NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...

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NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
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NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
October 2019, Volume 110, No. 10
                                                          In This Issue                                 October 2019

The Postal Supervisor (ISSN 0032-5384) is printed         FEATURES
monthly, with a combined September/October
issue, by the National Association of Postal Su-
                                                            8 July Consultative          New Transportation Yard Visibility System,
pervisors (NAPS), 1727 King St., Suite 400,                     collapsed EAS-12 positions, confirmed mercury spills among items
Alexandria, VA 22314-2753; 703-836-9660; fax,                   discussed.
703-836-9665; website, www.naps.org; general
e-mail, napshq@naps.org. ©2019
                                                           10 August Consultative            Postal Pulse survey postcards, excessive
    Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, VA,                 heat while performing 3999s, collapsed EAS-12 positions among items
and additional mailing offices.                                 discussed.
    NAPS members receive The Postal Supervisor
as part of their membership dues. Members not
                                                           21 2019 Vince Palladino Scholarship Winners                       This year’s
receiving the publica-                                          10 scholarship winners are announced.
tion on a regular basis                                    22 Legislative Report Card           A comprehensive chart lists all House
should notify their
                                                                members and which resolutions and legislation they support that are
branch secretaries. Non-
member subscription                                             beneficial to NAPS members and the Postal Service.
                             www.naps.org
price: $25 per year.                                       28 From Legislation to Regulation: Newest PRC
                                  Objective                     Commissioners Discuss Their New Roles NAPS Director
     Submissions—
Articles submitted for       The objective of the Asso-         of Legislative & Political Affairs Bob Levi interviewed newly appointed
publication should           ciation shall be to pro-           PRC Commissioners Ann Fisher and Ashley Poling for his Sept. 12 NAPS
promote the welfare of       mote, through appropriate          Chat podcast.
NAPS and its members
in accordance with           and effective action, the     31 2020 NAPS National Convention Committees                            March
Article II of the NAPS       welfare of its members,            31, 2020, is the deadline for receipt of members’ self-nomination forms to
Constitution & Bylaws.       and to cooperate with the          serve on a national convention committee.
The NAPS resident offi-      USPS and other agencies
cers reserve the right to
edit all articles, as well   of the federal government    RESIDENT OFFICERS
as decline to publish        in a continuing effort to
submitted material.          improve the service, to
                                                            3 A ‘Law’ Time Coming! Brian J. Wagner
Branch officer articles      raise the standard of          4 NAPS’ DDF Is Your Best Defense Ivan D. Butts
must be not more than
350 words. Send all arti-    efficiency, and to widen       6 Survey Says … Employee Satisfaction? Chuck Mulidore
cles to NAPS Secretary/      the field of opportunity
Treasurer Chuck Muli-        for its members who make     COLUMNS
dore at naps.cm@naps.        the Postal Service or the
org.
                             federal government their
                                                           20 Legislative Update Bob Levi
     Reprint requests
and other correspon-         life work.                    36 The NAPS Postmaster Joe Bodary
dence may be ad-
dressed to Karen Young; phone/fax, 540-636-               DEPARTMENTS
2569; kbalentyoung@gmail.com.
     High-resolution photos may be e-mailed                11 NAPS Training Calendar
to kbalentyoung@gmail.com. Please include
your non-USPS e-mail. NAPS neither assumes
                                                           14 NAPS of Note
responsibility for the contents of the articles            18 Views from the Vice Presidents Marilyn Walton
published herein, nor does it necessarily agree
with the opinions expressed. Moreover, opin-               32 2020 NAPS National Convention Delegate Credential
ions expressed by an author do not necessarily                  Form
reflect the opinions of the author’s branch.
                                                           33   2020 Self-Nomination National Convention
    Advertising—Advertising inquiries should                    Committee Request Form
be directed to Karen Young; phone/fax, 540-
636-2569; kbalentyoung@gmail.com.                          34   2019 SPAC Contributors
    The publication of any advertising herein              35   SPAC Scoreboard
does not necessarily constitute NAPS endorse-
ment of the products or services offered.                  37   Louis M. Atkins Presidential Student Scholarships
    Postmaster—Please send address labels,                 38   Thoughts from the NAPS Branches Reginald Gramblin
clipped from undeliverable copies, along with
                                                                Thrift Savings Plan August 2019
USPS Form 3579, to The Postal Supervisor, 1727
King St., Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22314-2753.            39   Notes from the National Auxiliary Skip Corley
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
Commentary
          from the Resident Officers

       A ‘Law’ Time Coming!
                or some, it has been a long time, or law time,       unanimously recommended by the three-member

       F        coming that the National Association of Postal
                Supervisors has taken legal action to challenge
                the Postal Service’s violation of 39 U.S.C. §§
       1003 and 1004 (Title 39) in relation to EAS pay and
       representation of all EAS employees. Here’s the scoop!
                                                                     fact-finding panel.
                                                                          Following our legal counsel’s close review of the
                                                                     Postal Service’s decision, NAPS concluded that the de-
                                                                     cision did not adhere to the specific statutory require-
                                                                     ments of Title 39 that require the USPS to: 1) Provide
            On July 26, 2019, NAPS’ Executive Board, by unan-        for an EAS pay package comparable to the private sec-
                               imous vote, authorized our associ-    tor; 2) Provide a reasonable pay differential to those
                               ation to initiate legal proceedings   supervised at the craft level; 3) Attract and retain qual-
                               against the USPS in federal court     ified EAS employees; and 4) Provide for a well-motivat-
                               in Washington, DC, to pursue all      ed EAS workforce.
                               declaratory and injunctive relief          Second, Title 39 clearly states that NAPS may repre-
                               necessary on three legal issues re-   sent all Postal Service supervisory and other manageri-
                               lated to violations of Title 39: 1)   al personnel, except postmasters, when certain criteria
                               EAS pay; 2) Representation of         are met. NAPS concluded that the Postal Service, in vi-
                               USPS Headquarters and area office     olation of Title 39, failed to recognize NAPS as the rep-
                               EAS personnel; and 3) Recognition     resentative of all USPS EAS Headquarters and area per-
Brian J. Wagner                of NAPS as a postmaster’s organi-     sonnel and to consult with NAPS on their pay and
President                      zation.                               benefits before issuing the final pay decision.
                                   Before the close of business on        Third, per 39 U.S.C. § 1004(i)(4), when a postal
       July 26, NAPS filed the respective lawsuit. The follow-       management association represents at least 20% of
       ing provides an overview of what precipitated our cur-        postmasters, the association may petition the USPS to
       rent legal action against the USPS:                           be recognized as a postmaster’s organization. As of
            First, a year earlier in July 2018, NAPS requested       mid-2018, more than 20% of postmasters were NAPS
       that the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service           members, leading NAPS to petition the USPS on Oct.
       (FMCS) hold a fact-finding proceeding regarding the           1, 2018, to recognize NAPS as a postmaster’s organiza-
       USPS’ final 2016-2019 pay package for Field EAS em-           tion.
       ployees. The fact-finding hearing took place in Decem-             The Postal Service denied NAPS’ representation pe-
       ber 2018. At the hearing, NAPS contended that the             tition in February 2019. This decision prompted NAPS,
       USPS’ final EAS pay decision did not meet the require-        in its lawsuit against the USPS, to seek a court order di-
       ments of Title 39.                                            recting the Postal Service to recognize NAPS as a right-
            The FMCS fact-finding panel concurred with NAPS          ful representative of postmasters for pay and benefits
       on nearly all the issues raised. The panel held that the      consultation.
       Postal Service’s Pay-for-Performance (PFP) system was              The FMCS fact-finding panel agreed with NAPS that
       seriously flawed, the supervisor differential was not cal-    the USPS pay system for managers and supervisors is se-
       culated properly, PFP does not attract and retain quali-      riously flawed and fails to meet the expectations of the
       fied EAS employees and overtime and locality pay              law. Given the USPS’ continued resistance to the pay
       need to be addressed.                                         administration requirements of Title 39, its failure to
            The panel recommended that NAPS and the USPS             recognize NAPS as the representative of all EAS person-
       form a workgroup with a mediator and a pay-compen-            nel (field, area and Headquarters) and its refusal to rec-
       sation expert to help resolve these issues. Despite these     ognize NAPS as a postmaster’s organization, NAPS had
       definitive findings, the Postal Service disregarded most      no choice but to seek the legal relief to which all super-
       of them and issued its final May 15, 2019, pay deci-          visors, managers and postmasters are entitled.
       sion that denied EAS personnel the pay improvements                                                      Continued on page 5

