Buyer Beware Nowadays it’s becoming increasingly harder to tell the difference between the wolf and the wolf in sheep’s clothing. I was reading the newest proposal from our illustrious leaders in the Senate about how they are going to fix the Post Office. Of course they made it really easy for me to do so. They put out a press release along with a convenient two-page bullet-point guide. Now being a letter carrier I naturally got a little suspicious, so I decided to dig deeper into the text of this wonderful idea that these senators came up with. I figured it wasn’t going to be a lot to read because it was only a two-page bullet-point guide. Alas, I was wrong. This bill is 110 pages long. Now I’m scratching my head. How do you fit a bill that’s 110 pages long into a two-page press release and not leave anything important out? To begin with, they organized it into four chapters (They call them titles). The first title is “Postal Workforce Matters.” When I go to Section 106, which is titled “Arbitration: Labor Disputes,” it outlines the Postal Service’s responsibilities for contract disputes. It states that the arbitration board must consider certain relevant factors, such as the financial condition of the Postal Service, and they must also pay the workforce comparably to other like jobs in the industry. O.K., now I’m a little bit worried. I remember in past negotiations with the USPS where my job was compared to that of a paperboy or pizza delivery person. I would think that the $1.3 trillion in merchandise and currency we deliver annually would be considered a job that deserves a fair middle-class wage that gives people the incentive to work as a letter carrier. I would also hope that paying letter carriers a salary as such would entice people to trust the USPS with their products. I know from experience that my customers trust me and are reassured when I show up every day to deliver their mail. I know that a fair middle-class wage promotes stability and loyalty to my job, my customers and the USPS. Remember the age-old adage, “You get what you pay for”? In title four, “Other Matters,” the USPS is required to submit a profitability plan within 90 days of the enactment of this into law. It directs the USPS to take into account any cost savings that the USPS anticipates will be achieved through negotiations with employees of the Postal Service. These plans are to be updated quarterly from there on out. It also states that the USPS must hold public hearings in order to better inform the conclusions of a study that will improve the Service. It states that the Postal Service’s customer base and other interested persons may participate in the hearing. It goes on to say that the USPS can maximize incentives to reduce costs and increase efficiency with regard to the processing, transportation and delivery of such mail by the Postal Service. I have to admit that I’m a bit skeptical about some of the language in this bill. When you give the management of the USPS free rein to come up with new ways to save money, it normally includes breaking collective bargaining rights that have been achieved through years of hard work and negotiating. We’ve also seen what happens when vague and ambiguous language is presented to the USPS to implement on their accord. That’s why we have gone to arbitration over 30,000 times during the life of collective bargaining with them. I’ve seen over-zealous managers run away with language that’s more restrictive than what is presented in this bill. Has anyone ever heard management say, “You know, I think that is a grey area of the contract”? Nowhere in these two paragraphs does it state that the Postal Service needs to talk to the rank-and-file people who make the business run at the base level. Sure, it says they may have other people participate, but do you think that they will consider the input of letter carriers, clerks, or mail handlers? I wonder if any of the people who are proposing this bill have sat down and talked with the craft personnel who do the job every day? They may find some interesting suggestions that actually could help the business. We’ve all seen what managers being out of touch and deciding how things should be done has worked. Does anyone remember in 2006 the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act? Back then people didn’t have the foresight to look into the future and see what possibilities could exist when you enact laws without seeking advice from all interested parties. Make no mistake about it, I want the Postal Service to be profitable and to work far into the future. I have broken down just two paragraphs of this bill and its taken me two type-written pages to explain the issues I have with it. I believe that we would have a better chance to thrive in the future if everyone had input and it could be evaluated honestly instead of listening to just a few people who haven’t performed the core functions of that business in quite some time. I’m still digesting this bill and will investigate it further. It’s important for all of us to be well-informed and to be vocal to our representatives concerning legislation that’s being proposed for our jobs. It will take a strong, unified effort for us to help keep the United States Postal Service viable.

