American Postal Workers Union

American Postal Workers Union (APWU)

Abstract

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is the largest postal union representing postal workers past and present. Despite the state of the economy and the economic problems that the USPS is currently facing, the APWU has continued to look out for their union members' salaries, benefits, and work conditions. One of the APWU's biggest obstacles with the USPS is making sure contracts are abided by. If the USPS fails to abide by the contract they are in violation of the agreement and in some cases may be violating federal, state or local laws. When this happens the APWU has a right to file a grievance on the members' behalf, depending on the violation in some cases a grievance can become a legal matter. In addition to contract talks, other obstacles that APWU are facing is the possibility of five-day delivery and the closing of several processing facilities.

Background

"The APWU is the world's largest postal union that has a membership of more than 220,000 USPS employees and nearly 2,000 private-sector mail workers" (About the American Postal Union, 2011, para.1). Retirees can remain active in the union by attending by belonging to retiree and auxiliary chapters of the APWU. APWU is an affiliate of AFL-CIO that is a democratic organization that has more than 1000 state and local unions and retiree chapters throughout the United States. The union negotiates contracts, and national-level grievances for their members. They also negotiate national collective bargaining agreements on capitol hill. They also represent national-level grievances for their members when they need too. APWU headquarters is in Washington, District of Columbia where the head officers and staff, are elected by the members of the union, work (About the American Postal Workers Union, 2011).

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