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The Postal Service Wants To Make Deep Cuts To Worker Benefits, Internal Plan Shows
June 18, 2019 -- The U.S. Postal Service wants Congress to help it make significant cuts to employee benefits as part of a plan to balance the agency’s books, according to a draft business plan HuffPost obtained. The proposal would save an estimated $18 billion on employee compensation over a decade by shaving paid leave, raising workers’ share of pension contributions, and shifting new employees into less secure 401(k)-style retirement plans. The change to pension contributions would amount to a cut in take-home pay for hundreds of thousands of workers, while saving the agency nearly $7 billion. And while excluding new employees from a pension plan is common practice for private corporations these days, it would mark a significant shift for a federal-sector job long seen as a steppingstone to the middle class. The change in employee leave policy would combine vacation with sick days, likely resulting in fewer overall days off for workers. That element is estimated to save the agency more than $5 billion. The proposals obtained by HuffPost were marked as preliminary and subject to change. The postmaster general, Megan Brennan, is expected to present a business plan to the House Oversight Committee this summer 12 Union Meeting & Dates to Know for 2016
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). Data Highlights:
Pat Davis Scholarship
The requirements for one of the two $750.00 scholarships are listed below. Completed applications must be received no later than the second Sunday in June of the year applied for. You may pick up, call and request an application with rules and regulations be sent to you, &/or download it from our website. REMEMBER ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN THE SECOND SUNDAY IN JUNE FOR CONSIDERATION. Completed applications can be mailed to “The Scholarship Committee, Dallas Area Local, APWU, 2010 Postal Way, Dallas, TX 75212. You can also walk in your application within the time limit specified. Read more 
The US Mail is not for sale
Postal Clerk's union president Yared Wonde said that he was very pleased with their action at the Staples store at I-30 and Cockrell Hill Road on April 24. The letter carriers came out strong, as did the AFL-CIO, Transport Workers, Jobs with Justice, Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, and others. Both Spanish TV stations and the Dallas Morning News covered it. USPS SLASHES MAIL SERVICE STANDARDS
On January 5, 2015 the United States Postal Service took the unwarranted step to degrade mail service standards, virtually eliminating overnight delivery of first-class mail and periodicals nationwide. This action, Phase Two of the USPS Network Rationalization Plan, further delays America's mail, enables the closure of up to 82 mail processing plants, and threatens up to 15,000 jobs. While the USPS recently postponed further closures until 2016, the drastic slowdown in mail processing and delivery continues unabated. Read More |
Contract Update 10/07/2019
APWU President Dimondstein’s second update. Second round of hearings were held on Tuesday September 24, 2019- September 26, 2019. The APWU assembled 6 panels of workers from Vehicle Maintenance, PVS Drivers, Mail Processing, Retail and Building and Equipment Maintenance. Workers just like you testified before the arbitration panel. Every member should be proud of your co-workers their eloquent testimony was well received by the arbitration panel. They made it crystal clear that we are skilled public servants that are deeply dedicated to our jobs and provide an essential service to the public and DESERVE GOOD PAY and GOOD BENEFITS. Management presented an overview of the finances of the Postal Service and why they should, increase the number of non-career employees, increase the portion that employee’s pay for health insurance, eliminate COLA’S and eliminate the no lay-off clause. There are 7 hearing dates set for October. The APWU will present our economic arguments why we deserve good raises, protection of COLA’s and improved job securities. The expectation is that we will have a new contract by the end of the year. Until then STAY UNION STRONG AND UNION PROUD. By LaShunda Daniels (NTX) 
