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Volume XXXI No. 10 May 18, 2001
Call Congress Now! Urge Sponsorship of Pro-APWU Resolution!
APWU Supports Senate Resolution Protecting Six-Day Mail Service
Sen.
Tom Harkin (D-IA) has introduced a resolution calling on the
United States Senate to preserve and protect universal postal
services for all Americans and the jobs of postal workers.
This "Sense of the Senate" resolution, S. RES.71,
is a response to the USPS Board of Governors' recent calls
for drastic service reductions, including elimination of six-day
mail delivery and post office closings.
Harkin,
a longtime APWU friend, once again stepped forward to fight
for prompt, efficient and reliable postal services-exactly
what APWU members nationwide provide every day. (His "Sense
of the Senate" resolution is reprinted below.) Sens. Byron
Dorgan (D-ND) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) have signed on as cosponsors
of the resolution.
APWU
Action Needed
All APWU and Auxiliary members are urged to immediately write or call their US senators and urge them to cosponsor S.RES.71 in order to support the Postal Service. The congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
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The Moe Biller Building
APWU's
National Headquarters Building was dedicated May
8, 2001 in honor of President Moe Biller. The naming
of the building was mandated by the delegates to
last year's APWU National Convention in Anaheim,
CA. The event's date was selected to coincide with
the 64th anniversary of President Biller's entry
into postal service. Shown above at the dedication
ceremony are, from left: Edward Biller (Moe's brother),
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Ethel Kennedy (widow
of Robert F. Kennedy), President Biller, Dr. Annie
B. Martin (President, New York Branch, NAACP), Executive
Vice President William Burrus, and Secretary-Treasurer
Robert Tunstall. |
Members at Georgia State Conferences Give $1,395
AL, MS, TN Tri-State Conference Raises $2,115 for COPA
Amid
attacks from postal managers and the USPS Board of Governors,
APWU locals and members attending meetings and conferences
have been diligently raising money to boost APWU's Committee
On Political Action (COPA). Members attending the AL, MS, TN
Tri-State Conference led the way by raising $2,115. Members
at two Georgia State Conferences also did a great job, collecting
a total of $1,395.
Stand
Up & Fight!
The
COPA fund is in great need as the APWU gears up its campaign
to protect postal workers from potential anti-worker reforms
to the US Postal Service. The USPS has called for reform of
the Postal Reorganization Act, and it falsely cited "wage
rates that exceed the rate of inflation" as a major cause
of its expected $2-3 billion budget shortfall. APWU President
Moe Biller called upon all APWU members to "Stand up and
fight!" to protect the Postal Service and postal jobs.
The following group contributions have been reported since the last News Service contributions list:
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AL,
MS, TN Tri-State Conference $2,115.00 Georgia
State Conferences 1,395.00 Savannah,
GA Local 302.00 Montana
State Convention 1,393.00 Montana
State Auxiliary 773.00 Nebraska
State Convention 1,192.00 North
Platte, NE Local 62.00 California
State Clerk Craft Conference 1,143.00 Nevada
State Convention 1,100.00 Motor
Vehicle Craft Conference 868.36 Oklahoma
State Convention 774.00 Oklahoma
State Auxiliary 123.00 Ohio
State Convention 766.00 Lorain
County, OH Area Local 400.00 Toledo,
OH Area Local 312.00
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Lake
Geauga, OH Area Local 54.00 Eastern
Region Power Seminar 600.00 South
Jersey Area Local 527.00 Greater
Cincinnati, OH Area Local 470.00 Arkansas
State Spring Meeting 464.00 Colorado
State Convention 452.00 Framingham,
MA Local 361.00 Erie,
PA Area Local 234.62 Arizona
State Assembly 233.00 Southwest
Florida Area Local 218.50 Long
Island, NY Area Local 216.00 Detroit,
MI District Area Local 176.00 Palm
Beach, FL Area Local Maintenance
Members 100.00 Palm
Beach, FL Area Local 70.00 Glens
Falls, NY Area Local 71.00 Kansas
Kaw Valley Area Local 55.00 Suncoast,
FL Area Local 22.50 |
Acknowledgment
for Group Contributions
Important:
For correct handling and acknowledgment, send all group contributions
to COPA, APWU Accounting Department, 1300 L Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20005.
Individual
contributions should be sent to APWU/COPA, PO Box 96542, Washington,
DC 20090-6542.
Contributions
or gifts to COPA are not deductible as charitable contributions
for federal income tax purposes. Federal law requires political
committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation,
and name of employer for each individual whose contributions
aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year.
Bread & Roses Opens Nationwide on June 1, 2001
Major Film Tells Workers' Story
The
movie Bread & Roses, slated to open nationwide on June
1, is a stirring saga drawn from the real-life struggle of
immigrant office cleaners in Los Angeles, who joined forces
in the Justice for Janitors campaign of the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU) to show the world that every job
deserves dignity and respect.
The
characters in the film are fictional, but the story about the
heroic struggle of Los Angeles office cleaners is true. The
workers, mostly Latino immigrants, worked long hours for little
pay and no benefits, and often suffered abuse by their supervisors.
As
the real workers did, the characters in the film get fed up
with unjust treatment, and, with the help of union organizers,
they band together and fight to win benefits, better pay, and
respect.
June
15 Is 'Justice for Janitors Day'
On
June 15, 1990, 100 riot police attacked a peaceful march of
janitors in Century City, CA; television cameras recorded their
brutality. Sixty people were hospitalized, and a pregnant woman
lost her baby. The scenes aroused public opinion, and International
Service System, the biggest cleaning company in the country,
signed a union contract covering 2,000 janitors.
June
15 is now commemorated each year as Justice for Janitors Day,
reminding everyone that many workers still struggle under similar
circumstances. Thousands of workers nationwide will join in
a national day of fasting for workplace justice and immigration
reform.