                                                                                                The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 3
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
NAPS’ DDF Is Your Best Defense
               he adage “The best defense is a good offense”          have a positive result from the DDF process.

        T      has been applied to many fields of endeavor, in-
               cluding games and military combat. It also is
               considered the strategic offensive principle of
       war. Generally, the idea is that proactivity (a robust of-
       fensive action), instead of a passive attitude, will preoc-
                                                                          So, let’s look at the numbers from NAPS’ FY19 re-
                                                                      garding DDF. For tracking purposes, NAPS’ fiscal year
                                                                      runs June 1 through May 31. For FY19, the NAPS DDF
                                                                      provider represented members in 114 total cases. The
                                                                      “NAPS FY19 Total DDF Cases” graph identifies 75% (85)
       cupy the opposition and ultimately hinder its ability to       of those cases were designated for MSPB, 20% (23) cases
                            mount an opposing counterattack,          were assigned to DCA and 5% (six) cases were assigned
                            leading to a strategic advantage.         to the ELM 650 hearing process.
                                I apply this adage to NAPS’ Dis-          Yearly, cases heard in the ELM 650 hearing process
                            ciplinary Defense Fund (DDF) ad-          are the smallest part of NAPS’ DDF effort. However,
                            vocacy. On May 30, 2019, NAPS             they are the costliest—career-wise—for those members
                            completed its first full fiscal year of   who do not have MSPB appeal process rights. Despite
                            advocacy under the leadership of          this, in FY19, NAPS settled 60% (three) of these cases.
                            the Labor Rela-
                            tions Admin
                            Group LLC
Ivan D. Butts               (LRAG). After
Executive Vice President    decades of fee-free
                            advocacy for NAPS
       membership provided by Scialla Asso-
       ciates, headed by Charlie Scialla, NAPS
       made the transition to LRAG effective
       Jan. 1, 2018.
           Headed by Al Lum, LRAG has im-
       plemented a smooth transition in ad-
       vocating for NAPS members. Our ad-
       vocacy has been strengthened through
       the addition of several advocates who
       have tremendous knowledge, skills
       and abilities in USPS policies and pro-
       cedures and advocacy. Al has made
       himself available to NAPS members via
       phone calls and emails, as well as at
       NAPS training seminars throughout
       the country.
           This level of advocacy has allowed
       NAPS to remain proactive in present-
       ing an affirmative defense for its mem-
       bers. What also helps in this effort is
       the excellent work being done by local
       NAPS advocates in cases at the initial
       level. You are making my battle cry in
       advocacy a reality—that is document,
       document, document. The better the
       level and quality of documentation
       you submit with your cases puts NAPS
       in the most advantageous position to

 4 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
In the MSPB arena in FY19,           100% free representation to its mem-     members in the field of MSPB. The
NAPS brought 75 cases before the         bers through the NAPS DDF.               chart speaks for itself regarding those
administrative judges overseeing this        The last area of data I would like   allegations.
process. I want to point out this is     to summarize is the types of cases           In solidarity …
the average number of cases quoted       (see “DDF Case Types” chart) being al-               naps.ib@naps.org
to NAPS by Charlie Scialla (see “NAPS    leged by the USPS against NAPS
FY19 Total MSPB Cases” graph). De-
spite NAPS’ overall success in repre-
senting members with an 8% (six)         A ‘Law’ Time Coming!                     would be an injustice to our mem-
loss rate compared to the approxi-       Continued from page 3                    bers by denying them their statutory
mately 82% loss rate across all appel-       In its lawsuit against the Postal    consultation rights to pay, benefits
lants—all agencies going before the      Service, NAPS is urging the court to     and appropriate representation.
MSPB courts—NAPS continues to see        direct the USPS to: 1) Implement the     Until the USPS agrees to uphold
a reliable and robust DDF in fighting    fact-finding panel’s entire April 30,    NAPS’ positions in the three areas
for its members.                         2019, findings and recommenda-           addressed here, we will remain deter-
    I have heard comments about          tions; 2) Acknowledge NAPS’ right to     mined to exercise our rights under
the cost of NAPS’ DDF versus other       represent all EAS employees—field,       the law and seek a final resolution
associations’ costs doing similar        area and Headquarters personnel;         for our members through the federal
work. So, for the record, in FY19,       and 3) Recognize NAPS as an official     court.
NAPS represented EAS members in          postmaster’s organization, entitled          I, too, will remain determined
114 various DDF cases at an average      to represent postmasters in pay and      and provide you with my ice-cream
cost of $2,475 per case, paid by         benefits at consultation.                flavor-of-the-month recommenda-
NAPS. So, despite the changing               NAPS is not willing to concede       tion for October: strawberry lemon
times and changing our DDF               its members’ rights as established       cheesecake!
provider, NAPS continues to provide      under the law. To do otherwise                     naps.bw@naps.org

                                                                                          The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 5
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
Survey Says … Employee
        Satisfaction?
                 uring my more than 30 years with the U.S.          health care, with the importance of retirement bene-

