A Chance for Change in 2016

(This article first appeared in the March-April 2016 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.) 

This year there is so much at stake for apwu members. This is a presidential election year, an APWU national officers election year, an APWU National Convention year, and we are still in the midst of the struggle for Good Postal Service!Good Jobs!Good Contract!

With all that, 2016 provides each of us with a chance to make a difference. We need your participation.

Yes, it is true that the struggles we face can seem daunting. Plant consolidations are still hanging over our heads, and the attempts to privatize the Postal Service are ongoing. We must continue to fight back. We have to be vigilant in our efforts for adequate staffing and a safe workplace. But, it is also true that we are not alone.

“Standing Up and Fighting Back” was the theme of the 2014 APWU National Convention, and the revitalized APWU has helped turn that theme into a reality. As you well know from your life experience – whether in your church or community group, charity work, or participation in sports or educational programs – success comes from organization, coupled with the hard work of individuals and allied groups. Our struggle is no different.

We need to commit to work for change. We need to come together, we need to be active, and we need you to bring your talents, abilities and passions to this struggle. If you haven’t attended union meetings in the past, now is the time to start.

We Need You!

Have you reached out to your local union to see how your skills and expertise can help? Speak to your local president, and let him or her know that you are ready to help. Your experience within and outside the Postal Service represents a valuable asset for our movement.

In this fight we need allies. It is important that we work with others in our community to build coalitions to work for the betterment of our shared goals. In 2015, we saw both the creation of A Grand Alliance to Save Our Postal Service and the Campaign for Postal Banking.

Through the work of our own National Contract Campaign Committee, and the efforts to fight plant consolidations and closings, it became evident that the struggles we face are connected to the concerns and interests of a whole host of organizations, both large and small, throughout this country. You can be a real plus in reaching out to our allies and potential allies in the communities where you work and live. Who better to carry the message than you?

Our union is so much more than filing grievances. There are issues that we confront in the workplace and in our communities that, if resolved, can make a difference in all of our lives.

Over the past two years, we have done a lot of work, but all of us need to show strength, whether it be on the workroom floor, at our town halls and city council meetings, at legisltators’ meetings – wherever we need to confront the issues that impact our lives. We all benefit when members become active.

National Elections

Much of the nation’s attention will be focused on the presidential election in 2016. We need to educate ourselves about the true positions of candidates for office at every level. We need to support and vote for candidates who stand with us.

When we support candidates, we need to let them know who we are, and that we expect them to have our backs! And if they don’t, we need to let them hear and feel our rage!

Part of the appeal that Bernie Sanders has for me is he understands that in order for significant change to happen that benefits all of us, it is not going to come from just one person elected as president. It will come as the result of a movement benefiting all working people, not just a handful of billionaires.

Problems don’t resolve themselves, problems get resolved when people work together, develop effective strategies, and realize their power. Working people have been given the short end of the stick for too long.

The continued enrichment of the 1% at the expense of working people is an imbalance of power. The 1% have consolidated their power with control of the coporate media and the ability to buy elected officials. Fighting back against this imbalance of power comes from organizing to bring about change.

The struggles of fast food workers, “Fight for $15” activists, environmental groups, and Black Lives Matter show that education and mobilization of our fellow citizens can be the engine for change.

Coalition building and grassroots activism can work. The APWU, both nationally and at the local level, can play an important part not only in fighting to save our jobs and the public Postal Service, but in making this a better world for working people and our families.

I’m asking you what I’m asking myself: Somehow, with all that you have in your life, find some extra time to get involved just a little bit more. Please pledge some time to help build this movement. Keep in touch with the APWU website, www.apwu.org, go to your local union meetings, and do whatever you can to help.

Now is the time to step up and volunteer for change. We may never get this kind of chance again.

Can we count on you?