Biden
Opposes postal privatization, whole or in part. Biden pledged, in a letter to the APWU National Executive Board, “to continue the fight to protect the Postal Service from all attempts at privatization.”
Biden and Trump on the Issues
The APWU National Executive Board (NEB) endorsed Joe Biden for U.S. President on June 9, 2020. While every individual will vote their conscience, your union leadership encourages you to cast your vote for Joe Biden. The NEB came to our position by examining the records and commitments of the two candidates. We encourage you to do the same.
Postal Privatization
Trump
Plans the wholesale dismantling and privatization of the public Postal Service by selling it to private corporations for profit (June 2018 White House Office of Management and Budget Report).
Postal Collective Bargaining
Biden
Supports continued collective bargaining, the right to negotiate over wages and benefits, for postal workers. (Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing).
Trump
Calls for the elimination of the right of postal workers to negotiate over wages and benefits and to replace this with “collective begging” to Congress for future wage increases (Presidential Postal Task Force: A Sustainable Path Forward, December 2018).
Postal Retirement Benefits
Biden
Stated that “The federal government should lead by example and provide high quality benefits, instead of pushing anti-worker budget adjustments designed to shift the burden of health care and retirement costs onto employees.” (AFGE Candidate Questionnaire)
Trump
Supports increasing postal workers’ Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) contributions by 6 percent resulting in a huge cut in take-home pay (Presidential Postal Task Force of December 2018 and OMB policies).
Postal Services
Biden
Supports maintaining the Universal Service Obligation that guarantees every person equal access to postal services, six-day delivery and rural post offices. Supports expanded services including financial services (DNC platform). Biden also championed the Mail Delivery Protection Act when a U.S. Senator.
Trump
Advocates for reducing number of days of delivery, closing post offices and raising package prices by 400 percent – driving away businesses and customers from the USPS (December 2018 Presidential Postal Task Force Report and press statements). Opposes expanded postal services such as “postal banking.” Calls the Postal Service “a joke.”
Emergency Postal COVID Relief
Biden
Supports funding for COVID-19 relief to ensure that the USPS does not run out of money due to the pandemic (Letter to APWU National Executive Board).
Trump
Opposes any Congressional postal relief to make up for the projected lost revenues and increased expenses due to the pandemic. Threatened to veto the entire CARES Act stimulus package passed in March if postal relief was included (Washington Post, April 11, 2020).
Tax Policy
Biden
Promotes repealing the Tax Cut and Jobs Act for those earning over $400,000/year. Biden supports taxing capital gains for those earning over $1 million, uncapping Social Security taxes on wealthy individuals, and promoting tax credits for child care and electric vehicles.
Trump
Promoted and signed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, reducing tax revenue by $1.5 trillion over ten years. Provided tax breaks for wealthy individuals and corporations.
Vote by Mail and Voting Laws
Biden
Supports vote by mail as a way to provide safe access to the ballot box for tens of millions of voters. Biden also opposes voter suppression tactics such as “Voter ID” laws (MarketWatch, April, 24, 2020 & CBS News, July 24, 2014).
Trump
Calls “vote by mail” fraudulent and corrupt. Blocked funds to the Postal Service in an effort to prevent vote-by-mail expansion and suppress the vote. Generally supports policies that make it harder to vote. (Newsweek, April 3, 2020).
Workplace
Biden
Calls for doubling the number of OSHA inspectors and for implementing Emergency Coronavirus safety standards to keep workers safe (Joe Biden’s 4 point plan for our Essential Workers).
Trump
Decreased OSHA inspections and altered guidelines designed to keep workers safe by making them nonbinding and unenforceable. Opposes a long overdue COVID-19 Emergency standard which would protect workers (Vox, July 13, 2020).
Rebuilding the Infrastructure
Biden
Calls for creating millions of well-paying union jobs. This plan would replace the Postal Service’s aging vehicle fleet, make new investments to combat climate change, and rebuild America’s disintegrating infrastructure. (The Biden Plan to Build a Modern, Sustainable Infrastructure and an Equitable Clean Energy Future)
Trump
Promised a $1 trillion infrastructure program to rebuild crumbling bridges, tunnels, dams, subways, electrical grids, and water supplies. No such program has been mplemented despite the House’s passage of a comprehensive infrastructure bill back in July (Business Insider, September 3, 2020).
Workers' Rights to Form Unions
Biden
Supports the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act). Commits to appointing pro-labor members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and eliminating
anti-union, so-called “Right to Work” laws. Plans to restore and strengthen the right to union organizing, collective bargaining, and other vital workplace protections. (The
Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing, Collective Bargaining, and Unions; The Nation, April 7, 2020)
Trump
Opposes the PRO Act, stacked the NLRB with corporate, anti-union members, and issued Executive Orders eliminating or reducing union rights for federal employees.
Minimum Wage
Biden
Supports raising the minimum wage to $15.00/hour (Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing).
Trump
Opposed raising the minimum wage. Threatened to veto legislation which would gradually increase it to $15/hour (CNBC, July 18, 2020).
Clean Water and Air
Biden
Plans to achieve a 100 percent clean energy economy and
reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050. Supports rejoining the Paris Agreement, an international agreement which would minimize the worst effects of climate change. (Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice)
Trump
Reversed and relaxed dozens of environmental rules via Executive Order. Reduced toxic emission standards from power plants, cars and trucks; relaxed mercury emission restrictions; cut back protected natural areas for more fossil fuel extraction; and allowed coal companies to dump toxins into local streams (New York Times, July 15, 2020). Has stated that climate change is a “hoax.”
Social Security
Biden
Opposes any cuts to Social Security, and supports raising Social Security benefits for low-income individuals and long-living beneficiaries. Biden supports having wealthy individuals pay their full share of Social Security deductions, thus putting the program on a path to solvency.
Trump
Indicated willingness to cut Social Security, including through a permanent pay roll “tax cut,” which would bankrupt Social Security. Calls for cuts to the Social Security Disability Fund in the White House budget for FY 2021.
Health Care
Biden
Wants to build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Plans to add a public option, like Medicare, that will reduce costs and improve efficiency. Calls for increased tax credits to lower health care premiums.
Trump
Tried repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. He partially privatized the Veterans Affairs medical system. Called for cutting $500 billion from Medicare and $900 billion from Medicaid in the White House Budget for FY 2021.
On Unity
Biden
Opposes the rise of neo-nazism and white supremacy. Condemned the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA and described the white supremacist protesters as those, “…who descended on Charlottesville with torches in hand and hate in their hearts.”
Trump
Actively strokes nationalism and white supremacy. Described the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” white supremacist protesters, one of whom murdered Heather Heyer, as “very fine people.”
