Northwest labor press., November 15, 2013, Page 12, Image 12

Seven arrested at postal privatization protest in Portland
One protester allegedly
is kicked and bloodied
by a postal inspector
Seven protesters were arrested Oct.
29 at the Main Post Office in downtown
Portland while attempting to negotiate
a meeting with U.S. Postal Service Dis-
trict Manager Erica Brix.
One of the arrestees, Bennett Poe,
62, allegedly was kicked by a non-uni-
formed postal inspector and he cut his
hand. After being released from jail,
Poe sought medical attention for inter-
nal bleeding at an emergency room.
The group behind the protest —
Portland Communities and Postal
Workers United (PCPWU) — said they
have video of the assault.
Jamie Partridge, 64, a retired Letter
Carrier and activist with PCPWU, said
the group is not releasing the video to
the media at this time.
According to Partridge, who also
was arrested, 15 “postal protectors” had
gathered in the third floor lobby of the
Post Office at 715 NW Hoyt St. hold-
ing signs protesting the privatization of
postal jobs and asking to meet with
Brix. They also wanted to hand-deliver
a petition with over a thousand signa-
tures of citizens outraged by the de-
struction of family wage, union jobs
and the growing delay of mail.
Partridge said they were waiting for
a response from Brix when four people
in plain clothes, but wearing postal I.D.
lanyards, walked out of an elevator and
asked what was going on.
Rev. John Schwiebert, 75, told them
the group was seeking a meeting with
Brix.
“The man, who never identified
himself, said ‘that’s not going to hap-
pen, you need to get out of here,’ ” Par-
tridge told the Labor Press. “Rev.
Schwiebert said ‘that’s not going to
happen’ and the man grabbed him.”
Partridge said Schwiebert fell to the
floor and, immediately, other postal in-
spectors grabbed protesters, who also
fell to the ground.
“There was blood on the floor and
on the wall,” Partridge said.
Protesters Donna Daniels and Trudy
Cooper called 9-1-1. After police ar-
rived, Partridge said officers began a
“promising mediation” to set up a
meeting with Brix.
“An officer told us she was willing
to meet, just not at this time,” Partridge
said. “We asked for him to get it in writ-
ing.”
That’s when the police abruptly cut
off talks and arrested seven people.
Partridge, Schwiebert, Poe, John
Herbert, 71; Michael Colvin, 69; Kent
Spring, 68; and Michael Meo, 66, face
charges of second-degree criminal tres-
passing.
American Postal Workers
Union installs new leader
Mark Dimondstein has been elected
international president of the American
Postal Workers Union (APWU). He
defeated incumbent Cliff Guffey in a
hotly-contested race that ended Oct. 7.
Twenty-four offices were contested.
Running on Dimondstein’s “Mem-
bers First” slate and winning were:
Debby Szeredy for Executive Vice
President; Tony McKinnon for Indus-
trial Relations Director; John Marcotte
for Legislative/Political Director;
Anna Smith for Organization Director;
Kennith Beasley for Southern Region
Coordinator; and Clint Burelson for
Clerk Division Director.
Incumbent Secretary-Treasurer Liz
Powell was re-elected in a three-way
race, and William Kaczor was re-
elected Health Plan Director.
The union mailed 195,509 ballots to
union members; 48,909 envelopes
were returned.
“I hope everyone will get behind
the new administration,” said outgoing
President Cliff Guffey. “We have tough
times ahead and we’re going to need
unity.”
In an interview with the Washing-
ton Post, Dimondstein said: “The
APWU membership has spoken deci-
sively for a new direction in our union
as we face the challenges of protecting
our jobs, our retirement and our public
postal service from the postal privatiz-
PAGE 12
ers on Wall Street, in Congress and
even in postal headquarters.”
Asked how the union’s relationship
with management will change under
his leadership, Dimondstein, a 30-year
veteran of the Postal Service from
Greensboro, N.C., said: “We’ll have to
see. We’re going to have lines in the
sand that we’re not willing to cross. We
would expect from management that
they stop these [postal] plant closings.