        D        Postal Service—20-plus of those years as an
                 EAS employee at various levels of manage-
                 ment—I have heard about employee satisfac-
        tion. From the “voices” we used to hear to today’s con-
        cept of “engagement,” the USPS claims that customer
                                                                    fits rising with the age of employees
                                                                         3. Compensation/pay
                                                                         4. Opportunities to use skills and abilities, and
                                                                         5. Feeling safe in the work environment.
                                                                         I can’t say that I disagree with any of those top
                              satisfaction is the critical piece    five. The basis of the lawsuit NAPS has filed against the
                              necessary for its long-term sur-      USPS deals largely with pay, benefits and job security.
                              vival.                                And who can argue with the next five most-important
                                   While customer satisfaction is   factors affecting employee satisfaction based on the
                              important, the quality of EAS work    SHRM survey?
                              life, or “engagement,” has not             6. The employee’s relationship with their immedi-
                              been a factor senior USPS leader-     ate supervisor
                              ship has ever seriously addressed.         7. Management recognition of employee job per-
                              There is ample evidence that many     formance
                              visionary companies promote em-            8. Communication between employees and senior
Chuck Mulidore                ployee satisfaction as the key to     management
Secretary/Treasurer           their survival. The theory is that         9. The work itself, and
                              when employees are well motivat-           10. Autonomy and independence in the employ-
        ed, they naturally will take care of their customers.       ee’s job.
            “My philosophy is put your employees first, your             Thus, we see that employees across the spectrum
        customers second and your investors third and, in the       seek good pay, job security, clear communication with
        end, everyone will be happy.” Such is the business phi-     their leaders and recognition of job performance,
        losophy of Sir Richard Branson, entrepreneur and busi-      among others, as critical components of engagement
        ness leader and CEO of the Virgin Group. Obviously, we      and satisfaction. Perhaps most telling are the factors
        know this is not the business philosophy of the USPS as     that were not strongly connected to employee satisfac-
        has been measured over the
        years and is reflected in today’s
        bottom-dwelling employee sat-
        isfaction scores in Gallup’s em-
        ployee engagement surveys.
            In the interest of discover-
        ing what employees seek in
        terms of satisfaction at work, I
        referenced a 2009 survey by the
        Society for Human Resource
        Management (SHRM). This
        study looked at 24 factors that
        regularly are thought to relate to
        employee satisfaction. Interest-
        ingly, the study found that em-
        ployees identified the following
        five factors as most important:
            1. Job security
            2. Benefits—especially

 6 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
tion based on the SHRM survey, yet       more interest in career and profes-
seem to be of great focus in the         sional development. While NAPS               The Postal Supervisor
Postal Service today:                    completely supports the career and           2019 Production Schedule
     • The organization’s commit-        networking conferences being held                           Copy
                                                                                      Issue          Deadline*       Mails
ment to a green workplace                throughout the Postal Service, it’s
                                                                                      NOV            SEPT 26         OCT 22
     • Networking opportunities          quite clear that, in general, employees      DEC            OCT 23          NOV 19
     • Career development opportuni-     are not focused on career develop-           JAN 20         NOV 25          DEC 19
ties                                     ment as a measure of job satisfaction.       FEB            JAN 2           JAN 28
     • Paid training and tuition reim-       NAPS reminds the Postal Service          *Copy must be received by this day; see
bursement programs, and                  that it’s the EAS employees who en-          page 2 for submission information.
     • The organization’s commit-        sure the mail moves each day by
ment to professional development.        making countless decisions in the         reviewed: Pay EAS employees fairly
     While I support employees hav-      face of endless telecons, layers of re-   by eliminating the PFP system, let us
ing the opportunity to improve their     dundant reports and reporting re-         do our jobs, recognize our work and
work lives through promotion, we         quirements that hinder—not facili-        talk to us with the respect we de-
know that, in today’s Postal Service,    tate—the movement of America’s            serve, but so often never receive. Do
many employees no longer are seek-       mail. We do all this, despite what        these things and the employee satis-
ing advancement into management.         often seems like the Postal Service’s     faction measurements will take care
Perhaps, if senior USPS leadership       efforts to get in our way.                of themselves and our customers will
took care of numbers 1 through 10 in         So, here are my recommenda-           reap the benefits.
the SHRM survey, there would be          tions after all the surveys have been              naps.cm@naps.org

                                 NAPS Member Percentage Report
                                                      July 2019

                                                                                              The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 7
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
July 15 Consultative

New Transportation Yard Visibility System,
Collapsed EAS-12 Positions, Confirmed
Mercury Spills Among Items Discussed

P
          resident Brian Wagner, Ex-         current pilot at the Atlanta NDC does            NAPS escalated this appeal issue to
          ecutive Vice President Ivan        not affect the Trips on Time indicator.          the respective USPS area office, but
          D. Butts and Secretary/Trea-       Trips are scheduled to leave at a specific       received no response.
          surer Chuck Mulidore at-           time in order to arrive before the critical          NAPS asked whether the district,
tended the July consultative meet-           time entry at the destination P&DC for           in this case, was correct in not grant-
ing. Executive Board Chair Tim Ford          mail to be processed and delivered in a          ing any appeal rights.
attended via telecon. Representing           timely manner.                                       Grievances of individual employees
the Postal Service were Bruce Nichol-             If trips are held at the origin facility,   shall not be matters that may be in-
son, Phong Quang and Henry Bear,             the risk of failing containers and, possi-       cluded as agenda items for consulta-
USPS Labor Relations Policy Admin-           bly, full loads of mail is increased sig-        tion.
istration.                                   nificantly. Many trips also have addi-
                                             tional stops en route to their final             Agenda Item #3
Agenda Item #1                               destinations, as well as scheduled trips              On May 15, 2019, the USPS is-
    NAPS has received numerous               to Surface Transfer Centers where con-           sued the “final decision concerning
concerns over the new Transporta-            tainers are transferred to other trailers        changes in pay policies, schedules
tion Yard Visibility System (YV) cur-        awaiting transportation to other desti-          and fringe benefit programs for Field
rently being pilot-tested at the At-         nations. Employees may believe that              Employee and Administrative Sched-
lanta NDC. There are concerns                holding a truck to ensure every piece of         ule (EAS) employees.” Included in
regarding the mandate for no late-           mail gets on the truck is the right thing        this policy was collapsing EAS-12 po-
departing trips.                             to do. However, this increases the               sitions:
    NAPS has been informed that              chance of failing every piece of mail on              7. Position Upgrade
EAS employees are being instructed           that truck.                                           “The salary schedule of EAS-12
to dispatch these trips empty, de-                There is limited data available at          will be collapsed, and the position of
spite having mail staged for loading         this time on this pilot at the Atlanta           Administrative Assistant (FLD) EAS-
on the trailers. NAPS has been ad-           NDC.                                             12 (OCC Code 0318-0007) will be
vised this is resulting in extra trips                                                        upgraded to EAS-15. Incumbents in
having to be called to dispatch mail         Agenda Item #2                                   this position will receive a 2% basic
that should/could have been loaded               NAPS has been made aware of an               salary increase. The increase is ad-
on the scheduled transportation.             issue where the USPS informed a                  justed higher, if necessary, to bring
    NAPS asked for a briefing on the         non-veteran, preference-eligible EAS             the salary to the minimum of the
pilot and the data on all transporta-        employee in a written proposed re-               new grade. The increase is adjusted
tion loads and dispatch information          moval that, because they had been                lower, if necessary, to keep the salary
for the Atlanta NDC pilot site.              an EAS employee for less than one                from exceeding the maximum of the
    Veronica Hale, manager, Visibility       year, they did not have any appeal               higher grade.”
Business Systems, and Jason Tamayo,          rights. The EAS employee was not                      Collapsing the EAS-12 positions
senior Visibility Program specialist, pro-   granted Merit Systems Protection                 impacted current administrative as-
vided the overview. The current Yard         Board (MSPB) rights or rights to an              sistants (FLD) EAS-12 (OCC Code
Management System (YMS) is outdated;         ELM 650 hearing.                                 0318-0007), resulting in an upgrade
the new system, the Transportation               Local NAPS representatives dis-              to EAS-15. NAPS requested a time
Yard Visibility System (YV), is a compo-     cussed this lack of appeal rights with           frame for when these administrative
nent of IV—integrated visibility. The        the respective district to no avail.                                 Continued on page 16

