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APWU Gets First Private Sector Win; CWA provides 'solidarity and support'
The Postal Workers are celebrating a big success in Greensboro, N.C., where workers at East Coast Leasing, a private company under contract to the U.S. Postal Service, voted to join APWU.
The win marks the union's first victory in its program to organize workers at private contractors hired by the USPS. A factor in this success, APWU points out, was the support of CWA officers and organizers who worked with the APWU local, offering encouragement, training and solidarity as the union's private sector initiative first got underway.
Some 150 long-haul mail truck drivers at ECL now have union representation, voting to join APWU by a 67-40 margin. Improvements in health benefits and working conditions were among key issues.
CWA wasn't directly involved in the ECL drive, but did work on an earlier campaign, among workers at New Breed Leasing, also in the Greensboro area. A hearing is set for this month over unfair labor practices charges brought by the union. After hearing of the New Breed drive, workers at East Coast Leasing contacted the APWU for help in winning representation, and Wray Davis, president of the 1,000-member APWU Greensboro local, moved the campaign forward.
"One of the ways that CWA encouraged us was in demonstrating a real spirit for organizing. That was a contagious thing," said Mark Dimondstein, the APWU's lead organizer. "CWA encouraged us to follow our work as it's contracted out, just as CWA has had to do."
Dimondstein acknowledged the efforts of Larry Cohen, CWA executive vice president; Jimmy Smith, District 3 vice president; and Marilyn Baird, district organizing coordinator, in "encouraging us to go forward."
Lorenzo Canizares, an organizer with CWA Local 1040, and Peter Bannister, a US Airways member and organizing activist, also provided tremendous support and solidarity in the New Breed drive.
"Our experiences with CWA at New Breed proved to be very helpful in leading to the successful drive at ECL," Dimondstein said.
CWA first got involved with the APWU program in 1997, working with organizers and staff, putting together training sessions on private-sector organizing and offering support and direction for the local's campaigns.
APWU President Moe Biller welcomed the ECL workers into the union, pledging "first class representation" for the drivers.
The win marks the union's first victory in its program to organize workers at private contractors hired by the USPS. A factor in this success, APWU points out, was the support of CWA officers and organizers who worked with the APWU local, offering encouragement, training and solidarity as the union's private sector initiative first got underway.
Some 150 long-haul mail truck drivers at ECL now have union representation, voting to join APWU by a 67-40 margin. Improvements in health benefits and working conditions were among key issues.
CWA wasn't directly involved in the ECL drive, but did work on an earlier campaign, among workers at New Breed Leasing, also in the Greensboro area. A hearing is set for this month over unfair labor practices charges brought by the union. After hearing of the New Breed drive, workers at East Coast Leasing contacted the APWU for help in winning representation, and Wray Davis, president of the 1,000-member APWU Greensboro local, moved the campaign forward.
"One of the ways that CWA encouraged us was in demonstrating a real spirit for organizing. That was a contagious thing," said Mark Dimondstein, the APWU's lead organizer. "CWA encouraged us to follow our work as it's contracted out, just as CWA has had to do."
Dimondstein acknowledged the efforts of Larry Cohen, CWA executive vice president; Jimmy Smith, District 3 vice president; and Marilyn Baird, district organizing coordinator, in "encouraging us to go forward."
Lorenzo Canizares, an organizer with CWA Local 1040, and Peter Bannister, a US Airways member and organizing activist, also provided tremendous support and solidarity in the New Breed drive.
"Our experiences with CWA at New Breed proved to be very helpful in leading to the successful drive at ECL," Dimondstein said.
CWA first got involved with the APWU program in 1997, working with organizers and staff, putting together training sessions on private-sector organizing and offering support and direction for the local's campaigns.
APWU President Moe Biller welcomed the ECL workers into the union, pledging "first class representation" for the drivers.