August 16, 2024 • 25 mins
Project 2025 has been in the news lately. APWU President Mark Dimondstein dives into what you need to know about this political initiative from the anti-union Heritage Foundation.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Greetings.
One and all hardworking APWU members.
Welcome back to the podcast,communicating with you, the member,
and just as a reminder, you candownload this podcast from APW.
org or Apple Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you normally get your podcasts.
Really glad you joined us.
(00:31):
There's a lot going on.
As you know, we opennegotiations on June 25th.
Our big contract expireson September 20th.
So we're off and running.
The main table is meeting, the crafttables are meeting and we're looking
forward to a productive, but we knowchallenging and difficult process.
(00:53):
We're just coming off our 27thbiennial national convention.
2000 delegates gathered inthe labor city of Detroit.
Our conventions are exciting.
They're very democratic.
You send the people.
from your locals and states,so your voice is heard there.
But we debate all sorts of issues,we debate resolutions, we hear from
(01:14):
inspirational and great speakers.
And so one of the things, for instance, atthis convention, we very much focused on,
those kind of things we would like to see.
In a new union contract because herewe are in bargaining for new contract.
It started on June 25th.
Our contract expires on September 20th.
(01:35):
So the timing of the convention,which started on July 15th was perfect
because those resolutions that weredebated and voted on around Those kind
of changes we would like to see thosekind of improvements that we would
all like to see in in the contract.
Those are now help guide your nationalnegotiating committee on what issues
(01:56):
are most important to all of of of you.
And I mentioned, we hear from anumber of really good speakers.
We had Amazon workers at our convention.
From Detroit and from Massachusettswho are trying to organize a union
with the American Postal Workers Union.
Yes, we understand that the union'sgot to work together on taking on
(02:18):
Amazon and we're ready to do our part.
But it was an inspiration tohave these workers present in our
midst talking about their fight.
To get a voice at work, their fight towin living wages, their fight to get
the kind of rights that we have, suchas our coal and such as our protection
against unjust firing, the right tofile grievances, all of those things.
(02:40):
We had Sean Fink, the fairly new andmilitant leader of the United Auto
Workers there with a powerful message.
Sarah Nelson from the flightattendants there with a.
Powerful message and a numberof representatives in Congress,
such as Rashida Tlaib, who's aDetroit area Congresswoman who
(03:02):
does tremendous work, and with andbehalf of working people and unions.
So it was an exciting convention.
If you want more information onit, you, you can actually go to our
website to find out more informationon a convention, including recaps of
the content of the wonderful speakersand in our next magazine that should
(03:26):
be in your hands and about three.
Three weeks or so, you'll find a lotof information about the convention.
But again, the convention is what is partof what in our democracy and the APW is
what part of part of what makes us strong.
Much of what went on there, butwe talked about how to fight for
(03:46):
better staffing better service.
We debated a number of politicalissues and I want to talk about one of
those today and focus this podcast onsomething called Project 2025, which
we did discuss at the convention.
But part of that discussionis how that fits into the
(04:07):
upcoming presidential election.
And national elections comingup this November, and of course
would vote by mail, which werebig fans of and early voting.
Some people will start voting forthe presidential election process in
September and certainly in early October.
So it's upon us and 1 of the thingswe discussed at the convention
(04:31):
was whether the convention wouldendorse a candidate for president.
We had an interesting debate.
At that point President JoeBiden was still in the race
and there were some views.
They were clearly a minority viewthat President Biden, for the good
of the country, should step aside.
But, overwhelmingly, our conventionvoted to endorse joe Biden
(04:53):
for another term of president.
But of course, what happened withina few days after our convention is
president Biden decided not to run again.
And Kamala Harris is the presumptivenominee for the democratic party and
our executive board, and we did announceit on our website, did pretty quickly
(05:14):
unanimously vote to recommend ourmembers and to encourage our members
to support Kamala Harris for thenext president of the United States.
That endorsement is not basedon what party somebody's from.
It's based on the issuesthat are facing us.
So obviously during the summerand the fall, we'll share
(05:34):
With all of you good members.
Some of our views.
It's an issue based recommendation.
We respect that.
We represent people throughthe entire political spectrum.
Your vote is your vote.
We don't dictate to peoplehow to vote, but we do have a
responsibility to encourage peoplebased on the issue of, what's the
best vote in our views to protect.
(05:57):
Postal workers to protect the publicpostal service and what's in the
interest of the working class in general.
But that segues into what I want to mainlytalk about today, which is this Project
2025 that you may have heard in the news.
Project 2025 is a productof the Heritage Foundation.
