January 31, 2024 • 36 mins
In this episode APWU President Mark Dimondstein invites APWU Industrial Relations Director Charlie Cash to the show to talk about our upcoming contract negotiations, how it works, and some of our general priorities for this contract. This is one you don't want to miss!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Mark (00:10):
Hello again, APWU family.
This is APWU President Mark Dimondstein with our podcast, Communicating with You, the Member.
And it's good to be with you again.
I hope everybody had very good holidays and a happy new year to one and all.
And as we talked about in our last podcast, this is going to be a very busy year forthe American postal workers union, postal workers and the labor movement as a whole.
(00:37):
And one of the most important things coming up this year, vital to all our members,is negotiations for a new main collective bargaining agreement, a new union contract.
I call it the main agreement because we do have some smaller union contracts.
But the large agreement covers 200, 000 postal workers.
And it's actually the largest group of workers this year that will have a a contract expiration.
(01:03):
And we're going to be engaging in intense and important negotiations.
union contract, our collective bargaining agreement, This contract addresses so many important things forus, our wages, our hours of work, our rights, the conditions of employment, and of course our benefits.
So obviously this is all vitally important.
(01:26):
And our contract expires on September 20th, 2024
We're so fortunate that we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us.
And we're able to work under a strong union contract.
We also know there's always more work to do.
But we like to remind ourselves and should remind ourselves about the many gains that are in our union contract.
(01:52):
For example, our COLA, our cost of living adjustment.
Think about how important that has been to us, especially in a time of rising inflation.
We all took note of the wonderful contract struggle waged by the autoworkers, a few months back.
But part of the reason they ended up on strike is they had lost their COLA In 2007 2008 time frame and we dida quick study of what would have happened to a career postal workers in our pay scales if we had lost our COLA.
(02:27):
Our career employee in the post office would have 14, 000 less a year had we also lost our cola.
So obviously COLA is going to be extremely important to protect.
Then we have our no layoff and job security protections, for career employees who are in the service of more than six years.
(02:47):
And of course the 50 mile limit on accessing.
So if management has to move employees, now they can't be moved more than 50 miles, which helps protect family life.
People don't have to pick up and move.
Children don't have to change schools.
And then there's so many other wonderful things about a contract.
The question of seniority and bidding, which brings fairness and non discrimination to how we get our jobs and our days off and our hours of work.
(03:14):
a grievance procedure to be able to protest things that management is doing wrong In the workplace, not abidingby the collective bargaining agreement, et cetera, just cause protection against unjust firing and discipline.
So all of these things have been won over many, many decades and generations of struggle.
(03:38):
And when we go into collective bargaining, everything's up for grabs and we haveto make sure we're in the strongest position to protect those gains at a Pass
. And if I can add one other gain in our last contract, the importance of having a two year backstop for most of our noncareer PSE employees to make career still doesn't apply to the four hour post plan, offices with PSEs in those offices.
(04:02):
But every other non career employee, if they haven't made career by other meanswithin the contract after two years, they will automatically be converted to career.
That was a great game, and we're going to make sure that's protected.
going forward.
So we're going to be working together with all of you building maximum power and leverage and unity as we head into this new contract battle.
(04:28):
And today I have with me Charlie Cash.
Brother Cash is our industrial relations director.
Our industrial relations director is the chief spokesperson.
In our negotiating process.
So he has a critical role to play.
He's an E.
T.
And the maintenance craft comes out of Salt Lake City, where he was local president for many years.
(04:49):
He came up to A.
P.
W.
Headquarters in Washington, D.
C.
To assist the former industrial relations director, Vance Zimmerman.
And since early 2022 Charlie Cash is now served as our industrial relations director.
So Charlie, Charlie.
Welcome.
Charlie Cash (05:10):
Thank you, President Dimenstein.
It's great to be here today.
It's great to be able to reach out and speak to our members through this this podcast.
I think this is a great avenue to be able to talk and have people hear what's going on at headquarters.
So I really appreciate the invite being here today.
Thank you.
Mark (05:28):
Well,
Charlie Cash (05:28):
thanks
Mark (05:29):
for joining us.
I touched a little bit on your main role during Our negotiations as the chief spokesperson, but what does that entailboth sort of behind the scenes and publicly with the United States Postal Service and of course with all of you?
members
Charlie Cash (05:44):
You know, it's as chief spokesperson that title seems like calls I would do would be in the meetings and talking to the post office and things like that.
But it goes way beyond that.
We as the chief spokesperson, the industrial relations department and and all the members of mystaff, are basically leading up the negotiations, especially as far as negotiation preparation.
(06:05):
what could be our priorities coordinating everything with all the different divisions within the union?
as we move forward in negotiations making sure that we've addressed what themembership has asked us to negotiate through our labor management resolution process.
things like that.
Those are just some of the things that we do.
(06:26):
Ultimately, the industrial relations department is probably the busiest department during negotiations with all of ourpreparation and things that we do to coordinate and get all the cats herded together to make sure negotiations move forward.
Oh, great.
Mark (06:40):
And so preparation is well underway.
It sounds like,
Charlie Cash (06:44):
preparation actually for our department.
doesn't ever stop.
We we begin preparing for our next round of negotiations as soon as our last round of negotiations is over.
we we are always, observing and looking what's going on in the labor world.
We watch the other unions, how they negotiate.
We watch what is going on in the economy.
We watch how things are moving in the Postal Service.
(07:09):
We track the Postal Service finances.
We track the things that are going on in Congress and all of that stuff as far as preparations go.
And then as we get closer into negotiations, we really start ramping up our preparation by, doing thingslike reviewing our labor management resolution, seeing what the members , want us to make priorities.
we review our old contracts.
(07:31):
We review our grievances, what's going on out in the field, what the issues have been out in the field.
So preparation is is always an ongoing effort for the industrial relations department.
Redo for 4 (07:40):
uh, you know, I'm I'm very honored and proud to be our lead negotiator . And you was the industrial relations director are our chief spokesperson.
But you could also share with the good listeners out there who makes up our National Negotiating Committee and how they fit into the whole Thank you.
process as we move forward in the fight for a good and solid new contract.
Charlie Cash (08:04):
Sure
The National Negotiating Committee is established in our Constitution, and that, of course, includes yourself as president, Vice President DebbieZeretti, Sister Liz Powell is on that committee, the Industrial Relations Director is on that committee as the, , I'm the chief spokesperson.
Mark, you're a lead negotiator.
And then each division director is also on on that committee.
(08:27):
So that would include Brother Michael Foster, Brother, you know, Balligan, Brother Lamont Brooks and Brother Aaron Brown.
that's that is our national negotiating committee by the Constitution.
And then, of course, we We, we have other people who are involved in negotiations.
Your assistant craft directors are involved.
Your assistant, excuse me, your assistant division directors.
(08:47):
staff people are involved.
the attorneys are involved.