On Sept. 4, the APWU and USPS will begin the interest arbitration proceedings for our new Collective Bargaining Agreement (union contract). Further hearing dates will be held in late September and continue throughout the fall months. Our negotiating team is fully prepared - backed by economists, attorneys, staff and postal worker witnesses! We faced a similar battle in the 2015 negotiations, and we intend to prevail again! You also have an important role to play during interest arbitration. To show unity and solidarity as we begin the final phase of our contract battle, we're asking union members across the country to wear the enclosed stickers, "Arbitration 2019 - Good Contract NOW, " sometime during the month of September. We've included three for you to wear and share. Wrist bands will be available for window clerks through your local and state organizations. With thousands of members across the country wearing the stickers, we will send the message to management: APWU members are united in support of our contract demands; These include fair wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), job security by retaining the no-layoff clause and the 50-mile limit on excessing, improvements for PTFs and PSEs, more career jobs, increased USPS contributions to health care premiums, limits to subcontracting, addressing workplace harassment, and gaining better service for our customers. Management's regressive and insulting proposals include no pay increases or COLAs, more noncareer worker^ a new lower pay and benefit structure for future career employees, elimination of the no lay-off provision, custodial work subcontracting, replacing PTFs with PSEs, and increasing workers' share of health care premiums. The battle lines are drawn. We encourage you to show your union pride by wearing your sticker during the month of September. Take a sclfic or a group picture with your coworkers and email it to nccc@apwu.org. Post it on social media with #APWUnited. Let's show our solidarity across the country. Visit www.apwu.org for more info. 2019 Elected Officers, Business Agents and Delegates
CELEBRATION OF LIFE EVENT 10/20/2018
We're overjoyed you made it to our event. It was wonderful to see you and we really appreciate you coming out to be there with us. Thanks!!! Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee Convenes
WEB NEWS ARTICLE #: 45-2018 05/02/2018 
Members of the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee. L-R: Yared Wonde, Dallas Area Local; Tiffany Foster, New York Metro Area Postal Union; Daleo Freeman, Cleveland Area Local; Robert Johnson, Greater Connecticut Area Local; Fred Wolfmeyer, St. Louis Gateway District Area Local; Scott Hoffman, Boston Metro Area Local; Doris Orr-Richardson, Florida Postal Workers Union; Arrion Brown, Nation’s Capital Southern Maryland Area Local; Roscoe Woods, 480-481 Area Local; Ashley Cargill, Oklahoma Postal Workers Union; Sandra Munoz, Broward County Area Local (FL); Arthur “A.J.” Jones, Eastern Montgomery County PA Area Local. Not pictured are Aulby Gillett, San Angelo Local (TX), and Timothy Maynard, San Fernando Valley Area Local (CA)
Members of the APWU’s Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee held their first meeting in Washington, DC, on April 24. The committee advises the union’s National Negotiations Committee on bargaining demands and must approve any tentative agreement reached before it can be sent to APWU members for a ratification vote. During deliberations the committee heard presentations from APWU President Mark Dimondstein, Industrial Relations Director Vance Zimmerman, and Craft Directors Clint Burelson, Steven Raymer, Michael Foster, and Steve Brooks about preparations for the 2018 contract negotiations. Throughout the meeting, the committee engaged in discussions about the path moving forward. The 14-member committee selected Scott Hoffman, president of the Boston Metro Area Local, to serve as chair. Arthur “A.J.” Jones, president of the Eastern Montgomery County PA Area Local, will act as co-chair, and Doris Orr-Richardson, president of the Florida Postal Workers Union, will serve as secretary. “The National officers each gave their take on their aspect [of contract negotiations],” Hoffman said. “There was some good back-and-forth, it wasn’t a one-sided presentation. We had questions for the negotiators on process, procedure and some of the specific concepts.” The committee’s next meeting will coincide with their return to Washington, DC for the Opening Day of negotiations on June 26. 
President Dimondstein: "Let's Deliver Mail, not Myths"
05/11/2018 - APWU President Mark Dimondstein busts myths and sets the record straight on the Postal Service, "a national treasure belonging to all the people of the United States." Click here to read the entire column as it appears in the Boston Globe. .Cuts to employee benefits is part of the Postal Service’s plan to balance the Postal Service’s books!!!!
