited toward the fund-raising targets established for local and state organizations. Online contributors can make one-time-only donations, or they can choose to make recurring contributions.

APWU members raised $1.13 million for COPA in 2005, marking the third year in a row in which the union fund collected more than a million dollars.

TSP Participants Warned About Online ‘Phishing’ Scams 

Some Thrift Savings Plan participants recently received a scam e-mail, the agency reported, in an apparent attempt to obtain personal information. The subject of several federal investigations, such scams are known as “phishing.”

The e-mail that alleged to be from the TSP program asked for confirmation that the person had added an e-mail address to an account, and solicited Social Security numbers. It also provided a link to a bogus version of the TSP account-access screen.

Agency officials say that they would never request any personal, credit, or banking information via e-mail, nor would they provide an embedded link — a line in the body of the e-mail message that links to a site requesting such information.

For more information about this and other kinds of online fraud, visit www.onlineonguard.gov/phishing. The site is sponsored by several agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.