At Swearing-In Ceremony: Dimondstein Issues Call For a ‘Grand Alliance’
In an impassioned speech before more than 1,000 union members, the newly-elected president of the American Postal Workers Union, Mark Dimondstein, issued a call for a “grand alliance” to save the USPS as a public postal service and to protect postal jobs.
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“Writing to Congress is important,” he declared, “but it is not enough. Lobbying for legislation is important, but it is not enough.” To succeed, postal workers must build a movement, he said.
“When the Flint sit-down strikers occupied a General Motors plant in the 1930s, labor law reform was won. When women took to the streets to demand the right to vote, they won. When courageous civil rights workers fought segregation with sit-ins and boycotts, the 1964 Civil Rights Act followed,” Dimondstein said.
“History shows that movements move Congress. Movements create legislative victories, not the other way around,” he said.
“We must build a grand alliance between the people of this country and postal workers,” he proclaimed. “We must mobilize our allies and their organizations, including seniors, retirees, civil rights organizations, veterans groups, the labor movement, community and faith-based organizations, the Occupy movement, and business groups in defense of America’s right to vibrant public postal services,” he said.
The labor movement is in dire straits, Dimondstein acknowledged. “Anything that stands for the public good — public libraries, public education, public utilities, public transportation and public postal services — is under severe attack, as are public workers and our unions.”
But postal workers are not alone, he said. Public workers in Wisconsin stood up and fought back, he noted. “Wal-Mart workers are stirring. Fast food workers are demanding a living wage.”
“A revitalized labor movement is indeed possible,” he declared, as he urged union members to join together to defend a public Postal Service and good union jobs.
Eighty APWU national officers were sworn in on Nov. 7. Their three-year terms begin Nov. 12.
Hey Water boy…hit a move over to the office…I gots something you might want to see! Heh Heh!
How do you get more union members to vote for a contract? Decertify the APWU and vote Teamsters in. Go to NLRB.gov for directions on how to decertify a union.
I hope he does something for is pse. I went from working 60 to 70 hours a week to being told there is no work or me now. I mean really at Christmas there is no work. Mean while there has been mail sitting in the post office for over two weeks that has not even been touched. Time for some serious changes
@ Tom Vanacore
Being well spoken, sincere and passionate are all good attributes in a leader but the fact remains that APWU still settled for the terms of a lousy contract that will split the Union apart and haunt it during its demise. You can stage all the demonstrations and sit-ins you want, it will not change the terms of this National Agreement.This Congress doesn’t give a hoot about righteous indignation or unions, for that matter. It’s all about money and special interests. Once that door was cracked open (more and more non-career part-timers at low wages, as a percentage of the work force) do you really think management will go back? Everyone uniting as one? Nice dream. You couldn’t even get 75% of APWU members to vote the contract. Pathetic. Why would the carriers and mail handlers want to hook up w/ an apathetic bunch like that? Best Dimondstein can do is damage control.
I met Mark during one of his campaigne stops in Connecticut in the parking lot of our facility.He is a very well spoken and sincere man.I only wish him the best because the task at hand is monumental.I can only ask of him to continue to remain focused and to deflect as much of the political nonsense within the APWU as posible.Please continue to listen to the little guy!Congratulations to you and your team
Time to get off the dime and start you engines folks !This is all’s fair in love and war ! ! Ask Danica ! ! !
I wish the new APWU president luck.
Man shall not live by sandwiches alone.
Guess (A to Z)…..
You right, one union.
Cause we are going back to the old times, now you will see an fill what it was like back then and what they were fighting for.
Your lucky to be an old timer an got the best you could cause them days are gone for the new timers.
Even so on the table old timers an new, more taken out for your retirement, less retirement, pay-cuts, leave-cuts, healthcare, layoffs, reduced hours, ect around the corner, hurt on the job? Everybody’s pissed off an stressed out, supervisors abuse, union abuse, rats an snitches craft employees everywhere,
Yea buddy! Fun days ahead for all. Old an New.
It is a time for one union! All Crafts! Period.
If it comes to 5 day only shit for brains, who pray tell is going to fill the cuts?
