250,000 Postal Workers Deliver A Big Endorsement Of Bernie Sanders For President
"Politics as usual has not worked. It’s time for a political revolution,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “We should judge candidates not by their political party, not by what they say, not by what we think they stand for, but by what they do. Applying that criterion, Sen. Bernie Sanders stands above all others as a true champion of postal workers and other workers throughout the country. He doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk,” he said. “He is a leader in the fight to protect the public Postal Service.”
The union president said that Sen. Sanders’ long record of support for all working people also factored into the endorsement, “No other candidate has his record of standing with workers on picket lines, fighting for a $15 per hour minimum wage, supporting free public college tuition, and advocating for veterans’ benefits,and no other candidate has his record of fighting to defend and expand Social Security, promoting ‘Medicare for all,’ and opposing ‘fast track trade authority’ and rotten trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).”
Larry Cohen, a senior Sanders adviser on labor issues, welcomed the endorsement. “APWU is everywhere there is a post office and their 250,000 members are way at the top when it comes to member involvement and union democracy. We welcome the unprecedented support of the APWU executive board and look forward to working with their members across the United States.”
Sen. Sanders has led the fight against the Republican push to privatize the postal service. In 2014, Sanders got his friend, then Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) to speak out against cuts to the USPS. In May of this year, Sanders scored a big win after he got the Postal Service to back off of a plan to close several plants.
In 2012, Sen. Sanders called out the Republican plan to kill 230,000 Postal Service jobs through privatization. Beyond fighting for jobs, Sanders has spent years fighting for mail service for small cities and towns across the country. Sen. Sanders understands that privatization will not only kill hundreds of thousands of jobs and harm the economy, but it will also mean the end of daily mail service for much of the country.
The USPS continues to play a vital role in small towns across America. Privatization would mean the end of daily mail service. The Republican Party has been trying to kill the USPS with an imposed mandate that requires pre-funding of future retiree health care benefits for 75 years over a ten year period.
Bernie Sanders has spent years fighting for Postal Service workers, and their endorsement is significantly gesture of appreciation for all of his efforts.
Sen. Sanders has spent his career standing with workers, now workers are standing with him in his bid for the White House.