APWU History

About APWU

Directory= of=20 National Officers

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History

Moe = Biller=20 Remembered [PDF]

To = learn more=20 about what the union has to offer, watch this nine-minute = video.=20

APWU History

The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, represents approximately = 330,000=20 employees of the U.S. Postal Service who are clerks, maintenance = employees, and=20 motor vehicle service workers. The APWU is the world's largest postal = union.

Postal unions, dating back to the 19th Century, have experienced a = number of=20 transitions, paralleling the growth of the former Post Office = Department, which=20 became the U.S. Postal Service in 1970. Upon the creation of the USPS, = postal=20 unions were allowed to bargain collectively over wages and conditions = for the=20 first time.

The early unions had essentially no bargaining rights =97 they = existed largely=20 as lobbying organizations that otherwise would have had no say about = their=20 working conditions. Wage increases depended on the whim of Congress. =

As a result, postal workers were chronically underpaid. In March = 1970,=20 full-time employees earned about $6,200 to start, and workers with 21 = years of=20 service averaged only $8,440 =97 barely enough to make ends meet at that = time. In=20 fact, many postal workers qualified for food stamps.

The sporadic raises they did receive never seemed to amount to much,=20 particularly in high-cost urban areas. From 1967 to 1969, postal wages = were not=20 increased at all, although Congress did raise its own pay 41 percent = during that=20 time. In 1968, the Kappel Commission, a special panel that had been = studying=20 postal reform during President Johnson's administration, concluded that = postal=20 workers deserved the same collective bargaining rights afforded to=20 private-sector workers under the National Labor Relations Act. Congress = failed=20 to act on the commission's recommendation.

The Great Postal Strike of 1970

"The Strike that = Couldn't Happen"=20

Click = here to watch=20 a 16-minute video about the Great Postal Strike of 1970. =
[12 MB=20 Real Media file - RealPlayer required | Download free RealPlayer]
[MPEG=20 version - 324 MB]

Workers grew increasingly frustrated with Congress's inaction, and on = March=20 18, 1970, thousands of New York City postal workers walked off the job = in=20 protest. Within days, they were joined by 200,000 others in 30 major = cities.=20 Mail service ground to a halt and the plight of postal workers was = brought to=20 the public's attention. [Time Magazine article, March 30, 1970 - PDF] = The=20 strike was soon settled, with Congress approving a 6 percent wage = increase,=20 retroactive to the previous December.

The strike served as an impetus for the enactment of the Postal=20 Reorganization Act of 1970, which granted unions the right to negotiate = with=20 management over their wages, benefits and working conditions. In lieu of = the=20 right to strike, a binding arbitration process was established for = resolving=20 contract disputes. The law granted postal workers an additional 8 = percent raise=20 and enabled them to advance more quickly to higher-paying positions.

In the first contract, a starting postal worker's salary was raised = to=20 $8,488: slightly more than a 21-year veteran of the Post Office = Department had=20 been getting just three years earlier.

Since that first contract more than three decades ago, APWU has = fought for=20 dignity and respect on the job for the workers we represent, as well as = for=20 decent pay and benefits and safe working conditions. And as part of the = AFL-CIO, the APWU = fights for=20 social and economic justice for all working families.

The Merger

The APWU was founded on July 1, 1971, the result of a merger of five = postal=20 unions. The two largest unions involved in the merger were the United = Federation=20 of Postal Clerks, which represented those who "worked the windows" at = post=20 offices and those who sorted and processed mail behind the scenes, and = the=20 National Postal Union, which claimed members in each craft. Both traced = their=20 origins to the National Federation of Postal Clerks, which was created = in=20 Chicago in 1906.

Two smaller unions involved in the merger were the National = Association of=20 Post Office and General Service Maintenance Employees, which represented = those=20 who serviced and repaired machines located in postal facilities, and who = cleaned=20 and maintained the facilities; and the National Federation of Motor = Vehicle=20 Employees, which represented workers who drove, repaired, and serviced = postal=20 vehicles. The smallest union in the merger was the National Association = of=20 Special Delivery Messengers.

All these workers are now covered by a single contract negotiated by=20 representatives of all the crafts within the single labor organization, = the=20 American Postal Workers Union.

Since the Merger

APWU=20 Presidents
1971 to = date

Four months before the Postal Reorganization Act was signed into law, = U.S.=20 Post Office Department management and postal unions announced a joint = agreement=20 on a reorganization plan. When the PRA became law on Aug. 12, 1970, it = created=20 the United States Postal Service, which on Jan. 20, 1971, participated = in the=20 first collective bargaining session with seven postal unions, including = five=20 that were soon to merge into the APWU.

Exactly six months later, on July 20, 1971, a two-year contract was = signed by=20 the new USPS and the APWU unions, along with the National Association of = Letter=20 Carriers (NALC), the National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA), = and the=20 National Postal Mail-Handlers Union (NPMHU).

In 1973, 1975, and 1978, the APWU, NALC, NPMHU, and NRLCA bargained = jointly=20 as they had in 1971. In 1981, however, the APWU and NALC formed the = Joint=20 Bargaining Committee (JBC) and negotiated together. The JBC negotiated=20 three-year contracts with the USPS in 1981, 1984, and 1987, and a = four-year=20 agreement in 1990.

