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North Carolina Letter Carrier
Welcome to The North Carolina Letter Carrier, the official website of the North Carolina State Association of Letter Carriers. Come on in and rest a spell here alongside the Information Highway. Each of the tabs to your left will open up a page to our site concerning a variety of issues that we hope will be of interest to our state's active and retired letter carriers.
DETOUR!
Sorry for the detour, but our address and our website have changed (we hope for the better). To visit our brand-spanking new website, click here. We hope you enjoy it.
--The North Carolina Letter Carrier Staff
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Unionists, Family and Friends Invited to Martin Luther King Holiday Parade
In the spirit of Martin Luther King's fight for justice, join us in the SAVE THE POST OFFICE Contingent in the Greensboro Martin Luther King Holiday Parade...
PURPOSE: Let's oppose all Wall Street efforts to turn the universal, public post office, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, into private corporations, only interested in the profits they can rip off of all of us. We will be marching in front of and leafleting some of the most supportive postal patrons. We can all help to keep the U.S. Postal Service a public service.
DATE AND TIME: Monday, January 16, 10:30 A.M.
PLACE: Benbow Professional Village on Martin Luther King Drive (on Route 421 just north of I-40).
LOCATION IN PARADE: The Save the Post Office Contingent is marching with the Communication Workers (CWA) and the N.C. Triad Jobs with Justice Chapter. Mention these groups to the NAACP monitors and they will give you the slot number for you to find and join our group.
BRING: Your union banners, jackets and hats, postal petitions, your enthusiasm and your fellow workers, neighbors and friends! We look forward to seeing you there on this exciting day!
In Solidarity,
Annie Woods, President, NALC "Howie Leff" Memorial Branch 936, High Point
Richard Koritz, NALC Area 4 Representative, NC Letter Carriers Executive Board
Endorsed by NALC Branch 630, Greensboro, with other endorsements pending
For more information: Contact Richard or Sandra at 336-272-2758 or Annie at 336-362-1559.
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As of January 2012, 217 Representatives in the House are now co-sponsors of HR 137. The latest North Carolina congressman to add his name to the list of co-sponsors is Rep. Brad Miller of the 13th District. HR 137 expresses the sense of the House that the USPS should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day mail delivery service. To see if your representative is a co-sponsor, go here. To contact your representative and urge them to co-sponsor HR 137, go here.
Activists Picket in Support of Post Office: Holiday crowds mailing last minute gifts at the Murrow Boulevard post office Dec. 20 were greeted by picket signs and fliers urging them to remember the importance of the U.S. Postal Service (Details on our NEWS page).
They Came with Signs Pleading to Save the U.S. Postal Service. Richard Koritz with the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 630, says there's no need for mass layoffs that could leave postal workers in a dire situation. For the news segment from WFMY TV, go here.
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POSTAL FACTS:
NALC President Fredric Rolando contributed an op-ed to The Orange County Register, one of California's largest newspapers and one of the top regional papers in the country, on Thursday, Dec. 29. It rebuts Rep. Darrell Issa's recent commentary piece on the Postal Service and takes on his legislative activities. For the letter, go to our e-ACTIVIST page.
The Dec. 15 New York Times leads its "letters to the editor" section with "The Future of America's Post Offices," consisting of five letters, four of which are highly favorable to our agenda. Also, President Rolando was a guest Dec. 14 on a Los Angeles-area radio station program. And an op-ed by a retired letter carrier in Maine was published in the Bangor Daily News on Dec. 13. Click here to read more.
Click here for a point-by-point guide to help you spread the truth about the Postal Service and the need for immediate congressional action.
Click here to find out how the NALC Communications Department can help you get the NALC's message out.
President Rolando's Rebuttal to an Article in the Economist Ran Sunday: Not only was it displayed prominently, it kicked off quite a discussion — including lots of support for the USPS. Also, an op-ed piece by President Rolando ran in Friday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a major regional newspaper read by every member of the Georgia congressional delegation and by business and civic leaders in Atlanta and other southern states. And an editorial in Thursday's Virginian-Pilot cites the congressionally mandated pre-funding requirement as the chief reason for the Postal Service's financial problems. Click here to read the op-ed, the editorial and more in POSTAL FACTS.
Postal Service is Protected by the U.S. Constitution: Buffalo-Western New York Branch 3 President Robert McLennan wrote a letter to the editor of the Buffalo News, in response to George Will's Nov. 28 column. The letter was published Dec. 4. Click here to read about it and more in POSTAL FACTS.
• Click here for a point-by-point guide to help you spread the truth about the Postal Service and the need for immediate congressional action.