So let's just briefly talkabout the Heritage Foundation.
(06:19):
It was formed in 1973.
It's an extreme right wing think tank,one of its main proposals, and one of the
things it's advocated for over the manydecades now, is to destroy the public
post office, privatize it, sell it toprivate corporations for private profit.
We know what that would do to the peopleof the country, and we know what it
(06:42):
would do to postal jobs and our unions.
It's generally funded bythe billionaire class.
And they have a big influence overthe politics of the United States.
You know, a lot of people tellworking people and unions,
you shouldn't be political.
This is just about negotiatingcontracts and filing grievances.
In the meantime, the ultra wealthyare political as you know what.
(07:05):
And we can't allow them just toinflict their politics on us.
We have to make sure that workingclass politics and pro postal politics
are injected into our activism.
So the.
Heritage Foundation has published a reportcalled the 2025 Presidential Transition
Project, and it's a projection of whatthe Heritage Foundation would like to see
(07:30):
in a second Donald Trump administration.
So hence the term 2025.
So it's known as Project 2025.
It's been in the news a lotso people can pay attention.
But when we go to the ballot box,whether we vote at home, vote by
mail, or physically go to the pollingplace on election day, while it's not
(07:54):
going to be listed as a box to checkon our ballots, Essentially, this
is what we're going to be voting on.
So it's good to knowwhat's in Project 2025.
We call it Project 2025 Beware.
So let's talk about it briefly.
And before I talk about specifics,it's also worth mentioning who are the
(08:15):
authors of this Project 2025 report.
The director of the projectis a person named Paul Dance.
He was the head Under the previousDonald Trump administration of the
office of personnel management.
And then the associate directoris a man named Spencer pretty on
and he was a former presidentialassistant to Donald Trump.
(08:37):
And there's over 140.
Conservative functionariesfrom the previous Trump
administration that participatedin creating this 922 page report.
So let's talk about what some people havecalled a blueprint for in their view, the
prospects of an upcoming Donald Trump.
(08:58):
New administration.
So the blueprint talks aboutworkers and union rights and their
proposals are all negative for us.
They include the banning of thecurrent ability of companies to
voluntarily recognize unions,which is currently the law.
If there's majority interest the union hasa right to ask, the company has a right to
(09:19):
grant voluntary recognition, recognizingthat, there is majority interest.
And that's a very good way.
For workers to form unions because itkeeps the companies from union busting
if you can get a voluntary agreement.
Some people call it neutrality agreements.
It helps level the playing field forworkers that want a voice at work.
(09:40):
Like we have in the post office.
When workers step up to organize.
It's a nightmare because all the lawsare tilted in behalf of the companies.
So this proposal of 2025 would take awaythat right that even companies have now
they would allow in their proposals.
(10:00):
What's called adecertification of the union.
A decertification of the unionis when a majority of the
workers vote to leave the union.
Usually that's incited by corporatemoney, union busters, and so on.
Right now, there's a bar againstdecertification while we're in a contract.
The proposals of Project 2025 wouldallow companies to throw the union
(10:23):
busting efforts at the workers, evenin the middle of an existing contract.
That would be very negative.
The project talks about banningunions for public sector workers.
And don't forget how dangerous thatmight be to us as postal workers
because we are public sector workers.
Their proposals talk about the rightof companies to form company unions.
(10:44):
That was outlawed in thiscountry generations ago.
The reality is in our labor historyand, and really in most parts of the
world, in an effort to keep workersfrom having independent unions, having
control over their own unions, companieswould often establish company unions,
really controlled by the companies.
(11:06):
So that is another red flag for all of us.
Child labor, been in the news a lot.
The proposal of project 2025 wouldallow miners as young as 14, to
work in hazardous and dangerous jobssuch as mining and manufacturing.
This is now unlawful, and we shouldnever go back to allow child labor again.
(11:29):
Children should be in school, and whenthey're old enough to work, they should
be only able to work in safe jobsgiven their age and their experience.
The project 2025 has proposals toenable states to circumvent federal
overtime and minimum wage laws.
For example, one of the proposals talksabout that if someone was to work 60 hours
(11:52):
one week and 20 hours the next week, thattherefore there would be no overtime in
the 60 hour week because it would balanceout with the 20 hours the next week.
Next week obviously that would circumventfederal law that says you have to have
overtime after 40 hours under FLSA and ofcourse our union contracts with us that
(12:13):
talks about overtime after eight hours.
Their proposals would undermine theprevailing wage standards when companies
are bidding on government contracts.
They gain government work.
They have to meet prevailing wages.
That's a law that makes surethat the federal government does
not undermine labor standards.
