In a hotly-contested race, members of the American Postal Workers Union voted to elect Mark Dimondstein president over incumbent Cliff Guffey in balloting that was tallied on Oct. 8. The vote was 26,965 to 21,007. Dimondstein’s “Members First” slate defeated incumbents in seven of nine races.

“I am deeply honored to be elected by the membership to the office of APWU president, and greatly appreciate the many activists around the country who passionately worked for change and made this victory possible,” Dimondstein said.

“I also join with many in our union family in thanking the outgoing officers for their years of service to the APWU. I very much appreciate outgoing APWU President Cliff Guffey’s gracious statement.”

Guffey offered support to the new officers. “I hope everyone will get behind the new administration,” he said after the votes were counted. “We have tough times ahead and we’re going to need unity.”

Dimondstein promised to change the organization’s course. “The APWU membership has spoken decisively for a new direction in our union as we face the challenges of protecting our jobs, our retirement and our public postal service from the postal privatizers on Wall Street, in Congress and even in postal headquarters.

“We look forward to working with all APWU members, our sister postal unions, the labor movement and the people of this country as together we stand up and fight back to win the best possible future for postal workers, our communities and working people.

A total of 24 races were contested in this year’s election. The union mailed ballots to 195,509 members; 48,909 returned them. The newly-elected officers begin three-year terms on Nov. 12.

-30-