Black History Month Profiles: Clint Walker
Black History Month Profiles: Clint Walker
For Black History Month, we’re taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today’s profile is Clint Walker of the Heat and Frost Insulators (HFIU).
Clint Walker has been a dedicated member of the insulation industry for more than 40 years, bringing a wealth of experience and craftsmanship to the trade. Before entering the field, he served five years in the U.S. Air Force, learning a strong work ethic and commitment to excellence. Walker remains an active tradesman, continuing to contribute his skills and knowledge to the industry. His family holds a proud legacy in the trade, as his brother was the first African American member of the local. With decades of experience and a deep-rooted passion for the craft, Walker continues to set a high standard in his field.
Kenneth Quinnell
Sat, 02/22/2025 – 09:38
If Trump again moves to privatize Postal Service, here’s what it’ll mean for your deliveries
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/02/21/business/trump-postal-service-privatizationFriday, February 21, 2025#SaveThePostOfficeUS Mail Not for SaleA Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal ServiceU.S. Mail is Not for Sale!If Trump again moves to privatize Postal Service, here’s what it’ll mean for your deliveries
Read More....Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/20/trump-usps-takeover-dejoy/Friday, February 21, 2025#SaveThePostOfficeUS Mail Not for SaleA Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal ServiceU.S. Mail is Not for Sale!The move threatens to upend trillions of dollars in e-commerce business and the 250-year-old Postal Service.
Read More....Trump is reportedly mulling over disbanding US Postal Service leadership
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/21/trump-disbanding-uspsFriday, February 21, 2025#SaveThePostOfficeUS Mail Not for SaleSave The Post OfficeU.S. Mail is Not for Sale!The move would end agency’s 250-year independence, possibly jeopardizing operations and ending its impartiality
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👋 Machinists on the Hill: Workers at center of trade talk
Click Here to view this edition of Machinists on the Hill.
The post 👋 Machinists on the Hill: Workers at center of trade talk appeared first on IAMAW.
Alsco Teamsters Ratify Regional Agreements in the South
(WASHINGTON) – Teamsters at 20 local unions have voted to ratify two regional agreements with Alsco. The three-year contracts include increased training and meeting pay, company pension contributions, improved strike language, protections preserving TeamCare benefits, and higher weekly minimum commission guarantees. “Laundry workers often go unrecognized, but they play a critical role in keeping businesses, […]
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History Segment: “Forgotten Histories: The Many Civil Rights Movements of the 20th Century”
The Human Rights and Diversity Commission, in conjunction with the Teamsters History Project, welcomes the next segment of monthly history programs based on Teamsters, the labor movement, and the diversity within our union. These programs are designed to look at a wide variety of aspects in our shared past, including events in Black, Women’s, Indigenous, […]
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Black History Month Profiles: Lesa Terry
Black History Month Profiles: Lesa Terry
For Black History Month, we’re taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today’s profile is Lesa Terry of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).
Straddling genres has given Lesa Terry a deeper appreciation of her own culture, as a woman of color. “When I was learning the violin, there was something of my heritage that I was leaving behind,” she said. “Focusing on what was missing made me a much stronger player, and it made me a better teacher.” Terry joined AFM when she was in her 20s. She served on AFM Local 47’s board in the early 2000s. “It was an opportunity to have a voice in my own way, and to develop an ability to express myself with a strong conviction of what I believed in and how I could help.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 02/21/2025 – 09:21
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: ATU Workers Finalize New Labor Agreement with Lane Transit District; Secure Raises
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: ATU Workers Finalize New Labor Agreement with Lane Transit District; Secure Raises
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757 secured a new labor contract this week with the Lane Transit District (LTD) in Oregon. ATU and LTD both approved the contract unanimously. The agreement covers LTD’s Facilities Department, which helps maintain LTD’s transportation infrastructure. The new contract includes immediate wage increases, annual wage increases on a step-based progression system, and a comprehensive benefits package for LTD Facilities Department workers and their dependents.”Securing this first union contract is a significant victory for our new members,” said Bill Bradley, ATU Local 757’s executive board officer. “Over the next three years, this agreement will provide improved wages and the job security that comes with a strong ATU union contract. When labor and management work together in good faith, we create a stronger, more sustainable workforce for the future.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 02/21/2025 – 09:20
Statement of APWU President Mark Dimondstein on Attacks to the Public Postal Service
February 20, 2025The Washington Post has reported that the Trump Administration will soon issue an Executive Order firing the Postal Board of Governors, and placing the United States Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department.
The Washington Post has reported that the Trump Administration will soon issue an Executive Order firing the Postal Board of Governors, and placing the United States Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department.
If this reporting is true, it would be an outrageous, unlawful attack on a storied national treasure, enshrined in the Constitution and created by Congress to serve every American home and business equally.
Any attack on the Postal Service would be part of the billionaire oligarch coup, directed not just at the postal workers our union represents, but the millions of Americans who rely on the critical public service our members provide every single day.
The public Postal Service is the low-cost anchor of a $1.2 trillion mail and shipping industry, which supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the country.
Efforts to privatize the Postal Service, in whole or in part, or to strip it of its independence or public service mission, would be of no benefit to the American people. Instead, it would drive up postage rates and lead to reduced service, especially to rural America.
Postal workers struck in 1970 to win collective bargaining rights and to rid the Post Office Department of the political patronage that crippled the Agency at that time.
The Postal Reorganization Act, which created the modern Postal Service after the strike, begins by saying “The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people.”
The law created the Postal Service as an independent Agency, freed from the shifting political winds, and dedicated to serving the American public. The law created the Postal Board of Governors, and empowers it and it alone to hire and fire the Postmaster General. Any effort by the Administration to remove the Board or fire postal executives is clearly illegal.
The Washington Post also reported that the Board of Governors intends to fight this hostile takeover of the public Postal Service. The APWU supports their efforts to defend our national treasure.
The Postal Service is owned by the people, for the benefit of the people. Postal workers are dedicated to our mission to serve, no matter who sits in the White House or in Congress.
Postal workers and our unions will join with the public to fight for the vibrant, independent, and public Postal Service we all deserve.
The Washington Post has reported that the Trump Administration will soon issue an Executive Order firing the Postal Board of Governors, and placing the United States Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department.0
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