Partisanship I was listening to the President and the Speaker of the House talk to the American public about our national debt the other day. During their speeches I kept thinking about how they seemed angry at each other. I also thought about their positions in our government. I could not help but think that they were telling the American public about who to blame and how they wanted to fix it. Then I thought about the money they make and what their responsibilities to the American public are. Through their positions on the topic of our debt they were assertive in what they felt would work, but I didn’t hear anything about what they felt personally could do to help. I heard about how the middle class could concede to fix our looming debt crisis. Let me throw some numbers at you. A senator makes $174,000 a year in pay alone. A congressman makes the same. That’s $93,000,000 in salaries for our Congress. We’re not even talking about benefits. Did you know that in 1989 Congress passed an amendment to a law that allows Congress to receive automatic pay raises? That is unless our lawmakers specifically vote to reject it. Congress has accepted it for the last six consecutive years, increasing their salaries an additional $16,700 in raises. Between 1990 and 2003 congressional pay has increased from $98,000 to $154,700. By law, starting members’ retirement pay may not exceed 80 percent of his/her final pay (not too bad). During the latest economic downturn (the greatest since the Depression), Congress has seen their own personal wealth grow by more than 16 percent. The average personal wealth for a member of Congress grew to $911,370 in 2009. Congressional representatives have a staff allowance too. They can hire up to 18 permanent and four non-permanent personnel. The maximum salary allowed for a representative’s personal staffer may bot exceed $156,848. Up to $75,000 of a representative’s staffing allowance can be transferred to his/her’s official expense account for use in other categories (such as computer and related services). They also have expense allowances and franking privileges. Franking is the ability to mail letters and packages to constituents using their signature, for free. We all have certainly seen those letters during campaigns. Were you aware that in 1815 members of Congress received per diem of $6.00 a day and only while Congress was in session? I’m not writing about this to complain. I just want everyone to know what they pay our elected officials and how they work collectively. The Postal Service is governed by these politicians. Postal management has its own marching orders and somehow I can’t help but think that it gets its orders without getting the full picture. The NALC has been cooperative with postal management. We have seen that by working together many good things can come about. The NALC has looked at all points of view in considering issues such as five day delivery and lowering wages and benefits. The NALC has been more than willing to try new and innovative approaches to getting the mail delivered. We have approached these requests by management with open arms. I remember the Segway test. We rode on them for 12 weeks. We also did the bag test where we put all the mail into plastic bags and delivered them. We also tried Customer Connect, and “If it Ships it Fits,” Just to name a few. Through all of this I get the feeling that management has taken a blind approach to their new concepts on how the Postal Service should look in the future. We all know that without the pre-funding required by Congress that the Postal Service would actually have made a profit during this economic downturn. We have over-funded our retirement plans and I think that we owe our customers the right to six day service because they have already paid for it. UPS got involved with the parcel delivery service we had because we didn’t give our customers the best service possible. This was due to a lack of proper and complete service. If we did it right then no one else would need to do it. Service should be our premium. I understand the need to be efficient and expedient. However, there can also be common ground. Management’s refusal to consider all options will be a major stumbling block to a sound business model. Does anyone remember Enron? Their goal was to gut the infrastructure in order to make their bottom line look good. That didn’t work so well. Collective collaborations and fresh input can invigorate a business. In Enron no one could purchase anything before it went through the complete chain of command. Micro-management helped kill it. They were looking at bonuses and golden parachutes without considerations of longevity. It’s not a good plan to support outdated schemes and quick fixes. Does that sound familiar? I haven’t heard our elected officials or postal management talk about their sacrifices to help the bottom line. Our country was based upon a few common threads. We wanted to have a government where our voices could be heard. We were tired of an elite few controlling our destinies. At times lately, it feels as though we’re returning to those days. It’s important to remember history. I was under the impression that people got involved with government to improve life for all as a whole. They wanted everyone to prosper and flourish. It would be nice to have that balance in business too. It seems to me that when you take from the middle class and create a bigger difference between the haves and have nots, it doesn’t work out well for everyone. A handful of people got together in Philadelphia over 200 years ago and created a new country that would give everyone a chance to succeed in life. One section of it calls for the establishment of Post Offices and Post Roads. They knew the importance of communications. Make that call to your representative and voice your opinion about working class issues. You have certainly paid for that right.

