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Grass-Roots Campaign to Promote
Benefits of APWU Health Plan

APWU News Bulletin #17-2004, Sept. 30, 2004| PDF

APWU President William Burrus has announced a grass-roots effort to publicize the benefits of the APWU Health Plan, with 30 APWU locals expected to enroll soon in a pilot program based on “member-to-member” promotion.

“We’ve never really made the effort to have members talking to members about the value of these outstanding options,” Burrus said of the new program. “Of the 240,000 union members and the 300,000 active APWU-represented employees, only 16,000 belong to the APWU Health Plan. Yet considering every relevant factor for choosing health coverage, the APWU plan is competitive with or superior to the other insurance programs in which our members enroll.”

“There is simply no justification for the low participation rate,” Burrus wrote in a letter to 30 local presidents. “The fact is that our members have not been informed of the low premiums and the excellent benefits of the APWU Health Plan.”

Burrus asked the APWU leaders to select an outstanding organizer to help get the campaign off to a solid start. “I ask that you designate a dynamic member of your local who has the ability to inform other members about the great benefits and competitive premiums that APWU offers,” Burrus wrote.

The designated member will distribute information, make personal contact with potential health plan enrollees, respond to inquiries, and enroll new members in the plan.

“We must increase the number of plan participants so that we can continue to offer this valuable benefit,” Burrus said. “Our success in increasing COPA contributions was achieved because committed local and state presidents made it happen.”

“Once again, I need your commitment,” Burrus added. “Please provide my office with the name of the very best organizer in your local.”

For its part, APWU Health Plan staff will provide the names of APWU members who are not in the plan, along with brochures and other material explaining health plan benefits and premiums.

After the designated organizers have been selected, a teleconference will take place Nov. 4 to officially launch the campaign. The 2004 FEHB program Open Season is from Nov. 8 through Dec. 13.

APWU Officers’ Election Ends Oct. 5

Time is running short for members who have yet to vote in the APWU National Officers election. Ballots were mailed by Sept. 15, and must be returned to and received in the designated post office box by 2 p.m. (Eastern Time), Oct. 5.

Twenty-eight, or exactly one-third of the 84 national officer positions are being contested. Two of five Retiree National Convention Delegate positions (Central and Western regions) also appear on ballots.

The APWU Election Committee will take custody of the ballots on Oct. 5, and the count will begin. Results will appear at www.apwu.org as soon as they are available; official tallies will appear in the November/December issue of The American Postal Worker.

2004 COPA Fund-Raising Wrap-Up Report

The final results of this year’s APWU Committee on Political Action fund-raising efforts will appear in the March/April issue of The American Postal Worker.

The comprehensive wrap-up report will summarize states’ and locals’ COPA-collection efforts through Dec. 31, 2004. A recent APWU News Bulletin provided an earlier deadline that has now been changed.

“For the 2004 report, all of the contributions received by the end of the year will be included in the wrap-up,” said APWU President William Burrus. “We are confident that locals and state organizations will maintain their campaigns through December.”

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