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SC-NC-GA Tri-State Convention

Room rate: $199/night. Call 1800-876-0010 Group Code: APW/APU or visit https://book.passkey.com/gt/220204650?gtid=84507bd563c535413ad18738f9b7bc31. Registration: $100. For more information, email zelgill10@gmail.com March 27, 2025 - 8:00AM to March 29, 2025 - 9:00PMHilton Myrtle Beach Resort1000 Beach Club Resort Myrtle Beach SC 29572 LocalNoYes2024-12-09 00:00:00SC-NC-GA Tri-State ConventionHotel Information Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort 1000 Beach Club Resort Myrtle Beach SC 29572 Rates $199 Per Night Call 1-800-876-0010 (Group Code APW/APU)To Book Room or use This Linkhttps://book.passkey.com/gt/220204650?gtid=84507bd563c535413ad18738f9b7bc31   Registration Registration Fee: $100. More information forthcoming.  For more information, email zelgill10@gmail.com 10Continue reading→

Bargaining Update 4 – September 21, 2024

Negotiations aren't over yet - the APWU and USPS have agreed to "Stop the Clock" on the expiration of our current contract (set to expire at midnight on September 20). The APWU will continue to keep the members updated as we continue to bargain for a new union contract, including regular messages on the negotiation “hotline” at (202) 642-9049, our website (apwu.org), and on our social media channels. 7-NzhMk7jBk&tBargaining Update 4 - September 21, 202400Continue reading→

APWU President Mark Dimondstein Provides Contract Negotiations Update as of December 4, 2024

December 4, 2024Read the full transcript of APWU President Mark Dimondstein's Contract Negotiations Update as of December 4, 2024 Contract NegotiationsPresident Contract Negotiations Update as of December 4, 2024. Full transcript below APWU President Mark Dimondstein updates members on the status of contract negotiations with USPS management, including new factor such as the NALC tentative agreement. Share this video Facebook Outline Twitter_Outline Mail_Outline Full Transcript Below: Union greetings, APWU family. I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday. At a time of giving thanks, it is good to reflect on how fortunate we are to be unionized postal workers and to have the right to negotiate with postal management as we continue to bargain for a new union contract. What follows is a brief update on the status of our negotiations.  As you know, our main union contract expired on September 20th. We stopped the clock, meaning that we were not done, but we felt we were making some positive progress. By stopping the clock, as we call it, it ensures that all of our benefits stay in place. You can feel secure that our bidding in seniority, our grievance procedure, just cause protections against unjust discipline, health and safety provisions, conversions of non career to career status, Guaranteed hours of work, along with so many of the hard won benefits won over generations of struggle, remain fully in place.  We continue to make slow but steady progress, and are meeting with management at least once a week.  We remain steadfast in our goals. We want good and fair wage increases to reflect the hard work that you do for the people of the country. We strive to end the gap between the divisive tiered pay structure. We want to secure more career work. We want to expand postal services for the people of the country. And of course, we want to protect the great gains that have passed, such as full COLA, no layoff protections for the career workforce, guaranteed hours of work, and the 50 mile limit on accessing.  The process so far is taking a similar path to the last round of bargaining. In 2021, we also stopped the clock. Three months later, we reached a tentative agreement that went out to a vote After approval by the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee.  This round we have a new ingredient.  The NALC has recently reached a tentative agreement with Postal Management, and their ratification vote is currently underway.  The APWU Negotiating Committee has done a deep analysis of its terms, as it potentially has an impact on our negotiations as well.  Our goal remains to achieve a good tentative agreement. If we don't get there, we'll be ready for what's called interest arbitration. We are already working on choosing a national interest arbitrator in order to keep the process moving forward.  We will continue to give regular updates through our website, magazine, news service bulletins, social media videos like this, and podcasts.  In the meantime, stay union strong. When you wear your union gear, you were telling management we are indeed united in our demands for good new contract. Union proud. Say it loud. Solidarity forever. APWU President Mark Dimondstein Provides Contract Negotiations Update as of December 4, 20240Continue reading→

IAM Union Stands with People of South Korea Amidst Attack on Democracy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2024 – Brian Bryant, International President of the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), issued this statement following a dangerous attack on democracy by the South Korean President: “The IAM Union stands firmly for the principles of democracy, both here at home in the United States and Canada and The post IAM Union Stands with People of South Korea Amidst Attack on Democracy appeared first on IAMAW.Continue reading→

Postal Workers Improve Election Mail Delivery, Show the Postal Service Works When Given Proper Tools, Staffing

