APWU Leadership Institute Comes to Life!

“After five years of planning, interrupted by the pandemic, we are excited to announce the formation of the National APWU Leadership Institute,” shared APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “The national APWU recognizes our responsibility to help strengthen the work of current leaders, and [to] develop our future leaders who are so critical to the continued and future success of the APWU.”

What is the APWU Leadership Institute?

The Leadership Institute is an intensive three-week educational program, held one week at a time over a three-month period. The program will focus on topics ranging from organizing, bargaining, and representation, to legislation, community alliances, and building the APWU and union movements. It will help strengthen and enhance the leadership skills of local and state leaders, and union activists across the country.

The Institute will be organized and overseen by the national president’s office, and will include the participation of many national officers. The national APWU will cover all the costs, including lost compensation, of the participants.

What Will the Institute’s Educational Program Include?

✱ Leadership skills, including: communication techniques, public speaking, negotiations, working with the media, team building, organizing public events, membership education, and holding effective union meetings.

✱ Boosting member participation at all levels of the union to build a culture of collective action.

✱ Empowering members to demand safety, dignity, and respect on the job.

✱ How to build the union’s committee structure, including: safety, education, and legislative committees.

✱ How to strengthen leaders’ relationships with our members and our communities.

✱ Organizing and mobilizing the public in support of postal worker issues, and issues of concern to all workers.

✱ Our union’s history and our successful campaigns, including: the 1970 Great Postal Strike, the Stop Staples! campaign, the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, as well as lessons from labor history.

✱ Various topics, such as: How to Build an Activist Union; Who Controls our Economy and Who Benefits; the Importance of Labor Solidarity; and What is Privatization, and How to Fight it and Win.

✱ And much more!

Who is eligible to attend?

The Institute is open to all full duespaying APWU members in good standing with demonstrated involvement in the union. Each three-week session will consist of a diverse group of approximately 30 APWU members from all five regions and all crafts. Participants will be chosen via an impartial selection process. Although the 2024 Institute is limited to 30 participants, there will be opportunities to participate in future Leadership Institutes. Our current plans are to hold Spring and Fall sessions.

When will the 2024 Leadership Institute be held?

Week One: March 4 - 8, 2024
Week Two: April 1 – 5, 2024
Week Three: May 13 – 17, 2024

Where will the 2024 APWU Leadership Institute be held?

The Institute will be held at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum, MD, close to the BWI Airport.

How Can One Apply to Attend?

1. Visit www.apwu.org/LeadershipInstitute to complete the application form. Submit the form online or mail it to the APWU headquarters address on the application.

2. All applications must include a recommendation from a local, state, or national officer. Recommendations from community leaders are also welcome. The Recommendation Form is available online.

Key Application Dates:

Sept. 18, 2023: Application Process Begins
Nov. 10, 2023: Application Deadline
Dec. 15, 2023: Notification to Accepted Applicants ■