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Los Angeles Teachers Striking for Smaller Class Sizes and Fair Pay
On Monday, Jan. 14, over 30,000 members of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) walked out on strike, taking to the streets in a driving rainstorm. The strike against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) comes after their 21 month-long contract negotiation reached an impasse.
The education workers are demanding: reasonable class sizes; an instant 6.5 percent pay increase; more nurses, librarians, psychiatrists and counselors to fully staff all district schools; and limits on funding to charter schools (a form of education privatization – turning schools into profit making and driven entities).
New Incentives in APWU Health Plan
(This article first appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)
By Health Plan Director John Marcotte
Social Security, IRS, & OPM Are Not Calling You!
(This article first appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)
By Retirees Department Director Nancy Olumekor
When you receive a “cold call” from a federal agency – like the Social Security Administration, the IRS, or the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – it is a fraud call. A “cold call” is an unsolicited call from someone that you did not call, which may include a voicemail to call them back. Cold callers identifying themselves as being from a government agency are committing fraud – they are attempting to get your personal identifying information, such as your social security number, your bank account information, your CSA (Civil Service Annuity) number or your credit
card information.
Union Membership on the Rise
This article first appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)
By Research & Education Department Director Joyce B. Robinson
According to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, membership in labor unions rose by about a quarter million this year. In 2017, 7.2 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.6 million workers in the private sector. Although the union membership rate for private-sector workers increased by 0.1 percent, their unionization rate continued to be lower than that for public-sector workers (6.5 percent versus 34.4 percent).
Be the Change
(This article first appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)
By Human Relations Director Sue Carney
Martin Luther King referred to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the second emancipation. It ended public segregation, banned employment discrimination, and forbids the use of federal funds for discriminatory programs.