In the Midst of Crisis, Union Leaders go to Sleep: the Situation among Postal Workers, late September 2020
By Tim Hall, Detroit Workers' Voice, Sept. 26, 2020 There is a pause in the postal workers' mass actions, due to the unwillingness of the union leaders to call for any major events. The widespread-but-tiny rallies at 300 locations, (according to American Postal Workers Union leaders) across the country at the end of August have not been followed up. The APWU leaders are setting aside any idea of mass action, instead relying on the November election to remove Trump, the principal roadblock to any improvements. They are focusing their efforts on defending mail-in balloting, whose proper conduct clearly would favor Biden against Trump. Their focus is entirely on getting Biden into office, not on building the strength of the workers to defend themselves. Their refusal to call more and expanding actions is especially grievous, considering that in August and September the plight of the post office and of postal workers was on everyone's lips, due to late deliveries, the publicity about DeJoy's removal of postal machinery and Trump's attacks on the post office; never had postal workers had such a chance to make a forceful statement and receive wide public support. But the top union leaders. Dimondstein of the APWU and Rolando of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) refused to call the workers into action. This was a betrayal of the postal workers. Main Focus on Readying for Mail-In Balloting ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On September 17 a federal judge issued a nationwide order that forbids the postal service from making any operational changes that could interfere with the delivery of the mail in the election. Another judge a few days later ruled similarly. Ballots must be considered first-class mail or priority. Late trips by carriers, which DeJoy banned, causing delays, are permitted, as is overtime. DeJoy was ordered to return removed sorting machines. This is a partial victory for the postal unions and the many other forces alarmed by the destructive activities of Postmaster DeJoy, Trump's lackey, on the delivery of mail. It does not, however, guarantee that the election will be run properly, but it does improve the prospects. On September 24 DeJoy declared that he could not re-install the 711 sorting machines removed nationally (the post office normally removes about 380 per year), as they had been dismantled and cannibalized for parts for other machines, but he claimed the USPS was capable of processing the ballots, an assurance which few postal workers believe. More Information on Postal Workers' Plight Emerges ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While things are quiet, more information has emerged about the extremely difficult situation postal workers have faced, not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated everything, but also for years leading into it. This material strengthens the points I made in my last report (1). During the COVID pandemic, 83 postal workers have died from the disease, the number of postal workers testing positive has tripled from 31,000 to 96,000 from June to September, and about 52,700 of the agency's 630,000 employees have taken time off due to COVID, either as sick or quarantining or caring for COVID victims. This goes a long way toward explaining the delays in delivery that developed even before DeJoy got his claws on the service. Workers have been working overtime for years, due to management's refusal to hire sufficient new workers. One Detroit processing worker nearly died on the machine, having been on the grind for years. An article from Salon (2) illustrates the deep difficulties postal workers have faced. In addition to showing the widespread destructive effect of the pandemic, the article also exposes the poor preparations by postal management and their mishandling of the infected and healthy workers in pandemic conditions. Under-staffing, as I pointed out last time, leading to inflexibility and late deliveries, is also exposed. The Efforts to Get Rid of DeJoy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In late summer the union leaders focused their efforts on getting rid of Postmaster Joy and his disastrous alterations of postal production methods and plans. But now that federal judges have ordered the mail to be more or less normally processed, efforts to get rid of DeJoy have subsided. These efforts are no longer prominently featured on the APWU web site. Efforts to Get Funds for the USPS These efforts are completely stalled, while Congress is unable to produce any kind of stimulus for the masses. The House has passed a bill that would give $25 billion to the USPS, but it is stalled in the Senate. According the APWU, without this aid the post office will run out of money by early next year. But this, too, takes a back seat in the leadership's eyes to the election, or will be solved, they hope, by the election. Mass Actions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of August, 300 or so nationwide small rallies were held by postal workers to protest privatization. They seemed to have had only a minor effect on the public, though they were featured on the evening local news in many places, but they made a statement in the midst of the intense national discussion that was taking place then about the post office. But the APWU leadership did not follow up on them, and the chance to create some momentum and have a major impact was lost. In April and May car caravans of protest took place in Detroit; this too could have been used to generate momentum. They created enthusiasm among the workers themselves at the Detroit processing center. By now, however, even the call-ins to various Congresspeople have diminished; all emphasis is on the election. Activities of the Union Leaderships ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The APWU website highlights, as its central message, a PBS feature with Dimondstein under the slogan "Save the Post Office!" It was recorded in the first days of August. Such is the dead-headed lethargy of the top union leaders! Here we are, one month away from the election, and they are running a video in which the PBS interviewer begins by saying, "Here we are, three months to the day from the election...." Also on the web site, Dimondstein has a feature prominently claiming it will help the workers "check your voter registration status and get the information you need to vote, including polling place locations and resources to vote by mail safely, securely and on time." It doesn't work. The last activity of the "Grand Alliance" (with the NALC) was June 23. The latest activity listed in the web site under "Campaigns: The U.S. Mail is Not for Sale!" is the turn-in of petitions defending the postal service on January 6, 2020, right around the time when the novel coronavirus was setting foot in this country. Dimondstein should audition for Rip Van Winkle. The APWU leadership has engaged the members in phone-calling and petitions to Congress in an attempt to over-ride the Republican control of the Senate and hence of all legislation. But even this is on hold. There is not even an explicit call, with tactics on how, to defend the mailing process at the plants and at the stations. Just... Vote! and all will be well.... As for the carriers' union, according the the NALC web site, the leadership is not extremely concerned about the current crisis. The union has joined with other postal unions (presumably the APWU) and postal management, including DeJoy, to create an Election Task Force to guarantee that the mail is delivered properly. This has set up local task forces to try to handle any problems that may arise. It does not envision a crisis. The NALC did not participate in the APWU-led rallies at post offices on August 28. All Fairly Quiet on the Postal Front, seems to the the NALC's view. Rank-and-File Activists ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Labor Notes group has been meeting. I have missed a couple of them. Minutes of the meetings show that while they are in touch with the conditions they are mostly concerned with preparing for handling mail-in balloting and have few thoughts of mass actions. They have some contacts in cities where the members of the postal Board of Governors live and may bring pressure on them. Prospects ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There seems to be no prospect of any large-scale mass action called by the union leaderships. The August actions could have been used to fire things up for something larger, like perhaps rallies at each state capital, but that momentum was quickly lost, without any plans for more being presented at the time. The only thing the APWU leadership has engaged the members in is phone-calling and petitions to Congress in an attempt to over-ride the Republican control of the Senate and hence of all legislation. But even this is on hold. This is what happens when the rank and file has no organization to directly express itself and relies on the top union leaders, Democrats or Republicans, to lead a fight work the workers' interests. Next to nothing. A grand opportunity lost, squandered. Just squandered.... <> Notes (1) Tim Hall, "Postal workers outraged as attacks on the postal service continue, but what are the postal unions doing?", August 26, 2020,http://www.communistvoice.org/DSWV-200826.html. (2) Maryam Jameel, "Postal workers are catching COVID by the thousands. It´s one more threat to voting by mail", Sept. 19, 2020, Salon,https://www.yahoo.com/news/postal-workers-catching-covid-thousands-155 901798.html. <> >From Detroit/Seattle Workers' Voice mailing list September 26, 2020 -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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