Since 1994, the APWU has bargained on its own. Successive agreements = ran from=20 1994-1998, 1998-2000, and 2000-2003. In December 2002, the APWU = membership voted=20 to extend the 2000 agreement by two years, until Nov. 20, 2005. In = August 2005,=20 APWU members ratified a one-year contract extension. In late 2006, the = union=20 reached an agreement with the Postal Service for a four-year contract, = which was=20 ratified overwhelmingly APWU members on Jan. 12, 2007. The union's = Collective=20 Bargaining Agreement is now set to expire Nov. 20, 2010.

1906-2006

'100 Years of = Progress'
A film celebrating the history of
the = world's=20 largest postal union

First unveiled at the union=92s 18th Biennial National = Convention, this=20 17-minute presentation traces the origins of the postal workers = union=20 movement, which led to the formation of the APWU.=20 [watch]

APWU History (1874-1970)

The APWU can trace its history as far back as 1874, when the Railway = Mail=20 Mutual Benefit Association (RMMBA) was formed. While the railroad clerks = were=20 mainly interested in securing a low-rate life insurance plan, the "MBA" = also=20 tried to lobby for improved wages and working conditions.

In 1891, MBA representatives met in Cincinnati and formed the = National=20 Association of Railway Postal Clerks (NARPC). In 1904, NARPC changed its = name to=20 the Railway Mail Association (RMA).

In 1949, the RMA changed its name to the National Postal Transport=20 Association (NPTA). At the time, 28,000 NPTA members were employed by = the Post=20 Office.

In 1961, the NPTA joined with two of the three largest postal clerk = unions=20 (NFPOC and UNAPOC) to form the 115,000-member United Federation of = Postal Clerks=20 (UFPC).

NFPOC, the National Federation of Post Office Clerks, was chartered = in 1906.=20 Because the organization's locals hailed from seven cities that were as = far=20 apart as San Francisco and Nashville, this is considered the birth of = the truly=20 national postal workers union.

Some historical records indicate that UNAPOC, the United National = Association=20 of Post Office Clerks, existed in some form as early as 1881. It is = known that=20 an organizational meeting held in New York City in November 1899 = resulted in the=20 adoption of a constitution in early 1900. The rival NFPOC and UNAPOC=20 periodically made attempts to join forces, with NFPOC, however, = insisting that=20 the other organization first needed to behave more like a union, which = included=20 not permitting supervisors among its ranks.

In 1957, UNAPOC made significant changes, including to its name. = After nearly=20 60 years, the "C" officially stood not for "Clerks" but for "Craftsmen." = This=20 was key to its perception of itself as representing a craft; supervisors = could=20 do clerks' work, but they couldn't be part of the craft. In 1961, NFPOC = and=20 UNAPOC formed the UFPC, the United Federation of Postal Clerks.

One other group is central to the history of the APWU, the = short-lived=20 National Postal Union. At the NFPOC convention in 1958, a group calling = itself=20 the "Progressives" disaffiliated and formed the National Postal Clerks = Union. At=20 its second convention, the NPCU dropped "clerks" from its name and = became the=20 NPU.

The NPU did not join with NFPOC and UNAPOC when they formed the UFPC = in 1961;=20 it remained an independent postal union until the merger that created = the APWU=20 in 1971. Prior to the merger, the UFPC was one of seven unions, = including four=20 other future APWU units, to be part of the first negotiations with the = newly=20 created Postal Service. The NPO was not part of the seven-union = coalition=20 bargaining team.

The seven unions that bargained the first contract with the USPS = included the=20 UFPC (Clerk = Craft); the=20 NAPO&GSME (Maintenance=20 Craft); the NFPOMVE (Motor=20 Vehicle Service Craft); and the NASDM (Special Delivery Messenger=20 Craft).

The earliest piece of today's APWU Maintenance Division was the = National=20 Association of Post Office Mechanics (NAPOM), formed in 1937. NAPOCE, = the=20 National Association of Post Office Custodial Employees was formed a = year later.=20 In 1945, NAPOM changed its name to the National Association of Post = Office=20 Mechanics and Maintenance Employees (NAPOM&ME) and in 1947, that=20 organization and NAPOCE merged, creating the National Association of = Post Office=20 and General Service Maintenance Employees (NAPO&GSME), which in 1971 = became=20 the APWU Maintenance Division.

The National Association of Post Office Chauffeurs and Mechanics = Union=20 (NAPOC&MU) was formed in 1923. By 1939, it had changed its name to = the=20 National Federation of Post Office Motor Vehicle Employees (NFPOMVE)

The National Association of Special Delivery Messengers (NASDM) was = created=20 in 1932. Originally the messengers were contract employees with local=20 postmasters. They were brought into the Civil Service system in 1942. = There were=20 2,500 postal employees in the NASDM at the time of the merger in 1971. = In 1998,=20 delegates to the APWU National Convention approved the merger of the SDM = Craft=20 into the Clerk Craft.

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