American Postal Workers Union

American labor union representing employees of the United States Postal Service

"APWU" redirects here. For the Amalgamated Postal Workers Union of Australia, see Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union.

American Postal Workers Union

American Postal Workers Union

Founded| July 1, 1971
Headquarters| Washington, D.C.
Location|

* United States

Members

| 330,000

Key people

| Mark Dimondstein, President
Affiliations| AFL–CIO, UNI
Website| www.apwu.org

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is a labor union in the United States. It represents over 200,000 employees and retirees of the United States Postal Service who belong to the Clerk, Maintenance, Motor Vehicle, and Support Services divisions. It also represents approximately 2,000 private-sector mail workers.

## History

[edit]

The APWU headquarters at 1300 L Street NW in Washington, D.C.

Postal workers in the United States first won collective bargaining rights after the U.S. postal strike of 1970. Two organizations of postal clerks emerged in the 1890s; they merged in 1899 into the United National Association of Post Office Clerks (UNAPOC).

It was too conservative for the AFL, which in 1906 sponsored the National Federation of Post Office Clerks (NFPOC), which soon surpassed the UNAPOC. NFPOC grew from 16,000 members in 1922, to 36,000 in 1932, and nearly 50,000 by 1940. It did not engage in strikes, but spent much of its efforts in opposing hostile Congressional legislation. Additional rivals were formed in the 1930s, but the first serious rival was the National Postal Clerks Union (NPCU) that began in 1958; by 1970, the NPCU had reached a membership of 80,000.

Merger discussions dragged on for years, until finally the NFPOC, UNAPOC, the National Postal Transport Association, and others merged in 1961 as the United Federation of Postal Clerks. In 1971 five unions combined into the American Postal Workers Union. They were the United Federation of Postal Clerks, the National Postal Union, the National Association of Post Office and General Service Maintenance Employees, the National Federation of Post Office Motor Vehicle Employees, and the National Association of Special Delivery Messengers, with a combined membership of 280,000.[1]

On August 20, 2007, the previously independent National Postal Professional Nurses (NPPN) merged with the APWU. As a result of this merger, the members of the NPPN were granted membership in the Support Services Division of the APWU. The NPPN-APWU represents over 90 occupational health nurses who are employed by the Postal Service. This 2007 merger was the first merger of any postal unions in the United States since the U.S. postal strike of 1970.

### S. 1507

[edit]

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted, 12–1, in favor of S. 1507 (Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Funding Reform Act of 2009), which would provide financial relief to the Postal Service. An amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), requiring the arbitrator to take into consideration the financial health of the Postal Service when deciding Postal Union contracts, was added prior to its passage. Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government information, Federal Services and International Security, supported the amendment, and voted with committee Republicans for its adoption. The American Postal Workers Union, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, the NALC and the NRLCA have all voiced opposition to S. 1507 with its inclusion of the arbitrator amendment.

### American Postal Workers Accident Benefit Association

[edit]

This Association was organized as a fraternal benefit society for railway clerks by five men in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1898. The original name of the association was the National Association of Railway Postal Clerks. The name of the society was changed to Railway Mail Association in 1904, and the National Postal Transport Association in 1949. In 1961 it became the United Federation of Postal Clerks Benefit Association. It adopted its present name in 1972.[2]

Membership is open to all members of the American Postal Workers Union who are employed as postal workers. In 1979, there were 23,000 members in 604 local branches. Branch meetings are held concurrently with meetings of the American Postal Workers Union. In addition to insurance benefits, the APW-ABA sponsors blood banks, Boy Scout troops, conducts drives for community and medical research funds, and visits sick and disabled members. The highest authority is the National Convention, which meets biennially. Headquarters are in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.[3]

There is a brief initiation ritual, in which the candidate pledges to support the US constitution, the laws of the society, become acquainted with the history of the society and defend its principles. The candidate also pledges "to be considerate to the widow and the orphan; the weak and the defenseless; to defend freedom of thought and expression; and to promote the spirit of fraternity." There are no religious elements in the ritual, though the regular order of business includes provisions for an invocation.[4]

In 1979, the American Postal Workers Accident Benefit Association was a member of the National Fraternal Congress of America,[5] however it does not appear on the current list of members of the Congress, now known as the American Fraternal Alliance.[6]

## Presidents

[edit]

1971: Francis S. Filbey[7]
1977: Emmet Andrews[7]
1980: Moe Biller[7]
2001: Bill Burrus[7]
2010: Cliff Guffey[7]
2013: Mark Dimondstein[7]

## See also

[edit]

* United States Postal Service
* National Association of Letter Carriers
* National Postal Mail Handlers Union
* National Rural Letter Carriers' Association

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Gary M Fink, ed., Labor Unions (1977) pp 291–94, 296–99
2. ^ Schmidt, Alvin J. Fraternal Organizations Westport, CT; Greenwood Press p.36
3. ^ Schmidt pp.36-7
4. ^ Schmidt p.37
5. ^ Schmidt p.36
6. ^ Alliance, American Fraternal. "Member Societies – American Fraternal Alliance". fraternalalliance.org. Archived from the original on 19 September 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
7. ^ a b c d e f "Happy Anniversary APWU: 50 Years of Struggle and Progress". APWU. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Seattle APWU News (1970-1991), from the Labor Press Project
* "Post-Office Clerks of the United States, United National Association of" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

