Organizing Campaign Focuses on Women’s Issues, Concerns

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2007 Organizing Campaign Focuses
On Women’s Issues, Concerns

(This article was first published in the May/June 2007 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

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.

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.

Inadvertently Omitted ...

In the Secretary-Treasurer’s article in the March/April issue of The American Postal Worker, the names of Patricia Davis-Weeks and Claudia Richardson were inadvertently left off of the list of women who have served or are serving as national officers in the APWU. The list was provided in honor of Women’s History Month and of the APWU’s celebration of 100 years of postal unionism.

“The APWU campaign focuses on the special needs of women postal workers,” said Northeast Regional Coordinator Liz Powell. “Women play an important role in the APWU, advancing the cause of women while fighting to make life better for all postal workers. We want women to reach out to female non-members, ‘woman-to-woman,’ and ask them to join.”

The nationwide effort 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. 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.”

The campaign began in March, coinciding with Women’s History Month. Among the first special organizing activities were events in San Antonio, Fort Worth, Baltimore, and Fort Wayne (IN). 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.”

In April, the Women’s Organizing Committee distributed a flyer noting that women are still fighting for equal pay, and outlining the role unions play in closing the wage gap. The growth in women’s wages over the past several decades is due to women’s rapid gains in formal education and labor market experience, accompanied by an increase in union representation in several of the occupations traditionally dominated by women, such as for teaching and nursing, according to a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Despite recent improvements in women’s pay, women who work full time have median annual earnings of $31,800 — only 77 percent of men’s $41,300 annually. But postal workers earn significantly more than the median for women and men, the flyer points out, and it is union that makes the difference.

“Non-members fail to realize that the APWU is their union, whether or not they join,” Burrus said. “The decisions union members make determine their pay and benefits. The actions we take affect their lives and their livelihood in a fundamental way.

“How can they sit on the sidelines and not get involved? There is simply no valid reason for refusing to join.”

(If your local has not yet signed on to participate in the campaign, call 202-842-4227.)

The women’s campaign featured two big kickoffs in Texas . In photo at left are, standing, San Antonio Alamo Area Local Clerk Craft Director Sandra Lira, left, and local Treasurer Lamonica Biggers; in the foreground are Claudia Richardson (NBA, Dallas Region) and SAAAL member Clarice Kahn (holding the campaign’s special 1187 Form). In the photo at right, Fort Worth Area Local Steward LaTonya Williams, sitting, talks with FWAL members Kaloria Phillips and Modena Powell.

[more about the APWU Women’s Organizing Campaign]

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