But, but mainly it's your elected officers who are your negotiating committee.
Mark (08:54):
Yeah, thanks.
Thanks, Charlie.
Redo for 4 (08:56):
I know at this stage of, , negotiations, , we're not in a position yet to talk about specific proposals.
The committee, , our National Negotiating Committee will be developing those.
The Division Directors from the Clerk Maintenance, Motor Vehicle and Support Services Craft willbe working, , with their Assistant Directors in the craft tables in developing many of those.
(09:19):
But Charlie, could you talk about some of the broad stroke goals, , of the union in these negotiations upcoming?
Charlie Cash (09:26):
Yeah, in every negotiation, there's We always want to start with a good foundation.
And you already spoke a little bit about that of the foundation that this union has had in collectivebargaining agreement since our first agreement back in 1971 when we started moving forward.
So some of our broad sort goals are obviously to protect some of the most important things that we already have.
(09:51):
one of the first things that comes to people's mind is that is always at the forer front of their mind is, is our cola our cost of living allowance.
We, wanna make sure we protect that as being the only union that still receives 100% of the, cola.
For all of our career employees, we want to protect.
Our job security, that we have are accessing requirements out, the 50 no accessing outside of 50 miles.
(10:15):
Especially right now in today's environment with the network modernization, that is extremely important andagainst that backdrop of network modernization, we want to make sure that we protect our no layoff clause.
but again, so that's just an example of the things that we want to continue to protect and grow on.
But other things that we want to make sure that we're, we're, we're protecting and growing on and making, making better is the wage package.
(10:39):
oftentimes I know that when I was out in the field working, that was one ofthe first thing I, I always looked at what, what are our raises going to be?
So we want to make sure that we get a fair, wage increase for our employees.
We want to address some of the other financial issues.
And when I say financial issues, this is all, this comes down to things like,the number of career employees we have versus the number of non career employees.
(11:00):
We also want to make sure that we are moving forward, as we have with the last couple contracts of addressing the two tiered wage system that we have.
We've been taking small bites of the elephant that we're eating with the two tiered wage system.
And the last two agreements that we had in 2018, we were able to gain some steps back in the 2018 through 2021 contract and the 2021 through2024 contract, we were able to take even a few more bites out of that with what we were able to do along grade eight and things like that.
(11:31):
And we hope to continue to do that, making movement on the two tier wage system.
Right now, the labor movement is primed to address that two tiered wage system.
So that's something we want to, we want to work on and move forward in.
But those are just some broad stroke, like you say, Mark, things that we're, we're looking at,
.And, you know, Mark, you talked a little bit earlier.
(11:51):
about the importance of our union contracts over the year.
And I just look back at my experience when you first said that.
when I started with the post office in 1997 as a non career employee, my starting wage was 9.
74 an hour.
but I could count on a pay raise for just about every year.
My entire career eventually led to me being converted to career.
(12:15):
And then, and then, of course, our union contracts have been great for me, having been able to move from anon career clerk into the maintenance craft, where I now, make over 35 an hour as an electronics technician.
No other type of jobs can you do that unless you have a good union contract, and theAPWU has always had a great union contract that has helped my family grow over the years.
Mark (12:39):
Charlie, it's very interesting that in sharing your own story, of once being a non career postal employee, it reminds us of some of the great gains of our contract, that particularly around this issue, in our last, , negotiations.
We were able to get a two year backstop where our PSEs, hardworking non career employees, wereoutside of our four hour post plan offices , were gonna make career, full time career status.
(13:08):
Within two years, if they haven't made it by other means and other provisions of the contract.
And those are the kind of things we accomplish.
When we pull together, with all of you out there, our strength starts with every member.
It starts with all of you, , who are members of this wonderful union.
And so, Moving the conversation forward, Charlie, can you share with us what negotiations actually look like?
(13:36):
How do we get to opening day?
What follows opening day?
What happens if the contract, when the contract expires on September 20th, and yet we may not have yet reached an agreement?
And if that happens, what happens to our existing wages, our benefits, our rights, and our protections?.
And when I'm talking about protections, again, some of the things we've won over generations of struggles, like protectionagainst unjust discipline, including termination, our rights to seniority and bidding to all those things continue.
(14:08):
And so give us a little flavor of what that three month period looks like starting an opening day on June25th and then going through the expiration of the contract and maybe beyond on September 20th, 2024..
Charlie Cash (14:21):
Sure.
So when we get to opening day, opening day is, It's exactly what it sounds like.
I mean, you all heard about opening day for baseball, opening day for football, whatever it is.
It's usually, you know, some, some big event.
Everybody, you know, there's the big games, the big kickoff and we're going to have 60, 000 people in the stands.
Oh, we are hoping so maybe virtually we really, we would really love that.
(14:42):
but, but what we end up doing is we, we have an initial kickoff meeting with the Postal Service.
where we're where the negotiating committees for both sides, the Postal Servicewill have a negotiating committee that they, that they will determine on their own.
But on that opening day, it's gonna be it's gonna be the head of the union and the head of the Postal Service sittingacross from each other, exchanging their ideas and their thoughts on what negotiations should be and should accomplish.
(15:08):
The Postmaster General will be there.
and, you know, you as the, as our lead negotiator and he will, will exchange ideas.
There could be some initial, proposal exchanges.
where we talk about what proposals we want to start addressing and and then from there after this day, which I will saythat on June 25th for that opening day, we actually will be broadcasting that over the web so everybody can watch it.
(15:36):
You can watch it on your own, hopefully have a watch party, but it will be there for everybody to be able to see and be able to watch.
It's not a closed opening session.
want people to watch it.
We want them to see our interactions with the Postal Services Negotiating Committee to begin with.
So once we after after opening day, we then we will then settle into the more, finer aspects of negotiations.
(16:00):
the crafts, the clerk craft, the motor vehicle, craft maintenance, craft support services.
They will break off into their their own committees to have their own craft specific negotiations.
The other general articles we will also be breaking up into groups that will negotiate that their specific, article issues.
(16:22):
, And then, of course, the lead negotiators, which is mark you and a and a designee from the Postal Service.
we'll talk about some of our much larger issues and negotiate things like the wage package and things like that.
But it's a it's a constant share of proposals.
Postal Service shares their ideas.
Maybe they offer a counter proposal.
(16:43):
and both sides have a right to do their own proposals
and, and what we do, Mark, as the APWU, we, we do what we call conceptual proposals where we lookat as in part of our preparations, we say, okay, what in the contract, what do the members want?
What's the concept that they want?
(17:05):
We then present to the Postal Service what that concept may be.
And then we work back and forth through negotiations
And just for an example of a conceptual proposal that that I can give you is, we would we would put on paper something like,The Office of Personnel Management and the remainder of the federal government have extended parental leave to their employees.
(17:33):
We, the American Postal Workers Union, propose that the Postal Service negotiate with the APWU additional paid parental leave provisions.