Sorry enufshitalker all crafts are getting screwed, just a pen stroke away.
Your one of the scumbags that I like too see take it up the ass.
Alliance? With who? What makes you think NALC or NPMHU need APWU? Remember…the impacted craft are the clerks. What…you want NALC & NPMHU to help APWU? For what? They’d rather get the scraps of what is left after USPS eliminates you. Face it, yur done. Yur stuck with that “watershed” agreement and won’t get nothing better. While NALC & NPMHU grows and increases their members pay, you have fell behind. I feel sorry for you Diamondstein. You are doomed to 1 term. Tough guy antics play well with the lemmings but pack no punch even if you could strike.
A lot of people an I mean a lot of good hard working American people of all races have gotten screwed by the PO through out the years.
I would see them casual come in so wide eyed an ready to go, thinking old school if I work an show how good of a worker I am, I’ll have a shot of getting hired on like them others?
But us old timers new an watch as the years went by, so many giving most of their prime working years to the PO only to have to look for work else where, some that did make it, had to start the clock ticking all over again in time of service.
Now their in their late 40’s an feeling the pains of old age setting in, with so much more time to put in now they know the deal. Sill wanting to wear the logos of the postal service? Good for you, come on in/down.
I
PSEs arent the only ones thrown under the bus. PTFs was placed there a long time ago. I have 31 years in with this Govt, part of it as a veteran, and I have gone from 40 hrs to 10 hrs a week. Mainly because we are only guaranteed 2 hrs a pay period. Who ever planned this fiasco “Union wise”,,, didn’t give a crap about us, but they love that due money..
Destroy Goliath and kralph got it just about right, above. The union was its own worst enemy, when only 25% of the membership voted, and then were stupid enough to vote in the two tier, lower wage, non-career employee pay system. Sowed their own seeds of self-destruction; thru the future generations under the bus. Good luck undoing that screw job. Nice work Cliff and Mike. This is the point Burrus was making: 30 years of hard work down the toilet. Next up: elimination of FERS pension and Walmart health coverage in retirement. P. O. is in a slow death spiral, along with the union. If you were a PSE screwed by the last negotiations, why would you join a union that basically said, “I got mine, the hell with you, newcomer”?
How do you get more union members to vote for a contract?
Look at the number of APWU members that voted in the contract that Cliff and his officers negotiated.
Dismal is an easy work to come up with for a turn out to vote on such an important event in one’s work life.
Who is responsible for what we have now! We all know and lets start to correct it and work together, just in our own craft!!!!!
The past contract a lot of the oldtimer’s said vote no.
Look’s like the masses did think so, so eat crow.
And why did the union leaders even put this up for vote, cause they know most are stupid and would vote for if? Well that shithead union president just got shown the door this past election. Damage done Forever, you will now be fighting just to keep a job, any job.
The PMG wants a hundred thousands an more regular jobs gone, an replaced with the new walmart generation by 2015,
I heard they really want to cut 284,000 career positions and replace with some 38,000 Walmart generation positions. The 2015 work-force fat boy is envisioning will have around 425,000 employee’s?
300,000 career? And 125,000 non-career? They want to cut the career workforce almost in half, so there’s maybe a 50/50 chance you will or won’t have a job by 2015.
If they get and they will get the layoff clause taken out of the contract, thank your we got your back Congressman people and the president of these divided states for signing it into law. No buyouts needed cause they don’t give a shit, only one thing rush to hire non-career workers.
Enjoy your day.
While history shows that feet on the street make the movement, and indeed a grand alliance of all interested party’s strengthens your position you should always get your own house in order first.The postal unions collectively have allowed the devaluing of all future employees and stood by as a full quarter of the work force has been converted to low paid temporary positions.Now don’t get me wrong I was glad to see Dimondstein elected and even more pleased to see that some postal unions still believe in democracy I only want to make clear that there is a growing schism within our own ranks,that these unions are at risk of be pulled apart by the forces of the have’s and the have not’s and if we are to stand in solidarity then we must close ranks around the idea of fairness for all.” A house divided against itself cannot stand”