Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Hello again, APWU family.
This is Mark Dimenstein, APWU National President.
Good to be joining you again for a new podcast.
I hope you're enjoying these.
I hope you have some thoughts on how we can always make them even better, but this is all a new way andimproved way of communicating with the members with the new technology, that we have at our fingertips.
(00:34):
I also hope you notice that we have started along with the regular podcast for me, communicating directly withthe members, that we've now started a podcast with some of our national officers sharing their, magazine articles.
our magazine, as you know, comes out every two months.
But we're podcasting a lot of those articles, so if you don't have time to read them, or you wouldrather listen, you can, join in on the ride to work, you can join in at work, and turn on the podcast
(01:03):
and listen to the various officers sharing their, topics of interest in the most recent, magazine.
So we hope you're finding that to be worthwhile, as well.
Let me start off generally by wishing you all the best of holidays in this season.
I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.
And here we are in, peak season.
(01:24):
and we, certainly hope that with all the busy work, and we know it is a busy season, for us as postal workers servingthe people of the country, but I hope you have some really good quality and, of course, safe time, with your families.
A A couple things about the season for all of us, no matter what holiday we may, follow during this time of year.
(01:49):
You know, we always talk about and we should that peace on Earth and goodwill towards men and women.
and with what's going on in the world today, particularly in the Middle East, we should take that even more to heart.
And I'm proud that your three general officers put out a statement in early November.
I'm one of the first unions to do so.
We've been joined by a number of others since.
(02:11):
Calling for a ceasefire, between Israel and Palestine and Gaza.
That's the least we can do.
Because human lives and every human life has equal value for us.
Human lives are what's at stake.
The lives of innocents are what's at stake.
And if you haven't read that statement and you're interested, you can go to the APWU website to, read it.
(02:36):
The other thing is it's a season of giving, so I just want to remind everybody that we are in a combined federal campaign season.
we know how generous postal workers are and workers in general are.
We don't, advocate giving to one particular charity or another.
That's a personal choice.
We certainly do remind people that we are supporters of the Postal Employee Relief Fund, which, is part of CFC.
(03:02):
And that, of course, provides some support when people are affected by the, you know,violent storms, floods, fires, and we know those are becoming ever more frequent.
so if you're inclined to give to the Postal Employee Relief Fund or any charity of your choice, we do have on our website ashort article about the CFC campaign, and there's a link there that will bring you right to the CFC if you choose to give.
(03:34):
So let me get back to peak season.
We shine through all year long, but we particularly shine through as postal workers during the holiday season.
we know it's harder in our families, but we actually, are dedicated to the mission and, and we are very proud of the joy we bring.
so many families, during this, time of the year.
And we asked some of our good members out there to share, some of their feelings and thoughts, uh, during this time.
(04:00):
So let's hear from a few of your, co workers and, uh, APWU family out there.
Hello, this is Lisette Hernandez, proud APWU member, Modesto Local 635.
What I think of during the peak season is the sacrifice and dedication that our brothers and sisters take on adaily basis to make sure that the mail is delivered, from medications to gifts and everything else in between.
(04:23):
We want to make sure the mail is delivered.
What I would like to let the public know during this time is that we, the American Postal Workers, stand with you.
We are your brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, grandmas, grandpas.
We want to make sure your packages get there.
So please be kind, be joyful, be merry as you now, the American people become our number one concern during this time, happy holidays.
(04:48):
Hi, this is Stephanie from the Hendersonville post office.
I just want to say thank you to all the postal workers out there who are working hard this holiday seasonand giving up time with friends and family to deliver the mail and packages within the postal system.
Thank you for all you do and in union solidarity, go APWU.
(05:12):
Hello, everybody.
This is Juan Cruz at the Post Office in Providence, Rhode Island.
And I just want to take a moment to appreciate everything that we do.
We are one all together.
And before I am a postal employee, I am also a customer.
And I am counting on you guys in the Post Office to process the mail quickly on thisholiday season so I can bring a smile to more than one or two faces of people that I love.
(05:44):
Thank you for the great job and keep up the good work.