That's an idea of a conceptual proposal.
We didn't get into the actual language of it.
We didn't get into how much or anything like that.
It's a concept so that we can continue to be open and continue to talk.
(17:54):
Now, let me just be clear.
That was an example.
Something thought totally off the top of my head.
It's nothing we have written down.
But I also know that paid parental leave is something that is on our members mind because I do get questions about it.
So that's some of the things about negotiations.
Now you would ask me about what happens if we, if we don't reach a negotiated agreement by the time our contract expires September 20th, 2024.
(18:19):
Historically, our contract has continued on.
The provisions of the contract have still remain in effect.
They still apply.
Like you brought up just cause just cause provisions are still in place.
The wage provisions are still in place.
People progressing in step and level is still in place.
Generally, the M.
O.
U.
(18:39):
S.
In the back of the contract, for example, the M.
O.
U.
On, things like the two year conversion.
Those things will continue on the residual M.
O.
U.
And the filling of jobs will continue on.
That's historically is what what has happened.
That's one of the reasons why our contract continues on.
And then that brings us to the point of, of interest arbitration, where if, we can't reach an agreement we then havebinding interest arbitration so our, our contract continues until the, the interest arbitrator puts a contract in place.
Mark (19:11):
And I think it's worth noting in that two of the last three rounds of bargaining.
We did have to go to interest arbitration because we could not reach a principled voluntary agreement.
The good news there is that we got new contracts and we did pretty well in the interest arbitration process.
(19:31):
But there's a real danger with interest arbitration, because our future is then in the hands of one Arbitrator.
So yes, the union will be fully prepared.
But aren't we much better off if we remain in control of our own destiny can reach a principled agreement thatwould, , through the work of the rank and file bargaining advisor committee, be able to then go out to a vote toe all of you.
(19:58):
Because you should be the ultimate deciders, not one person.
So, Charlie, I just talked about the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee and the process of getting to a vote on a tentative agreement.
, share with the good listeners, a little more about that process, please.
Charlie Cash (20:17):
Thanks, Mark.
that process actually begins before our first day of negotiations.
and that starts with the appointment of the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee.
that committee is appointed by the Executive Board.
Each member of the Executive Board can appoint, one person of their choosing to this Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee.
(20:39):
and the President actually gets two, because You'll get to choose one personto represent the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community that is within the APWU.
So we will have 14 members of this committee, and they will be brought in, and when we reach a full tentativeagreement, meaning that we have met, we've negotiated, and we've agreed that all of these different, Parts or
(21:08):
tenants that was negotiated and discussed during our negotiating window have become one tentative agreement.
Will be brought in.
They will be presented the tentative agreement by the our National Bargaining Committee,and then they will be given the opportunity to review it to ask the negotiators questions.
(21:32):
To ask the negotiators to give them clarification on things, and then they will have the opportunityto vote as the rank and file bargaining advisory committee to send the contract out for a vote.
If They votes to send it out for an agreement, it will be then prepared.
We will prepare ballots.
It will be a simple ballot with a yes, I'm in favor of ratification or no, I'm not in favor of ratification.
(21:57):
And historically, we've sent out a copy of the the tentative agreement with with possible language changes.
It's not the final product, but we send that out for all the members to review and look at and have their say.
But only if that the rank and file bargaining advisory committee votes to send it out to the members . The rank and filebargaining advisory committee could also vote not to send it out for a ratification and send it back to us for further negotiations.
Mark (22:29):
And when you say it's not the final, contract that we send out.
It is all the language we negotiated, but it doesn't become final until the members decide that it's final.
I just want to clear that up because we don't send something out and then change the language
Charlie Cash (22:45):
after a vote.
No.
And look, having been involved in this this process multiple times myself, I was once on the rank and file bargaining advisory committee.
I have also served on the last two, Contract proofreading teams.
So when I say, when I say final, I will also say that sometimes we get into these contracts and we send outin the tentative agreement where we've misspelled a few words or we forgot a period or something like that.
(23:10):
So even after it's ratified, we always go back and make sure that it is properly written and properly printed.
But what people are voting on does not change.
People are voting on does not change.
That is correct.
So how,
Mark (23:22):
how do we, one of the reasons I think we did so well in the last round of bargaining is our National Negotiating Committee, I think really worked well as a team, we rode together, so if, if you could talk about that
because for, for example, we bring back from our separate committees to the, that we may meet with management on.
(23:44):
Let's say there's a group management and union that's meeting on safetyissues, we will bring a lot of those discussions back to the entire committee.
So they can weigh in, they can see where we're at.
if, certainly, if we're in our deep discussions around wage increases andCOLA and things like that, those will always be brought back to the committee.
(24:04):
So if you could share a little bit of how important it is to keep everybody together and how
Charlie Cash (24:08):
we do that.
Yeah.
We.
We have to meet on a regular basis as a negotiating committee because there are a lot of moving parts to the contract.
There are a lot of, like say, different aspects, like you brought up the safety, Article 14.
There could be a group negotiating and discussing Article 14.
There could be a group negotiating and discussing changes to the agreements process in Article 15.
(24:32):
So we, bring these groups back together.
We get together as a committee.
We do the presentations, basically say where we're at.
And , everybody gives input, because everybody, each division, could have adifferent way that it may affect them that other people may not be thinking about.
So we meet regularly, we talk about these things regularly, and it's important that we keep thoseopen lines of communications, that the clerk craft knows what the maintenance craft is working on.
(25:00):
The maintenance craft knows what the clerk craft is working on.
People know what I might be working on in, you know, for example, article eight overtime.
If I'm working on any overtime issues that we all that we're all talking about these things.
And so it's important for us to keep open lines of communications.
And sometimes some good disagreement helps us improve our negotiations.
(25:23):
you know, granted, I was a staffer last for the last negotiations, but I got to see this in action.
I got to see the bargaining committee meet and got to see them talk.
And it was from some of those meetings That some of, some good improvements and some good thoughts andexchanges came out that ultimately helped us reach the agreement that we reached for 21 through 24.
Mark (25:44):
Yeah, thanks.
Thanks, Charlie.
And the other thing for all of you good listeners out there is in negotiations.
whenever I'm going to get everything we want, whenever I'm going to get everything we need.
But the key is to make real progress.
So within that, the negotiating committee also has to be able to deal with the priorities.
What's most important?
(26:04):
What's next?
Important.
And we have to weigh all of those things as we try to pull put all the pieces of the puzzle together for a solid new, union
Charlie Cash (26:14):
country.
Yeah.
And you know, Mark, it's always interesting.
I think sometimes and sometimes even even I've seemed to forget it.
Negotiations is not a one way street.
It's not where we put something out and that's the only thing we're going to talk about.
The post office has a right under the contract and under the law to bring things to the table and for us to talk about them and to.
