Category: APWU News

Greetings postal heroes! Postal workers, nurses and medical personnel, meatpackers, farmworkers, transit workers, truck and delivery drivers, cashiers, EMS and firefighters, sanitation, warehouse, utility and manufacturing workers, and so many others, have been dedicated essential workers throughout this ongoing and tragic pandemic. Frontline workers face extreme stress, danger, sickness and too often death. As a result of the pandemic-driven economic crisis, millions of other U.S. workers found themselves without jobs and health insurance, saw the […]

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Today, President Joe Biden announced two new nominees to the Postal Service Board of Governors to replace outgoing governors. The President nominated Dan Tangherlini, who served as Administrator of the General Services Administration in the Obama Administration and has worked in various roles in the District of Columbia government. He also nominated Derek Kan, who worked in the Trump Administration’s Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Transportation.  Their appointments are to fill […]

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On November 17, over 10,000 John Deere workers, unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW), brought their month-long strike to an end, voting to ratify a strong new contract that preserves benefits, includes large pay raises and bonuses, and stopped management’s attempts to institute a new tier and eliminate defined-benefit pension plans for new hires. The new six-year contract was ratified by a 61%-39% vote, following the vote-down of two previous tentative agreements. Workers held […]

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Today, President Biden signed H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, into law. This bi-partisan, $1.2 Trillion package will make long-overdue investments in our nation’s infrastructure, providing the funding to finally repair our decaying roads, bridges, and public transportation systems. Remarkably, the law represents the most significant investment in bridges since the creation of the interstate highway system. The bill also provides funding to expand broadband access, strengthen our water and energy systems, and […]

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The Postal Service reported out its Fiscal Year 2021 financial and operational results at the public meeting of the Board of Governors on November 10, 2021. Despite an increase of revenue of $3.9 billion, the Postal Service posted a net loss of $4.9 billion for 2021. While the losses continue to create headlines, two things have been made abundantly clear from the latest results. First is that the public continues to rely on the universal […]

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The United States Postal Service is implementing changes starting Friday October 1 that will slow down mail delivery for tens of millions of people and affect billions of pieces of mail. That date marks the first day of the new service standards for First Class Mail and Periodicals which USPS management is implementing as part of their 10-year plan. The changes lengthen the delivery target from the previous two and three-day standard to as many as five days for many pieces of mail, depending on distance of travel. This […]

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In accordance with Article 21 of the American Postal Workers Union Constitution & Bylaws, Jason Treier will serve as Maintenance Division Assistant Director, President Mark Dimondstein announced. The Assistant Director B position is located in Washington, D.C. Jason Treier was selected by Maintenance Division Director Idowu Balogun and received unanimous concurrence by the Maintenance Council. He started serving in the new position on Sept. 25, 2021. In 2005, Jason was hired by the USPS as […]

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The Research and Education Department is sponsoring Zoom Trainings for APWU Members in October 2021. SPECIAL NOTES: Participants must be an APWU member. No one should attend this training on the Postal Service time clock. Each participant must register individually and not as a group. The deadline to register for all workshops is Monday, October 18, 2021. Click on the link(s) below to complete the registration form. Participants will not be registered who use a […]

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Our thoughts and hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by Hurricane Ida, especially our fellow APWU members. Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 hurricane, touched down this past weekend, resulting in intense flooding & damage. On Aug. 30, President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Louisiana. More than 5,000 members of the National Guard have been activated from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas to support search and rescue and recovery efforts, and […]

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September 2 is ‘National Gear Day!’ With our contract expiring Sept. 20, negotiations are in full swing! Let’s kick off Labor Day weekend by showing your support for APWU – Our Union, Our Contract, Our Future. Wear your union gear on the work room floor on Thursday, September 2. APWU officers will lock down with management the next week. Let’s send a powerful message! Make sure to take photos! Send us a selfie or group […]

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National Maintenance Assistant Director “A” Jimmie Waldon announced his retirement in August 2021 after over 14 years as a national officer. Prior to being elected to this position on July 18, 2018, he served as the Western Region Maintenance National Business Agent for eleven years. He also served as the Vice President of the Sacramento Area Local. Jimmie Waldon was a tenacious defender of the Maintenance craft, leading many craft trainings and conferences. He specialized in […]

