Union Restructuring Committee Meets

The APWU restructuring committee, which met for the first time during the All-Craft Conference in Las Vegas, was addressed by President William Burrus during a teleconference meeting on Dec. 19. Burrus assured participants that he would not attempt to influence their deliberations, noting that the national union is not seeking to restructure. “This committee is the result of a local initiative,” he said.

The committee, chaired by Secretary-Treasurer Terry Stapleton, was mandated by a resolution adopted at the 2006 National Convention. Resolution #523, submitted by the Pennsylvania Postal Workers Union, required the union president to form a committee to review the union’s elected staff at the headquarters and field levels, and distribute its findings to locals at least four months prior to the start of the 2008 National Convention.

Burrus suggested the committee establish its objective, gather all the necessary information, and attempt to determine an appropriate method of changing the union’s structure should it become necessary. He made a commitment to provide the committee with all the information it needs to carry out its duties.

Burrus recounted the experience in 1975 when an APWU assembly was convened specifically to reorganize the union, but failed to produce an agreement. Despite high hopes and a week-long effort to forge a new governing document, delegates left the Constitutional Convention empty-handed, he said. “The Kansas City convention in 1975 was a dismal failure,” Burrus said. “I don’t want us to repeat that experience.”

If the committee presents a recommendation for restructuring to the 2008 convention, “I hope it is something the delegates will embrace,” he said.

The union president asked committee members to agree in advance to be bound by majority rule. “The minority has a right to be heard,” he said, “but not to go forward with any individual’s program.” He also encouraged the committee to avoid releasing its recommendations until they are final.

In addition to Stapleton, other committee members are: Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Powell, Northeast Region Coordinator; Jim McCarthy, Clerk Division Director; Steve Raymer, Maintenance Division Director; Bob Pritchard, MVS Division Director; Robert Kessler, National Business Agent (NBA), Clerk Division; Lyle Krueth, NBA, Clerk Division; Marie Robbins, NBA, Clerk Division; John Dirzius, President, Greater Connecticut Area Local; Princella Edwards, President, Houston Area Local; Gary L. Scott, President, Denver Metro Area Local; Jamila A. Bush, President, Carson City Local; Terry Grant, President, Ohio Postal Workers Union; Martha King, President, Florida Postal Workers; and Teddie Days, President, Missouri Postal Workers Union.