So sometimes we have to talk about what the post office is offering and if it benefits us, hurts us or not.
(26:36):
And so again, it's a bilateral discussion.
Right.
Mark (26:40):
And negotiations, APWU family, really comes down to building our power and leverage.
the eight people at the bargaining table, that's only eight of us.
Our power and leverage comes from 160, 000 plus members who are the foundation of this union.
But what some of the things, Charlie, as we look to this coming year, we're early in the year, but things are going to move quickly.
(27:06):
What are some of the things we're going to be working on as a union, with all of you good members out there to build ourpower and leverage and make sure management gets the message that postal workers, dedicated, hardworking postal workers,
Charlie Cash (27:18):
Uh, Mark, I, I appreciate that question and it's something that, building power and leverage and, and being united.
It's not just the bargaining committee.
Like you say, , it's all of us.
It's something that we all have to do.
And we're going to need the participation of the members , at workroom floor.
(27:40):
To their local union meetings, to their state conventions, to our national convention.
, we need the members to stand up , and do some things.
, and it can be as simple as wearing your t shirt on APWU t shirt days that we, we still have now.
To show the Postal Service that we have members out there.
And we have members that care.
(28:01):
It might be something as simple as Wearing a sticker as we go through our, our, contract campaign.
That's always something that we've always tried to do as the APWU is to have a contract campaign to unite ourmembers, to unite the public on our side, and to get everybody to understand the importance of a good labor contract.
(28:23):
whether that is our contract or anybody else's contract.
It is important for labor to stand united and especially important for our people, to, to stand united.
We're going to be doing some things like, a slogan contest.
Each time we've had a, a slogan, for our contracts, we'll be announcing the slogan competition and how people can, enter in their slogans.
(28:44):
we're gonna have on opening day that will be streamed so people can watch it.
We encourage people to get together and have watch parties, whether it's local.
Or heck, if you're at work, you may not be able to watch it while you're running a DBCS,but you know, or working on your letter case, but put your headphones in and listen to it.
. So I encourage every single one of you out there.
(29:07):
To text CONTRACT, that's C O N T R A C T, to 91990, again, text CONTRACT to 91990 to get added to our updatelist for our upcoming negotiations discussions, our contract campaign, and to find out what's going on.
(29:30):
We've also got some other things in development that we're going to do that we're excited about.
We haven't finalized them yet, but that's another reason to make sure you send that contract to 91990 so that you can get in on the loop on that.
So those are just some of the things that we're doing.
We need people to stand up.
And look, when negotiations get tight and things get get going on out there.
(29:54):
It might be time to even take it to the public.
So, heck, we may even ask you to go out there and do an informational picket or talk to the press, write a letter to your your editor, whatever.
There's all those kinds of things that bring us that bring us together and make us stand up together andshow management that we're not taking these for granted and that any member is going to take him laying down.
(30:15):
And
Mark (30:15):
that's a That's a really good point, Charlie, because, Once we develop our proposals, undoubtedly we will have proposals at the bargaining table of management about improving service to the public.
That may come out with proposals on better staffing in order to improve service to thepublic and in order to have safer and less stressful and less hostile working conditions.
(30:37):
So explaining to the public that we're on their side.
Very much like the teacher unions when they are in their contract battles.
Our union and our members are on the side of the people for better service, for improved service, for expanded services.
We will have those kind of proposals at the bargaining table.
And so informing the public, uniting with the public, you're right.
(31:01):
about a watch party, I know we're used to watch parties on Super Bowl Sunday, a lot of fun, at leastfor those whose teams made it, but think about , how much more important that real Super Bowl is for
us when we're dealing with our wages, our hours of work, conditions of employment and our benefits.
So we'll hope all of you will join in.
(31:23):
So I Charlie, any, any, closing thoughts for the members out there, you know, before I close
Charlie Cash (31:28):
it out?
You know, one, , one other thing I just wanted to throw out there is to all the members, get involved.
This is your contract, and this is what you can.
You can start getting involved and do it at the local level if you have an idea for negotiations.
If you want something negotiated or you want to give something to your national negotiating team to give them something to your idea.
(31:51):
We have the labor management resolution process, and I encourage people go talk to your local leaders about how this process works.
Where you can go to a meeting, and you can give a proposal, and it can be voted on.
And then that proposal is sent to the state convention, and the state convention can vote on that resolution.
And then that resolution can be sent to, the, National.
(32:12):
National convention, thank you, that we're having in Detroit in, in July of this year.
And, and those resolutions can be voted on.
That doesn't mean just because it was voted on, it's automatically going to become a proposal.
in negotiations.
But it does give us an idea of what you the members want and what you view as your priorities.
and and that is important to this process.
(32:33):
This is your contract.
This is the members contract.
So get out there, participate whatever way that you can.
And when and I hope we do reach a tentative agreement that it gets sent out for ratification.
That we get 200, 000 ballots back that everybody had a say in it, whether it be yesor no, because I want to see people vote and participate on this contract, Mark.
(32:56):
I'm excited.
I'm looking forward to negotiations.
It's gonna be a challenge.
It's one of the things that, when I started in the post office in 1997, I can't even imaginethat I'm in the position that I am now to lead this contract, but I am excited for it.
Looking forward to it and looking forward to working with you and all the, negotiating committee on getting a great contract for our people.
Mark (33:19):
Well, thanks, Charlie.
That's a, that's a great closing message.
It's your union, APWU family.
How far we drive it, how hard we drive it, how fast we drive it is up to all of us.
So be involved, and the contract's a great time to be involved.
One other thing I want to add before we close out.
(33:39):
Is our organizing director, sister Anna Smith, and I are developing a organizing campaign whenI say organizing campaign, I'm talking about within the Postal Service, within our own ranks.
We still have tens of thousands of people that you work with every day.
Well, you don't work with all 10, 000.
(34:00):
You work with some of them every day.
And.
They're riding your back, and they're riding all the members back.
Enjoying the COLA, benefiting from the COLA, benefiting from the no layoff protections as career employees, benefiting from thefairness of seniority and bidding, the right to protest through a grievance procedure, our just cause protections, and everything else
(34:23):
has been won through generations of struggle, and yet refuse to pay a small amount of union dues to keep the struggle progressing.
So during these few months leading up to the contract battle, you can all help build our power and leverage by signing up thosenon members, bringing them into our ranks, and that growth and that strength will certainly be felt at the bargaining table.
(34:48):
Management knows exactly how many people are in the union.
and so if they get a strong message that people are joining in droves, as part of the fight for good, New strong contract.
So with that again, we look forward to a year of progress.
It's always gonna be a struggle.
Mobile are our president for 21 years.
(35:09):
Many of you knew him.
Maybe a lot of you didn't.
But he always had a saying that the struggle continues and it always does.
And this coming year, one of the main way that this struggle continues is The, negotiations battle for a newgood union contract that respects and honors everything you do day in and day out for the people of this country.
