Make a Difference In the 2016 General Elections!

(This article first appeared in the July-August issue of The American Postal Worker Magazine)

The November general election can either help save the people’s Postal Service or further hinder our chances of expanding and building our future. This is our battle cry to all APWU members to get involved in the election.

We need your support to help the Postal Service expand and become vibrant once again. The following can be won with active congressional leaders who support our goals. Find out the position of your members of Congress on the following issues:

• Rescind the service standard changes made in January 2015 that virtually eliminated overnight delivery;
• Stop and reverse plant consolidations and closures;
• Stop contracting out mail transportation and services;
• Stop the temporary closure of post offices through “suspension;”
• Stop reducing hours at post offices;
• Expand service by putting pressure on Postmaster General Megan Brennan to implement postal banking;
• Push for more democratic elections by utilizing the Universal Vote by Mail system in every state;
• Bring back the mail processing that is being done at private “mail houses;”
• Protect our health plan and retirement benefits, and
• Protect injured employees and disabled veterans.

We have a lot at stake in November’s election. Keep in touch with your senators, representative and candidates on the above postal issues before you cast your ballot. Your involvement is critical, but you cannot violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits most federal employees from engaging in certain forms of political activity. What are you permitted do?

• Register voters;
• Participate in door-to-door canvassing for candidates;
• Help with phone banking;
• Write letters to the editor;
• Vote to endorse candidates at your union meeting;
• Donate to candidates who support our position on postal issues;
• Drive voters to polls, and
• Participate in political activities off-the-clock and when you are not wearing a postal uniform.

Hatch Act rules can be found at www.apwu.org/departments-divisions/legislative-and-political.

Build Community Coalitions

I was proud to be one of the members to help build A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service. More than 75 national organizations have joined. The Grand Alliance has been our work in progress to help build our power base. Your community may have other organizations that also would like to play a part in saving the People’s Postal Service. Visit AGrandAlliance.org for more information. As an individual, you can pledge to support our cause online and get your family members, friends and neighbors to sign on, too. If we stand together, we can win the fight for justice.

The mission of the Postal Service is to provide access to affordable, prompt mail service to all people, no matter where they live. The USPS belongs to everyone. Without it, we would be paying outrageous fees for mail service and some areas would get little or no service at all.

The Postal Service does not rely on taxpayer money. We are a service, not a business. We protect the sanctity of the mail. We protect our communities from fraud; we often act as a neighborhood watch; we contribute to food banks, and we care about our communities. We are the center of our communities. We want to provide the best service and to do that, we must stop actions that adversely affect service.

We must build support in our communities to stop any consolidations in 2017, as well as support for reversing some consolidations that have occurred.

We must continue to build community coalitions to stop consolidations. Make sure your members of Congress have signed on to support bills that would put an end to plant closures.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reviews postal reform. The members of that committee need to hear from us. Check out oversight.house.gov to see if your representative serves on the committee. A community coalition could help mobilize support for positive postal legislation.

In the Senate, the committee with jurisdiction over the Postal Service is the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Visit hsgac.senate.gov to see if one of your senators serves on the committee.

It’s important to keep good postal jobs in the community. They provide employment opportunities for future generations and inject cash into the neighborhoods.

Businesses depend on prompt mail service for bills, payments, advertising and shipments.

We also need the community to help us expand service, like postal banking, which can stop predatory payday lenders and check-cashing rackets that cheat people of their hard-earned pay. We can help our communities in so many ways.

I know many of our members understand this, but it takes action to make it happen. We are in desperate times. Paying union dues is not enough: We need your help now. If we all volunteer, the work will not be as hard.

Let your union officers and stewards know that you are ready to help build a community coalition today. You may already belong to an organization in your community that may be willing to join our struggle. Your organization may be willing to have a representative speak about postal banking, consolidations, and the people’s Postal Service at one of its activities.

Each member on the workroom floor can help us to reach our goals by being part of an organizing team. Many unions have begun to work with a program called the One-to-10 Rule. The aim is to get one active union member for every 10 workers to spread the word about union activities.

Every workplace has informal leaders who aren’t elected or appointed, but they make a difference on the floor. They are the people their co-workers look up to and trust. If you are interested in helping out, let your union steward know that you would like to assist on the workroom floor as a union member core activist.

Check the resources toolbar on my webpage, www.apwu.org/departments-divisions/vice-president to find toolkits on Coalition Building, Mentoring Union Members, National Mobilization Guide Against Plant Consolidations and Post Office Closures, Saving Our Post Office, and Planning a Town Hall Meeting.