2015 Labor Day Parade – Philadelphia (via 21CPW archives)

As we head into the election of national officers, most have not yet declared, we will be making a choice of which way we want our union to go. After reading the comments here I believe there are three different roads we can travel.

One: We can bury our social activism and concentrate almost entirely on filing grievances. Member participation rarely needed.

Two: We can file grievances and work only within our own APWU structure. Members sometimes needed for rallies and local projects.

Three: We can take our rightful place as the largest postal union in the world by building a movement and solidarity with other workers. Member participation actively encouraged.

We’ve come a long way in the last six years with Mark Dimondstein-he has taken us to the heart of the labor movement and asked us to stand up and fight back. And we are.

When Lyndon Johnson first took office there was a bill in Congress to curtail his powers. He sat up day and night, gathering the votes to defeat it. When he reached that number he kept going because he wanted to crush it so badly no one would ever try it again. So it is with the attempts of retail stores to take our window clerk positions. Mark Dimondstein organized a nationwide boycott that showed we would indeed stand up and fight. And no other retail store has challenged us.  That’s real union power-and more to come.

First Name: Juanita
Last Name: Boles
Email: jkboles@yahoo.com
Union/Local: APWU – Oakland, CA
Office held if any: Legislative Director Retirees