* v
* t
* e

United States Postal Service

Organizations|

* American Letter Mail Company
* American Postal Workers Union
* Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service
* Bureau of Transportation
* Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
* National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees
* National Association of Letter Carriers
* National Association of Presort Mailers
* National Postal Mail Handlers Union
* National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
* Postal Regulatory Commission
* Postal Transportation Service
* PostalWatch Incorporated
* United States Postal Inspection Service
* United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General

Systems|

* Address Management System
* Advanced Facer-Canceler System
* Coding Accuracy Support System
* Delivery Bar Code Sorter
* Flats Sequencing System
* Locatable Address Conversion System
* United States Postal Savings System

Services|

* Click-N-Ship
* Express mail in the United States
* National Change Of Address
* Permit mail
* Permit Reply Mail
* Postal notes
* Railway Mail Service
* Registered mail
* Special Delivery
* Special handling

Facilities|

* Air mail facility
* Boat railway post office
* Community post office
* Dead letter office
* Highway post office
* J. W. Westcott II
* List of United States post offices
* National Postal Museum
* Network distribution center
* Railway mail service library
* Red Brick Roads
* Sectional center facility
* Streetcar railway post office
* Terminal railway post office

Legal|

* Comstock laws
* Post Office Act
* Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act
* Postal Reorganization Act
* Postal Service Act
* Postal Service Reform Act of 2022
* Private Express Statutes
* Rural Post Roads Act of 1916
* Title 39 of the United States Code

Related|

* 2020 United States Postal Service crisis
* United States airmail service
* CAR-RT SORT
* Catcher pouch
* Cimarron Redoubt
* Domestic Mail Manual
* Facing Identification Mark
* Flats
* Grumman LLV
* Information-Based Indicia
* The Inspectors
* Intelligent Mail barcode
* Label 228
* List of postal killings
* List of U.S. state abbreviations
* List of United States airmail stamps
* Mail bag
* Mail cover
* Mail hook
* Mail Isolation Control and Tracking
* Mail jumping
* Mail pouch
* Mail sack
* Mail satchel
* The Mail Story
* Nixie
* ORM-D
* Owney (dog)
* Pony Express mochila
* Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
* Postal Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique
* Postal Clause
* Postal voting in the United States
* Postal worker
* Postmaster General
* Prohibitory Order
* Remote Bar Coding System
* Rural Free Delivery
* Rural letter carrier
* STD-4C
* United States post office murals
* List of murals
* USPS Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program
* United States Postal Service creed

* v
* t
* e

AFL-CIO

Governance|

| Presidents|

* George Meany (1955–1979)
* Lane Kirkland (1979–1995)
* Thomas R. Donahue (1995)
* John J. Sweeney (1995–2009)
* Richard Trumka (2009–2021)
* Liz Shuler (2021–present)

|

Departments|

* Building Trades
* Maritime Trades
* Metal Trades
* Professional Employees
* Transportation Trades
* Union Label

Constituency groups|

* A. Philip Randolph Institute
* Alliance for Retired Americans
* Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
* Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
* Coalition of Labor Union Women
* Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
* Pride at Work
* Union Veterans Council

Allied organizations|

* International Labor Communications Association
* Solidarity Center
* Working for America Institute

Allied groups|

* American Rights at Work
* International Rescue Committee
* Jewish Labor Committee
* Labor and Working-Class History Association
* Working America

Programs|

* AFL–CIO Employees Federal Credit Union
* National Labor College

Affiliated unions|

* AAAA
* AGMA
* AGVA
* GIAA
* AEA
* AFGE
* AFM
* AFSA
* AFSCME
* AFT
* ALPA
* APWU
* ARA
* ATDA
* ATU
* AWIU
* BAC
* BCTGM
* BRS
* CSEA
* CWA
* AFA
* IUE
* NABET
* PPMW
* TNG Locals
* FLOC
* GMPIU
* IAFF
* IAM
* NFFE
* TCIU
* IATSE
* IBB
* IBEW
* IFPTE
* ILA
* Ironworkers
* IUANPW
* IUEC
* IUOE
* IUPA
* IUPAT
* LIUNA
* NPMHU
* MEBA
* PASS
* NALC
* NATCA
* NFLPA/FPA
* NNU
* NTWA
* NWSLPA
* OPCMIA
* OPEIU
* Printers & Engravers
* SAG-AFTRA
* SIU
* SMART
* TWU
* UA
* UAW
* UFCW
* DWAW
* RWDSU
* UMWA
* UNITE HERE
* USW
* UURWAW
* UWUA
* WGAE

State federations and
central labor councils|

* California (South Bay)
* Florida
* Indiana
* Maine
* Massachusetts
* New York (New York City)
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* Washington State (King)
* West Virginia

See also|

* American Federation of Labor
* Congress of Industrial Organizations
* Directly affiliated local union

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Israel
* United States

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