June 2025 Wrench and Wood Newsletter
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Republic Services Teamsters Launch Strike
(CHARLESTOWN, Mass.) – This morning, 450 Republic Services workers represented by Teamsters Local 25 were forced on strike by the waste giant, inevitably disrupting waste collections for hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the Boston area. Primary picket lines could extend nationwide and result in a work stoppage for over 3,500 Teamsters. Republic Teamsters are […]
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Privatizers Lay Out Their Plan for Destroying Public Postal Service
June 30, 2025On June 24, the House Subcommittee on Government Operations held a hearing titled, “The Route Forward for the U.S. Postal Service: A View from Stakeholders.”
No Privatization
On June 24, the House Subcommittee on Government Operations held a hearing titled, “The Route Forward for the U.S. Postal Service: A View from Stakeholders.”
In a hearing that was clearly created to promote the views and goals of the big mailers at the expense of postal workers and postal customers, the Republican leadership of the House Subcommittee had the following people testify: Paul Steidler, Senior Fellow at the conservative Lexington Institute; Jim Cochrane, CEO of the Package Shippers Association; Mike Plunkett, CEO and President of the Association for Postal Commerce; Thomas Schatz, President of the right-wing Citizens Against Government Waste; and Elena Spatoulas Patel, Assistant Professor at the University of Utah’s Marriner S. Eccles Institute for Economics and Quantitative Analysis. The only voice representing workers was Brian Renfroe, NALC President.
In a statement submitted for the record, APWU President Mark Dimondstein quickly dispelled the notion that privatization, whether piecemeal or in total, would lead the Postal Service down a better financial path, stating “privatization offers the illusion of profit, but that profit serves a very limited corporate interest while costs will instantly rise for the majority of businesses and customers and the larger national postal industry collapses.” He went on to reiterate that the Postal Service must remain an independent agency in order to fulfill its fifty-year-old Congressional mandate “to provide postal services to bind the Nation together,” to “provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas,” and to “render postal services to all communities.”
Several witnesses at the hearing made dangerous proposals for the future of the Postal Service, including: hiring freezes, public/private partnerships, (code word for subcontracting our work) and matching labor costs with postal revenues. For those following closely, these were blueprints for how they plan to privatize the postal service.
Multiple exchanges between committee members and witnesses took place that admonished the Postal Service for the size of its workforce, specifically regarding the conversions of non-career workers to career employees. One particular exchange that should raise red flags for every APWU member took place between James Comer, Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Jim Cochrane, CEO of the Package Shippers Association, where they discussed the prospect of a private sector solution to the sorting of the mail. This would have a direct and devastating impact on APWU members.
Despite these areas of concern, there were some notable moments during the hearing that highlighted areas where Congress could work with the Postal Service to improve its financial standing. Allowing the Postal Service to invest retirement funds in safe, TSP-like funds instead of the low-yield treasury securities they are limited to investing in now would generate a significant amount of money. Additionally, Congress should direct OPM to fix the misallocation of pension expenses that has plagued it for decades.
In his statement, President Dimondstein advocated for the expansion of non-postal services to local, state, and tribal governments. The opportunities are numerous and could utilize the vast postal retail network to offer a variety of services, such as hunting/fishing licenses and identification verification for government services, as well as resource distribution during natural disasters.
The APWU is ready to work with Congress and the Postal Service to share ideas and advance common goals to benefit the public Postal Service while continuing to push back against any changes that would have detrimental effects on the membership and the people’s rights guaranteed under the law to universal postal services no matter who we are or where we live.
Privatizers Lay Out Their Plan for Destroying Public Postal Service0
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IAM Union District 6 Packs 25,000 Meals to Fight Hunger in Cedar Rapids
IAM Union District 6 held a HELPS event at Meals from the Heartland in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in which Local 1526 members and their families helped pack over 25,000 Taco Mac meals. When prepared, each meal pack contains six servings. Meals from the Heartland provides meals globally; however, these meals will be given to children
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IAM Union Boeing Defense Workers in St. Louis Send Strong Message With Overwhelming Strike Sanction Approval
Thousands of IAM members across Boeing facilities in St. Louis and St. Charles, Mo., and Mascoutah, Ill., are rising in unity and now, IAM District 837 members in St. Louis are making it clear they’re ready to join the fight for the fair contract they’ve earned. With negotiations underway, members are standing strong and prepared
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IAM Union Blasts Whirlpool Layoffs as a Betrayal of American Workers
AMANA, Iowa, June 28, 2025—The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union) issued a statement following Whirlpool Corporation’s announcement of approximately 250 devastating layoffs at its Amana, Iowa manufacturing facility, which directly impacted IAM Union Local 1526 members (District 6). “Our hearts ache for every single member and family on Whirlpool management’s decision to lay
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Ballot Placement Set for APWU Election of National Officers
June 27, 2025A drawing was held on June 27 to determine the order candidates’ names will appear on the ballot.
Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth “Liz” Powell has certified the union members listed below as candidates for national union office by referendum balloting, as mandated by the APWU Constitution and Bylaws. A drawing was held on June 27 to determine the order candidates’ names will appear on the ballot. Incumbent officers are listed first, with “(I)” appearing after their name. Secretary-Treasurer Powell cast one vote for candidates in uncontested races and the National Election Committee declared them elected, in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws. Their names will not appear on the ballot.
Download a printable copy of APWU News Service Bulletin with the ballot placement, here.
Ballots will be mailed by the American Arbitration Association on or after Wednesday, September 10, 2025, but no later than Monday, September 15, 2025.
General and Administrative Officers
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https://d1ocufyfjsc14h.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/nsb_08-2025_ballot_placement_apwu_election.pdf2025 Ballot Placement
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IAM Union Urges Missouri Senators to Reject Medicaid Cuts That Threaten Rural Hospitals and Workers’ Access to Care
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2025 – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), representing 600,000 active and retired members across North America, is calling on U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt to reject the Medicaid cuts proposed in the reconciliation package (H.R. 1), warning that the legislation would devastate healthcare access and put Missouri’s
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IAM Union Urges North Carolina Senators to Reject Medicaid Cuts That Jeopardize Rural Healthcare and Working Families
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2025 – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), representing 600,000 active and retired members across North America, is calling on U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd to oppose proposed Medicaid cuts in the reconciliation package (H.R. 1) that threaten healthcare access for working families and could force the closure
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