(12:35):
They're forgetting rid of that under thisproject 2025 also reducing workplace
and health and safety provisions.
In other words, anything thatgets in the way of maximum
profit needs to go out the door.
And they also propose categorizingmillions and millions of
more workers under what theycall independent contractors.
(12:57):
And when we're Determined to beindependent contractors, which is
already misapplied and misused.
That does away with the workerlegal protections on minimum
wages, overtime, safety rights,and the right to form unions.
So that's some broad stroke aboutthe thrust against workers and
unions, but it doesn't stop there.
(13:18):
We in the postal serviceand we're proud of it.
And one of the biggest employers, largestemployers of veterans, some Between 20 and
25 percent of our workforce are veterans.
And some people have asked, well, doesthis project 2025 address veteran rights?
And it does.
But it does it in a negative way.
(13:40):
The report advocates forcutting costs of the U.
S.
Department of Veteran Affairs, butcutting them by having fewer health
conditions, which would qualifyveterans for disability benefits.
And that, by the way, includes some ofthe advances of the last few years when
it deals with toxic burn pit exposures.
(14:01):
In addition, The project2025 advocates reducing the
federal workforce by some 50%.
30 percent of the federal workforce,approximately 30 percent are now veterans.
You cut the federal workforce inhalf, and there's going to be much
less opportunities for our veterans.
veterans and decent jobsin the federal sector.
(14:25):
A lot of people are concerned aboutproject 2025, furthering the assault
on woman's reproductive rightsand reproductive health rights.
The report calls for the eliminationof health insurance coverage
for emergency contraception.
And it actually callsinto question any method.
Of contraception and they're revivinga kind of obscure act from 1873
(14:51):
called the comp stack act, which dealtwith pornography through the mail.
That could be used, and they'readvocating that it be used, to come
after women who choose to seek emergencyservices, emergency reproductive health
services with drugs through the mail.
Then there's the whole questionof children, our future.
(15:13):
What does the Project 2025report talk about that?
Well, unfortunately,it's just as negative.
As all the other aspects ofthe report workers rights,
woman's rights, veteran rights.
Now we get into children's rights.
The report is calling for an end tofunding Head Start preschool programs
that's directed at uplifting low incomechildren who are being left behind.
(15:39):
It also advocates the financialreduction, or I should say,
reducing the financial support.
for school meals.
Unfortunately, in many, many cases inthe country, that's a children's most
nutritious and important meal of the day.
And they're talking about continuingundermining public education with
(16:02):
voucher systems, charter school systems,privatization of public education.
And public education is a pillar of oursmall d democratic rights in this country.
Country.
It also advocates the complete eliminationof the Department of Education.
So what kind of message is thatto our young people coming up?
(16:27):
And also Title 1, which is part offunding, bridging the educational
gaps with low income communitieswould be removed, and this would
slash, the estimate is it wouldslash 180, 000 teacher jobs.
Largely in low income communitiesand working class communities
throughout the country.
There've also been serious concernsraised by many that this project 2025
(16:53):
is a roadmap to a more authoritarian.
Dictatorial presidency.
And so part of the report and part ofthese concerns that come from the report
is they're advocating that the presidentcould eliminate tens of thousands of
civil service jobs and make those,which are nonpolitical appointments.
(17:14):
And.
Postal workers areessentially civil servants.
So they're talking about replacingthroughout the government apparatus
nonpolitical civil servantswith political appointees.
So then what happens is You'rebeholden to the individual president.
That's putting much, much, much morepower in the hands of one individual.
(17:38):
There's also parts of the Project 2025that advocate that the executive branch,
that the president control every aspectof the Of the executive branch, including
the Department of Justice, so that theybecome an arm of the president rather
than an arm of the people of the countryand independent from any one individual.
(17:59):
So those are obviouslyvery concerning as well.
Then, of course, weget to the environment.
Look, the planet's heating up.
There's no question scientifically thatit's being accelerated through human
actions, particularly around fossilfuels, we see it with these fires.
We see it with record temperatures.
(18:20):
We see it with this heat.
We can't deny it.
And yet this report.
Is calling for eliminating federalrestrictions on fossil fuel drilling
on federal lands, curtailingfederal investments in renewable
energy and technologies and easingenvironmental permitting restrictions
and procedures for new fossil fuelprojects, such as power plants.
(18:44):
There's a lot more in this report.
You can look it up yourself, you canGoogle it, Project 2025, or if you're
interested in a particular aspect ofit, you can Google Project 2025 and the
issue that you're most concerned with.
