September 2006 COLA Increase

About COPA

COPA Campaign Guidelines

COPA Campaign Progress Reports

How to Give to COPA

Summary of COPA Regulations

APWU Legislative Department

September 2006 COLA Increase:
Another Reason to Give to COPA

A Serious Threat, An Urgent Need:
Why a strong COPA fund
is essential

Fighting for Postal Jobs:
The COPA Challenge
(video, 12:30 minutes)

Congratulations…

You’re Getting a Pay Raise!

(Sept. 15, 2006) When you get your paycheck this week, you will notice a great improvement — a pay increase negotiated by the union for you and approximately 300,000 of your co-workers.

This raise will give APWU members an annual raise of $812, the biggest since mid-1980, when inflation was raging at an annual rate of approximately 14 percent.

And now, we need your assistance. I am asking that you donate a minimum of $1 per pay period to the APWU COPA campaign to help the union protect your job. Negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement are underway, and we are fighting to preserve the rights that resulted in this wage increase, as well as other benefits, including no-layoff protection. But we cannot win this fight unless we are able to support candidates who defend working families. APWU COPA, the union’s Committee on Political Action, contributes the donations it receives to candidates who endorse the goals of postal workers. With important midterm elections approaching, your donation to COPA can help ensure victory!

You can write a single check in the amount of $26, but payroll contributions through PostalEASE provide COPA with steady, predictable funding. Whichever method you select, it is critical that you make a contribution – that you stand up for your job.

Don’t put it off. Please use this contribution form [PDF], and write a check or sign up for PostalEASE today. And thank you for being a member of the APWU.

Yours in union solidarity,

William Burrus
President

This COPA soliciation is paid for by the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, 1300 L St., N.W., Washington, D.C. (202) 842-4200; it is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Contributions or gifts to COPA are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. COPA will use the contributions it receives for political purposes, including making contributions to candidates for federal, state and local offices, and addressing political issues of public importance. Contributions to COPA are voluntary. More or less than the suggested amount may be given, and the amount given or the refusal to give will not benefit or disadvantage the person being solicited. Federal law requires political action committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation, and employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year.

ABOUT COPA

APWU COPA, the union’s Committee on Political Action, was created to raise voluntary political campaign contributions from our union’s active, retired and Auxiliary members to support the campaigns of candidates for public office.

Campaign contributions from members of organizations who give through a fund such as a political action committee often have a major influence on congressional elections, thereby influencing votes on many important issues.

The APWU must have a strong voice in political affairs, and we must support the elected officials who advance our interests and help defeat those who oppose them. If we sit on the sidelines, organizations that oppose our goals will go unchecked.

Simply put, our union has too much at stake to turn a blind eye.

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