• Click here to find out how the NALC Communications Department can help you get the NALC's message out.
Reduced Delivery Standards Will Harm USPS: NALC President Fredric Rolando responded to the Postal Service's announcement that it plans to reduce delivery standards with the following statement. "We are very concerned about the proposal to reduce delivery standards. High-quality service is essential to preserving the value of our networks and to any future growth strategy. Degrading standards not only hurts the public and the businesses we serve, it's also counter-productive for the Postal Service because it will drive more people away from using the mail. Changes in service need to be part of a coherent business plan that takes advantage of new opportunities, such as delivering the items people increasingly order online. We urge the Postal Regulatory Commission to review the proposal carefully and act to protect the long-term viability of America's Postal Service."
A Message From President Rolando:Modest Progress Leads to Extension on Contract Negotiations: I wanted to give you a brief report on the status of our contract negotiations with the Postal Service. Although we were not able to conclude a new agreement with postal management before the Nov. 20 deadline, enough progress was made to warrant an extension of our old contract until Dec. 7. For President Rolando's message, go to our NEWS page.
Rolando Holds Press Conference at National Press Club: NALC President Fredric V. Rolando held a well-attended press conference Monday (Nov.21) at the National Press Club in Washington. He announced a new approach to health benefits that would save the U.S. Postal Service $20 billion over a decade, and he also spoke more broadly about the need to develop a positive business plan for the future of the Postal Service. For President Rolando's remarks, go here.
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Contract talks extended into the new year: The National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service have agreed to extend the current round of contract negotiations until Jan. 20, 2012. The extension will allow the parties to continue to work on the important economic, health care, workplace and other contractual issues being discussed. “We are encouraged that progress is still being made and we want to take all the time necessary to reach an agreement that serves the interests of America’s city letter carriers,†NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “We are committed to achieving a win-win contract at this crucial time in the history of the Postal Service.â€
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Nathaniel Greene Branch 630 calls for a national rally and march of postal workers and their allies. You'll find details on our e-ACTIVIST page.
Also on our e-ACTIVIST page you'll find Branch 630's resolution demanding the replacement of Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.
NALC President Fred Rolando and Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe appeared on National Public Radio on the Diane Rehm show, Tuesday, September 27.
Thursday night, NALC President Fredric V. Rolando was again a guest on "Capital Insider" on Washington's NewsChannel 8. The program has a large audience in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia among federal employees, contractors and others involved with the federal government. If you missed it, an archived video of the Capital Insider show is typically posted online a day or so later at http://www.tbd.com/blogs/capital-insider.
Also, President Rolando recently was interviewed for the "America's Work Force" radio show. You can access archived podcasts of the program at http://awfradio.com/podcasts.htm.
Half-credit to “MSN Money” for Story on USPS Finances:"The United States Postal Service is in dire straits," begins a recent blog post on MSN Money—a promising start to a story about the USPS' financial problems that quickly devolves into a rote recitation of the conventional wisdom about why the Postal Service is in trouble—the usual stuff about how we're on track to lose $6.4 billion this year, and that it's all because of digital diversion, "skyrocketing" labor costs and what it refers to as an inefficient network (we call it "universal service") that doesn't make financial sense. But we kept reading, and we found that despite the early-on factual errors, the article does understand what the loss of postal services and the universal delivery network would mean to businesses. For the full story, click here.
NALC Vows to Oppose 5-day Delivery in Obama Plan: President Obama sent a deficit reduction package Sept. 19 to the special joint committee of Congress that was established by the debt limit law to find ways to reduce the federal budget deficit. The package included a number of reforms to address the financial crisis at USPS. "We are both encouraged and disappointed," NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said in a statement.
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From Our Executive Board:
(Click on tabs at left for these stories and commentaries)
President Cliff Davidson, Jr.--Fighting for Our Future."
Vice President Craig Schadewald--"Listen to Your Elders."
Director of Education Frank Vega--"You Are Suspended Until Further Notice."
Director of Retirees Wayne White--"Your NALC Health Benefits."
Area One Representative Bill Heidt--"Buyer Beware."
Area Three Representative Bob Wahoff--"The Time Has Come."
Area Four Representative Richard Koritz--"Postal Workers and Customers United to Save the Postal Service."
Treasurer Danny Straub's December Financial Report.
Plus:
George LeVander's Sandhill Sayings--"There's a Lot of Brass in These Golden Years."
From Editor Richard Thayer--"Health Care or Health Scare?"
This Quarter's Feature Story--"2012 Retiree of the Year John Walden is Not Quite Totally Retired."