Thank you.
To all the American families, my name is Efrain Casares and I am an employee at the postoffice in Santa Barbara, a member of the American Postal Working Union, Santa Barbara area 264.
Um, just to share with you that we are so excited to get to this point of theseason, serving our American families in the country and around the world.
(06:12):
Um, I'll say, um, that the word thank you went a long way with my brothers and sisters.
We do the best we can and we will do the best we can to get all the mail running to thefamilies, um, around the world with happiness and hoping everybody has a great holidays.
(06:35):
My name is Sophia.
I live in Memphis, Tennessee.
I am an APWU member as a Neighborhood Custodian.
Moving the mail during peak season to me means a collaboration of teamwork.
Everyone works diligently and proficiently to move mail, pieces, and parcels to homes daily.
(06:56):
From early morning to late night hours, USPS employees are light to the world.
Keep on shining bright in whatever capacity you serve.
Happy holiday and much love.
Great spirit, no?
And I know that, that those folks who weighed in really reflect what the tens of thousands of you are feeling and doing during this peak holiday work.
(07:20):
And sometimes we have to serve the people of the country despite management, despite their disruption to the mail, despite the delays in the mail.
And we're still here.
shining through for the people of the country with the union pride that we have and the pride of the mission of the Public Postal Service.
(07:41):
You'll also be getting your union cards in the mail soon.
That union card's more than a piece of paper.
It reflects the tremendous gains through generations of struggle.
Those who were here before us.
Those who engaged in the great postal strike in 1970.
Those who plowed the field for the kind of wages, rights, and benefits that postal workers have today.
(08:04):
So that union card is something that we should carry with us.
It's union pride.
And we just had another reminder just a few weeks ago.
We had our last annual raise under the current collective bargaining agreement.
and that's just a reminder of how important our union contract is.
And our union card is, of course.
(08:25):
That 1.
3 percent for the career employees, in, in mid November and the 2.
3 percent for the non careers because non careers do not get COLA.
We certainly hope to fix that in the next round of bargaining.
But that's not the only increases that we had during the life of the contract.
As you know, we have four of the six COLAs already in hand.
(08:47):
We have two more left in this final year of our contract.
That COLA by itself for career employees now represents almost 5, 000 a year going forward.
And of course, those workers, who are not yet at top step get step increases, at a minimum every 36 weeks.
And some of the higher pay scales, it's even at less intervals, than that.
(09:11):
So our pay package is a combination of our annual wages.
Our step increases, if we're not yet at top step, and over half our people are not yet at top step, and of course, our vital cola.
It's interesting to remind us again that this, really terrific autoworkers strike and struggle for a good contract.
(09:31):
And I think we can all relish and celebrate that they were quite victorious in their efforts.
And I'm proud of the fact that so many of you got out there and supported.
Of that strike.
A lot of what they were striking over was to restore their COLA that was lost 15 years ago, something we have had the entire time.
(09:52):
So that's just a reminder again of how important our COLA is, how important our union card is.
And that brings me to talk a little bit about the coming year.
we're going to have a very busy year and we need for all of you to be involved and front and center is ournegotiations for a new contract that sets the wages, the benefits and the rights of 200, 000 postal employees.
(10:21):
And negotiations are never easy.
They never have been.
They never will be.
The more power and leverage we build as postal workers
The better that that contract will be, the better our negotiations will be.
So in the coming year, we will be calling upon all of you to engage in a contract campaign for a decent, a fair contract thatrewards all postal workers, all of you for the contributions you make to make this wonderful national treasure go around.
(10:52):
And, and one of the ways you can get involved in the contract campaign and the strugglefor a good contract is to enter the contest for our theme for contract negotiations.
one of the themes in the past, not too long ago, for instance, was fighting , today for a better tomorrow.
That was a suggestion of one of your co workers.
(11:14):
And it was a wonderful theme.
And it helped us build our, our union campaign for a decent contract.
So put on your thinking caps, discuss it with your co workers, have fun with it.
And you can enter more than one slogan and one theme if you so desire.
