New Toolkit Now Available

I'm pleased to report that a new organizing toolkit is now available to help APWU officers, organizations and members sign-up our co-workers who haven't yet joined the APWU!

The new kit includes a Welcome Book, a brochure specially designed for PSEs, a new union sign-up form, and a host of other material.

Please use the new tools to make sure that when postal workers – and managers – walk the floor, they see APWU wherever they go!

Welcome Book – This book is designed for distribution to both career employees and Postal Support Employees (PSEs). It is intended to inform non-members and members about the benefits of joining and participating in the APWU.

It includes a brief history of our union, a description of the union’s structure, information pertaining to contract administration, and an explanation of members’ rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Welcome Book also includes a Form 1187, Authorization for Deduction of Dues.

Postal Support Employees – Rights & Benefits at a Glance – This brochure provides information that is specific to PSEs about their contractual rights and benefits, and includes a Form 1187 on the back cover. It can be inserted into the Welcome Book for distribution at orientation sessions, distributed as a stand-alone document, or folded and mailed.

PSEs are the newest – and often the youngest – members of our APWU family. If we want to be sure our union will be strong in years to come, we’ve got to make a special effort to get PSEs involved now!

New Sign-Up Form

We’ve also made some important changes to the form organizers use to sign up new members. The new version of the Form 1187 is intended to help locals, state organizations and the national union get the information we need.

Social Security Number – Social Security numbers are required. There has been confusion about whether an employee may provide their EIN only; unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Union Transfers – If new members are transferring from another union, please make sure they circle the union they are coming from. This will help us ensure that our members don’t end up paying dues to multiple unions.

Triplicate! – Once again the form is printed in triplicate. This so locals and state organizations have a record of new members.

An order form for these ideas and others is available on the Organization Department pages at www.apwu.org.

We Need to Talk

I hope the new organizing material helps. But the truth is, if we want our co-workers to join the APWU, we’ve got to have a conversation with them about why they should sign up.

Think about why you’re a member and share that with non-members. I’m a member because I believe we are stronger together. Where would I be without you and our fellow members who have made possible our pay, benefits, safety, and grievance procedures? It’s not hard to imagine. The federal minimum wage is still $7.25. Casual employees received no raises, no retirement, no leave and were considered “at-will” employees. That means they could be terminated at any time for any reason without recourse.

Because of our collective efforts we have improved the lives of many. Let’s keep organizing!