CWA in Solidarity with Postal Workers on their National Day of Action

CWA President Larry Cohen joined American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein, Bree Ambrose of AFGE, actor Danny Glover and other labor activists in firing up scores of APWU members and supporters as they kick off a National Day of Action in Washington on Thursday.

AFGE is calling on United States Postal Service leadership to take steps to improve service and protect good, living wage jobs across the United States as they open negotiations with the United States Postal Service.

Danny Glover, whose parents were postal workers, joins the National Day of Action.

Rallies took place on Thursday in 85 cities across 42 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Glover, an award winning actor on both stage and screen, told the crowd that both his parents were postal employees, and both saw their family-supporting jobs as the key to a better life for their family. Following the rally, Glover participated in a national satellite media tour, appearing in over two dozen markets across America.

During contract negotiations, the APWU has made the unprecedented move of bringing consumer issues to the bargaining table, insisting that quality service is crucial to creating a strong public postal service. Among other demands, postal workers are asking for extended hours at post offices, shorter wait times for customers and an end to the closure of dozens of mail sorting centers across the country that have led to service delays – particularly in rural areas.

"U.S. Postal Service Executives and the agency's Board of Governors are using a manufactured financial crisis to justify their strategy of reducing service, delaying mail delivery and dismantling a great national treasure," Dimondstein said.