But for these reasons and many more thatI've shared with you today the APWU went
(19:05):
on record at our convention, overwhelming,overwhelming, that we oppose Project
2025, and we oppose the candidates.
In this upcoming election at all levels ofthe government that promote and ally with
this Heritage Foundation Project 2025.
Again, its official name is 2025Presidential Transition Project.
(19:29):
So, I'm sharing this withyou for food for thought.
Don't just let the rich determinethe politics of our country.
Let's stay involved.
Let's study it for ourselves.
Share it with our family members, ourco workers obviously, our friends.
That when we go to the polls,Project 2025 is really on the ballot.
(19:52):
And let's make sure we're notvoting against our own interests
as working people, but we'revoting for our interests.
And we're voting for candidates thatare pro working class, pro public
postal service, pro postal worker, andreject these kind of attacks in this
upcoming 2025 plan on the environment,on worker rights, on woman rights,
(20:13):
on children, and on our veterans.
So enough for today.
I hope everybody's well.
It's summertime.
I hope you're getting somevacation time in if this is the
time of year you take vacations.
We want everybody to stay safe.
Our vacation benefits at leastfor our career workers are good.
(20:34):
They're there for you to use.
They're there for your enjoymentand your family's enjoyment.
And when you're out there.
Traveling or whatever you love todo on vacation we hope you're safe.
We hope you get some good relaxation inbecause we know how hard postal workers
work serving the people of the country.
And we know how difficult it is inthis moment where we have this two
(20:55):
edged sword where on the one hand, weunderstand that the world is changing.
The technology and the communicationhabits of the people with the Internet
have fundamentally changed and so wecan accept the need for some change and
equipment and buildings and transportationin the mail mix, but what we cannot accept
(21:16):
and won't accept is that those changesare being implemented in such a way.
That is diminishing and underminingservice to the people of the country.
So we're dedicated to themission as postal workers.
I know you all are, but itbecomes very frustrating.
It's a morale buster whenmanagement doesn't care.
And we do so on the one hand, yes.
(21:38):
We understand the world's changed,and we need to make some changes.
On the other hand, we refuse to acceptchanges that undermines what we do and
our mission to the people of the country.
So we're going to have to continue tofight for the best possible Postal Service
that the people of the country deserve.
We have an election coming up,as we were just talking about,
(21:59):
where vote by mail is critical.
These ballots have to move.
The system has to be set up to serve thepeople and management needs to correct
this chaotic incompetent implementationof their network modernization plans.
And at all levels of the union, fromyour level out there on the workroom
(22:19):
floor and locals throughout the countryand states, all the way to national
headquarters, we continue to push hardto make sure that the people get the
prompt, reliable, and efficient servicesthat they're promised under the law.
So we'll come back to you soon.
The next podcast we'll deal withan update on our negotiations.
(22:41):
In the meantime, be well, besafe, carry on the good fight.
We're proud to be union.
And let's remember, let's remember,because we talked about this at
the convention, I was proud to givethe State of the Union address.
Our union is union strong all day long.
We're not going to win everybattle, but we're in the fight.
And just think about how much theunion's meant to all of our lives
(23:04):
in this period of high inflation, wecall it greed flation, because the
corporate elites and the bankers andWall Street have been laughing all the
way to the bank as they raise prices.
But nevertheless, think about what ourcost of living adjustments, our COLA, have
meant to the career workers, our financialsecurity, and that of our families.
(23:25):
So one last thing before I sign offthis time and this podcast, we were
very excited and reported on this in,in numerous places of our first A PW
Leadership Institute, 32 participants.
It was inspiring.
It's needed.
It's it's building our future leaders,strengthening the A PW, and we're
(23:47):
now ready to, in the planning stages,in the first stages of our next.
Leadership Institute.
So the new applicationnow is up on the website.
You can go to apw.
org institute.
We encourage people to apply.
It's an objective process.
You do have to have recommendationswhen you send your application in,
(24:11):
but if you're interested pleasecheck it out on the website.
See if see if it's somethingyou'd like to apply for.
You know, we look forward toreceiving many, many more.
Good applications and people thatare looking to build the APW and the
labor movement far into the future.
So, , We'll be back in touch with you.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast.
(24:33):
You can get it again at APW.
org Apple Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you listen to your podcasts.
If you enjoy these podcasts, you findthem informative please share with your
coworkers and your friends and let usknow some of the ways we can improve
some of the issues you would like usto address and we're always looking to
(24:54):
increase all the ways that we can shareimportant information with all of you.
And we always look forward tohearing from all of you with that.
I'll sign off.
Solidarity forever.
Keep up the good fight.
Onward.
you can download the podcast on allstreaming services, including YouTube.
