Highlighted Photos
This Slide Show is from the State Convention.2019 FOR MORE SUBMITTED PHOTOS: CLICK HERE and Photos: Officers & Members. Other photos and videos throughout site.
Links
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FIXED POSTS
PRESEIDENT'S POSTS: Ensure USPS and your supervisor has emergency contact info.
WEBMASTER'S POSTS: I am soliciting input, articles, pictures, websites of interest, files and critiques from Officers and members of any subject, but particularly postal and union related.
Report on articles and input published on the website by Officers since the last Convention to the end of 2019 is on the webmaster page.
WEBMASTER'S POSTS: I am soliciting input, articles, pictures, websites of interest, files and critiques from Officers and members of any subject, but particularly postal and union related.
Report on articles and input published on the website by Officers since the last Convention to the end of 2019 is on the webmaster page.
Current Notices
3/14/20: THE STATE CONVENTION FOR 2020 HAS BEEN CANCELLED. TO READ THE CANCELLATION NOTICE FROM MICHAEL HAMILTON GO TO HIS PAGE OR CLICK HERE.
Please disregard any and all information on this website that pertains to the State Convention. Please cancel your rooms and leave and whatever else as the State Convention is not going to happen in 2020. I will eventually edit the Convention material off the site.
Please disregard any and all information on this website that pertains to the State Convention. Please cancel your rooms and leave and whatever else as the State Convention is not going to happen in 2020. I will eventually edit the Convention material off the site.
4/1/2020: The Food Drive has been postponed to a later yet to announced date due to the coronavirus.
2/16/20: members and nonmembers for conversion according to memo. Address info columns are removed. If a branch needs that info please contact the webmaster. Download the related files for information.
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WEBMASTER UPDATES
WEBMASTER UPDATES, GO TO ARCHIVE NOTES FOR OLDER UPDATES CLICK HERE
4/1/2020: Webmaster: The Coronavirus is serious stuff and if you are looking at the news there isn't any abatement yet. I looked into Apps that allow people to get together and talk as well as see each other on their phones and computers. These Apps are simple to use and many of them have free versions that would satisfy all but the most demanding needs. For example: Zoom app has a fee version that allows up to 100 participants at one time to talk to each other for forty minutes at a time. I have used the Zoom app a couple times to talk to several family members at a time. It is sort of a reunion time. I suggest that Union Officers use this App or another video conferencing app for the time being to conduct some meetings such as E-board meetings so to eliminate any possibility of transmission of the virus. I even think the use of this tool could be expanded and become an integral part of union operations. Perhaps conferencing could be set up at times with management or grievants. It could also be a training tool to help stewards with grievances. A little imagination and I am sure these video conferencing Apps can become an integral part of union business enabling face to face between two or more people when time and distance and a virus make the physical one on one or group meeting to be impossible. However, users of this Zoom App or any other App may have privacy concerns. Consider this article I was sent concerning zoom from a concerned member. Zoom article on market watch. on.mktw.net/3dGLXKV
Membership Contributions
2/16/20: Juan Vilchez Branch 233 Health Benefit Officer. Click here
IMPORTANT STUFF
Some of the links in the copied files will not work, they should but don't. To see them work you must download the files they are associated with. Thank you. Sorry but I don't have the time to figure out why they don't work.
| hr_2382_coming_to_a_vote.wpd |
Action Alert: Contact your member of Congress on HR 2382 (January 31, 2020)
The USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) is expected on the House floor next week and we need letter carriers to call their Representatives and ask for their vote in support.
This bipartisan bill seeks to end to the disastrous mandate for the Postal Service to prefund retiree health care decades in advance. As letter carriers know, this mandate is largely responsible for our employer’s current financial situation and passage of H.R. 2382 is the first step toward its elimination.
With over 300 cosponsors, we are confident this important measure will pass the House so we can focus our efforts on the Senate bill. Passage is not a guarantee, though. NALC is asking all letter carriers in every state and every district to call and message their Member of Congress to ask them to support the U.S. Postal Service and its employees by voting for H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act.
