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From the President’s Desk – April 2021

Greetings everyone and welcome to the April edition of From the President’s Desk.    From what I have heard this week we have had some very interesting weather in some parts of the country.   There have been colder than normal temperatures and snow in places that should not be getting snow this late into the spring.   The good thing with that is the fact that you know the snow will not stay around for too long because warm weather has to be on the horizon.

This morning I received a call from the Vice President of Labor Relations at Postal Service Headquarters, Kate Attridge to let me know that she will be sending over the Postal Service’s version of our new pay package tomorrow.   As I have stated previously, we have a committee of the board, along with Dave Ravenelle, our Executive Director, that has been meeting about the pay package and we have put together a number of proposals of our own that we will be bringing forward for consideration by the Postal Service.    Unfortunately, as the consultations are going on we are not at liberty to share the information on the package and what changes are being requested.    However, when this process is all done, I will make sure that that information is shared with you regarding what we asked for and what we received, or did not receive in the final package.   The goal of both Kate and myself is to have this process completed by mid to late July at the latest.   The sooner we can come to an agreement the better it will be for all of us.

With the increased focus on service, I know that a number of you have been told that you will need to work on a Sunday to oversee the operations either in your own Amazon hub, or the neighboring Amazon hub if you are a spoke out of that hub.    For many of you feel that you are already being taken advantage of with the number of hours you are putting in and now there is the added requirement that you work on a Sunday.    As I believe we are all aware, there are going to be times throughout the year when we are going to have to give up our non-scheduled days for the greater good of the organization.   That does not make it any easier to handle, but it is the reality.   However, working on your non-scheduled day should be the exception, rather than the rule.   If you are being mandated to work on a Sunday ask your manager if that means you can take another day off during the week.   If you have their approval, be sure that you get that information in writing.   Also, if it is approved, make sure that all the necessary paperwork is filed and sent to the TACS Help Desk to make sure that your non-scheduled day is changed in the system so that it clearly reflects what days you did work so that you can not be accused of not being at work when you are scheduled to be there.    You need to make sure that your timekeeping, as well as the timekeeping for all the employees that work with you is accurate and valid.   The job you protect may be your own.    

Our new member promotion continues to be in effect from now until August 31, 2021.   For every new EAS member that joins the UPMA family, they will receive one-year free membership to offer them the opportunity see what the organization is about, attend their chapter convention and the national convention and receive the publications and materials that are available to all our members to gain a better understanding of UPMA.   In May we will be printing a special issue of the UPMA Leader that is focused solely on what membership is all about, what membership means to certain individuals and how they have benefited from being a member.    That special issue will be mailed to all current members and all non-member Post Offices throughout the country and the territories the last week in May.    This will be an excellent opportunity for you to reach out to that neighboring Postmaster, Manager, or Supervisor and encourage them to join the organization and find out what UPMA is all about.      Again, the promotion of the one-year free membership ends on August 31, at that time we will go back to offering six months free for new EAS members.    If you wish to be part of the membership recruitment efforts in your chapter reach out to your chapter membership chair, or your chapter president, to find out how you can take part in helping to reach out to prospective members.    The information on who your membership chair and chapter president are is available on our website, unitedpma.org.   Or you can call us at the national office and we will be happy to pass those names on to you.    The membership efforts in a chapter, like so many other things that we do as an organization, is something that the members of UPMA Retired can and often eager to assist with.    I know that the UPMA Retired organization is also working on the recruitment of retired members, as well, but we have many opportunities for everyone that wants to get involved.    If you want to help, we will be happy to find a way for you to do just that.

With the continuing efforts by the Postal Service in the restructuring process, I know it can be frustrating at times, especially for those of you that are in positions where your job may, or may not, be affected by all of this.    I wish that I had more information that I could share with you, but there is not a lot available at this time.   What I do know is that they are working very hard at Postal Service Headquarters to find a way to make sure that they have landing spots for everyone that may have their position eliminated, or because of the district consolidation your position may have changed dramatically.   So, even though you may not be able to stay in your current position, I am relatively certain that if you wish to continue working for the Postal Service there will be a job for you.    With that in mind, make sure that you have gone in and updated your HERO profile in the event you are one of the individuals affected by the restructuring, or if you are one of the individuals that has your eyes on one of those positions that have not been filled because of the EAS Hiring and Promotional freeze that has been in place since last fall.    As the Postal Service works through this process and everything settles down, there are going to be opportunities for promotion, and you want to make sure you are ready when the time comes.

Thank you for listening to this video presentation, or for reading the transcript, it is very much appreciated.     I look forward to addressing you again next month.

Take care,

Dan Heins
UPMA National President