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'Why They Joined in Chigago'

Organizing Campaign Special
Drawing Winners Announced

(07/13/07) More than a dozen new APWU members are finding out that it really does pay to join the union. Organization Department Director Frank A. Romero announced today the winners of a special drawing that awarded prizes to a sampling of the thousands of new members who have joined the APWU so far this year — and to the organizers who enrolled them — as part of the union’s 2007 Help Us, Help You! and Women’s Organizing campaigns.  [read more]

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Deadline for Drawing Extended
Women’s Organizing Campaign Grows

(05/07/07) Support for the Women’s Organizing Campaign is growing, with 89 locals and 17 state organizations participating, said Liz Powell, chairperson of the APWU subcommittee that is coordinating the drive. Because of new interest in the campaign, the deadline for submitting membership applications for a special drawing has been extended until June 30. The contest offers a grand prize of a vacation trip for two... [read more]

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Organizing Campaign Focuses
On Women’s Issues, Concerns

(May 1, 2007) The APWU Women’s Organizing Campaign is taking shape, with organizing kits mailed to 83 locals and 17 state organizations in March and April.

The packets include buttons, stickers, balloons, flyers, brochures, T-shirts, and, of course, the most important items of all — union sign-up forms.

The campaign’s theme is straightforward: Juggling the responsibilities of work and home often seems impossible — especially for women, who frequently bear a disproportionate share of family burdens. Somehow, working women manage to get it all done. [read more]

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Equal Pay Day Arrives April 24
Unions Help Close the Wage Gap for Women

(April 4, 2007) On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, working women across the country will mark Equal Pay Day — the day when women’s wages will finally catch up to what men earned in 2006. Equal Pay Day presents an important opportunity to persuade women to join the APWU, said Liz Powell, Northeast Region Coordinator and chair of the union’s Women’s National Organizing Subcommittee. “The disparity in pay is a vivid reminder of why women must fight for equality. And, simply put, unions help women bridge the gap.” [read more]

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Women’s Organizing Campaign Takes Shape

(March 14, 2007) The APWU Women’s Organizing Campaign is taking shape, with organizing kits mailed to 58 locals across the country. The packets include buttons, stickers, balloons, flyers, brochures, T-shirts, and, of course, the most important items of all — union sign-up forms.

The campaign’s theme is straightforward: Juggling the responsibilities of work and home often seems impossible — especially for women, who frequently bear a disproportionate share of family burdens. Somehow, working women manage to get it all done.

The tools that help working women — and men — cope are all union-made: Family & Medical Leave, which enables us to take time off to care for sick family members; the right to bid on the jobs that best suit our hectic schedules; the opportunity to use sick leave for dependent care; job security; and decent wages. [read more]

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2007 Women's Organizing Campaign

(Feb. 26, 2007) The APWU has unveiled an ambitious union organizing campaign directed at women, scheduled to begin in March, Women’s History Month. The campaign will urge women officers and activists to reach out to female non-members and ask them to join the APWU. The campaign is being coordinated by a committee composed of the women national officers of the APWU, in conjunction with the Organization Department and APWU President William Burrus.

At a teleconference held Feb. 12 to map out the campaign, Northeast Region Coordinator Liz Powell noted that although women make up 48 percent of the postal workforce, more than half of the non-members are women. “We are ready to go into the trenches to organize,” she said. “APWU sisters will be on the front line in this effort, and we know that our APWU brothers will have our back.”

The campaign will focus on the unique concerns of women workers, and attempt to demonstrate how the union has contributed to workplace benefits that ease their burden. “Women are still predominantly the head of single-parent households,” said Clerk Craft Assistant Director Patricia Williams, “and as workers have many family-related concerns. We must show how benefits the union has won — such as leave provisions for dependent care — have helped address these problems.”

Burrus called the campaign “a historic effort” and encouraged leaders at every level of the organization to support it. Noting that an invitation to join the union in order to vote on the Collective Bargaining Agreement netted approximately 800 new members, he challenged the organizers of the women’s campaign to surpass that result.

Human Relations Director Sue Carney observed that the postal workforce is culturally and ethnically diverse, but noted that there is “a strong sense of community and shared values within our many subgroups.” We must take advantage of these common threads, she said, to encourage women to join the APWU.

Local leaders participating in the teleconference expressed great enthusiasm for the campaign. Angela Thurman, of the Fort Worth (TX) Area Local said, “Often, I wonder what we can do as representatives, and soon we will face the challenge. … Thank you for rocking the boat!”

The committee will pair national officers with locals that are interested in the campaign. Pilot sites will be selected in each region, with the national and local officers working together to plan the organizing drive.

Local activists will receive organizing toolkits designed to make a splash in swing rooms, cafeterias, and other places postal workers congregate; the kits will include balloons, buttons, and stickers sporting the campaign’s slogan “A Woman’s Place Is in Her Union, Join Now!” Local organizers also will be provided with lists of non-members.

Organization Director Frank A. Romero said he was thrilled with the concept. “This is the kind of commitment it will take to persuade non-members to join our ranks. We must say to non-members, ‘Help us help you. Join the APWU today.’”

The union’s National Executive Board unanimously approved the campaign at its Feb. 13 meeting, issuing a proclamation that calls upon “union officers, activists, and members to engage in appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities to accomplish this great undertaking.”

For more information about the campaign, contact Northeast Region Coordinator Liz Powell (212-563-6379), Organization Director Frank A. Romero (202-842-4227), or APWU Staff Employee Judy Beard (202-842-4215).

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