You can reach your Member of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and be prepared to provide your ZIP code to connect through to the office.
· For our letter of support, click here.
· For ‘Quick Facts’ on prefunding repeal, click here.
· For a fact sheet on H.R. 2382, click here.
· To see if your Member of Congress is a supporter, click here.
The USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) is expected on the House floor next week and we need letter carriers to call their Representatives and ask for their vote in support.
This bipartisan bill seeks to end to the disastrous mandate for the Postal Service to prefund retiree health care decades in advance. As letter carriers know, this mandate is largely responsible for our employer’s current financial situation and passage of H.R. 2382 is the first step toward its elimination.
With over 300 cosponsors, we are confident this important measure will pass the House so we can focus our efforts on the Senate bill. Passage is not a guarantee, though. NALC is asking all letter carriers in every state and every district to call and message their Member of Congress to ask them to support the U.S. Postal Service and its employees by voting for H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act.
You can reach your Member of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and be prepared to provide your ZIP code to connect through to the office.
· For our letter of support, click here.
· For ‘Quick Facts’ on prefunding repeal, click here.
· For a fact sheet on H.R. 2382, click here.
· To see if your Member of Congress is a supporter, click here.
| postal_union_letter_of_support_on_hr_2382_.pdf |
January 31, 2020
Dear Representative,
On behalf of more than 600,000 postal employees – who are a critical part of America’s $1.4 trillion mailing industry that employs 7.5 million Americans – we respectfully request that you vote for the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382), a broadly bipartisan bill (with more than 300 co-sponsors) that would repeal the 2006 mandate that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) prefund future retiree health benefits.
In 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act mandated that USPS prefund retiree health benefits decades in advance -- a burden no other private or public enterprise faces. This unique and unfair mandate manufactured a financial crisis at the Postal Service, costing it almost $5 billion annually since 2007 and accounting for nearly 90 percent of the its reported losses.
This mandate has prompted service cuts and damaged the Postal Service’s ability to invest in itself (for example, in new vehicles to replace its obsolete fleet), and prompted legislative threats to critical services such as six-day delivery, door-to-door service, and the quantity and quality of rural post offices.
Passage of HR 2382 is not an accounting gimmick – it would simply apply the same retiree health funding rules that apply to all other federal agencies and American enterprises. Nor would it “do nothing” for our employer. It would dramatically reduce the agency’s financial losses, improve employee morale, and restore the confidence of the broader mailing industry.
H.R. 2382 is not the entire solution, but it is a zero-score, first step forward that would provide some stability to the agency without cost to U.S. taxpayers. After 13 years of gridlock over more comprehensive postal reform, the USPS Fairness Act would ease the burden on Congress by reducing the size of the financial hole to be filled. The postal workforce is committed to ongoing bipartisan postal reform efforts that will be made easier once this mandate is eliminated and we have a fair baseline.
Passage of HR 2382 and repeal of the prefunding mandate would not relieve the Postal Service of its obligation to fund its retirees’ health benefits. Once the $45 billion already in the Retiree Health Fund is exhausted (conservatively estimated 10-12 years), USPS would merely revert to the pay-as-you-go funding mechanism that existed before 2007 – a best practice in both private and public sectors. In the meantime, a new rate-setting system should provide additional relief and allow Congress the breathing room to develop more modest, bipartisan postal legislation.
In order to preserve and strengthen the constitutionally mandated Postal Service, an agency that receives no taxpayer money, we respectfully request you vote in favor of the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Fredric V. Rolando Mark Dimondstein President President National Association of Letter Carriers American Postal Workers Union
Paul V. Hogrogian Ronnie W. Stutts President President National Postal Mail Handlers Union National Rural Letter Carriers Association
Dear Representative,
On behalf of more than 600,000 postal employees – who are a critical part of America’s $1.4 trillion mailing industry that employs 7.5 million Americans – we respectfully request that you vote for the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382), a broadly bipartisan bill (with more than 300 co-sponsors) that would repeal the 2006 mandate that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) prefund future retiree health benefits.
