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President's Viewpoint
Making a Mark on the Political Process
(This article was first published in the May/June 2007 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
In our continuing efforts to engage apwu members in the political process, we are planning the union’s first-ever “Presidential Candidates Forum.”
Make your presence known at the first-ever APWU Presidential Candidates Forum. |
In our effort to participate directly in the presidential-selection process, all of the candidates — Democratic and Republican — will be invited to this event to share their plans for our country. After the forum, the APWU will consider endorsing a candidate and working for that candidate through the primaries and the general election.
All active and retired members of the union are invited to participate, and to take part in the democratic process from that point on, through the 2008 election.
The Objectives
Over the last several years, the union’s primary objectives have been:
We have made significant progress in each of these areas, but now is the time to ratchet up our efforts to the next level.
Enforcing, Negotiating
Significant — and unprecedented — progress has been made in reducing the number of pending grievances. The backlog of more than 100,000 grievances that existed in 2002 has been reduced to fewer than 10,000.
As a result, our members receive final decisions on their disputes with management in months rather than in years. The addition of a national-level arbitrator in 2006 has significantly helped to reduce the backlog at the headquarters level as well.
The 2000 Collective Bargaining Agreement was extended in 2003 and again in 2005, when circumstances were unfavorable for contract negotiations; in 2006, negotiations resulted in dramatic contractual improvements, such as the elimination of PTFs in large offices, and the upgrade, early next year, of every APWU-represented employee.
All three agreements — 2003-2005; 2005-2006; and 2006-2010 — were ratified by the membership by approval of more than 80 percent of voting union members.
Fiscal Responsibilities
With the inevitable loss of membership due to the impact of technology on mail processing, it was essential to reduce the level of spending at the national level.With the determined involvement of Executive Vice President Cliff Guffey and Secretary-Treasurers Bob Tunstall and now Terry Stapleton, fiscal controls were initiated and spending curtailed. This has resulted in budget surpluses in each of the past five years.
Expenditures have been dramatically reduced, without sacrificing the high quality of representation our members expect and deserve.
The Legislative Arena
On the political front, our efforts are intended to further engage local and state union leaders — as well as rank-and-file members — in the political process. I have enlisted the service of Janice Kelble, an APWU activist from New Hampshire , and, working in conjunction with Legislative Director Myke Reid and Assistant Director Steve Albanese, we have worked tirelessly to raise the membership’s political awareness.
Our first goal was to increase the size of the Committee On Political Action war chest so that it would more accurately reflect our strength as a labor union and would substantially raise our profile among members of Congress.
Prior to these endeavors, the all-time high for contributions to an APWU COPA campaign was only $384,000. Beginning in 2003 and in each year since then, we have garnered contributions of more than $1 million.
These gains have been positive and could not have been achieved without a concerted effort and commitment at every level of our union.
Thanks to the members, activists, and leaders at the state and local level, the tremendous work of the National Business Agents, Regional Coordinators, and resident officers — most notably the Legislative Department — we have made the objectives a reality. Each of the participants must be commended for their contributions.
The Next Level
Now is the time to move to the next level. The progress achieved in contract negotiations show that we are heading in the right direction, and now we must do more. We must find ways to eliminate the inter-union fight for postal jobs. Automation is transforming mail processing — it has become a technology-driven work environment, and we must find ways to address the changes among ourselves rather than through postal management.
We must consider alternative investment and organizing opportunities so that our revenue stream is not dependent almost entirely on the size of the Postal Service workforce.
At the same time, we must be more efficient in every aspect of our operation. We must incorporate the new information-exchange opportunities and begin the transformation from hard-copy documents to computer- driven records.We must further explore video conferencing for educational and informational presentations that otherwise require expensive travel, lodging, and meeting space.
We have started to meet the challenges in each of these areas of responsibility, but we must do more. The presidential forum we are planning is a step in this direction: It will encourage our members to proceed to a new level of political engagement.
Make a Commitment
The forum is still in the planning stages, and we are considering several high-profile sites for the APWU’s first Presidential Candidates Forum.
The APWU-sponsored presidential forum |
We are asking local and state leaders to make a commitment to bring a delegation to take part in this history-making event. Members of the APWU Executive Council will be in attendance, and every union member and retiree is invited to take part as the candidates express their views on the issues of the day.
The goal is to have in attendance more than 2,500 APWU activists, with representation from all 50 states. We expect that the event will draw national media attention. As we finalize arrangements, I ask that every APWU member and retiree make plans to be in attendance. This is your union and we want you to be a part of this historic event.
Join with us in our drive to become a force for progress in our nation and the world.
APWU President William Burrus
Telephone: 202-842-4250
ABOUT THE
APWU PRESIDENT
The American Postal Workers Union’s top officer is its president, William Burrus. The president has overall responsibility for the operations of the APWU, as directed by the Constitution and Bylaws.
