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Say "No" to the Postal Pulse
Starting April 25 through May 26 2023, the USPS is pushing its annual Postal Pulse Survey. The APWU leadership urges you to not let the Postal Service take your Pulse! APWU is set to begin contract negotiations with the Postal Service in 2024. In the past, management has used surveys as a weapon against us in negotiations, while not producing any real positive change for employees at the Postal Service.
The survey will arrive in mailboxes and via email, sent by Gallup. Nowhere in this survey is there a disclaimer that it is voluntary. Regardless of pressure from supervisors or managers, letter correspondence, excessive emails, or other tactics, employees are not required to participate in this survey. APWU urges you to not participate in the Postal Pulse.
We have a negotiated grievance process, a negotiated labor-management cooperation process and national negotiations to address workplace issues. As we address the toxic work environment at the USPS, it is more important than ever that we deny management an opportunity to present an inaccurate picture of the state of our workplaces.
On April 28, we kicked off our public campaign to bring awareness to the unsafe and toxic workplaces that our members face, and demand postal management to be held accountable. The membership has mobilized nationwide to demand dignity and respect, and continues to take solidarity actions such as recording a video, wearing a sticker, or taking APWU’s clearly marked workplace environment survey – look out for the union logo. For more information, visit apwu.org/respect.
Stay united, and don’t be fooled by management’s tricks created to divide us. Over years of struggle, we’ve won a negotiated grievance process, a labor-management cooperation process and national negotiations to address workplace issues. These are the proper channels for management to seek input from postal workers, not a management survey put together without any input from the APWU or the other postal unions.
APWU National Presidents Conference Rallies at Postal HQ Against Cuts, For Better Service
Hundreds of postal workers demonstrated outside of USPS headquarters on Tuesday, May 9 at a rally coordinated by the APWU National Presidents Conference. The rally, which coincided with a meeting of Postal Service Board of Governors, called for a stop to plant consolidations, the restoration of previous mail service standards, and adequate staffing in postal operations.
“We gathered to let the Board of Governors, Postmaster General DeJoy, and the public know that … small or large, we can’t take this essential service away from [our]communities,” said West Virginia State President, Sinikka Melvin, one of the event’s main organizers. “We need to keep up our momentum,” she added.
Customer service is severely strained due to a lack of staffing in retail locations and other postal operations, and customer confidence in the Postal Service has taken a sharp drop.
USPS’s own data show a 12.5 percent decrease in the number of retail counter clerks who staff post office retail counters and distribute mail to letter carriers (79,182 in 2006 to 69,298 in 2023). While mail volume has decreased in that timeframe, package volume has surged from 1.2 billion in 2006 to 7.2 billion at the end of 2022.
“I salute the NPC for their efforts to stand with the people of this country in defense of a vibrant, public Postal Service,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Together, we’ll fight to restore the kind of service that is promised under the law and the people need and deserve, and to ensure that no community and neighborhood post offices are closed and services cut behind any management reorganization plans.”
Intro To The TSP
Current Legislative Priorities in the 118th Congress
With the 118th Congress in full swing, it is important that we update you on some of our legislative priorities this session. While this list is not exhaustive, it highlights what we are currently fighting for on Capitol Hill to improve the lives of our members and the working class.
The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82, S.597)
Senior citizens collecting Social Security have faced unfair reductions in their monthly benefits due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two provisions of a 1983 law penalize Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirees and their spouses, who found secondary employment outside of the federal system. In fact, these retirees have paid their fair share into Social Security and meet the necessary requirements, but are not receiving the benefits they have earned.
The Social Security Expansion Act (H.R. 1046, S. 393)
Aside from simply fixing current Social Security law, the APWU is fighting for the expansion of senior Social Security benefits. If passed and signed into law, this bill would increase benefits by $200 a month, raise Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), and bring back student benefits for dependent children. Notably, this legislation would lift the cap on Social Security taxes so that the wealthy will begin to pay their fair share into the program.
The Equal COLA Act (H.R. 866)
Currently, there is a disparity between Social Security COLAs for those who retired under the CSRS, and those who retired under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The difference can be up to one percentage point, which can equal tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a retirement, and is felt more deeply during times of high inflation.
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 20, S.567)
With union membership declining and the rich getting richer off of the backs of hard-working Americans, now is the time to protect the right to organize. Provisions of this bill would make it easier to join unions and allow workers to get rid of anti-union “right-to-work” laws. Additionally, the PRO Act would increase worker protections, namely from being replaced during strikes and through both monetary fines and personal liability for employers that violate workers’ rights. The last component of the bill will help to promote fair union elections, without the interference of management.
The Vote at Home Act (H.R. 1439, S.700)
The APWU hopes to expand access to vote-by-mail to all Americans. This bill would require that every registered voter in the nation receive their ballot via USPS with prepaid postage. Implementation of this policy would allow access to the ballot box for all, and result in less voter suppression through obstacles, such as absentee ballot excuse requirements or polling location inaccessibility. Both the 2020 and 2022 elections proved the efficacy of vote-by-mail, and it is time that everyone should reap the benefits of this program.
For more information on our legislative priorities, please visit the www.apwu.org/priorities. As more bills get reintroduced this Congress, we will update our web page, which also has information on how you can fi nd your federal, state, and local representatives, as well as tips on how to lobby. We thank you in advance for all of your lobbying efforts.
2023 Legislative Conference: Building Grassroots Power
If you are interested in learning more about what we do here in the Legislative and Political Department, please join us for our legislative conference on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023 in Las Vegas, NV. We hope to increase your legislative knowledge and teach you some grassroots strategies to hold our elected officials accountable. For more details about the event, visit: apwu.org/2023-leg-con