(25:16):
apple podcast, Spotify, or whereveryou listen to podcasts regularly.
Greetings.
One and all hardworking APWU members.
Welcome back to the podcast,communicating with you, the member,
and just as a reminder, you candownload this podcast from APW.
org or Apple Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you normally get your podcasts.
Really glad you joined us.
(00:31):
There's a lot going on.
As you know, we opennegotiations on June 25th.
Our big contract expireson September 20th.
So we're off and running.
The main table is meeting, the crafttables are meeting and we're looking
forward to a productive, but we knowchallenging and difficult process.
(00:53):
We're just coming off our 27thbiennial national convention.
2000 delegates gathered inthe labor city of Detroit.
Our conventions are exciting.
They're very democratic.
You send the people.
from your locals and states,so your voice is heard there.
But we debate all sorts of issues,we debate resolutions, we hear from
(01:14):
inspirational and great speakers.
And so one of the things, for instance, atthis convention, we very much focused on,
those kind of things we would like to see.
In a new union contract because herewe are in bargaining for new contract.
It started on June 25th.
Our contract expires on September 20th.
(01:35):
So the timing of the convention,which started on July 15th was perfect
because those resolutions that weredebated and voted on around Those kind
of changes we would like to see thosekind of improvements that we would
all like to see in in the contract.
Those are now help guide your nationalnegotiating committee on what issues
(01:56):
are most important to all of of of you.
And I mentioned, we hear from anumber of really good speakers.
We had Amazon workers at our convention.
From Detroit and from Massachusettswho are trying to organize a union
with the American Postal Workers Union.
Yes, we understand that the union'sgot to work together on taking on
(02:18):
Amazon and we're ready to do our part.
But it was an inspiration tohave these workers present in our
midst talking about their fight.
To get a voice at work, their fight towin living wages, their fight to get
the kind of rights that we have, suchas our coal and such as our protection
against unjust firing, the right tofile grievances, all of those things.
(02:40):
We had Sean Fink, the fairly new andmilitant leader of the United Auto
Workers there with a powerful message.
Sarah Nelson from the flightattendants there with a.
Powerful message and a numberof representatives in Congress,
such as Rashida Tlaib, who's aDetroit area Congresswoman who
(03:02):
does tremendous work, and with andbehalf of working people and unions.
So it was an exciting convention.
If you want more information onit, you, you can actually go to our
website to find out more informationon a convention, including recaps of
the content of the wonderful speakersand in our next magazine that should
(03:26):
be in your hands and about three.
Three weeks or so, you'll find a lotof information about the convention.
But again, the convention is what is partof what in our democracy and the APW is
what part of part of what makes us strong.
Much of what went on there, butwe talked about how to fight for
(03:46):
better staffing better service.
We debated a number of politicalissues and I want to talk about one of
those today and focus this podcast onsomething called Project 2025, which
we did discuss at the convention.
But part of that discussionis how that fits into the
(04:07):
upcoming presidential election.
And national elections comingup this November, and of course
would vote by mail, which werebig fans of and early voting.
Some people will start voting forthe presidential election process in
September and certainly in early October.
So it's upon us and 1 of the thingswe discussed at the convention
(04:31):
was whether the convention wouldendorse a candidate for president.
We had an interesting debate.
At that point President JoeBiden was still in the race
and there were some views.
They were clearly a minority viewthat President Biden, for the good
of the country, should step aside.
But, overwhelmingly, our conventionvoted to endorse joe Biden
(04:53):
for another term of president.
But of course, what happened withina few days after our convention is
president Biden decided not to run again.
And Kamala Harris is the presumptivenominee for the democratic party and
our executive board, and we did announceit on our website, did pretty quickly
(05:14):
unanimously vote to recommend ourmembers and to encourage our members
to support Kamala Harris for thenext president of the United States.
That endorsement is not basedon what party somebody's from.
It's based on the issuesthat are facing us.
So obviously during the summerand the fall, we'll share
(05:34):
With all of you good members.
Some of our views.
It's an issue based recommendation.
We respect that.
We represent people throughthe entire political spectrum.
Your vote is your vote.
We don't dictate to peoplehow to vote, but we do have a
responsibility to encourage peoplebased on the issue of, what's the
best vote in our views to protect.
(05:57):
Postal workers to protect the publicpostal service and what's in the
interest of the working class in general.
But that segues into what I want to mainlytalk about today, which is this Project
2025 that you may have heard in the news.
Project 2025 is a productof the Heritage Foundation.
So let's just briefly talkabout the Heritage Foundation.
(06:19):
It was formed in 1973.