Motivation I was watching ESPN one evening recently and they were showing a speech by former NC State basketball coach Jim Valvano. He coached the team back in the 80s. He took an undermanned, undersized team in 1983 to a national title over the heavily favored University of Houston. Houston had two future hall-of-famers on their team that year (Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwan) and were supposed to beat the Wolfpack easily. It was a true Cinderella story. Anyone who knew Jimmy V, or knew of him, knew his passion for coaching, and they also knew of his ability to inspire people to achieve above their given talents. On March 3, 1993, he gave a speech he titled “Don’t Give Up — Don’t Ever Give Up.” He talked about having a passion for life. He explained that everyone needs to have a drive and a purpose that makes them get up every day and moves them to take action. Jimmy V gave this speech as he was battling cancer. He passed away less than two months later. On the night of his speech he announced the creation of the Jimmy V Cancer Research Foundation. Jimmy V spent the last few months of his life setting this foundation up. He put all of his energy and passion into this. This man was so unselfish. He said in his speech that he hoped his efforts would benefit other people who would come later in life. He had hoped that his efforts would bring attention to this disease so that future generations would not suffer from it. At this point I started to draw parallels between Jimmy V and a spokesperson for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). His name is Luke Christie. We all know that MDA is the charity of the National Association of Letter Carriers. The NALC has sponsored this charity since 1952. We are also MDA’s longest running corporate sponsor. The first time I met Luke was at the National Convention in Las Vegas. Luke is fighting type two spinal muscular atrophy, which is a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes muscle weakness. This disease has confined Luke to a wheelchair. Luke is another unselfish human being. He goes around the country on speaking engagements to help raise awareness of MDA. I applaud his efforts and admire the strength he shows. I’m in awe of his drive and motivation. Jimmy V said in his speech that there are three things you should do every day. They are: laugh, think, and have your emotions move you to tears. Luke did that to me the day I met him. Luke told me some jokes that made me laugh and put me at ease with his condition. His talking about MDA made me think about how to help other children beat this terrible disease. Luke also brought awareness to MDA in a very special way. He have me a lasting impression of a child handling a tough illness with such dignity and class. Luke explained how raising money for MDA helps research to beat this disease and how how the money helps ease suffering from its symptoms. As I looked into Luke’s eyes I saw his hopes and dreams, and then thought of my son. At that time I had a healthy and happy 6-year-old son who was enjoying life without the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy. That thought moved me to tears and made me thankful for having a healthy child. Luke stirred my emotions and created a drive to want to help him and other children who suffer from this disease. We take our children’s health for granted sometimes and think they’ll always have it. Our branch recently participated in an MDA bowlathon. It was an enjoyable day and I was fortunate to have my son with me. I was a little bit emotional again. I saw a happy child spending a Sunday morning raise funds for other children whom he didn’t know and was proud of his giving spirit. He had a piece of Luke Christie in him. I hope the unselfish acts of Luke can motivate others to participate in one way or another to raise awareness and funds for MDA. I’d like to see these neuromuscular diseases eradicated in my lifetime. It can be done with some more research and support from people that care. Jimmy V gave an 11 minute speech and it has motivated people to raise awareness and aid in cancer research. Since the inception of the V Foundation that speech and the sentiments of it have raised over one-hundred million dollars. Not bad for a few words and some motivation. We as parents aren’t supposed to see our children afflicted with these diseases, and when we do, we want to do something to cure it. I hope that letter carriers can help MDA raise awareness and make these diseases a thing of the past. Now that’s motivation.

Conviction "Conviction- A state of mind in which one is free from doubt." As I write this article I am reminded why I became an activist in this Union. I have convictions of a few basic principles. I believe that a person should be able to have a job where he or she could get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. The other day I ran into one of my customers who enjoys debating the values and purpose of a union in today’s society. He is a small businessman who does not like any union or what they represent. He explained to me that they cost too much to an employer and that they ruin profit margins for businesses. As I listened to him I heard a familiar story. Everything that he talked about illustrated the point that businesses need to be free of restrictions and that the market should dictate the wages of common working employees. These were his words and not mine. He said that Postal Managers were quoted as saying unions were costing a fortune to the bottom line. He also said that Postal managers need to have flexibility in setting benefit packages. I heard nothing in his words about adjusting managerial salary and benefits though. I thought about his reasons and then I came up with a few reasons as to why I thought unions were good for this country. Being in a union allows for people to negotiate fair wages and benefits. It allows me to have a middle class living and support my family by giving them a decent way of life. I don’t live in a fancy house or drive an expensive car. