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Friday Message – April 9, 2021

Webcoins Training Session – Last night we had our first Training Session for this month on Webcoins.   Thank you to Kerry Nichols from Iowa for leading the session.    We have another session scheduled for this coming Thursday, April 15, at 9 PM EDT.    Here is the information to get on the call, or you can preregister to save some time when you join us on Thursday evening.   If you have any questions, please let me know.   The information on these calls and the recordings of past calls are posted on our website, unitedpma.org.  

Title: Navigating and Understanding Webcoins
Presenter: Kerry Nichols

Date: Thursday, April 15, 2021, Time: 9:00 PM EST

Meeting Link: https://ltcpartners.webex.com/ltcpartners/onstage/g.php?MTID=e26921dbb0d368b4291da5f00191c893d

National Convention – This past Tuesday Gerri Swarm, Rodney Boland and I met with representatives of the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center along with the members of the Ohio Chapter Convention Committee to go over the final details in planning for our National Convention at Kalahari in August.    The planning is well under way and we are looing forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to the shores of Lake Erie from August 14-20, 2021.    From your arrival on Saturday, or Sunday, when you will receive a free shuttle ride from the Cleveland Airport to the resort, until your free shuttle ride back to Cleveland Airport on Friday, August 20^th, we have a very full schedule of things for you to do and see.  We are still in the process of planning what the training sessions will cover on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, but we know that we will have general sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings that will offer a number of speakers from the Postal Service, as well as others.    You will have the opportunity based on the prevailing requirements at that time to practice as much social distancing as you feel comfortable with.   We have the Welcome Dinner that is planned for Sunday evening where we kick things off for everyone and we have scheduled Dueling Pianos for your listening and dancing pleasure that night.    Also, the members of UPMA Retired will have meetings on Sunday and Monday to conduct their necessary business and then the Retirees luncheon will be taking place on Wednesday, after the general session has ended.   This year for the first time we are offering a one-day registration opportunity for people that are unable to get away for the entire length of the convention, but who want to have the opportunity to experience some of the benefits on a particular day.   As we get closer and can finalize who our speakers are going to be and what will be happening on a particular day, we will publicize that as much as possible so people can plan accordingly.   On our website and in the latest issue of the UPMA Leader magazine there is information on a number of tours that will be available to you on Tuesday, August 18^th starting in the late morning and going through the early evening hours.   While we do have a general session scheduled for Tuesday morning, we hope to have that wrapped up by 10, or 10:30 that day.   Earlier I had mentioned the free shuttle service from the airport to Kalahari and back, please note you do need to sign up ahead of time for these shuttles and they will be running at specific times on the days they are offered.   The sign up information for the shuttles is also on our website, or in the latest issue of the Leader.

USPS Restructuring – The restructuring within the USPS continues to move forward.    By now we have made the transition from the previous seven Area offices to the now four area offices.   The District restructuring in Retail and Operations from sixty-seven to fifty districts seems to be moving, however, in some cases it is moving at a much different pace than in other areas.    I have heard from some of you that you have been told the you are to report to your new district officer and district manager, however, you are still receiving emails from both districts and when the expectations for reporting and things to be done are different it can be very confusing.    I have asked USPS Headquarters to see what they can do about that issue and if we can get that straightened out sooner rather than later.   Everyone needs to understand what the expectations are in order to do their job on a daily basis and this multiplicity of emails can lead to a loss of time and effort if you are chasing different goal.    Speaking of goals, I receive many many calls and emails asking about the NPA goals for Fiscal Year 2021.    At this time, USPS Headquarters personnel continue to discuss the goals and what might or might not happen with those goals and objectives for FY 2021.   My recommendation at this time is to focus on what you are hearing from your District office on what their focus is at this time and when some firm goals are agreed to at Headquarters, those will be rolled out.    With everything that continues to influence the organization and the country with COVID-19 and then all of the restructuring talk that has been going on, NPA just has not been settled at this time.   I wish I could give you a definite date of when that will happen, but we just do not know at this time.  

As always, I encourage you to stay safe, wear your masks for your protection and those around you and practice your proper hygiene recommendations.

Have a great week,

Dan Heins
UPMA National President