June 18, 2019 -- The U.S. Postal Service wants Congress to help it make significant cuts to employee benefits as part of a plan to balance the agency’s books, according to a draft business plan HuffPost obtained. The proposal would save an estimated $18 billion on employee compensation over a decade by shaving paid leave, raising workers’ share of pension contributions, and shifting new employees into less secure 401(k)-style retirement plans. The change to pension contributions would amount to a cut in take-home pay for hundreds of thousands of workers, while saving the agency nearly $7 billion. And while excluding new employees from a pension plan is common practice for private corporations these days, it would mark a significant shift for a federal-sector job long seen as a steppingstone to the middle class. The change in employee leave policy would combine vacation with sick days, likely resulting in fewer overall days off for workers. That element is estimated to save the agency more than $5 billion. The proposals obtained by HuffPost were marked as preliminary and subject to change. The postmaster general, Megan Brennan, is expected to present a business plan to the House Oversight Committee this summer. Congratulation to the 2019 Pat Davis Scholarship winners
Left to Wright: Diep Ngo (Mother of Debra Ngo), Scholarship winner Debra Ngo, Hing Wong (Mother of Adrian Wong), standing in the back Brother of Adrian Wong, Scholarship winner Adrian Jaden Wong, Dallas Area Local Sec/Tre Tanya “Tan” Daniel, Dallas Area Local President Yared Wonde, Health Plan Director JoAnn Williams. 
“Robbing workers to pay the rich, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse.”
White House Budget Proposals Slash Postal Workers’ Pay and Benefits What can you do? Click Here The labor protections in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act would also extend to those not currently classified as employees, such as rideshare drivers.
JARED RODRIGUEZ / TRUTHOUT A record number of workers in the United States decided to go on strike in 2018. Now congressional Democrats are trying to harness that momentum to pass a massive labor reform bill that would make it easier for workers to join unions and collectively bargain. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act was introduced on May 2 by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia). The bill would usher in a multitude of protections for workers and give them more bargaining power. Some of its features include penalties for businesses that illegally fire employees, sped-up union elections that prevent employers from holding anti-union meetings with their staff, and National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protections for many independent contractors who aren’t currently classified as employees. The bill also specifically offers new safeguards for workers that go on strike. Employers would be prohibited from permanently replacing striking workers with scab labor. Plus, the bill would repeal a longtime ban on boycotting “secondary” companies. The current ban makes it illegal for a given union to boycott a separate corporation in solidarity with a strike. Boosting Bargaining Power “The PRO Act is an important effort to bring U.S. labor law into the 21st century — giving working people more power at a time when it is desperately needed,” said Celine McNicholas, the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) director of government affairs and labor counsel, in a statement. “Congress should pass the PRO Act immediately and give working people what they need most: fairness and a voice on the job.” During the first legislative hearing on the PRO Act, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Connecticut) cited the recent Stop & Shop strike as an example of why collective bargaining rights are so important. In April, over 30,000 grocery store employees went on strike across a number of New England locations to fight proposed pension cuts, bonus rollbacks and an end to overtime pay. The employees prevailed despite being up against an enormously powerful company: Stop & Shop is owned by Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch retailer that claims to have generated $44 billion in U.S. sales in 2018. Click Here to read more: New CBA 2015-2018 Power Point Presentation Click Here
New 2015-2018 CBA Benefits at a glance
Clerk Craft Click Here Maintenance Craft Click Here Motor Vehicle Craft Click Here Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Applications Due
Every year, the Texas AFL-CIO offers $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors from union families. The deadline for applications is Feb. 1. Students whose parent or legal guardian is a member of a union that is affiliated with the Central Labor Council and the Texas AFL-CIO are eligible. (On occasion, the union member is the student.) Applications are available from the Dallas Central Labor Council or online. 
NTX CAT team getting members involved, making sure they were signed up for the conference call and signing up non-members.
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