8 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
NAPS' DDF Is Your Best Defense - October 2019 - National Association of ...
Aug. 14 Consultative

Postal Pulse Survey Postcards, Excessive Heat
While Performing 3999s, Collapsed EAS-12
Positions Among Items Discussed

P
        resident Brian Wagner, Ex-        other managerial employees.” NAPS            truck to ensure every piece of mail gets
        ecutive Vice President Ivan       noted the USPS did not afford the as-        on the truck is the right thing to do, but
        D. Butts and Secretary/Trea-      sociation direct participation in the        this increases the chance of failing every
        surer Chuck Mulidore at-          initial development of the YV pro-           piece of mail on that truck.
tended the August consultative            gram as outlined in 39 U.S. Code §
meeting. Representing the Postal Ser-     1004(b).                                     Agenda Item #2
vice were Bruce Nicholson, Phong               The Postal Service notified NAPS re-        On July 15, 2019, NAPS inquired
Quang and Henry Bear, USPS Labor          garding implementation of the YV pilot       about directions received from USPS
Relations Policy Administration.          on March 15; a briefing was provided         Headquarters on the use of personal
                                          during July’s consultative meeting. Dur-     time that NAPS believes was in viola-
Agenda Item #1                            ing July’s meeting, the Postal Service re-   tion of Postal Service policies and
     NAPS has received numerous           sponded that this pilot does not affect      procedures.
concerns over the new Transporta-         the Trips on Time indicator or any other         On July 26, 2019, the USPS re-
tion Yard Visibility System (YV) cur-     NPA indicators. Therefore, another           sponded with the policy and proce-
rently being pilot-tested at the At-      briefing on this pilot to reaffirm that it   dure that cover the use of personal
lanta NDC. There are concerns             does not impact NPA serves no purpose.       leave for nonbargaining employees.
regarding the mandate for no late-             The YV system is a replacement/en-      However, the USPS did not affirm
departing trips.                          hancement to the Yard Management             this issue was addressed with the
     NAPS has been informed that          System (YMS) and provides visibility to      USPS manager whose action violated
EAS employees are being instructed        the transportation functions, such as al-    USPS policies and procedures.
to dispatch these trips empty, de-        lowing users to see what is in the yard,         NAPS asked if the respective
spite having mail staged for loading      just as Surface Visibility. The system       USPS manager was given proper
on the trailers. NAPS has been ad-        does not make decisions, such as direct-     guidance to adhere to USPS policies
vised this is resulting in extra trips    ing drivers to depart to destinations.       and procedures.
having to be called to dispatch mail           As stated during the July consulta-         Grievances of individual employees
that should/could have been loaded        tive meeting, trips are scheduled to leave   shall not be matters that may be in-
on the scheduled transportation.          at a specific time in order to arrive be-    cluded as agenda items for consulta-
     While NAPS appreciated the           fore the critical time entry at the desti-   tion. The Postal Service, as a courtesy, is
process overview presented at the         nation P&DC for mail to be processed         open to discussing this matter outside
July consultative meeting, NAPS           and delivered in a timely manner. If         this forum.
asked for a briefing on the opera-        trips are held at the origin facility, the
tional issues ultimately impacting        risk of failing containers and, possibly,    Agenda Item #3
the PFP Corporate indicators.             full loads of mail is increased signifi-         NAPS members have reported re-
     NAPS contends implementing           cantly.                                      ceiving a postcard from the USPS
such a pilot impacts the benefits of           Many trips also have additional         thanking them for participating in
EAS employees and, therefore, enti-       stops en route to their final destination,   the Postal Pulse survey. Some em-
tles NAPS to “participate directly in     as well as scheduled trips to Surface        ployees received the postcard with-
the planning and development of           Transfer Centers where containers are        out the benefit of completing the
pay policies and schedules, fringe        transferred to other trailers awaiting       survey.
benefit programs and other pro-           transportation to other destinations.            NAPS pointed out there are ap-
grams relating to supervisory and         Employees may believe that holding a         proximately 600,000 USPS employ-

10 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
NAPS Training
ees; according to recent Postal Pulse     concern for the health and welfare               Calendar
results, fewer than 40% completed         of EAS employees:
                                                                                     Central Region Training
the latest survey. NAPS asked why              “EAS employees should be taking
                                                                                     Oct. 4-5, 2019
the Postal Service mailed postcards       preventive measures similar to all
                                                                                     Conducted by: Central Region VP Craig
to more than 300,000 employees,           other employees on staying hydrat-
                                                                                     Johnson, Illini Area VP Luz Moreno, North
thanking them for taking a survey         ed and being attentive to signs of         Central Area VP Dan Mooney, Michiana Area
they did not take.                        overheating, whether it’s in the back      VP Kevin Trayer and MINK Area VP Bart
    NAPS contends that sending            of an LLV, on a dock or in any other       Green
such a mailing to approximately           scenario. Yes, it’s hot, but it’s also     Location: Hyatt Regency Bloomington near
                                                                                     Mall of America, 3200 East 81st St., Bloom-
225,000 employees who took the            hot for our carriers, mail handlers
                                                                                     ington, MN 55425; (952) 922-1234 or (800)
survey—and thought they were              and custodians cutting lawns.”             233-1234; the hotel offers a free, daily shut-
doing so anonymously—as well as                NAPS pointed out that it’s not        tle to and from the airport; parking at the
including 300,000 employees who           carriers, mail handlers or custodians      hotel is free. Room block cutoff is Sept. 1.
did not complete the survey, serves       sitting in the back of LLVs where          Hotel Rate: $109/one king or two queens;
                                                                                     $139/Regency Club one king or two queens;
to devalue the survey and the sincer-     temperatures can be hot enough to          $209/one king suite—tax is additional
ity of the USPS’ thank-you.               cook a steak. NAPS asked why these         Registration Fee: $135 until Sept. 1; $175
    NAPS asked what the cost was as-      inspections cannot be made regard-         thereafter. Fee includes Friday reception and
sociated with the Postal Pulse thank-     ing USPS policies and procedures           hospitality room, snack breaks, Saturday
                                                                                     lunch and training materials. Make checks
you postcard mailing.                     found in “Handbook M-41,” which
                                                                                     payable to NAPS Headquarters. Branch and
    The Postal Pulse postcard mailing     reads, in part:                            state presidents are asked to bring a $50
cost approximately $20,000. The Postal         “912—Frequency Counts of mail         gift item for SPAC.
Service sends the postcard to every       shall be conducted on one or more          Training Topics: Legislative advocacy, re-
postal employee because Gallup controls   routes when it is determined to be         tirement, OIG, financial controls, advocacy,
                                                                                     NPA, ELM 650, Delivery Management, mem-
the information regarding the individu-   operationally necessary. These in-
                                                                                     bership branch officer training, sexual ha-
als who completed the survey; it is not   spections will be conducted between        rassment, HERO profile, informed visibility,
shared with the Postal Service. The       the first week of September and May        attendance control and NAPS national offi-
Postal Service believes that exhibiting   31, excluding December. A physical         cers Q&A
common courtesy by saying “thank          inspection of the route shall be           Instructors: Resident officers, Kevin Trayer,
                                                                                     Dan Mooney, Glenn Smith, Esmeralda
you” to all employees, regardless of      made on one or more days during            Dominguez, Steve Dillard and others
whether one completes the survey, im-     the count week by a route examiner
proves the level of engagement.           who accompanies the carrier during         Eastern Region Cabinet
                                          his or her full tour.”                     Meeting
Agenda Item #4                                 NAPS asked that the USPS fol-         Jan. 16-19, 2020
    NAPS has received concerns            lows the policies and procedures in        Conducted by: Eastern Region VP Richard
about the excessive heat currently in     “Handbook M-41” in regard to phys-         Green, Capitol-Atlantic Area VP Troy Griffin,
the NAPS Southeast Area and the           ical inspection of the routes.             Pioneer Area VP Tim Needham and Mideast
                                                                                     Area VP Tony Dallojacono
USPS mandate for EAS employees to              “Handbook M-41,” City Delivery
                                                                                     Location: Tropicana Executive Conference
perform 3999s. This mandate is re-        Carriers’ Duties and Responsibilities,
                                                                                     Center, 421 NW Riverside Dr., Evansville, IN
quiring EAS employees to be in the        Section 912, outlines the frequency for    47708; (800) 544-0120
back of LLVs with no ventilation, no      mail counts and inspections determined     Hotel Rate: Tropicana—$129/night plus tax;
air conditioning and without the          by the Postal Service. This provision is   Le Merigot at Tropicana—$149/night plus
benefit of a fan available for carriers   not applicable to special route inspec-    tax. Use code “NAPS” for room rates.
to use in these non-air-conditioned       tions that may be requested by a regular   Registration Fee: $225 before Dec. 1; $250
                                                                                     after Dec. 1. Make checks payable to NAPS
vehicles.                                 city carrier in accordance with “Hand-
                                                                                     and mail to NAPS Branch 936, PO Box 478,
    NAPS’ concerns are based on           book M-39,” Management of Delivery         Newell, NC 28126-0478. Fees for meals
documented findings that recorded         Services, Section 271.g, which reads:      for guests without a registration is $25 a
temperatures in Florida are record-            “If over any 6 consecutive week pe-   day/breakfast, $30 a day/lunch and $50 for
                                                                                     a banquet ticket.
setting. NAPS has not received a re-      riod (where work performance is other-
                                                                                     Instructors: NAPS resident officers; NAPS
sponse from the USPS area on this         wise satisfactory) a route shows over 30   national officers will conduct panel discus-
issue. The response received from         minutes of overtime or auxiliary assis-    sions and Q&A sessions.
local leadership reflects a lack of       tance on each of 3 days or more in each