(35:34):
Thanks all.
We podcast.
Carry on and solidarity forever.
you can download the podcast on all streaming services, including apple podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts regularly.
Hello again, APWU family.
This is APWU President Mark Dimondstein with our podcast, Communicating with You, the Member.
And it's good to be with you again.
I hope everybody had very good holidays and a happy new year to one and all.
And as we talked about in our last podcast, this is going to be a very busy year forthe American postal workers union, postal workers and the labor movement as a whole.
(00:37):
And one of the most important things coming up this year, vital to all our members,is negotiations for a new main collective bargaining agreement, a new union contract.
I call it the main agreement because we do have some smaller union contracts.
But the large agreement covers 200, 000 postal workers.
And it's actually the largest group of workers this year that will have a a contract expiration.
(01:03):
And we're going to be engaging in intense and important negotiations.
union contract, our collective bargaining agreement, This contract addresses so many important things forus, our wages, our hours of work, our rights, the conditions of employment, and of course our benefits.
So obviously this is all vitally important.
(01:26):
And our contract expires on September 20th, 2024
We're so fortunate that we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us.
And we're able to work under a strong union contract.
We also know there's always more work to do.
But we like to remind ourselves and should remind ourselves about the many gains that are in our union contract.
(01:52):
For example, our COLA, our cost of living adjustment.
Think about how important that has been to us, especially in a time of rising inflation.
We all took note of the wonderful contract struggle waged by the autoworkers, a few months back.
But part of the reason they ended up on strike is they had lost their COLA In 2007 2008 time frame and we dida quick study of what would have happened to a career postal workers in our pay scales if we had lost our COLA.
(02:27):
Our career employee in the post office would have 14, 000 less a year had we also lost our cola.
So obviously COLA is going to be extremely important to protect.
Then we have our no layoff and job security protections, for career employees who are in the service of more than six years.
(02:47):
And of course the 50 mile limit on accessing.
So if management has to move employees, now they can't be moved more than 50 miles, which helps protect family life.
People don't have to pick up and move.
Children don't have to change schools.
And then there's so many other wonderful things about a contract.
The question of seniority and bidding, which brings fairness and non discrimination to how we get our jobs and our days off and our hours of work.
(03:14):
a grievance procedure to be able to protest things that management is doing wrong In the workplace, not abidingby the collective bargaining agreement, et cetera, just cause protection against unjust firing and discipline.
So all of these things have been won over many, many decades and generations of struggle.
(03:38):
And when we go into collective bargaining, everything's up for grabs and we haveto make sure we're in the strongest position to protect those gains at a Pass
. And if I can add one other gain in our last contract, the importance of having a two year backstop for most of our noncareer PSE employees to make career still doesn't apply to the four hour post plan, offices with PSEs in those offices.
(04:02):
But every other non career employee, if they haven't made career by other meanswithin the contract after two years, they will automatically be converted to career.
That was a great game, and we're going to make sure that's protected.
going forward.
So we're going to be working together with all of you building maximum power and leverage and unity as we head into this new contract battle.
(04:28):
And today I have with me Charlie Cash.
Brother Cash is our industrial relations director.
Our industrial relations director is the chief spokesperson.
In our negotiating process.
So he has a critical role to play.
He's an E.
T.
And the maintenance craft comes out of Salt Lake City, where he was local president for many years.
(04:49):
He came up to A.
P.
W.
Headquarters in Washington, D.
C.
To assist the former industrial relations director, Vance Zimmerman.
And since early 2022 Charlie Cash is now served as our industrial relations director.
So Charlie, Charlie.
Welcome.
Charlie Cash (05:10):
Thank you, President Dimenstein.
It's great to be here today.
It's great to be able to reach out and speak to our members through this this podcast.
I think this is a great avenue to be able to talk and have people hear what's going on at headquarters.
So I really appreciate the invite being here today.
Thank you.
Mark (05:28):
Well,
Charlie Cash (05:28):
thanks
Mark (05:29):
for joining us.
I touched a little bit on your main role during Our negotiations as the chief spokesperson, but what does that entailboth sort of behind the scenes and publicly with the United States Postal Service and of course with all of you?
members
Charlie Cash (05:44):
You know, it's as chief spokesperson that title seems like calls I would do would be in the meetings and talking to the post office and things like that.
But it goes way beyond that.
We as the chief spokesperson, the industrial relations department and and all the members of mystaff, are basically leading up the negotiations, especially as far as negotiation preparation.
(06:05):
what could be our priorities coordinating everything with all the different divisions within the union?
as we move forward in negotiations making sure that we've addressed what themembership has asked us to negotiate through our labor management resolution process.
things like that.
Those are just some of the things that we do.
(06:26):
Ultimately, the industrial relations department is probably the busiest department during negotiations with all of ourpreparation and things that we do to coordinate and get all the cats herded together to make sure negotiations move forward.
Oh, great.
Mark (06:40):
And so preparation is well underway.
It sounds like,
Charlie Cash (06:44):
preparation actually for our department.
doesn't ever stop.
We we begin preparing for our next round of negotiations as soon as our last round of negotiations is over.
we we are always, observing and looking what's going on in the labor world.
We watch the other unions, how they negotiate.
We watch what is going on in the economy.
We watch how things are moving in the Postal Service.
(07:09):
We track the Postal Service finances.
We track the things that are going on in Congress and all of that stuff as far as preparations go.
And then as we get closer into negotiations, we really start ramping up our preparation by, doing thingslike reviewing our labor management resolution, seeing what the members , want us to make priorities.
we review our old contracts.
(07:31):
We review our grievances, what's going on out in the field, what the issues have been out in the field.
So preparation is is always an ongoing effort for the industrial relations department.
Redo for 4 (07:40):
uh, you know, I'm I'm very honored and proud to be our lead negotiator . And you was the industrial relations director are our chief spokesperson.
But you could also share with the good listeners out there who makes up our National Negotiating Committee and how they fit into the whole Thank you.
process as we move forward in the fight for a good and solid new contract.
Charlie Cash (08:04):
Sure
The National Negotiating Committee is established in our Constitution, and that, of course, includes yourself as president, Vice President DebbieZeretti, Sister Liz Powell is on that committee, the Industrial Relations Director is on that committee as the, , I'm the chief spokesperson.
Mark, you're a lead negotiator.
And then each division director is also on on that committee.
(08:27):
So that would include Brother Michael Foster, Brother, you know, Balligan, Brother Lamont Brooks and Brother Aaron Brown.
that's that is our national negotiating committee by the Constitution.
And then, of course, we We, we have other people who are involved in negotiations.
Your assistant craft directors are involved.
Your assistant, excuse me, your assistant division directors.
(08:47):
staff people are involved.
the attorneys are involved.
But, but mainly it's your elected officers who are your negotiating committee.
Mark (08:54):
Yeah, thanks.