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NALC Rap Session Wraps in Las Vegas
National Rap Session: On Sunday, October 16, NALC Presidents Emeritus James Rademacher, William Young and Vincent Sombrotto joined the union's national officers and about 1,500 branch and state leaders from around the country for a national meeting in Las Vegas to discuss bargaining for a new National Agreement as well as the many challenges facing the Postal Service. A detailed report on the meeting is coming soon.
Grow Business, Increase Revenue: NALC President Fredric V. Rolando led a letter carrier cheer at Sunday's rap session following his announcement that the union has hired restructuring expert Ron Bloom and the financial advisory firm Lazard to help the NALC guide the Postal Service away from its strategies designed to dismantle itself. "The combination of Bloom and Lazard gives us instant credibility in our good faith effort to engage the Postal Service and to develop winning strategies to grow the business and increase revenue," Rolando said. Click here to read The New York Times' coverage of the president's announcement.
Click here to read The Washington Post's report.
Read The Wall Street Journal's article,"Union Seeks Role in Postal Revamp," by clicking here.
"NALC Brings in the Big Guns" can be viewed here.
You can listen to NPR's report, "Letter Carrier Union Hires Former Obama Adviser," by going here.
The PRNewswire story, "Letter Carriers Bring in Top Financial and Policy Experts to Advise on Postal Reforms," can be viewed here.
Our thanks to New Bern letter carrier and Area One representative Bill Heidt for photos of the NALC rap session. Check them out by going to our NALC Rap page. Click tab at left.
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Eight North Carolina Lawmakers Co-Sponsors for H.R. 1351
Of the 216 House Co-Sponsors for H.R. 1351, 8 Are From North Carolina. They Are:
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (NC1)
Rep. Walter Jones, Jr. (NC-3)
Rep. Larry Kissel (NC-8)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
Rep. Brad Miller (NC-13)
Rep. David Price (NC-4)
Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11)
Rep. Melvin Watt (NC-12)
If one of these co-sponsors represents your district, please take time to thank them. If your representative isn't a co-sponsor, contact them and ask them to sign on.
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State Association Asking For Donations to Relief Fund
As many of you know, the North Carolina State Association of Letter Carriers has a relief fund set up for the state’s NALC members and their families in the event of natural disasters, such as fire, flooding and hurricanes. The fund pays up to $500 to help provide affected letter carriers with basic needs while they await their insurance settlements or assistance from the Postal Employees’ Relief Fund. We have been informed that in the wake of Hurricane Irene and appeals for aid, that the fund is running low. President Cliff Davidson, Jr. and the state executive board are asking for donations from individuals and branches to help replenish it for current and future aid. You may make out your check to the North Carolina State Association of Letter Carriers, mark it for the RELIEF FUND and send it to State Treasurer Danny Straub at 7 Meetinghouse Lane, Durham, NC 27707.
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News
President Obama Calls for Elimination of Six-Day Delivery: In his deficit-reduction plan detailed on Monday, President Obama put forth a comprehensive reform package aimed at restoring financial stability to the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service. The President's plan includes five proposals that would cut costs at the agency, which has said it could go bankrupt as early as next year if Congress doesn't intervene. Parts of the President's plan are expected to be widely agreed upon as necessary -- such as the restructuring of billions of dollars in payments to workers' retiree health benefits. But other elements, such as allowing the agency to move from six-day delivery to five, may draw less of a consensus. For the full story, click here.
Who Gets Hurt When the Post Office Closes? One of the main problems with closing thousands of post offices is that the cost and pain are not evenly distributed among the population of the country. Some people get hurt more than others. As with most government cutbacks, it’s the poor who get hurt the most. They’re the ones who live in low-income urban neighborhoods and hardscrabble rural areas where most of the closings are taking place. For the full story go here.
Privatization of US Postal Service could be costly: Unsurprisingly, the US Postal Service (USPS) has fallen under congressional crosshairs. Labeled obsolete, redundant and fiscally irresponsible, the postal service seems to be a poster child for failed agencies. Some members of Congress have called for its immediate privatization in the belief that the open market can offer the same services more efficiently and at a much lower cost to the consumer. What is not disclosed is that most of the USPS deficit is actually the result of Congress imposing a ridiculous mandate.
Postal Service Proposes Comprehensive Changes to Nationwide Infrastructure: The nation’s mail delivery service — facing mounting financial losses that may top $10 billion by month’s end — announced plans Thursday (September 15) to close hundreds of facilities that sort mail and prepare it for delivery, a move that could save USPS $3 billion annually. But the change could ultimately result in 150,000 layoffs and prolong the delivery of some first-class mail — a risky prospect in an age when Americans are growing accustomed to instant online deliveries and transactions. For more on this story, click here.
