Story written by Kimberly Karol, President of Iowa Postal Workers Union

United We Stand, Divided We Fall... for so many people these words have lost their true meaning, a call to action to shift power in the pursuit of justice. How many times have you heard someone say, "too bad there isn't something I can do about this..."? Maybe you have felt this way. That is by design, the corporate class has systematically been reprogramming the thinking of ordinary people to maintain their power and capitalize on our labors. Now more than ever we need to stand together and fight injustice. Ordinary people have the power of numbers, an army that can force change at any level of government if we are united in our mission. We are virtually unstoppable. 

Sadly, Postal workers are divided at the very time they need to stand together to fight against devasting changes proposed by Postmaster DeJoy and the corporate cronies on the Board of Governors that gave their blessings to his plan before President Biden could fill the vacant seats. I don not believe this was an accident, but rather a well-executed plan to advance an agenda that will further divide Americans. The Delivering for America Plan calls for a change in 1st Class Mail Service standards that would allow 5 days or more for delivery, slowing down the mail. In addition, the mailing network would be consolidated shrinking our processing network. Worst of all the plan calls for the privatization of the "middle mile" where private compaines would run Surface Transfer Centers that would distribute, consolidate, and transport mail. We are now seeing just how terrible the service is using this plan. Today I tracked a Priority Mail piece that was mailed on May 3 in my office, and after being dispatched diappeared until May 22 when it resurfaced in Memphis, TN on a journey for delivery in las Veags, NV. I'll bet you are seeing the same type of disappearing act with your customers packages. Under DeJoy's plan this is the future of service. I think anyone reading this article understands that slowing down our ability to provide service while at the same time proposing to raise rates by nearly 150% is not conducive to maintaining and growing customer loyalty, quite the opposite. Yet there is no unity at the National level of union leadership to stop these terrible policies from being implemented. How important is 6-7 day delivery when the packages you are bringing to customers are 20 days old. When mail processing plants are consolidated are you ready to move nearly 600 miles away to keep your job? How long do you think we will continue to maintain our customers when we are no longer able to provide prompt and affordable services? We need to fight these extremely dangerous provisions of the plan to protect our customers and maintain service in the communities we serve.

The recently signed American Rescue Plan of 2021 makes it easier to file Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) claims for COVID-19. The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) wants federal and postal employees to know that anyone who is a “covered employee” can file a COVID-19 claim. 

A covered employee is someone whose job requires contact with the public or co-workers. If you qualify and are diagnosed with COVID-19, you qualify for FECA coverage. Even if you had COVID in the past, OWCP is encouraging postal workers to file a claim now in case you need covered care in the future. 

See the flyer below for information on who qualifies and how employees can register in Employees' Compensation Operations and Management Portal (ECOMP) and file a claim. 

The APWU will be working with OWCP on more way to educate postal workers about filing FECA claims for COVID.  In the meantime, please circulate the attached flyer as broadly as possible. 

If you have any questions, contact OWCP directly through the ECOMP portal.