In 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act mandated that USPS prefund retiree health benefits decades in advance -- a burden no other private or public enterprise faces. This unique and unfair mandate manufactured a financial crisis at the Postal Service, costing it almost $5 billion annually since 2007 and accounting for nearly 90 percent of the its reported losses.
This mandate has prompted service cuts and damaged the Postal Service’s ability to invest in itself (for example, in new vehicles to replace its obsolete fleet), and prompted legislative threats to critical services such as six-day delivery, door-to-door service, and the quantity and quality of rural post offices.
Passage of HR 2382 is not an accounting gimmick – it would simply apply the same retiree health funding rules that apply to all other federal agencies and American enterprises. Nor would it “do nothing” for our employer. It would dramatically reduce the agency’s financial losses, improve employee morale, and restore the confidence of the broader mailing industry.
H.R. 2382 is not the entire solution, but it is a zero-score, first step forward that would provide some stability to the agency without cost to U.S. taxpayers. After 13 years of gridlock over more comprehensive postal reform, the USPS Fairness Act would ease the burden on Congress by reducing the size of the financial hole to be filled. The postal workforce is committed to ongoing bipartisan postal reform efforts that will be made easier once this mandate is eliminated and we have a fair baseline.
Passage of HR 2382 and repeal of the prefunding mandate would not relieve the Postal Service of its obligation to fund its retirees’ health benefits. Once the $45 billion already in the Retiree Health Fund is exhausted (conservatively estimated 10-12 years), USPS would merely revert to the pay-as-you-go funding mechanism that existed before 2007 – a best practice in both private and public sectors. In the meantime, a new rate-setting system should provide additional relief and allow Congress the breathing room to develop more modest, bipartisan postal legislation.
In order to preserve and strengthen the constitutionally mandated Postal Service, an agency that receives no taxpayer money, we respectfully request you vote in favor of the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Fredric V. Rolando Mark Dimondstein President President National Association of Letter Carriers American Postal Workers Union
Paul V. Hogrogian Ronnie W. Stutts President President National Postal Mail Handlers Union National Rural Letter Carriers Association
| congress_postal_week_in_review.wpd |
Week in review Jan 27-31
While the Senate continued the impeachment trial this week, the President signed the USMCA into law, but most important to letter carriers, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that the House of Representatives will vote on the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) in the coming days.
House Activity
On Friday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) will come to a vote next week. This is a major achievement that could not have been possible without the hard work of letter carriers and other postal employees from across the country.
This bipartisan bill seeks to end to the disastrous mandate for the Postal Service to prefund retiree health care decades in advance. As letter carriers know, this mandate is largely responsible for our employer’s current financial situation and passage of H.R. 2382 is the first step toward its elimination.
With over 300 cosponsors, we are confident this important measure will pass the House so we can focus our efforts on the Senate bill. Passage is not a guarantee, though. NALC is asking all letter carriers in every state and every district to call and message their Member of Congress to ask them to support the U.S. Postal Service and its employees by voting for H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act.
You can reach your Member of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and be prepared to provide your ZIP code to connect through to the office.
· For our letter of support, click here.
· For ‘Quick Facts’ on prefunding repeal, click here.
· For a fact sheet on H.R. 2382, click here.
· To see if your Member of Congress is a supporter, click here.
NALC Priority Bills/Resolutions
H.R. 2382/S. 2965 – USPS Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Co-sponsors: 301 House (232 Democrats – 69 Republicans) – 2 Senate (2 Democrats – 0 Republicans)
To repeal the requirement that the United States Postal Service prepay future retirement benefits.
House Resolution 23 (H. Res. 23) – Door Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY)
Co-sponsors: 258 (206 Democrats – 52 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.
House Resolution 33 (H. Res. 33) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Co-sponsors: 267 (226 Democrats – 41 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.
House Resolution 54 (H. Res. 54) – Six-day Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Sam Graves (R-MO)
Co-sponsors: 291 (218 Democrats – 73 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.