Thanks, Charlie.
Redo for 4 (08:56):
I know at this stage of, , negotiations, , we're not in a position yet to talk about specific proposals.
The committee, , our National Negotiating Committee will be developing those.
The Division Directors from the Clerk Maintenance, Motor Vehicle and Support Services Craft willbe working, , with their Assistant Directors in the craft tables in developing many of those.
(09:19):
But Charlie, could you talk about some of the broad stroke goals, , of the union in these negotiations upcoming?
Charlie Cash (09:26):
Yeah, in every negotiation, there's We always want to start with a good foundation.
And you already spoke a little bit about that of the foundation that this union has had in collectivebargaining agreement since our first agreement back in 1971 when we started moving forward.
So some of our broad sort goals are obviously to protect some of the most important things that we already have.
(09:51):
one of the first things that comes to people's mind is that is always at the forer front of their mind is, is our cola our cost of living allowance.
We, wanna make sure we protect that as being the only union that still receives 100% of the, cola.
For all of our career employees, we want to protect.
Our job security, that we have are accessing requirements out, the 50 no accessing outside of 50 miles.
(10:15):
Especially right now in today's environment with the network modernization, that is extremely important andagainst that backdrop of network modernization, we want to make sure that we protect our no layoff clause.
but again, so that's just an example of the things that we want to continue to protect and grow on.
But other things that we want to make sure that we're, we're, we're protecting and growing on and making, making better is the wage package.
(10:39):
oftentimes I know that when I was out in the field working, that was one ofthe first thing I, I always looked at what, what are our raises going to be?
So we want to make sure that we get a fair, wage increase for our employees.
We want to address some of the other financial issues.
And when I say financial issues, this is all, this comes down to things like,the number of career employees we have versus the number of non career employees.
(11:00):
We also want to make sure that we are moving forward, as we have with the last couple contracts of addressing the two tiered wage system that we have.
We've been taking small bites of the elephant that we're eating with the two tiered wage system.
And the last two agreements that we had in 2018, we were able to gain some steps back in the 2018 through 2021 contract and the 2021 through2024 contract, we were able to take even a few more bites out of that with what we were able to do along grade eight and things like that.
(11:31):
And we hope to continue to do that, making movement on the two tier wage system.
Right now, the labor movement is primed to address that two tiered wage system.
So that's something we want to, we want to work on and move forward in.
But those are just some broad stroke, like you say, Mark, things that we're, we're looking at,
.And, you know, Mark, you talked a little bit earlier.
(11:51):
about the importance of our union contracts over the year.
And I just look back at my experience when you first said that.
when I started with the post office in 1997 as a non career employee, my starting wage was 9.
74 an hour.
but I could count on a pay raise for just about every year.
My entire career eventually led to me being converted to career.
(12:15):
And then, and then, of course, our union contracts have been great for me, having been able to move from anon career clerk into the maintenance craft, where I now, make over 35 an hour as an electronics technician.
No other type of jobs can you do that unless you have a good union contract, and theAPWU has always had a great union contract that has helped my family grow over the years.
Mark (12:39):
Charlie, it's very interesting that in sharing your own story, of once being a non career postal employee, it reminds us of some of the great gains of our contract, that particularly around this issue, in our last, , negotiations.
We were able to get a two year backstop where our PSEs, hardworking non career employees, wereoutside of our four hour post plan offices , were gonna make career, full time career status.
(13:08):
Within two years, if they haven't made it by other means and other provisions of the contract.
And those are the kind of things we accomplish.
When we pull together, with all of you out there, our strength starts with every member.
It starts with all of you, , who are members of this wonderful union.
And so, Moving the conversation forward, Charlie, can you share with us what negotiations actually look like?
(13:36):
How do we get to opening day?
What follows opening day?
What happens if the contract, when the contract expires on September 20th, and yet we may not have yet reached an agreement?
And if that happens, what happens to our existing wages, our benefits, our rights, and our protections?.
And when I'm talking about protections, again, some of the things we've won over generations of struggles, like protectionagainst unjust discipline, including termination, our rights to seniority and bidding to all those things continue.
(14:08):
And so give us a little flavor of what that three month period looks like starting an opening day on June25th and then going through the expiration of the contract and maybe beyond on September 20th, 2024..
Charlie Cash (14:21):
Sure.
So when we get to opening day, opening day is, It's exactly what it sounds like.
I mean, you all heard about opening day for baseball, opening day for football, whatever it is.
It's usually, you know, some, some big event.
Everybody, you know, there's the big games, the big kickoff and we're going to have 60, 000 people in the stands.
Oh, we are hoping so maybe virtually we really, we would really love that.
(14:42):
but, but what we end up doing is we, we have an initial kickoff meeting with the Postal Service.
where we're where the negotiating committees for both sides, the Postal Servicewill have a negotiating committee that they, that they will determine on their own.
But on that opening day, it's gonna be it's gonna be the head of the union and the head of the Postal Service sittingacross from each other, exchanging their ideas and their thoughts on what negotiations should be and should accomplish.
(15:08):
The Postmaster General will be there.
and, you know, you as the, as our lead negotiator and he will, will exchange ideas.
There could be some initial, proposal exchanges.
where we talk about what proposals we want to start addressing and and then from there after this day, which I will saythat on June 25th for that opening day, we actually will be broadcasting that over the web so everybody can watch it.
(15:36):
You can watch it on your own, hopefully have a watch party, but it will be there for everybody to be able to see and be able to watch.
It's not a closed opening session.
want people to watch it.
We want them to see our interactions with the Postal Services Negotiating Committee to begin with.
So once we after after opening day, we then we will then settle into the more, finer aspects of negotiations.
(16:00):
the crafts, the clerk craft, the motor vehicle, craft maintenance, craft support services.
They will break off into their their own committees to have their own craft specific negotiations.
The other general articles we will also be breaking up into groups that will negotiate that their specific, article issues.
(16:22):
, And then, of course, the lead negotiators, which is mark you and a and a designee from the Postal Service.
we'll talk about some of our much larger issues and negotiate things like the wage package and things like that.
But it's a it's a constant share of proposals.
Postal Service shares their ideas.
Maybe they offer a counter proposal.
(16:43):
and both sides have a right to do their own proposals
and, and what we do, Mark, as the APWU, we, we do what we call conceptual proposals where we lookat as in part of our preparations, we say, okay, what in the contract, what do the members want?
What's the concept that they want?
(17:05):
We then present to the Postal Service what that concept may be.
And then we work back and forth through negotiations
And just for an example of a conceptual proposal that that I can give you is, we would we would put on paper something like,The Office of Personnel Management and the remainder of the federal government have extended parental leave to their employees.
(17:33):
We, the American Postal Workers Union, propose that the Postal Service negotiate with the APWU additional paid parental leave provisions.
That's an idea of a conceptual proposal.
We didn't get into the actual language of it.
