{"id":4006,"date":"2019-10-31T21:10:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T21:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/?p=4006"},"modified":"2019-11-05T21:12:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T21:12:05","slug":"installation-of-national-officers-brings-message-of-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/?p=4006","title":{"rendered":"Installation of National Officers Brings Message of Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, Oct. 31 the APWU conducted the installation of the newly elected national officers with a message of unity and determination to fight for the future of postal workers and working people everywhere.<\/p>\n

\n
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Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth “Liz” Powell Presided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The night\u2019s theme was \u201cMoving Forward Together\u201d and the ceremony was presided over by APWU Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Powell.<\/p>\n

The guest of honor at the ceremony was AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre who administered the oath of office.<\/p>\n

After an introduction by Executive Vice-President Debby Szeredy, Gebre addressed the gathering, praising the work of APWU\u2019s officers and leadership, \u201cYour union, led by your president, Mark Dimondstein, has been a leader in our movement with the creation of a\u00a0A Grand Alliance to Save our Public Postal Service<\/em>, the successful fight to Stop Staples, the campaign to expand the role of the Postal Service, including vote by mail and postal banking — Fighting to defend the common good, public services and public sector unionism.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke of the fight during the tough times we face, with working people experiencing cruel and unnecessary hardships with low wages, unsafe workplaces, voter suppression, families ripped apart and refugees turned away.<\/p>\n

But he expressed his hope in the face of this adversity:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Hope in each of you…serving your communities. Hope in striking teachers. Hope in the 60 million Americans who would join a union today if they could. Hope of a brighter day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\"AFL-CIO<\/div>
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

APWU President Mark Dimondstein gave the keynote speech, congratulating all who were elected and thanking the outgoing officers for their contributions and dedication to the APWU and postal workers. With the union election over he pointed out that, \u201cNow\u00a0principled<\/u>\u00a0unity is key, as we battle corporate greed, Wall Street privatizers, a hostile political environment, and those in management who are undermining the Postal Service.\u201d<\/p>\n

After summarizing our substantial progress over the last six years, Dimondstein raised, \u201cBut we cannot rest. We are working, living and struggling when there is an all-out war on workers, our families, communities and our organizations. It is Them vs Us, Wall St. vs. Main St., Capital vs. Labor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He set out some of the priorities for the coming years: \u201cWe will complete the ongoing interest arbitration for a new and good union contract\u2026 We will bolster our efforts for new opportunities for postal services, revenue and jobs, including expanding financial services and vote by mail….We will advance the ongoing efforts to gain postal legislation that strengthens the public Postal Service.\u201d<\/p>\n

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President Dimondstein Gives the Keynote Speech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA new broad union education program is already in the works,\u201d he said and advocated that, \u201cOur\u00a0Stand Up for Safe Jobs<\/em>\u00a0campaign needs deeper roots among the members. And together we must find ways to improve staffing of facilities and address the ever-increasing hostile work environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most importantly, Dimondstein raised, \u201cThe paramount job security battle of our time is to ensure the public Postal Service remains just that. Our jobs, our union and the people\u2019s democratic right enshrined in the Constitution depend on our determination and success. Since the White House plans for full-blown postal privatization emerged, the APWU has mobilized all hands-on deck. With a soon to be new Postmaster General chosen by the Trump-controlled Postal Board of Governors, this critical battle will greatly intensify.\u201d<\/p>\n

He encouraged members to, \u201c\u2026attend meetings, join committees, write articles, stand up for safe jobs, sign up non-members, wear union gear with pride, welcome young workers, lobby politicians, fight for postal banking, stand in solidarity with all workers, speak up and defend the public post office.\u201d<\/p>\n

He ended with the call to action, \u201c\u2026We must carry on the crusade to save the public Postal Service and our collective bargaining rights and to take on corporate Wall Street power with more workers\u2019 power! Let\u2019s continue to stand up and fight back, hand in hand with each other, all crafts, active, retiree and auxiliary members, postal and other unions, community allies and the people who support the public post office and trust postal workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"APWU<\/div>
APWU National Officers Say the Oath of Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, Oct. 31 the APWU conducted the installation of the newly elected national officers with a message of unity and determination to fight for the future of postal workers and working people everywhere. Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth “Liz” Powell Presided The night\u2019s theme was \u201cMoving Forward Together\u201d and the ceremony was presided over by APWU Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Powell. The guest of honor at the ceremony was AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apwu-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4007,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4006\/revisions\/4007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}