To Understand the possibilities, you need to understand where we are. The U.S. Postal Service reported a record high in revenue last year of 72 billion dollars, it also reported a loss of 6 billion. A very dramatic shift has taken place within the Postal Service which has caused the role of City Letter Carriers to evolve with social change. Mr. & Mrs. Jones on ELM Street in Anytown USA are paying their bills online, communicating with family and friends on social media and are shopping online. Unfortunately, this has caused first class letter mail volume to drop 50% of what it was just a few years ago. However, we have become the shipper of choice for the almost 6 trillion-dollar E-commerce industry. Expectations are for industry growth for years to come… which means City Letter Carriers will play an essential role in this new segment of the economy thereby providing job security. You must look no further than the Sunday work schedule to see the impact the E­-commerce industry has had on City Letter Carriers.

Nobody saw this coming back in the 1990’s when doom and gloom predictions permeated throughout the USPS and the NALC.  This mind set caused contract concessions and interest arbitration losses during some very difficult economic times over the past few years. In 1990 you hired in as a career City Letter Carrier, today you must endure being a CCA for two years on fast food workers’ wages and few benefits before career status. In 1984 it took eight years to reach top salary and today it takes almost 13 ½ years. In 1990 non-career casual employees were restricted to 5% of the work force and only two 90-day terms. Today non­-career CCAs make up 15% per district, plus another 8,000 nationwide. The employer has gone from paying 76% of the cost of health care to 72% passing that cost onto the backs of Letter Carriers. Regardless of how these and other losses took place, it’s time to take them back. City Letter Carriers deserve to be industry leaders in pay, benefits and working conditions. We will start by correcting the injustices inflicted on this generation of City Letter Carriers by the two-tier pay structure. We will work tirelessly to close the wage disparity and reduce the time it takes to reach top salary. One Union, one pay structure!

Contract negotiations cannot be about giving something up in one area to gain in another, simple logic dictates that there is only so much you can give back before there’s nothing left.  Therefore, I will refrain from modifying our contract by memos and advocate for new contract language when necessary. Furthermore, I will never ever agree to any program or process that is non-grievable. Contract negotiations must be about the value of our labor. As an example, the Teamsters recognized UPS role in this new economy and achieved a significant victory by placing a value on the value of their labor.

• TIAREAP: TIAREAP is perhaps the most controversial change suggested for the National We cannot allow ourselves to be caught between two false choices, TIAREAP or Chapter 2 of the M-39 …there’s an obvious third option of going back to the drawing board. TIAREAP contains too many give backs and lacks sufficient protections for the rank-and-file Letter Carrier. Chapter 2 of the M-39 is from a bygone era when letter volume was twice of what it is today. The USPS’s need to modernize the route evaluation process that puts the NALC in the driver’s seat. It is possible to negotiate a process that doesn’t require us to give up our Article 15 rights to file a grievance, or our right to special route inspections. We don’t need an electronic leash that holds us accountable for every minute of the day to have a fair adjustment process. Current NALC leadership seems to be so blinded by their ambition to create a new process that they are intentionally deaf to management applying their so-called parameters as standards for loading time and street functions –which is leading to a deterioration of working conditions.  Discipline for stationary events is on the rise, which relies on circumstantial evidence gathered by covert electronic means. The Union cannot be the facilitators of management’s mayhem. We are opposed to any inference of a street standard for Letter Carriers.  I am very confident that the NALC can come to an agreement that properly adjusts a Letter Carrier’s assignment to as close to eight hours as possible without giving away the store.
• Escalating Remedies for contract violations: Escalating remedies isn’t a bad thing… repeated and continual contract violations is a bad thing. The current administration has a genuine lack of empathy for the level of frustration within the rank-and-file caused by management’s continual violation of work rules including distribution of overtime, number of hours worked, and inappropriate & sometimes cruel behavior of management. The calculus is simple –stop violating the contract or face ever increasing remedies until upper management can find someone to run a station without violating the contract. If we are to improve working conditions, we need the tools in the contract that facilitate holding management accountable.
• City Letter Carrier Uniform Allowance: City Letter Carrier uniforms shouldn’t cost as much as designer clothing. It is also true that whatever amount a City Letter Carrier receives for their uniforms the cost will rise It’s time to get off the hamster wheel. With corporate mergers and buy-outs the number of uniform companies has been reduced to a point where there is no competition and they can charge whatever they want, leaving City Letter Carriers with worn out shoes/uniforms and nothing to protect them from the elements. Each Letter Carrier gets $499 per year in uniform allowance, with over 280,000 active City Letter Carrier that equates to approximately $139,720,000.00 per year in bargaining power. It stands to reason that an exclusive contract that specifies uniform cost would reduce margins for such a potential revenue stream. Another area that deserves attention is the initial allotment. Consideration should be given to provide the first set of uniforms at no cost, where each City Carrier is issued all the uniform items necessary with special consideration for areas with adverse weather conditions.
• Staffing and Excessive Work Hours: After years of mutual understanding that the 12/60 work hours limit was supposed to be a hard stop maximum work hour limit, management has “Flipped the Script”. Today Letter Carriers are being forced to work beyond the maximum limits as much as 16 hours per day –more in some cases– because of improper staffing. It’s not even a shared sacrifice because management will take Letter Carriers off the floor as 204-B’s and make them closing supervisors so management can maintain their eight-hour day.  In other cases, management will detail carriers from one office to another which causes forced overtime issues in the losing station. It’s obvious that management is being willfully negligent… forced overtime being a strategy. Rather than taking up the fight over proper staffing, the previous and now current administration signed a memorandum of understanding (M-01968) which facilities management’s understaffing strategy. Rather, than taking up the fight in support of escalating remedies for overtime violations, the current administration sees them as punitive and a bigger problem than the violation itself. Now the Renfroe administration has floated the idea of removing the overtime caps to allow you a right you already have, not to work beyond 12/60. The current administration approach is typical of weak “hat in hand” give back negotiations. As your President, I will ensure the enabling memo M-01968 is withdrawn post-haste. I will direct the Executive Council to submit three resolutions to be brought before the convention delegates seeking contract language requiring carrier delivery units to be properly staffed, giving Letter Carriers the right to refuse to work beyond 12 hours and “cease and desist” language with escalating remedies be included in the National Agreement. Our collective experience with Postal Service has taught us that if the Union is not a lion…carriers are prey.

The four items mentioned are not exclusive, but they do give you some insight into a solution-based approach for some very difficult and complex problems faced by Letter Carriers. The NALC has a unique process which enables the rank-and-file member to submit contract resolutions to the convention for consideration. At times in the past the Executive Council has taken a rather heavy hand in their approach to many of these resolutions. To the extent possible we should strive to moderate that response and work diligently to incorporate these items into our bargaining position. In addition to publishing the NALC bargaining position during negotiations, I will ensure frequent bulletins, and provide updated podcasts outlining the Union activities on your behalf. I will call on the membership for a demonstration of solidarity and support for our bargaining objectives. In short, whether or not the Open Bargaining resolution passes, we can follow its intent and spirit to the extent circumstances will allow.