It's an extreme right wing think tank,one of its main proposals, and one of the
things it's advocated for over the manydecades now, is to destroy the public
post office, privatize it, sell it toprivate corporations for private profit.
We know what that would do to the peopleof the country, and we know what it
(06:42):
would do to postal jobs and our unions.
It's generally funded bythe billionaire class.
And they have a big influence overthe politics of the United States.
You know, a lot of people tellworking people and unions,
you shouldn't be political.
This is just about negotiatingcontracts and filing grievances.
In the meantime, the ultra wealthyare political as you know what.
(07:05):
And we can't allow them just toinflict their politics on us.
We have to make sure that workingclass politics and pro postal politics
are injected into our activism.
So the.
Heritage Foundation has published a reportcalled the 2025 Presidential Transition
Project, and it's a projection of whatthe Heritage Foundation would like to see
(07:30):
in a second Donald Trump administration.
So hence the term 2025.
So it's known as Project 2025.
It's been in the news a lotso people can pay attention.
But when we go to the ballot box,whether we vote at home, vote by
mail, or physically go to the pollingplace on election day, while it's not
(07:54):
going to be listed as a box to checkon our ballots, Essentially, this
is what we're going to be voting on.
So it's good to knowwhat's in Project 2025.
We call it Project 2025 Beware.
So let's talk about it briefly.
And before I talk about specifics,it's also worth mentioning who are the
(08:15):
authors of this Project 2025 report.
The director of the projectis a person named Paul Dance.
He was the head Under the previousDonald Trump administration of the
office of personnel management.
And then the associate directoris a man named Spencer pretty on
and he was a former presidentialassistant to Donald Trump.
(08:37):
And there's over 140.
Conservative functionariesfrom the previous Trump
administration that participatedin creating this 922 page report.
So let's talk about what some people havecalled a blueprint for in their view, the
prospects of an upcoming Donald Trump.
(08:58):
New administration.
So the blueprint talks aboutworkers and union rights and their
proposals are all negative for us.
They include the banning of thecurrent ability of companies to
voluntarily recognize unions,which is currently the law.
If there's majority interest the union hasa right to ask, the company has a right to
(09:19):
grant voluntary recognition, recognizingthat, there is majority interest.
And that's a very good way.
For workers to form unions because itkeeps the companies from union busting
if you can get a voluntary agreement.
Some people call it neutrality agreements.
It helps level the playing field forworkers that want a voice at work.
(09:40):
Like we have in the post office.
When workers step up to organize.
It's a nightmare because all the lawsare tilted in behalf of the companies.
So this proposal of 2025 would take awaythat right that even companies have now
they would allow in their proposals.
(10:00):
What's called adecertification of the union.
A decertification of the unionis when a majority of the
workers vote to leave the union.
Usually that's incited by corporatemoney, union busters, and so on.
Right now, there's a bar againstdecertification while we're in a contract.
The proposals of Project 2025 wouldallow companies to throw the union
(10:23):
busting efforts at the workers, evenin the middle of an existing contract.
That would be very negative.
The project talks about banningunions for public sector workers.
And don't forget how dangerous thatmight be to us as postal workers
because we are public sector workers.
Their proposals talk about the rightof companies to form company unions.
(10:44):
That was outlawed in thiscountry generations ago.
The reality is in our labor historyand, and really in most parts of the
world, in an effort to keep workersfrom having independent unions, having
control over their own unions, companieswould often establish company unions,
really controlled by the companies.
(11:06):
So that is another red flag for all of us.
Child labor, been in the news a lot.
The proposal of project 2025 wouldallow miners as young as 14, to
work in hazardous and dangerous jobssuch as mining and manufacturing.
This is now unlawful, and we shouldnever go back to allow child labor again.
(11:29):
Children should be in school, and whenthey're old enough to work, they should
be only able to work in safe jobsgiven their age and their experience.
The project 2025 has proposals toenable states to circumvent federal
overtime and minimum wage laws.
For example, one of the proposals talksabout that if someone was to work 60 hours
(11:52):
one week and 20 hours the next week, thattherefore there would be no overtime in
the 60 hour week because it would balanceout with the 20 hours the next week.
Next week obviously that would circumventfederal law that says you have to have
overtime after 40 hours under FLSA and ofcourse our union contracts with us that
(12:13):
talks about overtime after eight hours.
Their proposals would undermine theprevailing wage standards when companies
are bidding on government contracts.
They gain government work.
They have to meet prevailing wages.
That's a law that makes surethat the federal government does
not undermine labor standards.
(12:35):
They're forgetting rid of that under thisproject 2025 also reducing workplace
and health and safety provisions.
