Moral March Unites Labor & Civil Rights Movements

(This article first appeared in the July/August 2022 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

On June 18th, just before the Juneteenth holiday, The Poor People’s Campaign held the “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington.” The Moral March brought thousands of people together to draw attention to the many problems facing working class people in this country. I was proud to take part in the march alongside President Dimondstein and other union activists. We were inspired by the energy of the event and the enthusiasm the attendees, of many different backgrounds, shared for building a better country together.

The focus of the March was broad. From lack of healthcare, to poor wages, from the attack on our democratic rights, to rising white supremacy, the perils of the climate emergency– all of these issues disproportionately affect poor and working-class people. While the array of issues being highlighted could easily feel dizzying, underneath it all was a challenge for working people, and our union, on how to address those issues and build a better country. So how do we do it?

Reverend Dr. William Barber, the leader of the Poor People’s Campaign, draws inspiration from the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King. Like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Barber seeks to build a broad movement of religious organizations, civil rights organization, labor unions and other community leaders. Like Rev. Barber, I believe it’s going to take all of us, and postal workers have a special role to play. I’m proud that APWU has been a part of this movement for years. But the march drove home that we can do more to deepen our ties with the Poor People’s Campaign and other similar movements across the country.

That, of course, is part of the work of the Human Relations Department. But let it also be a call to action to you, the APWU member, to be involved in the struggle “Moral March” Unites Labor & Civil Rights Movements to build a better country, grow power for working people, and lift all of us.

That work can start by making our union stronger, as we’ve called for all of us to do in the recent Building Union Power organizing drive. Or it can start by attending a meeting a union meeting or participating in your Central Labor Council or State Federation. But it should also be about building our ties with other organizations, like attending an NAACP event or participating in a civil rights struggle in your hometown.

Show up, not as an individual, but as an APWU member, seeking to join arms for a cause that’s much bigger than yourself. Dr. King said in 1965, “The two most dynamic movements that reshaped the nation…are the labor movement and the civil rights movements. Our combined strength is potentially enormous.” Let’s honor those words by deepening our ties to the broader movement and each of us playing our part.

For more information on the Poor People’s Campaign, or to connect with a local chapter near you, visit poorpeoplescampaign.org. 

File OWCP Claims with ECOMP!
The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs at the Department of Labor has created an online portal to facilitateworkers’ claims. It is called the Employees’ Compensation Operations and Management Portal (ECOMP). CA-1 claims for COVID-19 are also accessible through the ECOMP program. While it is not mandatory to file using the ECOMP program, we would like to encourage all our members to use this system when filing a claim for injury. For more information on ECOMP, visit, apwu.org/ecomp.