“We’re not afraid to march, we’re
not afraid to sit in if we got to, and we
think we need to work with all the
other postal unions. While we’re not
calling today for the resignation of the
PMG [postmaster general], if the post-
master general doesn’t respond to the
message our union sent, then we’ll also
have to deal with that question.”
Dimondstein told the newspaper he
wants to build a “grand alliance” with
other unions, the AFL-CIO, citizens of
the country, and organizations that rep-
resent seniors, civil rights, veterans,
business, and folks in small towns “to
defend our national treasure.
“People in this country still really
support the post office. It’s part of our
community. It’s part of our neighbor-
hoods. We think given the opportunity,
that people will step up and defend
their right to a public postal service.”
The newly-elected officers began
three-year terms Nov. 12.
Since 2006, the USPS has been
forced by Congress to spend nearly 10
percent of its budget pre-funding retiree
health benefits 75 years in advance. No
other U.S. agency or private business
faces such a crushing financial burden.
Not only would the postal service have
been profitable without the mandate,
the USPS has also overpaid tens of bil-
lions into two pension funds.
Springfield postal
rally slated Dec. 16
Postal inspector Dennis Fernald (center) grabs peaceful protesters waiting
for meeting with Portland Postal Service district manager. From left are
Jamie Partridge, Charles Nims (with sign), Jack Herbert, Rev. John
Schwiebert (back to camera), and two unidentified postal inspectors. (Photo
by Michael Hastie.)
A hearing is set for Nov. 14, at
which time the seven will plead not
guilty and request a jury trial.
PCPWU also will file a complaint
with the Postal Service.
Portland Communities and Postal
Workers United and postal union pres-
idents have been trying for months to
get a meeting with senior postal man-
agers to talk about contracting out.
They have been rejected six times.
PCPWU has been fighting cuts and
closures to the postal service for the
past year. In May of 2012, 10 activists
were arrested occupying Portland’s
University Station post office, which
has since been closed. Last April, five
protesters went to jail for a civil disobe-
dience action at the Salem mail plant,
which has now been dismantled with
mail processing machines moving to
Portland. The same group was arrested
in July for occupying the Matheson
Flight Extender corporation in Port-
land. The company is doing mail pro-
cessing work once done in Salem. The
group also has blockaded Dill Star
Route trucks multiple times. The pri-
vate trucking company has been mov-
ing mail while Portland postal truckers
are being put on standby.
In the past year, the Postmaster Gen-
eral has closed 45 percent of mail pro-
cessing plants nationwide, reduced
hours by 25 to 75 percent in a third of
the post offices, put 10 percent of post
offices up for sale, subcontracted truck-
ing and mail handling, eliminated tens
of thousands of family-wage postal
jobs, and delayed mail delivery.
“This privatization and union-bust-
ing is being carried out in the name of a
phony financial emergency,” Rev.
Schwiebert said.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — Postal
workers and their allies will hold a
rally Monday, Dec. 16 — the busiest
postal day of the year — to protest the
closure of the Eugene Processing &
Distribution Facility.
The mail processing plant, which is
located at the Gateway Mall in Spring-
field, is one of 55 mail processing
plants scheduled for closure in Febru-
ary 2014.
The rally, which begins at noon, is
sponsored by the American Postal
Workers Union, the Rural Organizing
Project, and the Eugene-Springfield
Solidarity Network.
Immediately, following the rally,
Communities and Postal Workers
United will lead a civil disobedience
action at the plant — a sit-in expected
to lead to the arrest of dozens of ac-
tivists — in an attempt to pressure the
postal service into abandoning its con-
solidation plans.
With the shutdown of the Eugene
Processing & Distribution Facility,
mail from Lane County area ZIP codes
will be hauled to Portland for sorting,
then trucked back to Lane County for
delivery.
NOVEMBER 15, 2013