In other words, anything thatgets in the way of maximum
profit needs to go out the door.
And they also propose categorizingmillions and millions of
more workers under what theycall independent contractors.
(12:57):
And when we're Determined to beindependent contractors, which is
already misapplied and misused.
That does away with the workerlegal protections on minimum
wages, overtime, safety rights,and the right to form unions.
So that's some broad stroke aboutthe thrust against workers and
unions, but it doesn't stop there.
(13:18):
We in the postal serviceand we're proud of it.
And one of the biggest employers, largestemployers of veterans, some Between 20 and
25 percent of our workforce are veterans.
And some people have asked, well, doesthis project 2025 address veteran rights?
And it does.
But it does it in a negative way.
(13:40):
The report advocates forcutting costs of the U.
S.
Department of Veteran Affairs, butcutting them by having fewer health
conditions, which would qualifyveterans for disability benefits.
And that, by the way, includes some ofthe advances of the last few years when
it deals with toxic burn pit exposures.
(14:01):
In addition, The project2025 advocates reducing the
federal workforce by some 50%.
30 percent of the federal workforce,approximately 30 percent are now veterans.
You cut the federal workforce inhalf, and there's going to be much
less opportunities for our veterans.
veterans and decent jobsin the federal sector.
(14:25):
A lot of people are concerned aboutproject 2025, furthering the assault
on woman's reproductive rightsand reproductive health rights.
The report calls for the eliminationof health insurance coverage
for emergency contraception.
And it actually callsinto question any method.
Of contraception and they're revivinga kind of obscure act from 1873
(14:51):
called the comp stack act, which dealtwith pornography through the mail.
That could be used, and they'readvocating that it be used, to come
after women who choose to seek emergencyservices, emergency reproductive health
services with drugs through the mail.
Then there's the whole questionof children, our future.
(15:13):
What does the Project 2025report talk about that?
Well, unfortunately,it's just as negative.
As all the other aspects ofthe report workers rights,
woman's rights, veteran rights.
Now we get into children's rights.
The report is calling for an end tofunding Head Start preschool programs
that's directed at uplifting low incomechildren who are being left behind.
(15:39):
It also advocates the financialreduction, or I should say,
reducing the financial support.
for school meals.
Unfortunately, in many, many cases inthe country, that's a children's most
nutritious and important meal of the day.
And they're talking about continuingundermining public education with
(16:02):
voucher systems, charter school systems,privatization of public education.
And public education is a pillar of oursmall d democratic rights in this country.
Country.
It also advocates the complete eliminationof the Department of Education.
So what kind of message is thatto our young people coming up?
(16:27):
And also Title 1, which is part offunding, bridging the educational
gaps with low income communitieswould be removed, and this would
slash, the estimate is it wouldslash 180, 000 teacher jobs.
Largely in low income communitiesand working class communities
throughout the country.
There've also been serious concernsraised by many that this project 2025
(16:53):
is a roadmap to a more authoritarian.
Dictatorial presidency.
And so part of the report and part ofthese concerns that come from the report
is they're advocating that the presidentcould eliminate tens of thousands of
civil service jobs and make those,which are nonpolitical appointments.
(17:14):
And.
Postal workers areessentially civil servants.
So they're talking about replacingthroughout the government apparatus
nonpolitical civil servantswith political appointees.
So then what happens is You'rebeholden to the individual president.
That's putting much, much, much morepower in the hands of one individual.
(17:38):
There's also parts of the Project 2025that advocate that the executive branch,
that the president control every aspectof the Of the executive branch, including
the Department of Justice, so that theybecome an arm of the president rather
than an arm of the people of the countryand independent from any one individual.
(17:59):
So those are obviouslyvery concerning as well.
Then, of course, weget to the environment.
Look, the planet's heating up.
There's no question scientifically thatit's being accelerated through human
actions, particularly around fossilfuels, we see it with these fires.
We see it with record temperatures.
(18:20):
We see it with this heat.
We can't deny it.
And yet this report.
Is calling for eliminating federalrestrictions on fossil fuel drilling
on federal lands, curtailingfederal investments in renewable
energy and technologies and easingenvironmental permitting restrictions
and procedures for new fossil fuelprojects, such as power plants.
(18:44):
There's a lot more in this report.
You can look it up yourself, you canGoogle it, Project 2025, or if you're
interested in a particular aspect ofit, you can Google Project 2025 and the
issue that you're most concerned with.
But for these reasons and many more thatI've shared with you today the APWU went
(19:05):
on record at our convention, overwhelming,overwhelming, that we oppose Project
2025, and we oppose the candidates.
