Show Your Colors ( posted May 22, 200  )

The disappointment continues.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I wore my colors and again I saw one other member in O30 wearing his APWU apron. Not one other person on Tour 1 did I see Union Colors.

Just a note of clarification. I have been on Tour 1 for 22 years and that whole time Wednesdays has always started Tuesday night when you come in. Wednesday does not mean Wednesday night when you come in. That is Thursday for Tour 1.

The reason I say this is because I saw two other members with their SAAAL t-shirts on Wednesday night and I asked them why they didn't wear them last night when it was Wednesday (or Tuesday night)? They both stated that it was Wednesday. Confusing isn't it?

Well, it's not confusing to me. I've been doing this for too long. Right now at this moment, it's Thursday night (9:00pm) and when I show up at work in two hours, for me and everyone on Tour 1, it's Friday. Color labels will be yellow with a big "F" on 'em.

( posted May 15, 200  )

OMG… it’s getting worse, if that’s possible. What a disappointment.

To get you up to speed, at the April GMM, I made a motion to offer free movie passes to members who wore their SAAAL t-shirt on paydays. The motion was tabled and discussion reminded everyone that Wednesday was already T-Shirt Day. And other members stated that the members shouldn’t need an incentive to wear our colors. Others said to wait, because a News Flash was out and the Dispatch would also have info on the ‘Show Your Colors’ day. Let’s wait and see if the new information will make the members aware. I’m thinking, okay, good advice.

Last Wednesday (May 14), I was aware enough to know to wear my t-shirt to work but while at work only half aware to notice everyone else. The previous Wednesday, I made a point to search out SAAAL t-shirts throughout the night and found 5. I was disappointed to say the least. But this last week, being only half aware and not searching as diligently as the previous week, I found 0 (zero) SAAAL t-shirts. I did see one other member who wears an APWU apron as myself, so that was good.

A new approach needs to be taken because for the life of me, I don’t understand why our members would not wear our colors on a specific day. Awareness must be the reason. Or non-awareness, I should say. One thought I had was to make another motion at the May meeting, that all the entrants of the “Find the Secret Word” section of the Dispatch be given a ‘free’ t-shirt for their participation. This has a stipulation that you pledge to wear the t-shirt on Wednesdays if you are not required to wear a postal uniform.

I think it’s a good idea and I hope the motion carries but if there are members who have other ideas on how to get this thing going, I am all ears. You can leave a comment at the bottom of this article or email me at lburrows@satx.rr.com

Show Your Colors ( posted May 8, 200  )

We had a NewsFlash April 21, Number22 that was titled Show Your Colors….. well, it didn’t happen on Tour 1 last night (05/07).

Including me, I saw a total of five people wearing SAAAL and APWU apparel. And I saw a lot of people last night. Maybe everyone in automation and most of the manual clerks.

I am convinced that it would do wonders for moral and the sense of unity, if the members wore their colors on a specific day. There is no doubt in my mind of this.

Some may be asking, is this an important issue to pursue with all the other issues that we are plagued with. Of course it isn’t. But there is the cognizance of pride, loyalty, strength and unity that wearing your union colors brings forth.

At the April General Membership Meeting, I made a motion that we offer an incentive of two free movie tickets to a lucky winner on Tour 1 wearing the SAAAL t-shirt every pay day. As you can imagine, this brought up the fact that not all the members will benefit from this proposal. What about all the members not on Tour 1? What about the MVS drivers who wear postal uniforms? What about the station clerks? And on and on and on…. And then Maintenance Craft Director Doug Yarnes reminded us that Wednesday has already been established as the day to wear your union colors. I didn’t know that. And I doubt that many other members knew that.

A few members have expressed that the members shouldn’t need an incentive to show their pride of union membership by wearing the union colors. I totally agree. My motion was not well thought out as it would exclude too many members. I think I was initially reacting to management giving out movie passes on Tour 1 to employees who run the most mail on the machines. I never have liked that incentive by management and thought that we could offer free movie passes for just being a member. For just being you. Not how fast you are, or aren’t.

So there won’t be free movie passes for union members wearing union colors on pay days. Not such a big deal really. It may take some time to get everyone knowledgeable about Wednesdays being color day but I’m sure it will happen. But, and it goes much deeper here, wearing our colors on Wednesday’s not for free movie passes but to show the gratification, self respect, achievement, dignity, and pride of being a member of the SAAAL.

Back to SAAAL Homepage