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May 15, 2020 – Friday Message

Greetings fellow UPMA Members:

COVID-19 – As the pandemic continues we see more and more states and communities that are making the attempts to reopen over the next few weeks.  I just want to encourage all of you to remain focused on the requirements where the employees in your post offices are concerned.    We must continue to maintain the social distancing, or wear a mask, or both.    From all of the news reports we hear even though we see the number of cases are dropping on a regular basis and while we are thankful for that, we cannot lose sight of the goal which is no cases.    As Postmasters, Managers and Supervisors you cannot control what your employees do when they are not on the clock within the Postal Service; however, it is your responsibility to make sure they are following the rules as set forth by the Postal Service when they are on the clock.    One thing that needs to be stressed is this is not just a “must do” issue, this is an issue that is of importance because it is for EVERYONE’S protection.    Until the science community can come up with a vaccine for this Coronavirus, we must be vigilant and do all the right things as we go through our days.

With all of that said, again I want to thank you all for doing the right things when you are and taking care of your employees and the customers every day.    I hear often about the decrease in volumes with the exception of parcels where the levels continue to be high.   With the opening of the country no one can predict what effects that might have on the volumes; however, if you have struggles within your unit make sure that you are always reaching out to your manager for assistance.    You must report issues immediately and ask for whatever assistance you might need to get the mail delivered and the customers taken care of. 

I know that there have been a number of issues with the “where is my package” problem in C360 where you feel the call center should be alerting the customer to possible delays due to COVID-19, I want to assure you I have taken this issue to headquarters to see what can be done to have the call center give a message that there may be delays and consequently that could cut down on the number of cases you have to deal with in your offices.  I will monitor this.

As I assume most of you are aware Mr. Ron Stroman has announced his resignation from his position as Deputy Postmaster General effective June 1, 2020.    On behalf of UPMA, I want to wish Ron well in his future endeavors.  I had an opportunity to speak with him earlier this week when he gave me a call to let me know about his decision.   He wanted to make sure that I thanked the UPMA membership for all of our hard work both in the field with the day to day operations of the USPS, but also for all of our hard work on Capitol Hill in dealing with Postal Reform and other legislative issues through the years.    As Western Area Vice President Greg Graves said on the telecom yesterday that Ron Stroman was truly the consummate gentleman and will be missed within our Postal family.

The CARES Act 2.0 was introduced this week in the House of Representatives.   H.R. 6800 is a $3 Trillion relief package that includes some provisions for support of the United States Postal Service.   It is slated for a vote in the House either today, or early next week.    There does appear to be some opposition to the entire bill in the House and the Senate so we will have to see where it goes and what the final package will look like.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had a number of people contacting me regarding the National Convention and what we are going to do.   I can tell you that we are in contact with the hotel in St. Louis and we are looking at all aspects of this issue and will be making the decision that is in the best interest of our membership going forward.   I will try to keep you informed as we move through the process.

Continue to stay safe and to take care that your family is safe, as well.    If you have a choice, always err on the side of caution as to whether, or not, you should do something.    I continue to pray that we will somehow find our way out of this sooner rather than later, our prayers are not always answered in the way we want, I am confident they are heard!

Have a good weekend and a great week ahead!   Stay safe!

Thanks,

Dan Heins
National President