We didn't get into how much or anything like that.
It's a concept so that we can continue to be open and continue to talk.
(17:54):
Now, let me just be clear.
That was an example.
Something thought totally off the top of my head.
It's nothing we have written down.
But I also know that paid parental leave is something that is on our members mind because I do get questions about it.
So that's some of the things about negotiations.
Now you would ask me about what happens if we, if we don't reach a negotiated agreement by the time our contract expires September 20th, 2024.
(18:19):
Historically, our contract has continued on.
The provisions of the contract have still remain in effect.
They still apply.
Like you brought up just cause just cause provisions are still in place.
The wage provisions are still in place.
People progressing in step and level is still in place.
Generally, the M.
O.
U.
(18:39):
S.
In the back of the contract, for example, the M.
O.
U.
On, things like the two year conversion.
Those things will continue on the residual M.
O.
U.
And the filling of jobs will continue on.
That's historically is what what has happened.
That's one of the reasons why our contract continues on.
And then that brings us to the point of, of interest arbitration, where if, we can't reach an agreement we then havebinding interest arbitration so our, our contract continues until the, the interest arbitrator puts a contract in place.
Mark (19:11):
And I think it's worth noting in that two of the last three rounds of bargaining.
We did have to go to interest arbitration because we could not reach a principled voluntary agreement.
The good news there is that we got new contracts and we did pretty well in the interest arbitration process.
(19:31):
But there's a real danger with interest arbitration, because our future is then in the hands of one Arbitrator.
So yes, the union will be fully prepared.
But aren't we much better off if we remain in control of our own destiny can reach a principled agreement thatwould, , through the work of the rank and file bargaining advisor committee, be able to then go out to a vote toe all of you.
(19:58):
Because you should be the ultimate deciders, not one person.
So, Charlie, I just talked about the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee and the process of getting to a vote on a tentative agreement.
, share with the good listeners, a little more about that process, please.
Charlie Cash (20:17):
Thanks, Mark.
that process actually begins before our first day of negotiations.
and that starts with the appointment of the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee.
that committee is appointed by the Executive Board.
Each member of the Executive Board can appoint, one person of their choosing to this Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee.
(20:39):
and the President actually gets two, because You'll get to choose one personto represent the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community that is within the APWU.
So we will have 14 members of this committee, and they will be brought in, and when we reach a full tentativeagreement, meaning that we have met, we've negotiated, and we've agreed that all of these different, Parts or
(21:08):
tenants that was negotiated and discussed during our negotiating window have become one tentative agreement.
Will be brought in.
They will be presented the tentative agreement by the our National Bargaining Committee,and then they will be given the opportunity to review it to ask the negotiators questions.
(21:32):
To ask the negotiators to give them clarification on things, and then they will have the opportunityto vote as the rank and file bargaining advisory committee to send the contract out for a vote.
If They votes to send it out for an agreement, it will be then prepared.
We will prepare ballots.
It will be a simple ballot with a yes, I'm in favor of ratification or no, I'm not in favor of ratification.
(21:57):
And historically, we've sent out a copy of the the tentative agreement with with possible language changes.
It's not the final product, but we send that out for all the members to review and look at and have their say.
But only if that the rank and file bargaining advisory committee votes to send it out to the members . The rank and filebargaining advisory committee could also vote not to send it out for a ratification and send it back to us for further negotiations.
Mark (22:29):
And when you say it's not the final, contract that we send out.
It is all the language we negotiated, but it doesn't become final until the members decide that it's final.
I just want to clear that up because we don't send something out and then change the language
Charlie Cash (22:45):
after a vote.
No.
And look, having been involved in this this process multiple times myself, I was once on the rank and file bargaining advisory committee.
I have also served on the last two, Contract proofreading teams.
So when I say, when I say final, I will also say that sometimes we get into these contracts and we send outin the tentative agreement where we've misspelled a few words or we forgot a period or something like that.
(23:10):
So even after it's ratified, we always go back and make sure that it is properly written and properly printed.
But what people are voting on does not change.
People are voting on does not change.
That is correct.
So how,
Mark (23:22):
how do we, one of the reasons I think we did so well in the last round of bargaining is our National Negotiating Committee, I think really worked well as a team, we rode together, so if, if you could talk about that
because for, for example, we bring back from our separate committees to the, that we may meet with management on.
(23:44):
Let's say there's a group management and union that's meeting on safetyissues, we will bring a lot of those discussions back to the entire committee.
So they can weigh in, they can see where we're at.
if, certainly, if we're in our deep discussions around wage increases andCOLA and things like that, those will always be brought back to the committee.
(24:04):
So if you could share a little bit of how important it is to keep everybody together and how
Charlie Cash (24:08):
we do that.
Yeah.
We.
We have to meet on a regular basis as a negotiating committee because there are a lot of moving parts to the contract.
There are a lot of, like say, different aspects, like you brought up the safety, Article 14.
There could be a group negotiating and discussing Article 14.
There could be a group negotiating and discussing changes to the agreements process in Article 15.
(24:32):
So we, bring these groups back together.
We get together as a committee.
We do the presentations, basically say where we're at.
And , everybody gives input, because everybody, each division, could have adifferent way that it may affect them that other people may not be thinking about.
So we meet regularly, we talk about these things regularly, and it's important that we keep thoseopen lines of communications, that the clerk craft knows what the maintenance craft is working on.
(25:00):
The maintenance craft knows what the clerk craft is working on.
People know what I might be working on in, you know, for example, article eight overtime.
If I'm working on any overtime issues that we all that we're all talking about these things.
And so it's important for us to keep open lines of communications.
And sometimes some good disagreement helps us improve our negotiations.
(25:23):
you know, granted, I was a staffer last for the last negotiations, but I got to see this in action.
I got to see the bargaining committee meet and got to see them talk.
And it was from some of those meetings That some of, some good improvements and some good thoughts andexchanges came out that ultimately helped us reach the agreement that we reached for 21 through 24.
Mark (25:44):
Yeah, thanks.
Thanks, Charlie.
And the other thing for all of you good listeners out there is in negotiations.
whenever I'm going to get everything we want, whenever I'm going to get everything we need.
But the key is to make real progress.
So within that, the negotiating committee also has to be able to deal with the priorities.
What's most important?
(26:04):
What's next?
Important.
And we have to weigh all of those things as we try to pull put all the pieces of the puzzle together for a solid new, union
Charlie Cash (26:14):
country.
Yeah.
And you know, Mark, it's always interesting.
I think sometimes and sometimes even even I've seemed to forget it.
Negotiations is not a one way street.
It's not where we put something out and that's the only thing we're going to talk about.
The post office has a right under the contract and under the law to bring things to the table and for us to talk about them and to.
So sometimes we have to talk about what the post office is offering and if it benefits us, hurts us or not.
(26:36):
And so again, it's a bilateral discussion.