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Today, the AFL-CIO Executive Council elected Sister Liz Shuler President of the federation to fill the vacancy left by the untimely death of Brother Richard Trumka on August 5. Sis. Shuler, a member of the IBEW, had previously served as the AFL-CIO’s Secretary-Treasurer and is the first woman to lead the AFL-CIO. Brother Fred Redmond of the Steelworkers was also elected as the next Secretary-Treasurer. Brother Tefere Gebre will continue serving as executive Vice President.  […]

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In accordance with the 2018-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective August 28, 2021. The increase is the result of a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). It will appear in paychecks dated September 17, 2021 (Pay Period 19-2021). The value of the COLA for career employees in each step and grade will increase by $1,935.00 annually, and the hourly rates for part-time employees […]

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Brother Romero was elected as Organization Director in 1986 and served in that position until his retirement in 2011.  He first got involved in the union at the Dallas TX BMC and held a variety of local union positions including shop steward, clerk craft director and local BMC coordinator. Brother Romero trailblazed as the first Hispanic resident national officer and also served as the national APWU liaison to the Labor Council for Latin American advancement […]

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Today, the union movement, the APWU and postal workers are shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. On behalf of our 200,000 active and retired members, I extend our deep condolences to the Trumka family. From the coalfields of his native southwestern Pennsylvania, to the Halls of Congress, Brother Trumka was a steady and forceful voice for working people in this country for decades. Postal workers will remember […]

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Yesterday, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) released its Advisory Opinion on the Postal Service’s proposals to slow the First Class Mail service standard to as many as five days, and issued a serious warning to postal management about their proposal. The PRC found that management’s planned changes are untested, unlikely to improve the Postal Services finances, and risk further alienating the mailing public, who justifiably expect to receive their mail quickly and reliably.  The Postal […]

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(This article first appeared in the July/August 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine) As the APWU moves into contract negotiations, the APWU Organization Department launched an updated Join Online tool, available on apwu.org. The changes to the tool make it even easier for prospective members sign up at orientation or after a craft change. When a new member goes to apwu.org/join, they will be redirected to a “pre-application find me,” to determine what […]

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On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the S. 475 Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. This law establishes June 19th of each year as a Federal holiday. President Biden then declared it would be observed beginning June 18, 2021, as the 19th falls on a Saturday. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, TX the end of slavery in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. This […]

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Today, May 28, Anton Hajjar was confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Postal Board of Governors. He joins two other recent nominees, Amber McReynolds and Ron Stroman, who were confirmed by the Senate on May 12. The Postal Board of Governors now has a full complement of governors for the first time in more than a decade. “Our campaign to get new members on the Postal Board of Governors was about making sure […]

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In the May-June 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker, we reported on the Warrior Met Coal Miners’ strike in Alabama, which began on April 1 following the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) filing unfair labor practices charges with the NLRB. During negotiations both before and during the strike, Warrior Met refused to offer good wages and benefits, instead demanding drastic concessions from the workers. The miners vowed to stay on the picket line […]

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On Saturday, May 22, 2021, Postal Support Employees (PSEs) will receive a pay increase of 20 cents per hour. The additional pay will be reflected in pay checks dated June 11, 2021. The new hourly rates for PSEs can be found here. This is will be the fifth and final pay increase PSEs will receive under the 2018-2021 National Agreement. The five pay increases the PSEs receive included three general increases of 2.3%, 2.1%, 2.0%, and […]

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On June 22, we officially open negotiations with the United States Postal Service for a new union contract. Our current national agreement covering some 200,000 postal employees expires on September 20, 2021. This is the third round of collective bargaining during which I have the privilege to represent you as the union’s lead negotiator. I want to share my perspective on the challenges of negotiations followed by what we hope to achieve in bargaining. First, […]

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(This article first appeared in the May/June 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine) There still are misconceptions with the eReassign process in the field. The Clerk Craft MOU on filling residuals misleads employees to believe that they are bidding on a residual assignment. An application in eReassign is a request to transfer from one installation to another installation. The current contract requires to post the Clerk Craft residuals in eReassign based on the […]

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On Tuesday April 27, 2021 postal management informed the APWU of management’s intent to pursue consolidations and operational mail moves in 18 facilities nationwide. These proposed changes are taking place in the context of the Postal Service’s 10-year plan and proposed network and operational changes. The 18 facilities listed are among the 62 Mail Processing facilities whose consolidation was halted in 2015. Management has stated that the proposed mail moves are to be completed by […]

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