                                                                                           The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 11
week during this period, the regular car-     may call attention for individual street       justments would be processed in pay
rier assigned to such route shall, upon       supervision such as when overtime or           periods 15 and 16.
request, receive a special mail count and     auxiliary assistance is used frequently             On May 15, 2019, the USPS is-
inspection to be completed within 4           on a route.”                                   sued the “final decision concerning
weeks of the request. The month of De-             NAPS has expressed concerns about         changes in pay policies, schedules
cember must be excluded from consider-        supervisors’ exposure to heat during           and fringe benefit programs for Field
ation when determining a 6 consecutive        these route inspections; the safety of our     Employee and Administrative Sched-
week period. However, if a period of          employees is paramount. In keeping             ule (EAS) employees.” Included in
overtime and/or auxiliary assistance be-      with that priority, all employees are ex-      this policy was collapsing EAS-12 po-
gins in November and continues into           pected to comply with the Heat Illness         sitions:
January, then January is considered as a      Prevention Program (HIPP). The HIPP is              7. Position Upgrade
consecutive period even though Decem-         designed to educate our employees                   “The salary schedule of EAS-12
ber is omitted. A new 6 consecutive           about the effects of heat on the body,         will be collapsed, and the position of
week period is not begun.”                    outline the risk factors for heat-related      Administrative Assistant (FLD) EAS-
     The instance cited by NAPS and ad-       illness, promote recognition of symp-          12 (OCC Code 0318-0007) will be
dressed in a July 9 correspondence from       toms associated with heat-related ill-         upgraded to EAS-15. Incumbents in
senior leadership in the Suncoast District    nesses and provide guidance about              this position will receive a 2% basic
was in regards to a special route inspec-     when to seek help.                             salary increase. The increase is ad-
tion, not a mail count. Therefore, the             To that end, the HIPP requires an-        justed higher, if necessary, to bring
Postal Service’s actions are consistent       nual completion of a course on heat            the salary to the minimum of the
with its policies and procedures, specifi-    stress by all employees, regardless of job     new grade. The increase is adjusted
cally “Handbook M-39,” Section 271.g.         title, position duties, facility location or   lower, if necessary, to keep the salary
If NAPS has concerns with a response          frequency of exposure to heat. This            from exceeding the maximum of the
from district leadership, then the matter     course discusses the effects of heat on        higher grade.”
should be forwarded to the area Human         the body, outlines the risk factors for             Collapsing the EAS-12 positions
Resources manager for discussion.             heat-related illnesses and describes the       impacted current administrative assis-
     Overseeing carrier activities and        associated treatments.                         tants (FLD) EAS-12 (OCC Code 0318-
conducting route inspections are respon-           In addition to the annual training        0007), resulting in an upgrade to EAS-
sibilities of managers and supervisors.       course, all employees are provided with        15. NAPS requested a time frame for
District leadership, installation heads,      visual aids that are affixed to the win-       when these administrative assistants
managers and supervisors have a re-           dow of all postal vehicles and attached        will receive their upgrade, salary level
sponsibility to ensure that a PS Form         as laminated cards to ID badges that           increase and retroactive pay from the
3999, Inspection of a Letter Carrier          describe the various symptoms of and           January 5, 2019, effective date.
Route, is performed at least once per         proper first-aid responses to heat-related          Field EAS impacted by this up-
year and should plan to conduct these         illness and can be used to help guide de-      grade have reported that, as of pay
inspections throughout the year.              cisions to seek medical attention.             period 16, the adjustment had not
     Supervision of carrier activities is          The HIPP also encourages employ-          been made.
expected to be performed daily. The fol-      ees to take adequate precautions when               A response to this agenda item was
lowing are provisions from “Handbook          working in the heat. Potable water is          provided during the July consultative
M-39” that address street management:         available in all facilities and employees      meeting; processing those adjustments
     “M-39 134.11—Street Management           are encouraged to stay hydrated. The           has been consistent with that response.
is a natural extension of office manage-      Postal Service also advises employees to       Form 50 actions and payroll adjust-
ment. All carriers are to be notified to      err on the side of caution and call 911        ments have been completed for employ-
expect daily supervision on the street        immediately if they experience or wit-         ees formerly in the EAS-12 administra-
just as they receive daily supervision in     ness another employee exhibiting signs         tive assistants (FLD) position. If NAPS
the office.”                                  of heat-related illness.                       Headquarters is contacted by any em-
     “M-39 134.12—Accompanying car-                                                          ployee who claims a payroll adjustment
riers on the street is an essential respon-   Agenda Item #5                                 was not received, please obtain and re-
sibility of management and one of the            NAPS brought Agenda Item #3                 view the most recent earnings statement
manager’s most important duties.”             from the July consultative. It was             before forwarding to Labor Relations
     “M-39 134.13—Certain criteria            noted the USPS affirmed that pay ad-           Policy Administration for review.

