APWU Retirees Still Fighting for Justice

(This article first appeared in the January/February 2022 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

Celebrating 30 Years

The APWU Retirees Department “will offer great benefits to retirees and will make APWU bigger, better and stronger than ever!”

This was the message in the January 1992 letter to all APWU local and state presidents from the National Executive Board. With a broad range of knowledge, skills and abilities, retirees have proven to be an asset to the union at every level, as a support system for our union as well as legislative activists. Retiree members participate in social, political, legislative and educational activities for the dual purposes of improving retirees’ quality of life and reaching out to help those less fortunate. Retirees work with local unions to mentor young workers and reignite the spirit of unionism in all workers. An important part of our fight for justice to protect and secure our hard-earned benefits and to help to preserve the Postal Service includes the continued growth of the APWU Retirees Department.

Joining the APWU Retirees Department is the first step to continue being involved when you retire, because your union dues stop when you retire. You can join online on apwu.org “Members Only” page or download and print an application. In addition, we can mail an application to you. Our dues are just $36.00 per year. It is our collective efforts that will help us achieve our goals. Working collectively lightens the burden for all of us and we are much more effective together, which is one reason we formally organize into retiree chapters.

In accordance with the APWU National Constitution Article 16 Section 2 (i), “Ten (10) or more Retirees Department members residing within a local or area local geographical jurisdiction may form a Local Retiree Chapter.” Organizing a local retiree chapter begins by contacting the Retirees Department for information. The members then move forward to formalize the Retiree Chapter with assistance from the Retirees Department.

As we begin the new year, we welcome new retiree chapters: Southwest FL Retiree Chapter and Wichita KS Retiree Chapter. Celebrate with us!

5 Ways the Pandemic Will Be Different in 2022:

Rachel Nania writes about health care and health policy for AARP. She originally published the following on Dec. 21, 2021. Highlights are provided – the full article is available at bit.ly/3FB0tS1.

Treating COVID could get easier because of the new treatment from Pfizer for COVID-19, the pill authorized by the FDA on Dec. 22 from Pfizer.

Rapid, reliable and accessible testing will be key to the drugs’ success and we are reminded that the pills do not prevent COVID-19, so they won’t be a substitute for getting vaccinated.

At-home testing will play a bigger role in slowing the spread because rapid antigen tests answer the question ‘Am I infectious right now?’ Even with at-home testing, people must follow the protocol:

• If you test positive, the CDC recommends staying away from others for 10 days, even if you don’t have COVID symptoms and

• You should also check in with your doctor especially if you have any underlying conditions that put you at risk for complications.

With Omicron, the focus on boosters will be big because health experts say that a booster shot is key to building the best defense against the highly contagious variant. The booster dose ramps up the antibody response and “gives you much better protection against omicron”.

We should learn more about long COVID. The NIH launched a study on what is commonly called long COVID to try to understand what’s causing people after a COVID-19 diagnosis to suffer for months from lingering effects that can interfere with everyday life, how to prevent it and how to treat people who are suffering from it.

We can expect to see more variants continue to emerge as the virus continues to spread. We have to use every resource and every tool we have to suppress the virus, that includes getting vaccinated and boosted, wearing a mask in public and steering clear of crowded situations.