What Opportunities Are Left?

(This article appears in the November/December 2014 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Recently, I was asked the following questions by a brother unionist I highly respect: what opportunities are left in the legislative arena this year to put a stop to the plant consolidations that are scheduled to begin in January 2015? What do we have to do?

If you receive e-Team alerts or regularly visit www.apwu.org, you may know the answers to these questions.

We have to get Congress to include language that would halt the closure or consolidation of mail processing facilities in an appropriations bill or “continuing resolution.” (A “continuing resolution” will be used to fund government operations beyond Dec. 12, 2014, when the current budget expires.)

This will give Congress time to enact postal reform that stops cutting service and ensures a vibrant Postal Service that provides the prompt, reliable mail delivery communities and businesses want and need. For this effort to succeed, we must be unified.

Webster’s definition of unity:

1. The quality or state of not being multiple: oneness
2. A condition of harmony: accord
3. The quality or state of being made one: unification

Unity of Purpose: For us to succeed legislatively we will need all of the APWU (resident officers, Regional Coordinators, National Business Agents, locals, state organizations, retiree chapters, auxiliaries and members) to educate Congress about the need for postal reform that brings communities, businesses, workers and mailers together on legislation we all can support.

Unity of Message: The message from the APWU has to be crystal clear. I am proud our great union has great diversity both in the individuals that comprise our membership and geographically as those members hail from the four corners of these United States. This leads to many differing views and political persuasions, which are vital to democracy. APWU-supported postal reform is not a partisan issue. Our membership must reject politicians, regardless of party, that refuse to support legislation that would give communities and businesses the high level of service they require and that protects working-class jobs.

Unity in our Resolve: Congress is at an all-time low as far as getting its work done. In the September/October issue of The American Postal Worker, I outlined the challenges associated with passing postal legislation. While it will not be easy, it can be done. We must be respectful but relentless is our pursuit of getting high-quality postal reform through Congress before this congressional session ends.

This is an invigorating time to be part of the American Postal Workers Union. We are fighting for the future of the Postal Service as America knows it. Will it be a vibrant part of every American community that provides the services essential to its citizens and businesses? Or will it continue to cut service, relegating the Post Office to irrelevance and obscurity?

Your efforts will decide which path the Postal Service will take. Whether bipartisan quality postal reform supported by communities, workers and the mailing industry is passed by Congress depends directly on how hard, how often and how focused each and every one of us are in this effort.

We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.