12 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
Agenda Item #6                           case program as outlined in 39 U.S.             regarding its intent to pilot consolidated
    NAPS requested copies of the         Code § 1004(b).                                 casing in Annandale, VA, on May 18
performance data for the Annandale,           The initiative to test restructured        and has followed up with seven addi-
VA, Post Office to validate impacts to   city letter carrier assignments by using        tional correspondences in regard to that
NPA scores. In addition, NAPS re-        modified letter carrier case configura-         initiative.
quested the following:                   tions—consolidated casing—at the An-                 A minimal number of NPA perform-
    • The district ranking of the An-    nandale, VA, Post Office is related to          ance indicators for the Annandale Post
nandale, VA, Post Office before the      city carrier operations. There is no obli-      Office have achieved lower cell values
pilot test of casing multiple carrier    gation for the Postal Service to follow         since implementation of the pilot, but
routes in one case.                      the consultation process with its man-          those indicators did not have a direct cor-
    • The current district ranking of    agement associations on pilots related          relation with the pilot. Total Operating
the Annandale, VA, Post Office after     to work performed by bargaining-unit            Expense, an indicator that includes all
the start of the pilot test of casing    employees, similar to the Postal Service        expenses—not just expenses related to
multiple carrier routes in one case.     not being required to send Article 19 no-       the pilot—decreased in cell value. How-
    NAPS noted that it was not af-       tices to our unions for issues such as          ever, that decrease did not affect the NPA
forded the opportunity to directly       changes to supervisory position descrip-        composite performance summary. The
participate in developing and imple-     tions. However, Labor Relations provid-         Postal Service’s invitation to a site visit
menting the multiple carrier route       ed correspondence on April 15 to NAPS           and briefing on this pilot still stands.

  Take Stock of Your                               TSP Flexible Withdrawals Begin
  TSP Investments
      When it comes to investing,             Significant changes to TSP withdrawal rules went into effect Sept. 15, 2019:
  there’s no such thing as “set it
                                         New Flexible Withdrawals                      Former Rules
  and forget it.” Saving consistent-
  ly and staying the course have
                                         Any in-serve withdrawals you make have        Only one age-based, in-service with-
  proven successful for many in-
                                         no effect on the number of post-separa-       drawal or post-separation partial with-
  vestors like you. And it’s equally
                                         tion partial withdrawals you can make.        drawal allowed in a lifetime. Then, a full
  important to review your strategy
                                         You’ll be able to make partial with-          withdrawal election is required.
  every so often to make sure your
                                         drawals, even if you receive installment
  choices still align with your
                                         payments.
  goals.
      That means you should
                                         You never have to make a full withdrawal      A full withdrawal election is required the
  check your account distribution
                                         election. When you need to make IRS-          year you are separated and 701/2 or older
  and your contribution alloca-
                                         mandated required distributions (RMDs)        or your account becomes abandoned.
  tion, both available as conven-
                                         at age 701/2 and after, we’ll automatically
  ient pie charts in My Account and
                                         send you the right amount if you don’t
  on your statements. Then make
                                         withdraw enough during the year.
  sure those choices still work for
  your situation. Even if you don’t
                                         You can choose to withdraw traditional        All withdrawals include both traditional
  need to make a change, you can
                                         money only, Roth money only or a pro-         and Roth funds as a pro rata (i.e., propor-
  rest easy knowing you’re on the
                                         portional amount of both.                     tional) distribution.
  right track for you.
      And if you do decide to make
                                         You can request withdrawals easily using      Paper forms must be submitted by mail
  a change? You’ll find step-by-
                                         fast and secure online tools by logging       or fax to make or change a withdrawal
  step instructions on how to com-
                                         into My Account on tsp.gov.                   election.
  plete those requests under “On-
  line Transactions” when you log
                                         You can customize your installment pay-       Requests to change monthly installment
  into My Account.
                                         ments and change your payment fre-            amounts can be made only once each
      Learn about your “time hori-
                                         quency at any time as your needs              year during a designated open season.
  zon,” diversification and how to
                                         change. You can choose among monthly,
  meet your retirement needs on
                                         quarterly and annual installment options.
  tsp.gov.

                                                                                                   The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 13
NAPS of Note

The Great Lakes Area held its Heroes Career Confer-
ence in August. From left: Mike Melendez, Great
Lakes Area Operations Support manager; Pam Cun-
ningham, Great Lakes Area Human Resources man-
ager; Darrel Kordie and Esther Mendoza, Great
Lakes Area Employee Engagement Ambassadors;
and Luz Moreno, NAPS Illini Area vice president.

                                                      Attending Baltimore, MD, Branch 42’s an-
                                                      nual crab feast were, from left: NAPS
                                                      Eastern Region Vice President Richard
                                                      Green, Executive Vice President Ivan D.
                                                      Butts, former Eastern Region Vice Presi-
                                                      dent Dotty Wileman, Secretary/Treasurer
                                                      Chuck Mulidore and former Capitol-
                                                      Atlantic Area Vice President John Geter.

                                                          NAPS Pioneer Area Vice President
                                                          and Canton, OH, Post Office OIC
                                                          Tim Needham (left) attended the
                                                          grand opening of a new USPS Fi-
                                                          nance Unit in North Canton. Also at
                                                          the event was special guest Rep. An-
                                                          thony Gonzalez, former Ohio State
                                                          Buckeye and Indianapolis Colts foot-
                                                          ball player.

14 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
The Postal Service launched its new Su-
                                                                      pervisor Mentorship Program in New
                                                                      York. The New York District was chosen
                                                                      to pilot the new eight-month program
                                                                      in which supervisors will be mentored
                                                                      by members of the Greater Boston Dis-
                                                                      trict. The program aims to promote
                                                                      professional and personal development,
                                                                      reduce learning costs, increase produc-
                                                                      tivity and increase job satisfaction. Su-
                                                                      pervisors will meet and converse weekly
                                                                      with other mentees and reach out to
                                                                      their mentors, who will be monitoring
                                                                      their progress. From left: Irene Kearney,
                                                                      CX Support Team; Carrie Dittmer, CX
                                                                      improvement specialist; Imelda Bruce,
                                                                      director of CX & Strategy; Thomas
                                                                      Diefenbach, manager of CX Design &
                                                                      Strategy; Lorraine Castellano, manager,
                                                                      New York District; Jimmy Warden, NAPS
                                                                      New York Area vice president; Chatika
                                                                      Copeland, CX Process Improvement an-
                                                                      alyst; Michael Rakes, manager, Greater
                                                                      Boston District; Margaret Pepe, manag-
                                                                      er, Northeast Area Marketing; and Tom
                                                                      Hughes, NAPS New York City Branch
                                                                      100 president.

                                             Sacramento Branch 77 members and San Francisco Branch 88
                                             Auxiliary members represented NAPS at Rep. Mike Thompson’s
                                             (D-CA) annual pasta dinner in St. Helena, CA. Thompson (cen-
                                             ter) helped serve pasta. The event honored Thompson for his 28
                                             years of serving the community. Special guest speakers included
                                             House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Governor Gavin New-
                                             son. NAPS, NARFE and the postal unions meet often with Thomp-
                                             son to discuss postal legislation.

