I’m sitting here at the Region 12 rap session. It is such a good vehicle for NALC. Leaders from all over the region (Pennsylvania, Central and South Jersey) congregate to train, facilitate communication, and have fellowship with one another. We can hear presentations from the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Associations. Many national and state officers present information and teach classes that are meant to help the new steward as well as build on the knowledge of more experienced stewards and branch leaders.
The highlight of a rap session is a presentation and Q&A session with one of the national officers. We were fortunate to have NALC President Brian Renfroe attend. He spoke about the contract negotiations and how the membership would be informed along the way. It is always bet ter to hear information directly from the source.
This is a challenging time. Management has opened negotiations by stating that USPS is broke. What a surprise. This is where NALC is brilliant, but no one seems to give us credit. We held one-day rallies across the country on a Sunday to bring awareness to our plight preemptively.
Management is undergoing route inspections as well. So, it’s just a matter of time before your office is inspected. With the historic drop in first-class mail, we must do our best to protect our routes and then let the chips fall where they may. Hopefully, other business will materialize to soften some of the blows that we incur.
One of the things we talked about at the rap session was pilot programs. One program has us doing some census work. Other programs have us capturing photos of parcels we deliver. In the end, it all adds up. We need work to get paid to raise our families.
#StayUnited! #StayFocussed
