Legislative Conference Prepares Members to “Fight for Our Future”

The APWU Legislative and Political Department hosted a Legislative Conference, which took place on Sunday, Oct. 5. Attendees engaged in educational workshops, before moving to regional breakouts, and then culminating with a general session and panel.

Delegates attended workshops on a variety of subjects including, Understanding the Hatch Act; Holding Your Representatives Accountable with Legislative Advocacy and Lobbying; Reshaping Democracy at the State and Local Level; Media Relations; and The History of the Labor Movement. The workshops were all designed to provide attendees with the knowledge and resources to enact positive change at the grassroots level and prepare APWU members to “Fight for the Future” – the title of the conference.

In the afternoon attendees split up into breakout sessions to meet with their national regional coordinators on legislative issues affecting their perspective region. Together they looked at the state of play in Congress, redistricting fights in their areas, and what is on the ballot for the upcoming 2025 and 2026 elections. Then each region discussed what they could do, and what help they would need to achieve their legislative goals.

The general session kicked off with remarks by Legislative and Political Director Judy Beard, who provided an update about the federal government shutdown, emphasizing that while postal workers are not directly impacted, we are a solidarity union, and that means we should stay engaged in the fight to protect working people and ensure that the healthcare for millions of Americans is not placed in jeopardy. She urged members to keep building relationships with their legislators to fight back against attacks on workers.

Director Beard was followed by APWU President Mark Dimondstein, who brought union greetings from the Palestine Postal Workers Union. He outlined legislative victories from the last few years of his tenure and the legislative battles that lie ahead in these dangerous times. “Let’s organize, mobilize and resist! Let’s make our voices from the streets to the halls of Congress, solidarity!”

“Fighting for Our Future”

To wrap up the conference, a panel comprised of representatives from several community and national organizations addressed the delegates on the topic of “Fighting for Our Future.”

The special guest panelists were:

• Jamal R. Watkins, NAACP senior vice president of Strategy and Advancement
• Augustus Wood, assistant professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Sondra Cosgrove, executive director and chair of the Board for Vote Nevada
• Larry Cohen, former president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA)

Panelists spoke on why they are engaged in the fight for working people, reengaging voters who are disillusioned with the political process, and what the conference’s “Fight for Our Future” theme means to them.

Jamal Watkins made the case that workers must lead the way in community organizations and advocacy programs because that is how we will protect our communities.

Sondra Cosgrove reassured members that while our political situation may seem bleak, America has always been a country that profits off of and oppresses one group or another, so we should continue to fight to make our world a better place.

Augustus Wood signaled the importance of evaluating the relationship between your local and your community, and to stay engaged.

Meanwhile, Larry Cohen spoke about staying motivated by remembering who you are fighting for – the people and community you love.

The conference was a true call to action for APWU members to stay engaged and be ready to take action in the upcoming political fights. Director Beard ended with a touching tribute to President Dimondstein that reinforced the message that to fight for our future it is not one strong leader, but all of us fighting – for our future – together.