                                                                                From left: Representing
                                                                                NAPS were Patricia Grisby
                                                                                (Branch 77), Toni Walton,
                                                                                (Branch 77), Yunia Graham
                                                                                (Branch 88) and Barbara
                                                                                Kelly (Branch 77).

                                                              NAPS California State Area Vice
                                                              President Mariel Murillo met
                                                              Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) at his
                                                              town hall meeting in Riverside,
                                                              CA. Murillo had an opportunity
                                                              to discuss postal issues with the
                                                              congressman.

                                                                      Correction: In the September
                                                                      2019 Postal Supervisor maga-
                                                                      zine, page 10, James E. Park
                                                                      Jr. Northern Virginia District
                                                                      Branch 526 was misspelled; it
                                                                      should be James E. Parks Jr.
Heart of Illinois Branch 255 President Dan                            We apologize for the error.
Rendleman (right) and his wife Linda met
with Rep. Dan Bost (R-IL).

                                                                     The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 15
Attending the Greater Indiana
District Career Conference
were, from left: NAPS Central
Region Vice President Craig
Johnson, Secretary/Treasurer
Chuck Mulidore and Michiana
Area Vice President Kevin
Trayer.

                                                                                             On behalf of the NAPS Michiana
                                                                                             Area, Kevin Trayer presented an
                                                                                             award to Indiana District Manager
                                                                                             Todd Hawkins. From left: NAPS Fort
                                                                                             Wayne Branch 204 President Alice
                                                                                             Williams, Central Region Vice Presi-
                                                                                             dent Craig Johnson, Secretary/Trea-
                                                                                             surer Chuck Mulidore, Hawkins, Tray-
                                                                                             er, Indianapolis Branch 8 President
                                                                                             Monique Mosley, Indiana State
                                                                                             Branch 917 President Marcel Webb
                                                                                             and USPS HRSSC Manager Rochelle
                                                                                             Israel.

                                           pressure monitor that mailed from New        sion. Post office lobbies are the principal
July 15 Consultative
Continued from page 8                      York to the Arecibo Pueblo Post Office       business offices of the Postal Service.
assistants will receive their upgrade,     broke open at Arecibo. The facility was      While providing lobby assistance was
salary level increase and retroactive      closed that Friday afternoon and re-         added to the duties and responsibilities
pay from the January 5, 2019, effec-       opened Monday, April 15. An Emer-            for certain craft positions, customer
tive date.                                 gency Planning, Response and Recovery        service remains everyone’s responsibility.
    The Form 50 actions upgrading the      Services contractor was brought in to as-         When necessary, supervisors should
EAS-12 administrative assistants (FLD)     sess and remediate the spill. Communi-       conduct lobby sweeps for customers who
position to EAS-15 were processed in       cation was sent to local employee or-        are conducting nonrevenue transactions
pay period 13 of FY19. Processing of       ganization representatives by the            when lines are long due to retail associ-
the salary increases and retroactive pay   Northeast Area Office.                       ates conducting lengthy transactions.
as a result of the upgrade was done in                                                  Having frequent contact with the pub-
pay period 14. Employees should see        Agenda Item #5                               lic, providing information on postal
these adjustments reflected on their            On May 21, 2019, the USPS noti-         services and accepting mail at public
paystub in pay periods 15 and 16.          fied NAPS of changes to various craft        windows remain part of the supervisor’s
                                           positions. The changes included the          duties and responsibilities.
Agenda Item #4                             addition of lobby assistant and pass-             Lobby assistance is not a position,
    Other than the Pittsburgh NDC,         port duties to six identified craft po-      but, rather, duties in the lead SSA and
NAPS asked if there have been other        sitions. NAPS acknowledged this              SSA job descriptions. These duties
confirmed mercury spills in Postal         change and contends that EAS em-             should be performed by available SSAs.
Service facilities in the United States    ployees no longer should be man-             Prior to a supervisor providing assis-
and U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, Vir-    dated to complete lobby assistant            tance in the lobby, all clerks in the of-
gin Islands, Guam) in FY19.                duties due to the USPS formally des-         fice should be used (including using
    A spill occurred at the Arecibo        ignating this as a craft function.           overtime, as appropriate) at the window
Pueblo, PR, Post Office on Friday, April        Assisting our customers is an essen-    or as lobby assistants.
12, 2019. A parcel containing a blood      tial function of the Postal Service’s mis-

16 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
Views
      from the Vice Presidents

USPS Pacific Area Leadership Meeting
By Marilyn Walton                         by Coach Robert Mendez, JV
Western Region Vice President             football coach at Prospect
                                          High School in Gilroy, CA.

P
      acific Area Vice President          Mendez was born without
      Chuck Lum, California State         arms and legs; he gets around
      Branch 905 President Marilyn        on a special motorized wheel-
Jones and Secretary Bridget Evans         chair. He said that, through-
and I were invited to the USPS Pacif-     out his childhood and into
ic Area Leadership meeting at the         adult life, his motto has been,
USPS Santa Clarita Pro-                                “Who says I can’t!”
cessing Plant. USPS Pacific                                As a result of   From left: NAPS Pacific Area Vice President Chuck Lum, Cali-
Area Vice President of Op-                             hard work and        fornia State Branch 905 Secretary Bridget Evans, motivational
erations Larry Munoz and                               determination, as speaker Coach Rob Mendez, California State Branch 905 Pres-
                                                                            ident Marilyn Jones, Western Region Vice President Marilyn
his staff hosted the two-                              well as a love of    Walton and USPS Pacific Area Delivery Program Manager
day meeting.                                           people and foot-     Doug Smith.
    The Pacific Area and                               ball, he was hired
the Eastern Area are vying                             as a coach at Gilroy High        Mendez recently received ESPY’s
for the number-one posi-                               School. He uses his cell         Jimmy V Award for Perseverance and
tion in the nation. At the meeting,       phone to write plays for the team, as         has been featured on several sports
area management shared strategies         well as sign autographs. Mendez’              channels.
developed at their recent three-area      presentation started with a brief                 The NAPS Pacific Area officers
meeting in Chicago. Each year, be-        movie about his life at home and his          appreciated the invitation to attend
fore peak season, the Pacific, West-      work on the football field coaching           the area meetings. A lot of great in-
ern and Great Lakes areas meet to         his team.                                     formation was shared that we can
identify concerns that will impact            The entire presentation was so            take back and share with our mem-
processing, transporting and deliver-     inspirational. He was given several           bers. Munoz gave us time to address
ing mail among these crucial areas.       standing ovations and we all were             the managers and continues to
    Safety is the number-one issue;       cheering, “Who says I can’t!”                 thank us for our partnership.
reducing motor vehicle accidents is
priority. We were reminded there are
seven weeks before the start of Fiscal
Year 2020, so the Pacific Area goal
                                          Western Region Training
has reduced identified goals by 50%
during peak season. The Pacific Area
                                          Seminar
                                          T
currently is number one nationwide.             he NAPS Western Region team             sources HERO program. The pro-
    The recent Postal Pulse survey              hosted a two-day training semi-         gram’s intent is to track employees
was discussed. There was an increase            nar in Henderson, NV, in early          with online technology in all phases
in responses in the Pacific Area, but     August at the Sunset Station Hotel &          of their training, development, pro-
there needs to be a significant in-       Casino. National Secretary/Treasurer          motions and other aspects.
crease in participation to add value      Chuck Mulidore was our special                    We had a great presentation
to the survey and measure whether         guest. National Auxiliary President           from the Inspection Service. Acting
the employee engagement process is        Patricia Jackson-Kelley also attended.        Las Vegas District Manager Tracie
working.                                      Day 1 focused on postal training,         Hill-Sandifer had an outstanding
    One of the training highlights        including new USPS technology and             motivational presentation titled,
was an awesome motivational speech        the USPS Headquarters’ Human Re-              “Are You Up to the Challenge?” The