December 9, 2024On Dec. 2, 2024, the Postal Service released its post-election analysis of how the USPS handled election mail and ballots in the 2024 General Election. Here are the results.  Elections On Dec. 2, 2024, the Postal Service released its post-election analysis of how the USPS handled election mail and ballots in the 2024 General Election. Despite natural disasters and concerns from state election officials, postal workers were able to deliver results that were even better than election mail in 2022 and 2020. Like election years past, postal workers moved heaven and earth and proved once again that Vote-by-Mail is safe, secure, and an effective way to vote and why the Post Office remains one of the public’s most trusted institutions. The report highlights several key numbers: The Postal Service processed 99.22 million ballots in the 2024 General Election 99.88 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within seven days 99.64 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within five days 97.73 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within three days Less than two days on average for ballots to deliver from election officials to voters One day on average to deliver ballots from voters to election officials. “Postal workers proved once again just how essential our work is. We worked with postal management to ensure that ballots were delivered both timely and securely, including quickly addressing the few problems when they arose,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Our demand is that all mail, all year, receive the same care, attention, and speedy service that ballots received this election.” The success of election mail proves that, working together, postal workers and postal management can do incredible things to move mail quickly. Postal workers want the same care and attention paid to all of America’s mail so that postal workers can deliver the good quality postal services the public deserves every day when we’re properly staffed and given the resources we need. Postal Workers Improve Election Mail Delivery, Show the Postal Service Works When Given Proper Tools, Staffing0Continue reading→

One-Day Strikes Are In: The Working People Weekly List

One-Day Strikes Are In: The Working People Weekly List Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Workers Finalize First-Ever Union Contract: “After nearly two years of negotiations, Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation and its unionized employees have reached an agreement. ‘Pittsburgh is a union town, and we are proud to serve it as a unionized station,’ workers said in a press release. ‘We believe this is a strong first contract that rewards the dedicated professionals at WESA and WYEP with immediate wage increases, while also helping to shape the stations' direction for years to come.’”Danbury Firefighters Get 2.85% Raises, City Residency Stipend in New Union Contract: “The city’s firefighters union has a new contract, giving firefighters a new 2.85% annual general wage increase that starts in the current fiscal year and continues over the next three years. The City Council approved funding for the city’s new four-year pact with the Local 801, International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO, union Tuesday night. The vote was unanimous, with Democratic City Council member Jeffrey Tomchik, who is a city firefighter, abstaining.”U.S. Looks to End Subminimum Wage for Workers with Disabilities: “Federal law currently allows the agency to issue certificates that let employers pay certain workers less than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour based on the notion that their disabilities hinder productivity. Intended to help those with disabilities gain employment, the law currently has about 40,000 American workers laboring for half the minimum wage or less, according to the Labor Department.”A Wisconsin Judge Just Ripped Up Scott Walker’s Anti-Union Law: “Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale announced, ‘Nearly 14 years after Scott Walker, in his own words, "dropped the bomb" on Wisconsin public employees, Wisconsin workers can celebrate as the judicial branch restores collective bargaining rights to public employees in Wisconsin. Declaring Wisconsin’s union-busting Act 10 unconstitutional and void, over 60 sections of the 2011 anti-union law have now been struck down.’”One-Day Strikes Are In: Why Unions Are Keeping It Short on the Picket Line: “Strikes can be long, grueling wars of attrition to see who blinks first—the workers or the employer. They can also be a party. Nurses from LCMC Health System’s University Medical Center New Orleans went with the latter in October. Their picket line included a stage, live music and a DJ in front of the university hospital’s campus. ‘It’s multiple holidays rolled into one,’ said Terry Mogilles, a nurse at the hospital’s trauma orthopedic clinic. ‘Mardi Gras. Christmas. Birthday.’ Another way strikes can be different? Keeping them brief. This strike was scheduled to only last 24 hours. While long-running strikes have dominated the headlines in the Gulf South region in the past few years, short strikes have become the norm. Since at least 2021, most strikes have lasted less than five days, according to the labor action tracker run by Cornell University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The majority of those short strikes last no more than a day.”Rigging the Tax Code: “Of all the attacks working people can expect from the incoming Trump administration, none will come as fast and furious as their attempt at ‘tax reform’—their code for further rigging the tax code in favor of billionaires. On Nov. 20, I testified before Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s banking subcommittee and told our elected officials what working-class people already know: A repeat of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 would be a disaster for families across America. Let’s be clear: Our tax code is already massively unfair. While 60 percent of workers live paycheck to paycheck and 100 million of us are being crushed by medical debt, billionaires in this country are paying a lower tax rate than most teachers and retail workers. Trump’s 2017 law did nothing but expand the gap between the uber-rich and the rest of us.”Maryland Video Game Studio Reacts to Volatile Industry by Unionizing: “Welling said that in addition to the personal devastation of layoffs, there are also ‘downstream effects’ for the industry. ‘People who are trying to get into the industry are now finding it hard to get their foot in the door because they have to compete with people who have a bunch of experience. So that’s difficult for them, but then it’s also difficult for the people who don’t get laid off, because… they’re expecting us to do the same amount of work in the same amount of time with fewer people involved.’ Bethesda then became a leader of another burgeoning trend in the video game industry: unionization. Unionization efforts at Bethesda began in November 2023 following management’s decision to require three in-person work days, Welling said. By July 2024, Bethesda was recognized as ‘the first wall-to-wall union at a Microsoft video game studio,’ Communications Workers of America (CODE-CWA) said in a news release.”Culinary Union Hosts Thanksgiving Dinner for Virgin Las Vegas Strikers: “On the 16th day of the ongoing strike, the Culinary Union hosted a holiday dinner for Virgin Las Vegas strikers on Saturday. Some Virgin Hotel employees spent Thanksgiving protesting in front of the resort. ‘Tonight is different because it’s the holidays so the Union brought us all together, showed us that we could all be strong together and we just all enjoyed a meal all together,’ said culinary union strike worker Alaia Lopez. ‘It gives us reassurance to see people like Dina [Titus] and other senators come out here and support us.’” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 12/06/2024 - 10:04Continue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers at Whiteboard Geeks to Form a Union with the Animation Guild (IATSE)

