[August 28th]

Election News
by Theodore Torbich

This article is to let all of you know about the importance of the November election.

I know that many of you are indifferent to politics and that a lot of you do not even vote. It seems "nothing ever changes." There is no solidarity in our voting power.

I am attempting to consolidate our voting power by gathering information on legislative initiatives that affect us as Postal Workers and relaying that information to you.

The APWU has hundreds of thousands of potential votes at its disposal. That represents a considerable force, which could affect change and influence future legislation nationwide.

It is extremely important for you to consider what part you play in ensuring your future as a worker within the Postal Service. You have the ability to affect change if you would take the time to vote and make your voice heard. Combined, Postal Workers are a voice that cannot be ignored.

In light of this, we all need to be aware of what is going on this election, and what is potentially at stake in the coming months and years.

Everyone is aware that the Postal Service's "Transformation Plan" represents a threat to our future as Postal Workers. Additionally, there are initiatives to privatize the Postal Service and eliminate our retirement and future job security.

Major mailers and United Parcel Service have been pressuring Congress for reform legislation and pricing "fixes" that would endanger our collective bargaining power and our future job security. Congress is now investigating the controversy of substantial discounts to large mailers that cost the Postal Service substantial revenue each year at the expense of the public at large.

There have been changes in Pennsylvania's congressional districts. You should be aware that your district may have been modified and that you may have a new Representative.

Postal reform legislation has failed to make it out of committee so far, but there will be further attempts in the future. Our votes will make a difference.

First, get registered to vote. Second, be aware of what the candidates stand for. Know the issues that affect us as Postal Workers. Make sure your voice is heard. VOTE! If we all do this, we will make a difference.

I encourage everyone to overcome his/her apathy and join us in the fight to ensure our future and the future of the U.S. Postal Service. Get involved.

We can make a difference. In unity, there is power. Let us all lend a hand in tapping that power.

        [August 27th]

A Call to Action

On Friday, July 26, President George W. Bush nominated James Miller to the U.S. Postal Service's Board of Directors. Miller, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget who served under President Ronald Reagan, supports privatizing and downsizing the USPS. The Senate still has to confirm Miller's appointment to the Board.

Contact your senators and voice your opinion on the nomination. Let them know you do not favor the appointment of James Miller to the U.S. Postal Service's Board of Governors.

Arlen Specter (R-PA)
111 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4254

Rick Santorum (R-PA)
120 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6324
http://santorum.senate.gov/emailrjs.html

        [August 22nd]

Photos from the Minneapolis Convention

Further down on this page, you can read about some of the things that took place during the APWU National Convention last week, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now that some of the photographs are developed, we thought you'd like to take a look.

Pittsburgh Metro's Local Delegates

Some of the Pennsylvania Delegates gather...

Local officers in front of Memorial Wall

        [August 20th]

The Volunteer Pilots Association

The Volunteer Pilots association (VPA) is a Pittsburgh- area based organization of pilots and non-pilot volunteers who donate their time, aircraft and personal resources to provide FREE air transportation to needy patients so they can receive much needed specialized medical treatment they wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise.

The VPA also transports donor organs for transplantation from small, out-of-the-way airports and larger airports when there is no scheduled airline service. The VPA is a network of more than 150 pilots in 13 states who are willing to donate all of the direct costs associated with the flight.

The pilot or aircraft owner always donates the cost of the aircraft, fuel and maintenance spent to fly the patients. The administration efforts on the ground to put each mission together are often as challenging as the flight itself. The efforts invested to qualify patients, obtain the physician's approval and schedule the mission are not highly visible, but they are vitally important. Without those efforts, there would be no missions flown.

~excerpted from the news bulletin of the United Way of Allegheny County

        [August 16th]

Convention Update

There are nearly 3,000 delegates from 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in attendance at this year's convention. Pittsburgh was honored by the selection of Local Trustee Blanche Plummer to serve on the National's Safety and Health Committee at the convention.

Two issues critical to the Pittsburgh Local were addressed on Thursday. The first issue brought to the floor involved funding for private sector organizing. When discussing this issue from the microphones, delegates spoke from the heart. Speeches included references to United Farmworkers' former-President Caesar Chavez and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. Discussions got heated as the delegates attempted to win support for their position.

When all was said and done, the body voted to maintain funding of private sector organizing from within the current APWU budget. Dues will not be increased and no member will be asked to bear any additional costs. In support of our Rood Trucking members, Pittsburgh delegates worked the convention floor and garnered support for this important issue.

Pittsburgh Metro's appeal to overturn the National Executive Board's decision to force a recall election in Pittsburgh was also resolved. The National Appeals Committee negotiated an agreement between National and Local officers. Convention delegates changed the National constitution by removing all recall language from the APWU constitution. This will force any member wishing to recall an elected officer to prove that officer guilty of misconduct before a recall election can take place.

Local officers were able to negotiate a settlement whereby the National will help to defray the costs of Pittsburgh's recent recall election. Attempts by some National officers to give themselves a pay raise were defeated by the convention delegates.

