July 2006

Dan’s Tool Box

By Dan Van Minnen

If you've been to the past couple of union meetings you're aware of the attacks that we'll soon be under. Even if you haven't attended recently, you've probably heard of President Bush's Postal Reform Commission. This is a serious attack on our families and working people.  He has attempted to dismantle our collective bargaining rights, which we've worked hard for over the past 30 years, and are now in a fight to protect are mere existence as postal workers.  Having said this we've been trying to raise awareness of our COPA needs. Later this year we will have the political fight of our lifetime on our hands in the November ballot and we will need all the resources possible.  COPA contributions don't come from our dues.  COPA funds are separate and voluntary contributions that we need to support both Republicans and Democrats that will decide whether we continue to earn a decent livable wage and the benefits that go along with it.  

Just picture yourself working for the Post Office at half (or less) your present wage. What about that annual leave? Do most companies "give" their employees 5 weeks of vacation time after 15 years?  Then there is that sick leave, 104 hours a year?  How many family and friends do you know that have the health benefits that we enjoy?  What about that seniority?  Jobs are bid on, not just given to whoever is in favor this week.  These things are taken for granted.  They're ours, right?  The fact is that every single thing we have is a result of collective bargaining.  We don't have anything that's been "given" to us.  Our Union dues made these things possible.

We know about NAFTA. Almost everyone has heard of the devastating affect NAFTA has had on manufacturing jobs in the US. We have lost over 2,000,000 jobs since Congress passed it.  What was our reaction?  We felt bad for the folks whose jobs left the country.  We thought something should be done to fix it and we went on with our lives. We knew it couldn't affect us, right?  GATS changes all of that.  After devastating the manufacturing industry they are now focused on our service industries which also include postal services around the world.  How could GATS touch your life?  The postal services in Germany and Holland have been partially privatized.  They compete with other countries against their postal services. The European Union (EU) has challenged the US Private Express Statutes.  They contend that the Private Express Statutes are an illegal trade barrier under GATS.  The EU also contends that the Private Express Statutes violate GATS obligations to allow companies from foreign countries to compete for the right to process and deliver postal services in the US.  The WTO and GATS allow foreign countries to come in and do to the service sectors of our economy just what the WTO and NAFTA did when they came in and decimated the manufacturing industries of our economy. These laws will allow others to come in and take our work, but not require those companies to pay a livable wage or benefits.

This Presidents Commission on the Postal Service is going to try to change the laws so those competitors, both foreign and domestic, can do our jobs.

This isn't only a "Democrat v. Republican" thing or a "Union V. Management" thing.  We need to put our efforts together and build up our COPA dollars.  We will need supporters from both sides of the aisle in Congress to help steer our future.  These COPA contributions will be used to financially support campaigns of incumbents and challengers that commit to us to protect both our jobs and our futures.  We can't ignore these things and think that they will just disappear.  This isn't something that the APWU can negotiate with management and is way beyond anything our national officers or your local officers can address through collective bargaining.

Hopefully you can see the need to be a part of the solution.  Our first step is to start contributing to the COPA fund.  An easy way has been developed to help us raise COPA $$$. Complete one of the COPA forms and send $1.00 each payday to COPA through your checking or savings.  Perhaps you could send $2.00 a payday. Our goal is to raise $2 a pay period for each member in our Local. If we have about 100 members times $2 times 26 pay periods annually = $5000 a year. If we all contribute just $1 or $2 a payday we stand a chance of building support in Congress that could save our futures and help our kids to have some security in their future.  Please join us in doing whatever you are able to help protect our jobs.