By Debby Szeredy, Executive Vice President APWU
At the People’s March in Washington, DC on Jan. 18, 2025, I took a photo of the sign below that was clear and to the point!
“Big Fish” corporations and the billionaires trying to run our country have an open path to swallow workers whole by driving down pay and benefits and busting unions for profit.
However, when we organize and stand together, we have the power to stop those who want to control our lives and work. We cannot allow the wealthy to take control of our lives. We have no time to play victim.
We cannot sit back saying, “Hey, we are moral people so we should be okay.” My role being a moral person is not enough; I need to be engaged in the world I live in. What I know is true, I do love and care about all people, and I must do something about protecting those values for myself and for the workers of our country.
One example is healthcare. Do you believe that healthcare is a right? Do you think it is right that the rich have access to better healthcare than the poor?
Unions continue to fight for better healthcare for all, while many corporations fight to provide cheap or no healthcare for their employees who sweat and bleed to make them rich. We must create equal access to good healthcare that does not discriminate against economic and other differences. A good healthcare system should foster hope and life. Many people say they are against killing another human being, but many people, including babies and children, die every day because they cannot afford continuous healthcare services. The statistics are staggering.
We see unashamed racism, classism, and sexism return to America at the highest levels of our government and in our communities. White and rich privilege is back in charge, and our outcry is faint. How naïve we were to think this was all behind us. Are you willing to close your eyes, or will you be fully aware, present, and actively embrace organizing with others to become the human beings we can be proud of? Step up and actively work with your local union to save the public Postal Service for all people and let us be an example by protecting our communities. We do care about all human beings.
It’s real, our public service and all our inalienable rights are on the kitchen table to be devoured by the oligarchy this year!
The Postal Service is not a company, we are a daily communication service under the Constitution, a connecting network and a public service of good people who care about the survival of our communities, during good times or bad, and always wanting to provide a helping hand, whether it be to deliver COVID protections, medicines, good news, education, acceptance and legal information, letters and gifts of love, and urgent packages and products. We have programs and expanded-service initiatives that we cannot seem to get approved in Congress we need your help to make them a reality, like postal banking. These programs would benefit all people, regardless of background, that need a little help, protection and want to be connected to community.
Are you willing to get involved in saving our public services? Contact your local union officers and let them know they can count on you to volunteer and take action on the continuous fight to save our frontline public postal service, other public services like those that take care of our children and teachers in public schools, all government agencies that protect our rights to social security, government pensions, healthcare, consumer protection, protect our private financial information under the treasury department, and frontline government services during emergencies and disasters. The USA is under attack, don’t panic, we must organize, strategize and stand together while making our voices heard.