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy my two bedroom duplex and my pickup truck. I do get to spend a week in the summer on vacation with my son taking in a few major league baseball games. I am able to provide him with the essentials in life in order to give him the opportunity to succeed in life. I can take him to the doctor if he gets sick. I can work without the fear of unfair reprisals just because I don’t make the boss’s projections. I have the benefit and support of a union to cope with these issues and that gives me a piece of mind that allows me to have a better life outside of work. I have a few neighbors that worry about their pay, benefits, and working conditions quite frequently. I also wanted to educate my customer about a few statistics of my union to further illustrate my point of why a union is good for people. My union is democratic in the fact that no one is forced to join. It is an open union in where people only join if they want to. At last count my union was 93 percent organized. Not a bad number considering it is voluntary. As a shop steward I am required to give members and non members the same treatment and defense of the contract for them. I have defended non-members and I try to give it my best because I want them to know that no matter what I am there for them. After all, if I didn’t defend a non-member then I would not be a good steward. Non-members get the same pay and benefits as union members. Now if a person doesn’t have to join and we are 93 percent organized that would say to me that the union provides a valuable service to all. I also wanted to point out that since the inception of collective bargaining for my union in the early 1970s postal managers and supervisors have petitioned Congress over 80 times to introduce a bill into Congress allowing them to have a union to protect managers and supervisors. If managers want a union then why is it such a problem for the rank and file? I am going to give you another word: "Union - an association of persons, parties, or states for mutual assistance and protection." History has a tendency to repeat itself. Our great nation was founded on many of the principles and beliefs of a union. The forefathers of our country created this nation because of the abuses they suffered at the hands of people who thought they were better than others. This country was created in order to protect the rights of all people and defend their ability to find a better life for themselves and their families. They were tired of being persecuted by intolerant leaders of religious sects and countries who wanted to suppress them in one fashion or another. I am glad that I am in a union that will protect me. If it is not right for one person then it is not right for all. Our forefathers said it best in the Constitution of the United States when they said “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” There is nothing in the basic principles of a union that is not right or just for everyone. If there was not a need for unions then I submit that they would not exist. Our founding fathers thought it was important to have a union to protect a nation.

Thank You I recently spoke with a carrier in the union office about a grievance that just came back from the Step B Team. I informed him that his Letter of Warning was expunged from his record. He said Thank You and then he paused for a few seconds. I thought it was very nice of him to do that. After his pause he went on to say, "I am happy at the results and I am glad that you and the Branch President did an outstanding job on my case and it showed. Now we can move on." There are times when as a steward I have been a little frustrated. As a steward you eventually bang heads with more than a few people. You have to file grievances and that means you deal with managers who are difficult, at best. You know that a manager will violate the contract and when you sit down to have an informal-A meeting with them you hear excuses that are not the reasons why they violated the contract originally. So you have to argue a case with incomplete information and for bogus causes too. Then there are times when carriers do things that do not help themselves. I know that carriers get tired of hearing their steward tell them things trying to help them out. There are not many times that a carrier will tell you that he has some peace of mind from your efforts. It is nice to hear a thank you, I admit. But I was really impressed with the fact that I was able to help a carrier have some peace of mind even in a small way. When that carrier said that the union helped him out and gave him that peace, I felt re-energized and remembered just why I continue to do my job as a steward. So as a steward I would like to say thank you to that carrier for reminding me why I am a proud union member.

You Have to Believe I grew up in an area of the country where unions were a normal part of the workforce. In the course of my life I worked in a supermarket, at a gunpowder plant, and rebuilt subways. In each of these industries they all had unions who represented the workforce. I was a member of United Food and Commercial Workers local 1262, International Laborers local 731, and United Steel Workers local 12882. These unions had common threads entwined into all of them. The first thing was a good livable wage. The second thing was a decent benefit package. The third thing was a family-like bond. The fourth thing was a sense of belief. The sense of believing was critical in my opinion. These union members believed that if they banded together they could accomplish something good. You had the chance of sustaining a job that you had pride in doing. The members believed that if they stood together that they could withstand the injustices that their employers sometimes would force upon them (i.e. lower wages, diminished benefits, and unjust firings or disciplines). I noticed that these union members believed that even though everyone lives separate lives, there were times that everyone would come together almost like a family. They would have union meetings, picnics, or other union functions in order to foster that family-like bond. These workers had common bonds and experiences. They endured the same issues at work (i.e. job conditions and the results they created). The members were able to compare what worked to help alleviate these problems. They had safety in numbers and believed that they could make life better for each other. I am not saying that union members need to have blind allegiance to each other. We have seen the results of this policy firsthand and know it doesn't work well. We will continue to have some differences, but we can deal with those internally. We can have a positive effect on the union front if we believe in the basic principles on being union members. We need to continue the defense of fair wages, benefits and working conditions. Our lives have been enriched and we enjoy what we currently have because people before us believed in these principles and they stood up for them. I guess that phrase, "He's not heavy he's my brother," has merit to it. Sometimes YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.