Right.
Mark (26:40):
And negotiations, APWU family, really comes down to building our power and leverage.
the eight people at the bargaining table, that's only eight of us.
Our power and leverage comes from 160, 000 plus members who are the foundation of this union.
But what some of the things, Charlie, as we look to this coming year, we're early in the year, but things are going to move quickly.
(27:06):
What are some of the things we're going to be working on as a union, with all of you good members out there to build ourpower and leverage and make sure management gets the message that postal workers, dedicated, hardworking postal workers,
Charlie Cash (27:18):
Uh, Mark, I, I appreciate that question and it's something that, building power and leverage and, and being united.
It's not just the bargaining committee.
Like you say, , it's all of us.
It's something that we all have to do.
And we're going to need the participation of the members , at workroom floor.
(27:40):
To their local union meetings, to their state conventions, to our national convention.
, we need the members to stand up , and do some things.
, and it can be as simple as wearing your t shirt on APWU t shirt days that we, we still have now.
To show the Postal Service that we have members out there.
And we have members that care.
(28:01):
It might be something as simple as Wearing a sticker as we go through our, our, contract campaign.
That's always something that we've always tried to do as the APWU is to have a contract campaign to unite ourmembers, to unite the public on our side, and to get everybody to understand the importance of a good labor contract.
(28:23):
whether that is our contract or anybody else's contract.
It is important for labor to stand united and especially important for our people, to, to stand united.
We're going to be doing some things like, a slogan contest.
Each time we've had a, a slogan, for our contracts, we'll be announcing the slogan competition and how people can, enter in their slogans.
(28:44):
we're gonna have on opening day that will be streamed so people can watch it.
We encourage people to get together and have watch parties, whether it's local.
Or heck, if you're at work, you may not be able to watch it while you're running a DBCS,but you know, or working on your letter case, but put your headphones in and listen to it.
. So I encourage every single one of you out there.
(29:07):
To text CONTRACT, that's C O N T R A C T, to 91990, again, text CONTRACT to 91990 to get added to our updatelist for our upcoming negotiations discussions, our contract campaign, and to find out what's going on.
(29:30):
We've also got some other things in development that we're going to do that we're excited about.
We haven't finalized them yet, but that's another reason to make sure you send that contract to 91990 so that you can get in on the loop on that.
So those are just some of the things that we're doing.
We need people to stand up.
And look, when negotiations get tight and things get get going on out there.
(29:54):
It might be time to even take it to the public.
So, heck, we may even ask you to go out there and do an informational picket or talk to the press, write a letter to your your editor, whatever.
There's all those kinds of things that bring us that bring us together and make us stand up together andshow management that we're not taking these for granted and that any member is going to take him laying down.
(30:15):
And
Mark (30:15):
that's a That's a really good point, Charlie, because, Once we develop our proposals, undoubtedly we will have proposals at the bargaining table of management about improving service to the public.
That may come out with proposals on better staffing in order to improve service to thepublic and in order to have safer and less stressful and less hostile working conditions.
(30:37):
So explaining to the public that we're on their side.
Very much like the teacher unions when they are in their contract battles.
Our union and our members are on the side of the people for better service, for improved service, for expanded services.
We will have those kind of proposals at the bargaining table.
And so informing the public, uniting with the public, you're right.
(31:01):
about a watch party, I know we're used to watch parties on Super Bowl Sunday, a lot of fun, at leastfor those whose teams made it, but think about , how much more important that real Super Bowl is for
us when we're dealing with our wages, our hours of work, conditions of employment and our benefits.
So we'll hope all of you will join in.
(31:23):
So I Charlie, any, any, closing thoughts for the members out there, you know, before I close
Charlie Cash (31:28):
it out?
You know, one, , one other thing I just wanted to throw out there is to all the members, get involved.
This is your contract, and this is what you can.
You can start getting involved and do it at the local level if you have an idea for negotiations.
If you want something negotiated or you want to give something to your national negotiating team to give them something to your idea.
(31:51):
We have the labor management resolution process, and I encourage people go talk to your local leaders about how this process works.
Where you can go to a meeting, and you can give a proposal, and it can be voted on.
And then that proposal is sent to the state convention, and the state convention can vote on that resolution.
And then that resolution can be sent to, the, National.
(32:12):
National convention, thank you, that we're having in Detroit in, in July of this year.
And, and those resolutions can be voted on.
That doesn't mean just because it was voted on, it's automatically going to become a proposal.
in negotiations.
But it does give us an idea of what you the members want and what you view as your priorities.
and and that is important to this process.
(32:33):
This is your contract.
This is the members contract.
So get out there, participate whatever way that you can.
And when and I hope we do reach a tentative agreement that it gets sent out for ratification.
That we get 200, 000 ballots back that everybody had a say in it, whether it be yesor no, because I want to see people vote and participate on this contract, Mark.
(32:56):
I'm excited.
I'm looking forward to negotiations.
It's gonna be a challenge.
It's one of the things that, when I started in the post office in 1997, I can't even imaginethat I'm in the position that I am now to lead this contract, but I am excited for it.
Looking forward to it and looking forward to working with you and all the, negotiating committee on getting a great contract for our people.
Mark (33:19):
Well, thanks, Charlie.
That's a, that's a great closing message.
It's your union, APWU family.
How far we drive it, how hard we drive it, how fast we drive it is up to all of us.
So be involved, and the contract's a great time to be involved.
One other thing I want to add before we close out.
(33:39):
Is our organizing director, sister Anna Smith, and I are developing a organizing campaign whenI say organizing campaign, I'm talking about within the Postal Service, within our own ranks.
We still have tens of thousands of people that you work with every day.
Well, you don't work with all 10, 000.
(34:00):
You work with some of them every day.
And.
They're riding your back, and they're riding all the members back.
Enjoying the COLA, benefiting from the COLA, benefiting from the no layoff protections as career employees, benefiting from thefairness of seniority and bidding, the right to protest through a grievance procedure, our just cause protections, and everything else
(34:23):
has been won through generations of struggle, and yet refuse to pay a small amount of union dues to keep the struggle progressing.
So during these few months leading up to the contract battle, you can all help build our power and leverage by signing up thosenon members, bringing them into our ranks, and that growth and that strength will certainly be felt at the bargaining table.
(34:48):
Management knows exactly how many people are in the union.
and so if they get a strong message that people are joining in droves, as part of the fight for good, New strong contract.
So with that again, we look forward to a year of progress.
It's always gonna be a struggle.
Mobile are our president for 21 years.
(35:09):
Many of you knew him.
Maybe a lot of you didn't.
But he always had a saying that the struggle continues and it always does.
And this coming year, one of the main way that this struggle continues is The, negotiations battle for a newgood union contract that respects and honors everything you do day in and day out for the people of this country.
(35:34):
Thanks all.
We podcast.
Carry on and solidarity forever.
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