Strategic Planning for Your Local

(This article appeared in the September/October 2025 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)

When planning to accomplish union goals, you must consider: What will your local look like in five to 10 years?

Strategic planning means actively working to make something happen, not just waiting for things to happen. You have to be proactive, not reactive. To be proactive, you must have a strategic plan – one that considers your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Strategic planning answers these questions:

• Where are you now?
• Where do you want to go?
• When do you want to get there?
• How are you going to make it happen?
• Who will do the work? Who will be held accountable, and how do you measure your progress?

The answers to these questions must take into consideration and be shaped by your beliefs and values. Any group can plan strategically; the difference is what values groups use to guide them. The USPS plans all the time, but the mission is not to ensure that postal workers have better working conditions, wages, and benefits. When unions make long-term plans, we must always consider how we will achieve better working conditions for postal workers.

Your Plan and Our Union’s Mission

As trade unionists, you have certain values that will guide your planning. One of the first things you must do is develop a mission statement that defines your core purpose. The good news is that this is easy for APWU members; our mission statement already exists.

The mission statement for the APWU, as stated in Article 2 of the APWU Constitution and Bylaws, is to “secure through collective bargaining and legislative effort a safe and healthy work environment, better working conditions, and a better standard of living for the members of the APWU and their families.” This statement, which was included in our union’s first constitution, adopted in 1972, has been expanded over the years, but it remains the core mission of the APWU.

Creating a Plan

One of the first tasks for new officers is to discuss a shared vision for their local, which can start off simply by asking the newly elected executive board where they think the local should be going, and what is important to get done now and in the future.

Remember, you cannot lead if you have no idea where you want to go. And no one can follow a leader who is not going anywhere.

Planning the future of the local is not the job of the local officers alone. You should give stewards and rank-and-file members the opportunity to give input as well.

When stewards and members take an active role in developing the local’s strategic plan, they will be motivated to help and make it a reality.

Short-term goals can help you work toward achieving your long-term goals. How can we and our members get the message out to our current supporters and potential allies? Because we rely on people who volunteer their time, our planning must address how we will keep these volunteers active and motivated.

As the APWU moves forward with new national leadership, we will continue to strategically plan the course of action to fight against efforts to privatize one of the largest employers and most trusted institutions. Since 2011, the APWU has been at the forefront of legislative and collective bargaining achievements to protect and maintain existing post offices, our work, working conditions, and benefits. All thanks to strategic planning and the support of the membership and our allies. We must continue this momentum. We have all heard the expression, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail,” which was on point in 2010 and remains relevant in 2025.

(This article first appeared in the September-October 2010 issue of The American Postal Worker. Edits were made for space and current events.) ■