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APWU NATIONAL CONVENTION REPORT, September 2010
by Gail Ganiszewski, Legislative Director/Director of Services
This was my third opportunity to represent our local as a delegate. I am happy to report that the experience was just as exciting and rewarding to me this year as it was 4 years ago at the Philadelphia Convention Center, my first.
There were many significant resolutions offered to the delegation for consideration. Two in particular were from the Constitution Committee. Resolution #6 addressed changing Article 21 of the APWU Constitution which presently gives the President the authority to replace any vacancy, due to attrition, of the general, administrative and departmental National Officer's position including Director of Clerk Division between conventions, subject to a majority approval of the National Executive Board. After long and numerous debates, the body decided to defeat this resolution. The delegates from our local agreed with the decision. I personally feel that this major decision shows the trust that we have in our President and elected National Officers.
The other significant resolution, I felt, was Resolution #16, from Article 16 of the Constitution: Fiscal Year, Revenues and Charters, calling for a dues increase of $3.00 per pay period introduced by the Alabama Postal Workers Union. The resolution proposed that $1.00 go to the national and $2.00 per pay period to go to local/state organizations. Again, after a very long debate, including President Burrus speaking out against the resolution, President Burrus told the delegates earlier during his State of the Union address that National was doing fine financially. I am proud to report that the majority of the delegation voted against Resolution #16.
We have received word that on September 1, 2010, the APWU began the contract negotiations for our new contract. The present Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in November 2010. These negotiations will be fueled by the resolutions that the delegates have passed. For more info on the convention and resolutions that were adopted, visit our APWU National web site.
In union solidarity,
Gail Ganiszewski
Legislative Director
Campaign video for Joe Sestak for U.S. Senate - Tri County APWU endorsed candidate
TRI COUNTY APWU LOCAL ENDORSES SESTAK FOR CONGRESSIONAL SEAT
February 10, 2010 - The Tri County First Area Local 3800, APWU, is pleased to announce that we are officially endorsing Congressman Joe Sestak for Senator. Congressman Sestak has supported efforts to strengthen worker health and safety, worker rights, retirement and pensions, skills for a competitive workforce, and fair wages and benefits. Joe was an original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act in the last session of Congress and became an original co-sponsor this session; co-sponsored the Protecting America’s Workers Act to strengthen workplace safety laws; authored legislation to extend health benefits for unemployed workers; co-sponsored and voted for the Fair Minimum Wage Act; and co-sponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act to increase the statute of limitations for gender pay discrimination. His lifetime rating for AFL-CIO is 97 percent; AFSCME 100 percent; and IBEW 100 percent. The Congressman has also been instrumental in keeping our Bridgeport post office open. He believes when he sends something through the USPS it is safe.
More information about Joe Sestak's campaign
EMCAL PREZ URGES APWU MEMBERS TO VIEW SESTAK VIDEO
February 24, 2010 - A.J. Jones, President of the Eastern Montgomery County Area Local 2233, APWU, is urging APWU members to take a close look at the campaign race between Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter for Senator (PA). Stated Jones: "After our tele-conference call last Friday (February 19) and hearing not one person speak of Arlen Specter’s support for postal worker issues, it seemed Sestak was the guy. Many Locals have already endorsed. However, there are locals who have not yet taken a position and maybe if folks had more information it would help in making an informed decision on this upcoming primary election in May for the Senate between Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter. I will provide what I can but it is clear to me that locals in PA must engage in discussions and debate so we can let everyone know who will work for us and who is the better candidate; that is Joe Sestak. Please take time to view this video and share it with as many as you can. This video sends a message to the President of the United States and is very similar to the text of a letter I wrote to our National APWU President back in September 2009. It is never too early to lead the way."
DELCO TIMES REPORTS TRI COUNTY APWU ENDORSEMENT OF SESTAK
February 17, 2010 - The Delaware County Times has published a news story about three APWU locals' endorsement of Joe Sestak for U.S. Senator, including the Tri County First Area Local. Our VP Carol Ann Santosusso attended the press conference.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT
Argument: Why do you want to eliminate secret ballot union elections?
Your facts are wrong. The Employee Free Choice Act does NOT eliminate secret ballot elections. We are supporting the Employee Free Choice Act because it gives working people the freedom to make their own decision about whether and how to form a union. Working people are struggling to make ends meet - it's simply not right that CEOs get million dollar paychecks while working people cannot afford the basics. The Employee Free Choice Act will allow more people to bargain for health care, better wages and better working conditions. That helps rebuild our middle class and create an economy that works for ALL. The Employee Free Choice Act gives the choice of whether and how to form unions to the WORKERS. Under the current company-dominated system, corporations can insist that employees organize unions through so-called elections on company terms, even when a majority of workers have already said they want a union. The result is intimidation, coercion and firings - a so-called election that looks more like the fake elections in dictatorships. Workers have long had the right to form unions through majority sign-up, and many enlightened companies like AT&T Mobility and Kaiser Permanente have recognized that it's a fairer, less conflict-ridden way for the will of the workers to be determined. Majority sign-up helps companies, too, because employees are more satisfied and productive when they know they are respected.
Argument: But opponents say that what unions are trying to do - get rid of elections - is undemocratic.