For the Postal Service's news release on this, go here.
Six Facilities in North Carolina to Be Studied as Part of Postal Service's Restructuring Move: The USPS announced on September 15 that it will be studying 250 facilities for possible closure. Among those are six in North Carolina. They are: the Asheville P&DF, Fayetteville Annex, Fayetteville P&DC, Kinston Annex, Kinston P&DF, and the Rocky Mount P&DF.
What's wrong with the Postal Service? How about what's wrong with the media? Trying to correct all the bogus postal stories being put out by the media and think-tanks is like playing a game of Whack-a-Mole, and it’s impossible to come out ahead. One day it’s the Congressional Research Service publishing a flawed report on the post office, then it’s the New York Times, and who can keep up with the Washington Post? Today comes a piece in the International Business Times (IBTimes), “What's Wrong With the U.S. Postal Service? Five Things to Know.” The piece is less than a thousand words, so how much can it get wrong? Turns out, nearly everything. Here are the five things “wrong with the US Postal Service” and the many things wrong with the article.
Former Postal Service Official Accused of Misconduct: Three weeks before he announced his resignation from the board that oversees the U.S. Postal Service, Alan Kessler was accused of misconduct for pressuring postal officials to scuttle a real estate dispute involving a long-time friend.
Kessler stepped down from the Board of Governors on July 31 after 10 years of service that included a term as chairman. His departure followed a five-month investigation by the Postal Service Inspector General that found his interference with a real estate deal the agency was negotiating in Sarasota, Fla., gave the appearance of a conflict of interest. Read the Federal Insider story here.
What Postal Service Can’t Win From Labor Unions It Hopes to Get From Congress: What the U.S. Postal Service can’t win at the bargaining table, it hopes to get in the halls of Congress. If it is successful, it would set a new stage in labor relations that would send shivers through labor organizations far removed from the post office. Read The Washington Post article by going here.
PMG Caves, DMA Wins, USA Loses: The Postal Service Withdraws Its Request For a Rate Increase: The mailing industry has won the battle over the “exigent rate increase.” The Postal Service will be withdrawing its request to the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase postage.
No one likes it when rates go up, but this announcement should make people mad as hell. The Postal Service is closing thousands of post offices, preparing to put hundreds of thousands out of work, and consolidating 500 large processing plants into 200. In the process, it is prepared to ruin the lives of millions of people — workers, their families, people living in cities where those big facilities are crucial, and folks in small towns and neighborhoods where a post office actually means something. For more on this story, go to Save the Post Office.
USPS Health, Retirement Plan Proposal Met With Skepticism: The U.S. Postal Service's proposal to pull out of federal health care plans would shift the bulk of nearly a half-million retirees' health care coverage onto Medicare. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe last week told a mail industry conference that the Postal Service currently isn't taking full advantage of Medicare. By offering its own health coverage, he said, the Postal Service could make Medicare the first option for its roughly 480,000 retirees, and the agency's self-run plan would be a backup. For the full story from The Federal Times, go here.
The USPS Stonewalls to Run Out the Consolidation Clock:If you’ve had a chance to read Craig O'Donnell’s “They’re Coming for Your Post Office,” the story of his efforts to save his post office in Still Pond, Maryland, you know how frustrating it can be trying to get documents from the Postal Service when you’re fighting a closure. Even the American Postal Workers Union can have trouble getting documents out of the Postal Service, and the APWU has just filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board protesting the Postal Service's failure to provide information about Area Mail Processing feasibility studies. For the full article, go to Save the Post Office.
Postal Allegations Made: Congressman Asks NLRB to Investigate: U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield is asking the National Labor Relations Board to investigate allegations of harassment involving a former Wilson supervisor of the U.S. Postal Service. Butterfield, in an Aug. 3 letter to the NLRB chairman, asked that the allegations, which include 10 formal complaints about Cinder Isreal from postal workers at various post offices in eastern North Carolina, be investigated and acted upon if found true. For details from The Wilson Times, see our NEWS page.
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Letter carriers’ annual food drive once again a success for the hungry: With hunger rising, and school food programs ending, effort will help feed needy families in all 50 states. In another successful nationwide food drive, the National Association of Letter Carriers collected 70.2 million pounds of food on May 14, at a time when hunger is a growing problem. For more on the food drive, go here.
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North Carolina Letter Carrier Relief Fund: In case you weren't aware of it, the North Carolina State Association of Letter Carriers has a relief fund for retired and active letter carriers and their families in the event of a disaster. Guidelines for seeking assistance are located on the NORTH CAROLINA LETTER CARRIER RELIEF FUND page (tab: NCSALC FUND).