I can't tell you right in this podcast what the grand prize will be, but there will be grand prizes.
(11:35):
So we look forward to hearing all of your great ideas.
as we move forward, in the battle for a new contract and not just a new contract, but a darn good contractThat reflects and honors, the wonderful work and the hard work that you all do day in and day out.
It's not easy.
(11:56):
Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, holidays, weekends.
And we're there.
So we all deserve a really good union contract.
We open negotiations on June 25th.
So it's, only a few months away.
and your national negotiating team and national officers are already in deep preparations, meeting with economists, looking over resolutions fromnational conventions in the past and the kind of things that people have advocated and conventions have voted for that we would like to see changed.
(12:32):
and we're also beginning to prioritize, our goals because it's important in negotiations to determine what's most important.
What's, Maybe a little less important along the way in terms of the main goals that we want to achieve.
And we will be sharing those goals very openly with all of you, as we continuethese podcasts and other ways of communicating with you, in the new year.
(13:00):
Our contract's an excellent contract.
Is it perfect?
No.
Is there room for improvement?
Clearly.
But it's built on victories of generations How many workers do we know, forexample, that after six years as a career employee have no layoff protections?
Or cannot be moved more than 50 miles if there's excessing events.
(13:22):
Meaning that management is making changes like they are now in the network.
But we have protected the job.
The postal job, and that's just one of the examples of how terrific our contract is in terms of job security and so many other rights and benefits.
But if we're going to protect these gains of the past, because they're always under attack, they're alwaysup for grabs when we enter negotiations, we're all going to need to stand together and stand strong.
(14:00):
Also, this year, clearly, we're going to be facing, more management implementation of their network modernization.
Our main focus is to protect the work, protect their jobs, and of course, protect service to the people of the country.
the process for community meetings when they move mail, management is not abiding, in our view, either by the law, or their own regulations.
(14:24):
It's called the Area Mail Processing Guidelines, the AMP studies.
a key part of that is community input, community meetings.
Where the community come forward and talk about their concerns if mail is being moved and consolidated to be processed elsewhere.
That's a very important process.
But what the Postal Service is doing is they're making it just pro forma.
(14:45):
It's just checking a box.
They seem to have already made up their mind.
And they're making it hard for the public to participate.
They're setting up the meetings in the afternoon rather than the evening.
They're not giving enough advance notification.
So, anywhere that you have these AMP studies going on, I've tasked our Executive Vice President, Debbie Ceretti,to assist any local, that would like help in terms of organizing the community to fight back to protect service.
(15:17):
And it's very important for the public to see and to know that the American Postal Workers Union stands with themWhen it comes to the best possible service and improved service that the people of this country deserve and need.
So
on behalf of not just myself, but all your national officers of the American Postal Workers Union, the best of holidays to you and your families,
(15:47):
whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or other holidays this time of year.
We know it's a, it's a family time.
It's a time for reflection.
It's a time for renewal.
And Happy New Year to all of you.
I don't know if many of you make New Year's resolutions or not.
I make them sometimes.
(16:07):
They're usually hard to keep.
But, you know, including your New Year resolutions if you do make them.
Signing up a non member.
That'll help build us, build our strength for the coming contract battle.
Come to a union meeting.
Let your voice be heard.
Stand together on the workroom floor when it comes to health and safety and enforcing our contract,writing statements for each other, filling out 1767s in relation to unsafe work practices.
(16:34):
This is your union, and it starts with all of you.
You're the foundation, and the more involved you are, the stronger we're going to be in the coming new year, 2024, with all the battles ahead.
So renew yourself, strengthen up for the coming years, make a make a little resolution to be more involved in the union.
and that way we'll all be stronger, going forward.
(16:56):
So happy holidays to all of you.
And not just appreciation for your membership, which is the foundation ofour union, for your activism, which brings so much of the union work to life.
But if I can be so bold to also thank you on behalf of the people of this country, who I know, and you know,trust, appreciate what you do as postal workers and what the public postal service means in their daily lives.
(17:26):
So carry on all
Be well, be safe, and be strong.
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