First, let's get the facts straight. The Employee Free Choice Act does not get rid of elections. It gives workers two ways to join together in unions so they can bargain for better wages and benefits. It allows workers to have a union once a majority of employees in a workplace signs authorization cards indicating they want to form a union. Or the workers can choose an NLRB-supervised election, although these elections have been proven to be distorted and unfair. The choice is made by the WORKERS. What could be more democratic?
Argument: At a time when our economy is in crisis, the last thing we need is more unions to eliminate more jobs.
An economy built on income inequality - where CEOs have all the power and working families do not share the benefits of economic growth and do not have money to spend or save - is not an economy that can succeed. That's the problem we're seeing now - a consumer economy built on low wages and debt that is bound to fail. There has not been greater income inequality between the wealthy and working people at any point since the Great Depression. When workers form unions, their jobs go from Wal-Mart jobs to middle class supporting jobs with health care and retirement security. Years of deregulation, privatization and anti-union forces have created the mess we're in now. Academics and economists agree that unions help strengthen the middle class - which is good for our economy and our country.
EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE LEGISLATION - ACT NOW!
Sign a petition to help achieve one million signatures in support of this critical legislation.
The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would level the playing field for workers and employers and help rebuild America’s middle class. It would restore workers’ freedom to choose a union by:
- Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
- Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
- Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
NEW PRESIDENT OBAMA INAUGURATED ON JANUARY 20, 2009
January 20, 2009 - A few minutes after noon, Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as our nation's first African-American President. President Obama ran his campaign on the promise of change, and was endorsed by the national APWU during the primary season.
Read the text of President Obama's inauguration speech
LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR/DIRECTOR OF SERVICES ACTIVITY REPORT, DECEMBER 2008
A few years ago, the AFL-CIO gathered union representatives to participate in a very successful political activity called Labor 2006. An unprecedented number of Working/Family and Labor-Friendly politicians were elected all over the country due to the efforts of those union activists working together.
Fred Heller was the Director of Industrial Relations and our Legislative Director. Having recently retired, Brother Heller was unable to participate in Labor 2006. President Hennessy asked me and I was released to participate. At the time, I was our Local's Clerk Craft Director.
My Labor 2006 experience was very fulfilling (see video below). When the Office of Legislative Director/Director of Services became vacant in our Local, I jumped at the chance to try.
Gail Ganiszewski, Tri County First Area Local Legislative Director and SSA at the Woodlyn Post Office is featured in this Labor 2006 video encouraging union members to get out and vote.
I looked forward to participating in the Labor 2008 effort to help elect the next President of the United States. I relished the opportunity of working with our AFL-CIO brothers and sisters again and am proud to have participated in this historic and successful campaign. I feel very optimistic about our future.
I am grateful to APWU President Burrus and Legislative Director Myke Reid for making it possible for me to take part. I thank our Local's President Mark Hennessy for all of his support. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all the members, family and friends of our Local who worked on the campaign and helped us achieve this victory, including recently retired Administrative Secretary Connie Campisi.
In Solidarity,
Gail Ganiszewski
Director of Services
Legislative Director
Tri County First Area Local #3800, APWU
Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney Denouncing McDonald’s Opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act
December 9, 2008
Working men and women should be deeply concerned about McDonald’s USA’s announcement that it will throw its super-sized weight into defeating legislation to restore workers’ freedom to bargain with their employers and improve their jobs through unions. Working people know that the bargaining power they gain through unions for fair wages, better health care, pensions and job security is our nation’s single best tool for creating an economy that works for all - - 60 million say they’d join a union tomorrow if given the chance. In launching a campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act, McDonald’s has taken direct aim at the customers and communities it serves and is shooting down their best chance at realizing their aspirations for their families and futures.
Corporations like McDonald’s and their CEOs hold all the cards in today’s economy and working families are left to struggle with the economy they leave behind. McDonald’s CEO James Skinner took home over $12.3 million in total compensation last year. If he were paid by the hour, he would make nearly 600 times the less than $10/hour pay of many of McDonald’s 600,000 employees.
McDonald’s could not have picked a more telling moment to announce its decision to actively fight reform of our nation’s broken labor laws. Tomorrow, human rights activists worldwide will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which declares that workers’ freedom to form and join unions is a fundamental human right. Human Rights Watch warns that the U.S. labor law is so broken and its penalties so weak that U.S. workers have effectively lost their fundamental human right to freely associate and bargain in unions. McDonald’s has now positioned itself squarely on the side of those opposing the protection of this basic human right.
The AFL-CIO plans to make sure the 10 million working men and women who make up our membership know that McDonald’s has just announced a whopper of a campaign against their economic interests and against their hopes for an economy that works for all, not just for the CEOs.
In April, the national APWU endorsed Barack Obama as the presidential candidate most likely to help with issues of great importance to union members. Start the video above to watch the full speech Barack Obama gave at the DNC convention in Denver on August 28, 2008.
THE HATCH ACT
Important Points to Remember
NOT ON THE CLOCK.
NOT IN THE BUILDING.
NOT IN UNIFORM.
NOT WHILE USING A POSTAL VEHICLE.
--Mike Gallagher, Eastern Region Coordinator
GAIL GANISZEWSKI
Tri-County First Area Local APWU
PO Box 483
Media, PA 19063
Phone: (610) 715-2668
Fax: (610) 544-6417
