You want to know what’s at stake on November 4? STOP. Take a minute to fill out the postcard next to this column, and then read on. Finished? OK. Now I hope to convince you to join the NALC and the rest of the labor movement to make this election matter like none other since the New Deal. Not since the 1930s has there been a greater need for change. Millions of people are losing their homes in the mortgage crisis, pensions are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the number of Americans without health insurance is pushing 50 million. Sevenplus years of lop-sided tax cuts, corporate outsourcing and off-shoring, reckless speculation on Wall Street, and an all-out assault on unions by the Bush administration has left the United States mired in debt and the middle class reeling. How twisted and unfair has the economy gotten? Well, median family income did not increase during the economic upturn between 2000 and 2007. In other words, even though the economy grew by 41 percent over the past seven years, the middle class got bupkis. Adjusted for inflation, median income fell from $61,000 annually to $60,500. That hasn’t happened for decades. All the gains went to a narrow group—the “already-haves” at the top, the Wall Street operators and the corporate elite. What does it mean for us? Trouble. It’s trouble for the Postal Service, with mail volumes dropping like a rock while several mailintensive industries (like housing and finance) melt down, and trouble for letter carriers whose standard of living is threatened by a labor market sapped of its strength. But we can do something about it. And when I say we, I mean you and me and the NALC and the rest of the labor movement. The first step is to fill out the postcard.
The NALC is on board a campaign by the AFL-CIO called the Million Member Mobilization.
Its goal is to make rebuilding the labor movement the key economic issue in November. And the best way to revive organized labor is to make the Employee Free Choice Act the law of the land. With the names of a million Americans, we can show Congress that EFCA has massive
support. We will deliver the names to Capitol Hill in January 2009 along with letters, petitions
and personal photos that will put a face back on the working people who have been invisible
for too long. This fall we will use them to focus the nation’s attention on empowering
workers to form unions. EFCA provides cardcheck recognition and first-contract arbitration
and it will help NALC at the bargaining table for years to come by restoring the middle class standards that made America great, when “union pay and benefits” were the rule, not the exception. Although John McCain opposes it, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have
pledged to sign EFCA if they are elected. We need to convince every candidate for Congress
—Republicans as well as Democrats—to support it, too. Only by pushing EFCA to the
center of our national debate about the economy can we hope to rebuild the middle class.
Forget tax cuts, deregulation, “free” trade and the other tired, discredited ideas.
Only a stronger labor movement—with 33 percent of the country’s workers, not 12
percent—can bring universal health care to America. Only a massive grass roots movement
will force Congress to make retirement and pension security a priority. Only a robust and confident labor movement will give us the country we deserve. In the months ahead, the Million Member Mobilization will be integrated into the activities of our Carrier Corps and the Labor 2008 get-out-the-vote campaign. We will use our state associations, our website and
our publications to promote it. Let’s make NALC a leader in this effort. I want every shop
steward and every branch officer to make it their responsibility to get people on board,
just like signing up e-Activists and Carrier Corps volunteers. It’s easy to do your part. Be one in a million—mail in the card today! ✉
Be one in a million—save the middle class

(This is from another group I moderate)

I've just loved some of the readings from the last couple of weeks because they have such a far reaching message. "Doubting" Thomas (John 20) is one of my favorite stories because it puts a human face on the Apostles. I think all the Apostles were a little bit, actually more than a little bit worried, but were afraid to say so.

In Genesis 22 Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son. What a test of faith?!?! I'm a nervous wreck if my son's school bus is late!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Episcopals

As a Steward for the past 18+ years I've seen some pretty freaky stuff, and then again some pretty funny stuff. Well I just received a Letter of Warning to grieve that fits into both categories and this one has been the rage of the office for the past couple of days. Its all about the poop. It seems a certain Letter Carrier needed a comfort stop in the worst way. Stopping at the closest bathroom was fruitless as someone had already been there and had not let the place, shall we say, "hygienic?" Anyway with a failing sense of self control the Letter Carrier made a bee line for the closest lavatory he new would be in functional and hygienic condition, the Post Office. Fortunately the Letter Carrier was able to service nature's call in time. Upon leaving the lavatory the Letter Carrier let the late supervisor know about his difficulty and the fact that he might be a little late. The Letter Carrier went 26 units in OT. The next day the Letter Carrier was brought in to explain his "Transgression." The next day he was handed a Letter of warning. The actual supervisor that handed him the letter said she had nothing to do with the situation and blamed it on the guy that did the PDI. The supervisor that did the PDI said it wasn't him he was only filling in for the late supervisor, who had been notified of the emergency poop stop. Now I know our PM likes to stir up trouble so I know exactly who sent the late supervisor on the great poop path. I'll be following up and blogging with any more poop worth its weight in supervisors.