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers at Whiteboard Geeks to Form a Union with the Animation Guild (IATSE) 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. A group of 11 workers at Whiteboard Geeks in Virginia filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to form a union with The Animation Guild (TAG), an affiliate of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).Whiteboard Geeks specializes in hand-drawn whiteboard animation videos. The group of workers looking to join TAG includes script writers, video editors, production assistants and managers. They are seeking to improve workplace conditions, secure fair wages and enhance the rights of animation professionals in Virginia.“We have already come together to declare our intentions and are determined to see our strength recognized at the bargaining table,” said script writer Phillip Hilliker. “As the first animation union in Virginia, we hope this action will not only improve the working conditions at WBG but also help set a new, sustainable path for creatives across the Commonwealth.” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 12/06/2024 - 08:29Continue reading→

Health Plan Open Season Enrollment Extended to Dec. 13

December 5, 2024Through union advocacy, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has granted an extension to the health plan Open Season enrollment period for Postal Service employees, a win for postal workers and annuitants across the country. This extension comes as a direct response to the challenges faced by postal employees and retirees due to issues with OPM's new enrollment system—issues that were met head-on by APWU(link to Fed News Article here). Through union advocacy, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has granted an extension to the health plan Open Season enrollment period for Postal Service employees, a win for postal workers and annuitants across the country. This extension comes as a direct response to the challenges faced by postal employees and retirees due to issues with OPM's new enrollment system—issues that were met head-on by APWU (read more here). Many members informed the national APWU of issues they were facing this open season. On November 20, APWU wrote to OPM demanding an extension and met with the OPM Acting Director to explain the issues our members were facing. We also urged Postal management to use its influence to demand more time for postal workers and retirees, which they did. As a result, the extended Open Season enrollment period now runs until Friday, December 13. Previously, the last day of Open Season was to be Monday, December 9. “The question of choosing the health plan and coverage of your choice are important life decisions and it is absolutely unacceptable that the OPM website experienced numerous technical issues,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “I appreciate that OPM took our concerns seriously, fixed many of the website issues, and issued at least a modest extension. I encourage members to take advantage of this extension to review your health plan options thoroughly.” Explore your options and make your choices by the new deadline—Friday, December 13. Visit opm.gov/healthcare-insurance to make changes and make sure you have the coverage that best meets your needs. For those who are currently enrolled in the  APWU Health Plan, you will be automatically transitioned into the  PSHB APWU Health Plan. No further action is required if you wish to maintain your current plan. However, if you need to make changes or explore new options, now is the time to review plans at opm.gov/healthcare-insurance. Through union advocacy, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has granted an extension to the health plan Open Season enrollment period for Postal Service employees, a win for postal workers and annuitants across the country. This extension comes as a direct response to the challenges faced by postal employees and retirees due to issues with OPM's new enrollment system—issues that were met head-on by APWU(link to Fed News Article here).0Continue reading→

IAM Air Transport Organizing Campaigns at Delta, JetBlue Take Center Stage on Roland Martin Unfiltered

Roland Martin Unfiltered, which has over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, recently featured a diverse panel of airline workers from major carriers, including United, American, Delta Air Lines, and JetBlue. They shared firsthand accounts of their challenges and vision for a more equitable workplace. The discussion emphasized the need for fair wages, job security, and The post IAM Air Transport Organizing Campaigns at Delta, JetBlue Take Center Stage on Roland Martin Unfiltered appeared first on IAMAW.Continue reading→

Anne Wiberg Appointed Winpisinger Center Education Representative

IAM International President Brian Bryant has appointed Anne Wiberg as Education Representative at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Hollywood, Md., effective Dec. 1, 2024. This appointment marks Wiberg’s return to the Winpisinger Center. She previously worked at the Center as an Education Representative from 2007-2011: in this role she reviewed and The post Anne Wiberg Appointed Winpisinger Center Education Representative appeared first on IAMAW.Continue reading→