Delegates picketed the Grand Hotel on behalf of H.E.R.E. members whose employer refuses to negotiate in good faith. It was quite a sight to see 3,000 postal workers marching in downtown Minneapolis with signs, chanting and demanding justice for fellow workers.

This has been a very successful convention for the members of Pittsburgh Metro. Our issues have been addressed on the convention floor and we have been successful in having our agenda upheld. Convention business will wrap up tomorrow with appeals from Locals.

With every good wish,
Rosemary Penascino, President

        [August 13th]

APWU National Convention-goers Protest in MN

Postal workers deliver protest messages at Cheney fundraiser

From the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
by Eric Black

The Republicans who booked Vice President Dick Cheney for a fundraiser Monday at the Minneapolis Hilton probably didn't mean to wave a red flag in front of the American Postal Workers Union.

But they did.

"Hey hey, ho ho, Bush and Cheney got to go," hundreds of postal workers from around the nation chanted as they spent their lunch hour in a virtual conga line around the block across the street from the Hilton.

"Cheney King of Corporate Greed," "GOP = Gas and Oil Party," and "No More Enrons," their hastily scrawled protest signs read.



The postal workers are in town all week, almost 4,000 strong, for their union's national convention. Their meetings are mostly at the Minneapolis Convention Center, and many of the convention-goers are staying at the Hilton a couple of blocks away. Like most unions, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) generally prefers Democrats to Republicans.

According to Jack Baldwin of Key West, president of the Florida Keys Local of the APWU and one of the leaders of the Monday demonstration, the APWU learned Sunday night that the Hilton would be the site of Cheney's fundraising luncheon for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty. So they decided to give Cheney a "postal workers union welcome" to the Hilton, which they consider their headquarters during the convention, he said.

They quickly obtained a city permit for the demonstration, dashed a few anti-Republican slogans on some cardboard, and enjoyed the moderate August weather across the street from the Hilton as they marched, chanted and encouraged passing motorists to honk. What with the vice president and the Secret Service and all, the protesters weren't allowed to march on the Hilton's actual block.

In a scheduling quirk that probably added fuel to the fire, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone had just addressed the postal union a few hours before Cheney's visit. Baldwin said Wellstone received a roaring reception with his attack on corporate malfeasance, on Republicans generally and especially on the idea, currently popular in some Republican circles, of privatizing the U.S. Postal Service.

That might explain the portion of the signs that said things like "CEOs want Coleman, We want Wellstone," and "Say no to privatization."

About 1:30 p.m., the chanting and sign-waving died down abruptly, and the union members looped back south to the Convention Center to resume their afternoon schedule.

        [August 7th]

Labor Day, and Union Label Week

Union Label Week 2002 - September 2-7

Labor Day is Monday, September 2. That is also the first day of Union Label Week 2002, which runs through Saturday, September 7th. Union Label Week was designated by the AFL-CIO as a way to increase public awareness of the tremendous contributions that union families make to our economy and the nation.

Beyond the direct benefits that union families receive in wages, employment security, benefits and working conditions, the entire workforce enjoys a higher quality of life because of the powerful influence of unions on the overall economy.

The need to educate the public about who we are an what we do is greater than ever as unions struggle to protect jobs, wages, working conditions and benefits in an economy dominated by global corporations whose only allegiance is to profit, at any cost.

We've got our work cut out for us because the media doesn't really pay too much attention to labor and its issues. That's too bad, because we have a great story to tell. It's going to be up to us to tell it.

Time and again, over the past year, we have proven that when America faces tough times, union families are the first to respond.

Union families poured out their money and volunteered their time in response to 9/11. In the weeks that followed, our members and their children were among the first to step forward to serve the nation.

As many as one out of three of those killed in the terrorist attacks were from union families or were, themselves, union members. The bonds of solidarity that connect union workers were strengthened by that fact, but that wasn't the only reason for the outpouring of generosity by union families. The bedrock of patriotism that is basic to labor's philosophy motivated this natural unselfish response. The principles of justice, freedom and equality upon which our nation is founded are also the guiding principles of organized labor.

At the economic level, America's union families add value to the products and services that our labor creates and that added value is symbolized by the union label and shop card. We add that value through our devotion to quality, through the additional training that many unions provide and through the protection and principles that a union contract establishes.

Our message for Union Label Week 2002 is more relevant today than ever: Union-made products add value to America - Learn to look for and use union-made in American products and services. Let's make sure this message goes out to all corners of the nation for all to hear.

Charlie Mercer, President Union Label & Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO

        [August 1st]

Did You Know that the Postal Bonus Program is Finished?

Postmaster John Potter made the announcement last month that it was over. The final payments on what management calls the "Economic Value Added" (EVA) plan will go out in October, but now Headquarters in Washington is 'struggling' to find "an improved substitute."

To read the Federal Times article, visit their website at this URL:
Controversy, Criticism Kill Postal Bonus Plan
(This link will open in a new window.)