In this upcoming election at all levels ofthe government that promote and ally with
this Heritage Foundation Project 2025.
Again, its official name is 2025Presidential Transition Project.
(19:29):
So, I'm sharing this withyou for food for thought.
Don't just let the rich determinethe politics of our country.
Let's stay involved.
Let's study it for ourselves.
Share it with our family members, ourco workers obviously, our friends.
That when we go to the polls,Project 2025 is really on the ballot.
(19:52):
And let's make sure we're notvoting against our own interests
as working people, but we'revoting for our interests.
And we're voting for candidates thatare pro working class, pro public
postal service, pro postal worker, andreject these kind of attacks in this
upcoming 2025 plan on the environment,on worker rights, on woman rights,
(20:13):
on children, and on our veterans.
So enough for today.
I hope everybody's well.
It's summertime.
I hope you're getting somevacation time in if this is the
time of year you take vacations.
We want everybody to stay safe.
Our vacation benefits at leastfor our career workers are good.
(20:34):
They're there for you to use.
They're there for your enjoymentand your family's enjoyment.
And when you're out there.
Traveling or whatever you love todo on vacation we hope you're safe.
We hope you get some good relaxation inbecause we know how hard postal workers
work serving the people of the country.
And we know how difficult it is inthis moment where we have this two
(20:55):
edged sword where on the one hand, weunderstand that the world is changing.
The technology and the communicationhabits of the people with the Internet
have fundamentally changed and so wecan accept the need for some change and
equipment and buildings and transportationin the mail mix, but what we cannot accept
(21:16):
and won't accept is that those changesare being implemented in such a way.
That is diminishing and underminingservice to the people of the country.
So we're dedicated to themission as postal workers.
I know you all are, but itbecomes very frustrating.
It's a morale buster whenmanagement doesn't care.
And we do so on the one hand, yes.
(21:38):
We understand the world's changed,and we need to make some changes.
On the other hand, we refuse to acceptchanges that undermines what we do and
our mission to the people of the country.
So we're going to have to continue tofight for the best possible Postal Service
that the people of the country deserve.
We have an election coming up,as we were just talking about,
(21:59):
where vote by mail is critical.
These ballots have to move.
The system has to be set up to serve thepeople and management needs to correct
this chaotic incompetent implementationof their network modernization plans.
And at all levels of the union, fromyour level out there on the workroom
(22:19):
floor and locals throughout the countryand states, all the way to national
headquarters, we continue to push hardto make sure that the people get the
prompt, reliable, and efficient servicesthat they're promised under the law.
So we'll come back to you soon.
The next podcast we'll deal withan update on our negotiations.
(22:41):
In the meantime, be well, besafe, carry on the good fight.
We're proud to be union.
And let's remember, let's remember,because we talked about this at
the convention, I was proud to givethe State of the Union address.
Our union is union strong all day long.
We're not going to win everybattle, but we're in the fight.
And just think about how much theunion's meant to all of our lives
(23:04):
in this period of high inflation, wecall it greed flation, because the
corporate elites and the bankers andWall Street have been laughing all the
way to the bank as they raise prices.
But nevertheless, think about what ourcost of living adjustments, our COLA, have
meant to the career workers, our financialsecurity, and that of our families.
(23:25):
So one last thing before I sign offthis time and this podcast, we were
very excited and reported on this in,in numerous places of our first A PW
Leadership Institute, 32 participants.
It was inspiring.
It's needed.
It's it's building our future leaders,strengthening the A PW, and we're
(23:47):
now ready to, in the planning stages,in the first stages of our next.
Leadership Institute.
So the new applicationnow is up on the website.
You can go to apw.
org institute.
We encourage people to apply.
It's an objective process.
You do have to have recommendationswhen you send your application in,
(24:11):
but if you're interested pleasecheck it out on the website.
See if see if it's somethingyou'd like to apply for.
You know, we look forward toreceiving many, many more.
Good applications and people thatare looking to build the APW and the
labor movement far into the future.
So, , We'll be back in touch with you.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast.
(24:33):
You can get it again at APW.
org Apple Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you listen to your podcasts.
If you enjoy these podcasts, you findthem informative please share with your
coworkers and your friends and let usknow some of the ways we can improve
some of the issues you would like usto address and we're always looking to
(24:54):
increase all the ways that we can shareimportant information with all of you.
And we always look forward tohearing from all of you with that.
I'll sign off.
Solidarity forever.
Keep up the good fight.
Onward.
you can download the podcast on allstreaming services, including YouTube.
(25:16):
apple podcast, Spotify, or whereveryou listen to podcasts regularly.
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