APWU
Members Only
Home Members Only COPA

Give to COPA —
Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Convention’s COPA Night
APWU’s most generous contributors to COPA, the union’s Committee on Political Action, will enjoy a night of fun and will be eligible to win valuable prizes at the union’s 19th biennial National Convention in August. [read more]

To help give our union a stronger voice in national politics, APWU's Committee on Political Action (COPA) collects donations from union members and distributes them to candidates who will stand up for postal workers and working families. With the support of tens of thousands of APWU members, COPA raised more than $2.5 million during the 2003-2004 election cycle.

Why Give?

2007 COPA Report
Why COPA Counts! Click here [PDF] to view a complete report on the union's COPA fundraising efforts for 2007. See which APWU state and local unions met or exceeded their goals, with interesting stories from some of the most successful campaigns.

Much is at stake in the ongoing debate over the future of the Postal Service and how it treats its workers and customers. Simply put, postal workers need a strong voice in politics. By law, union dues and general treasury funds cannot be used to make contributions to candidates for elective office.

What's at Stake?

Well-funded mailing industry interests continue to demand below-cost postage discounts that rob the Postal Service of the revenue it needs. In the wake of the postal "reform" legislation passed in 2006, the mailing industry and its pro-privatization allies in Congress will continue to press the same anti-worker agenda adopted by the President's Commission on the Postal Service. That agenda calls for:

  • Cutting postal pay.
  • Closing thousands of "low activity" post offices.
  • Closing or consolidating processing and distribution plants with virtually no input from affected workers and communities.
  • Making health care and retirement benefits — currently guaranteed by law —"negotiable," and cutting workers' compensation benefits.
  • "Outsourcing" postal jobs to the lowest private-sector bidder.
  • Eliminating no-layoff protection for APWU members.
  • Rolling back collective bargaining rights.
  • Below-cost discounts for the mailing industry.

How to Give to COPA

There are several convenient ways that you can help support COPA. Click here to find out how.

This COPA solicitation 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.

[back to top]

 

Give to APWU COPA

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.

[read more]