18 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
climb to success is hard, the chal-
lenges are many, but, in the end, we
all yelled back, “We are up to the
challenge!”
     The USPS Western Area Finance
Department sent a team of experts
to discuss the do’s and don’ts of
USPS financial accountability. The
feedback from attendees indicated it
was the best financial training they
have had. We also had presentations
about the FMLA and managing mul-               Las Vegas Branch 463 sponsored this year’s successful Western Region training seminar.
                                               From left: Pacific Area Vice President Chuck Lum, Branch 463 members Sherry Patterson,
tiple generations in the Postal Ser-
                                               Becky Jones, Evelyn Sjolie, Michell Brown, Jackie Clayton, David James, Cecilla Pelletier, Jerry
vice.                                          Wilfling, George Pixley, Rocky Mountain Area Vice President Myrna Pashinski, National Sec-
     Day 2 focused on NAPS represen-           retary/Treasurer Chuck Mulidore, Northwest Area Vice President Cindy McCracken and
tation training. The keynote presen-           Western Region Vice President Marilyn Walton.

ter was Jack Barry, a NAPS DDF                  Western Region vice president, who                job hosting two days of hospitality
provider. He was scheduled for three            was present. The plaques were found               parties. We also have to recognize
hours, but his presentation and fol-            recently in NAPS Headquarters’                    our hard-working volunteers on the
low-up questions lasted 41/2 hours.             archives of former national officers.             Registration, Sergeants-at-Arms and
We had discussions on ELM 650, me-              The plaques are being given to those              SPAC committees and the Auxiliary
diation, the Douglas Factors, debt              honored or their family members.                  team. Over $3,600 was raised for
collection and membership.                          Due to time constraints, we pro-              SPAC.
     Mulidore provided updated in-              vided handouts on bullying in the                     A special thanks goes to Rocky
formation on NAPS’ recently filed               workplace and involuntary reassign-               Mountain Area Vice President Myrna
lawsuit, which generated a lot of               ments, as well as my updated NAPS                 Pashinski whose area hosted this
questions and comments. He also                 Tool Kit. Our team presented as                   successful event. Her behind-the-
presented two plaques honoring                  much information as possible in the               scene efforts helped make sure the
Margarete A. Grant, which were ac-              two days. Feedback on our surveys                 event ran smoothly. Thanks to the
cepted by Glen Gray, vice president             was very positive.                                Western Region delegates for their
of the Margarete A. Grant Branch                    We had a lot of help from Hill-               attendance and support. We hope
(Oakland).                                      Sandifer and her management team.                 you enjoyed your time in Las Vegas!
     Mulidore also presented a plaque           Thanks to NAPS Las Vegas Branch
to Dorotha Bradley, former NAPS                 463 members, who did a fantastic

                                                                                                  National Secretary/Treasurer Chuck Muli-
                                                                                                  dore presented former Western Region
                                                                                                  Vice President Dorotha Bradley with a
                                                                                                  plaque found in the archives at NAPS
From left: NAPS Western Region Vice President Marilyn Walton, Pacific Area Vice President         Headquarters. From left: Pacific Area Vice
Chuck Lum, Las Vegas Branch 463 President David James, Northwest Area Vice President              President Chuck Lum, Bradley, Mulidore
Cindy McCracken, acting Las Vegas District Manager Tracie Hill-Sandifer and acting Las            and Western Region Vice President Marilyn
Vegas Postmaster Joe Zarate.                                                                      Walton.

                                                                                                           The Postal Supervisor / October 2019 19
Legislative
            Update
                                                     there was a permanent,               services have suffered dramatically.
Bob Levi                                             staffed post office in that              Israel’s Postal Company makes
Director of Legislative &                            ancient city. This assured           residential mail deliveries every
Political Affairs                                    the recipient got their mail         other workday, meaning only 21/2
                                                     before the onset of Sab-             days a week. Only 61% of accumu-

T  he U.S. Capitol complex
   resembles a ghost town during
August. Members of Congress are
                                                     bath, which began at sun-
                                           set on Friday evening. Needless to
                                           say, post offices were closed on Sat-
                                                                                          lated letter mail is delivered in three
                                                                                          work days; it takes almost a week to
                                                                                          reach the 95% target. Please note:
home in their respective districts         urdays; there were no mail deliver-            This is in in a country the size of
and states, on fact-finding trips          ies.                                           New Jersey.
                                                                                              Moreover, I was told that “fran-

Lessons To Be Learned                                                                     chised” post offices have irregular
                                                                                          hours, resulting in confusion among
                                                                                          postal customers. Also, “licensees,”
From Other Postal Systems                                                                 rather than postal employees, are
                                                                                          able to deliver mail to residential de-
abroad or vacationing with their                Now, flip the calendar two mil-           livery points.
families. Most congressional staffers      lennia. On the surface, the modern-                These factors have led to a high
also are chilling outside Washington,      day Israel Postal Company’s menu of            degree of public dissatisfaction with
DC.                                        services is impressive. However, it            the Israeli postal system. In fact, a
     So, with the Capitol virtually        masks serious issues that should               June 2019 report issued by the state
empty, I took a much-needed, two-          serve as a warning to those in our             comptroller proclaimed that, in
week opportunity to recharge my            country who advocate
batteries—physically and spiritual-        postal deregulation and
ly—during a trip to Israel. I visited      privatization.
many archeological and religious                About five years ago,
sites and took a delightful one-day        Israel Post embarked on its
excursion to two vineyards/wineries        march to corporatization
in the Upper Galilee region to sam-        of the government author-
ple wine and, yes, goat cheese. Be-        ity. In addition, it author-
sides the exotic tourist venues, I took    ized private investment in
the opportunity to visit Jerusalem’s       the newly established
main post office.                          postal system. In fact, last
     In ancient times, Israel was at the   year, the government au-
crossroads of the civilized world. An-     thorized the sale of 40% of
cient commerce was an important            the Israeli postal system
byproduct of the area. Roman and           through Israel’s stock ex-
Persian roads, which led to and from       change.
Israel, were the conduits by which              Before corporatization,
governmental and personal corre-           Israeli post offices provided
spondence transited—from the west          banking services, non-
to the east and everywhere in-be-          postal government func-
tween. There were hard-and-fast            tions and utility bill-
rules relating to mail delivery in Is-     paying and sold basic of-
rael’s walled cities—even in Jesus’        fice and stationery sup-
lifetime.                                  plies. Those enhanced ser-
     For example, in strict observance     vices were not reduced as a
of the Sabbath, Friday mail delivery       result of corporatization;     Bob Levi visited Jerusalem’s Central Post Office Building during
to a city only could take place if         nevertheless, basic postal     his trip to Israel in August.

20 October 2019 / The Postal Supervisor
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