Postal Workers Honored with Awards

(This article first appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

On December 15, postal workers were honored by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) at the organization’s 23rd Annual Spirit of Democracy Awards. During the ceremony, held virtually this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, President Dimondstein (accepting on behalf of the APWU membership) was awarded with the 2020 Public Service and Keepers of Democracy Award. President Dimondstein was also a 2020 Spirit of Democracy Chairman’s Leadership Circle Honoree. “2020 has been a year unlike any other when it comes to the threats facing our democracy and the very lives of Black and brown people,” said President and CEO of NCBCP Melanie Campbell, a strong APWU and postal ally. “The 2020 awards exemplify the diversity of our democracy and highlights the role these champions have played in ensuring that ‘justice’ continues to bend towards justice.”

In his remarks during the ceremony, President Dimondstein discussed the APWU’s work during the election to fight voter suppression tactics and expand democracy by delivering over 65 million ballots. “It was good to work with [the National Coalition], so many community allies, with the postal unions, and just and fair-minded people across the country to make sure those voter suppression tactics did not work,” President Dimondstein said. “We look forward to working with the National Coalition to ensure that vote by mail is expanded and spread, and those who want to deprive the right to vote do not carry the day.

“Thank you on behalf of our 200,000 postal workers, the men and women who have been out there on the front lines as essential workers under difficult conditions, proudly doing so,” President Dimondstein continued. “It’s an award for them, we’ll pass it on to them, and I know I am speaking from their hearts and my heart that we greatly appreciate the recognition of tonight and the ongoing work with the National Coalition and others as we move ahead.”

President Dimondstein’s fellow Chairman’s Leadership Circle honorees were Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass (D-CA-37); Trial Lawyer for Justice, President & Founder Ben Crump Law Benjamin Crump; and Oprah Winfrey Network President Tina Perry.

Secretary-Treasurer Powell Honored with Sol Stetin Award

On November 18, Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth “Liz” Powell received the Sol Stetin Award from the National Labor Museum. The award, named after the former president of the Textile Workers of America and founder of the museum, is given yearly to individuals “recognized for their outstanding contributions to the well-being of working people.” Secretary-Treasurer Powell was honored alongside CWA member and Coalition of Labor Union Women President Elise Bryant. Secretary-Treasurer Powell was chosen as an honoree “for her notable contributions, which have improved the lives of working people, and for her tireless dedication to just policies and causes.”

“There can be no doubt that it is the achievement of those who came before us that allow us to be here this evening. And as I stand on those shoulders, and those of my sisters and brothers in the labor movement, I am honored and I wish to thank the American Labor Museum on behalf of all my sisters and brothers in the labor movement,” said Secretary-Treasurer Powell in her acceptance remarks at the virtual awards gala. “We have to continue to bond together to protect our legacy, so that our children can have a future. And we have to continue to stand up for what we believe in, and to believe in what we stand up for.”