The Latest Update 4/26/09

The following is the latest update that was given by our National President Bill Young at the National Training Conference and Rap Sessions That VP Al Manzo and I attended.

• The 5-day delivery issue was presented by the Postal Service in front of Congress and the subcommittee on postal affairs. The postal Service has presented it as a necessity to keep us in business.
   
• President Young also testified in front of the subcommittee in support of keeping six-day delivery and the passage of HR 22 to relieve the Postal Service of this extra financial burden that is not necessary or placed upon any other government agency or large corporate business - the funding of retired health benefits and the funding of future retiree health benefit costs.
   
• Corporate greed has greatly contributed to global economic crisis and the great recession we are in.
   
• The Postal Service is mail volume is considerably down in the number of pieces mail that we delivered – 42 billion less pieces – from 212 billion pieces to 170 billion.
   
• The NALC was faced with:
   
• do nothing and have Congress take over the Postal Service – no more contract and no more union as we know it:
• give away cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA);
• forgo our contractual pay raises for several years;
• lay off excess employees;
• enter into this Interim Alternate Route Adjustment Process (IARAP) where an immediate savings could be realized by the Postal Service.
   
• The NALC has a place on the table with IARAP.
   
• Don’t worry about what your fellow carriers are doing; worry about what you are doing.
   
• “Concessions” – The Postal Service is going to be asking for the NALC for concessions when negotiations of the 2011 contract. If things remain the same, we will not be asking what we are going to gain but what we are going to keep.
   
• Contracting out – we have to address and put this issue to rest before contract talks begin in 2011. Our best way to end this contracting out is through the legislative process. The bill must be passed before 2011.
   
• National Executive Vice-President Fred Rolando is being groomed to be the next National President of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
   
• Talk of an all letter carrier health plan surfaced and how the NALC HBP increased by 26,000 this past open season. Prior talk was about an all Postal Service HBP. The next few years should be very interesting.
   
• The savings through IARAP fell far short of what was projected and what was saved. Nation-wide, 2480 routes were eliminated.
   
• In the last twenty years, since 1989, there has been a reduction of 35,000 letter carriers and 114,000 clerks.
   
• The ratio of craft employees to supervisors has remained at 5.74 craft employees to every 1 supervisor over the past 20 years. Management has not been reduced.
   
• Mail volume is our life-blood.
   
• Approximately 1600 people attended this National Training Conference and Rap Session.
   

 

Joseph R. Palmerson, President

NALC Branch 2128 Toms River

April 26, 2009