Nature's fury: Letter carrier families have been affected by the recent floods and tornadoes in the Midwest and South, and "the NALC has confirmed at least 11 letter carriers in Joplin, Missouri, have lost their homes," President Fredric V. Rolando said, including Southwest Missouri Br. 366 President Tracy Parkes. We're now waiting on reports from carriers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. "Now is the time to help your brothers and sisters by giving to PERF, the Postal Employees’ Relief Fund, a helping hand in times of trouble." Find out how you can give to PERF here.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal notes that, as after many other disasters, the almost-immediate resumption of mail delivery is among the first signs that life is beginning to return slowly to normal in Joplin.
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Any branches notified that carriers' routes will be moving into another installation should notify Judy Willoughby, NBA. 954-964-2116
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Union Members: Experience all the action of NASCAR at special discounted prices! Right now UnionSmart.org is offering union members and their families 25% off premiere seating at Charlotte Motor Speedway...or...buy 2 tickets and get 2 FREE on select seats when you place your order at their online corporate rate link here. Offer Code: UNIONS.
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AFL-CIO NEWS
Tell Congress: Tax Wall Street to Heal Main Street: Our communities are devastated by foreclosures and unemployment. Corporate-funded politicians are gutting services and attacking worker rights, claiming our state and national governments are broke – while Wall Street and corporate CEOs are getting record bonuses and sitting on record cash reserves (and often paying little or nothing in taxes). Despite massive fraud and reckless greed that wrecked our economy, throwing millions of Americans out of work and out of their homes, not a single Wall Street "bankster" has gone to jail. The fight back is growing! For details, go to our e-ACTIVIST page.
U.S. Senators Will Get Social Security. Why Not the Rest of Us? Presidential wannabe Texas Gov. Rick Perry is having himself a hoot-n’-hollerin’ good time blasting Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and saying the nation’s most successful safety net will be bankrupt in years to come. But such an assertion is flat wrong, as pointed out by the Center for Economic Policy Research, which reports that the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show Social Security will remain fully solvent through 2038. For more on this, go here.
Why Do the Koch Brothers Want to End Public Education?Our friends at Brave New Films have produced a new film about an issue that hits close to home here in North Carolina – the effort to return Wake County Schools to the era of racial and economic segregation. This effort has been funded by local right-wing sugar daddy, Art Pope, with an assist from the infamous Koch Brothers and their corporate front-group, Americans for the Prosperous Prosperity. Their efforts began in North Carolina where, using the same language as Gov. George Wallace in the 60s, Koch-supported school board members attempted to make "segregation always" a policy for tens of thousands of families. We can't let the Koch brothers ruin an equal opportunity for all. We've partnered with the Advancement Project, People for the American Way, Center for Social Inclusion and African American Ministers in Action to take action and spread this important investigation around.
Watch the video, then take action. Call David Koch at his Manhattan office at 212-319-1100 and tell him to "stop funding school resegregation now."
Jobs, Justice and the American Dream: On Friday, August 26, the AFL-CIO hosted the Jobs, Justice and the American Dream Symposium in Washington, DC featuring panels of civil rights activists, modern-day worker activists, elected leaders, academics and young people. To see the highlights of Friday's meeting, go here.
Perry, Kasich Deny Jobless Workers $731 Million in Jobless Help: Just in case anybody wondered if Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) give a whit about jobless workers in their states, we’ve got an answer. They don’t. Both let a Monday deadline pass [1] to apply for hundreds of millions of dollars—$555 million in Texas and $176 million in Ohio—in federal funds for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The money was part of the 2009 economic stimulus package. Details here.
Romney Embraces Bosses, ‘Right to Work’ for Less: Californian* Mitt Romney gave his anti-worker corporate backers a big boost when he spent yesterday in New Hampshire getting involved in the state fight surrounding “right to work” for less. Instead of talking about what working people want to hear—how every politician is going to create jobs—he’s spending his time with partisan political attacks that have no basis in economic reality. If he was focused on the economics, he’d realize that “right to work” for less lowers wages for everyone. In fact, the average worker in a “right to work” statemakes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). More information here.
Grandmothers Shame Republican into Holding Town Hall on Jobs: Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.), a tea party favorite, has steadfastly refused to hold a town hall meeting in Duluth, the largest city in his district. That is, until a group of activist grandmothers shamed him Tuesday into promising to hold a meeting to discuss jobs (see video).
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Richard Thayer,
Editor
Last updated: January 10, 2012
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