House Resolution 60 (H. Res. 60) – Service Standards
Status: Introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Co-sponsors: 206 (180 Democrats – 26 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.
Senate Resolution 99 (S. Res. 99) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Sens. Gary Peters and Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Co-sponsors: 53 (43 Democrats – 8 Republicans – 2 Independents)
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization in whole or in part.
H.R. 2478 – Fed Retirement Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Tom Cole (R-OK)
Co-sponsors: 53 (40 Democrats – 13 Republicans)
To provide certain federal employees the opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions for time spent as temporary employees after Dec. 31, 1988, thus making such time creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Now applies to temporary postal employees, such as letter carriers who spent time as casuals, TEs, and CCAs.
While the Senate continued the impeachment trial this week, the President signed the USMCA into law, but most important to letter carriers, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that the House of Representatives will vote on the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) in the coming days.
House Activity
On Friday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) will come to a vote next week. This is a major achievement that could not have been possible without the hard work of letter carriers and other postal employees from across the country.
This bipartisan bill seeks to end to the disastrous mandate for the Postal Service to prefund retiree health care decades in advance. As letter carriers know, this mandate is largely responsible for our employer’s current financial situation and passage of H.R. 2382 is the first step toward its elimination.
With over 300 cosponsors, we are confident this important measure will pass the House so we can focus our efforts on the Senate bill. Passage is not a guarantee, though. NALC is asking all letter carriers in every state and every district to call and message their Member of Congress to ask them to support the U.S. Postal Service and its employees by voting for H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act.
You can reach your Member of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and be prepared to provide your ZIP code to connect through to the office.
· For our letter of support, click here.
· For ‘Quick Facts’ on prefunding repeal, click here.
· For a fact sheet on H.R. 2382, click here.
· To see if your Member of Congress is a supporter, click here.
NALC Priority Bills/Resolutions
H.R. 2382/S. 2965 – USPS Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Co-sponsors: 301 House (232 Democrats – 69 Republicans) – 2 Senate (2 Democrats – 0 Republicans)
To repeal the requirement that the United States Postal Service prepay future retirement benefits.
House Resolution 23 (H. Res. 23) – Door Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY)
Co-sponsors: 258 (206 Democrats – 52 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.
House Resolution 33 (H. Res. 33) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Co-sponsors: 267 (226 Democrats – 41 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.
House Resolution 54 (H. Res. 54) – Six-day Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Sam Graves (R-MO)
Co-sponsors: 291 (218 Democrats – 73 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.
House Resolution 60 (H. Res. 60) – Service Standards
Status: Introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Co-sponsors: 206 (180 Democrats – 26 Republicans)
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.
Senate Resolution 99 (S. Res. 99) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Sens. Gary Peters and Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Co-sponsors: 53 (43 Democrats – 8 Republicans – 2 Independents)
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization in whole or in part.
H.R. 2478 – Fed Retirement Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Tom Cole (R-OK)
Co-sponsors: 53 (40 Democrats – 13 Republicans)
To provide certain federal employees the opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions for time spent as temporary employees after Dec. 31, 1988, thus making such time creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Now applies to temporary postal employees, such as letter carriers who spent time as casuals, TEs, and CCAs.
Please review and submit this petition
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is at risk of privatization. We can not let this happen. Please sign the petition below.
ADD YOUR NAME
South Carolina AFL-CIO needs your help to ensure the USPS stays as the critically important public service that it is today. Please sign the petition.
Sign Now
USPS provides critical services to the American public and it is at risk or privatization. Please add your name to the petition today. Send the message to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Directors DON'T privatize the U.S. Postal Service.
ACT NOW BY ADDING YOUR NAME
Yours in Solidarity,
SC AFL-CIO
and
Charles Brave, Jr., President
SC AFL-CIO
803-926-8680
What is won at a bargaining table can be taken away with a stroke of a pen by elected officials who are not worker-friendly. Elections have consequences, voting matters.