Featured News

Friday Message – June 4, 2021

Upcoming Training– In the month of June we will once again be offering our training sessions that we sponsor in cooperation with FedPoint.  The training will cover the topic: It Looks Like I Might be Getting Discipline - What Do I Do?   The first session will take place on Thursday, June 10^th at 7:30 PM EDT and the second one will be Thursday, June 17^th at 9:00 PM EDT.   The links to sign up for the training are on our website, unitedpma.org.   If you click on this link, it should take you to the page to sign up for either of the sessions.  Online Training Schedule (unitedpma.org).   We are offering these sessions to give you the opportunity to gain some information that you may not currently have.  This class is offered to prepare you in case you get that unexpected call from your manager that they want to see you in their office.  When you ask if it could lead to discipline and they say yes, you will be prepared and know what to do.

NPA – The National Performance Assessment (NPA) and Pay for Performance (PFP) programs for Fiscal Year 2021 are still in somewhat of a limbo status right now.   In May, the NPA Matrix was put out for everyone to see and the targets were listed as to how the evaluations were going to take place.    The PFP Matrix, covering what raises would be offered in each of the now ten cells, was not “officially” released and is still being investigated at USPS Headquarters.    I have been told that the numbers will not be “official” until we can get some scorecards produced and we can see where people are currently sitting with regards to the goals that were rolled out almost nine months into the Fiscal Year.    I continue to work with the representatives at Headquarters to move things along so that people know what the goals are officially and what the end of the year “might” look like.  I know it is frustrating and it is one of the issues that is being discussed on an ongoing basis.

National Convention – As of June 1, our National Convention registration sits at just over 770 people.   The convention planning is ongoing, and we want to encourage those that are attending to make sure that they look at the information in the Leader and on the website regarding what tours are available on Tuesday, so that the company that has lined those up for us can make sure that they have adequate staffing and buses to handle those tours.   Also, individuals that will be flying into Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport should make sure they get signed up for the free shuttle service that is being offered by the Ohio Chapter.    The shuttle will be running at scheduled times on Saturday and Sunday, August 14 & 15, to transport people from the airport to Kalahari and on Thursday and Friday, August 19 & 20 to take people back to the airport.   Everyone needs to be mindful that they must be signed up ahead of time to make sure they can get on the shuttle.    All of the chapter officers, please remember that there will be scheduled training on Sunday in the morning following the church service and on into the afternoon.   There will be sessions for the Presidents, Secretary-Treasurers, Editors, Membership Chairs, the Legislative/PAC Chairs and in the afternoon for the Chapter Member Representatives.    Just as a reminder there will be business sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings this year.    The only planned agenda item for the Tuesday morning session is the first reading of the proposed changes to the Articles of Incorporation and the National Bylaws.   The goal is to have everyone out in plenty of time to take advantage of the tours that are offered, or if they drive, touring on their own.

Chapter Conventions – If your chapter has not yet held their Chapter convention, I would encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity that the convention presents to allow you to have your questions answered by UPMA and Postal leadership and to stay as well informed as possible.   If you are not sure when your convention is taking place, check out our website under the events tab for the spreadsheet that gives you the dates and locations of all the chapters we have heard from here at the National Office.   If at any time you have questions and want to verify that the information on dates and location are correct, I would recommend that your contact one of your state officers for further information.   If you do not have the officer’s contact information you can either find it on the website or call us here at the National Office and we will give you that information.

Legislative Summit – The Legislative Summit is coming up at the end of September.     We are very hopeful that we will be able to do face to face meetings with the Representatives and Senators, or members of their staffs, on Tuesday, September 28^th.    We will probably not know that for sure until we get much closer to the event.    The registration fee of $40.00 has been extended to September 1 to allow for more people to get their planning done and for people to sign up at National Convention, as well.  I would encourage you to make your hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington.   The contact information for the hotel is: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Richmond Highway, Arlington VA  22202; 800-233-1234; Group Code PST1; Room rate $179.

Pay Talks – The pay talk process is continuing, and we still have the goal of being completed, if possible, by July 22^nd.   As of June 1, there have been two rounds of meetings and another is planned for later in June to see what progress has been made and where we are at in the consultative process regarding the items that UPMA has brought forward for discussion.    More information will be shared as it becomes available.

As always, take care, stay safe, and follow the guidelines as presented by the CDC and the Postal Service.    

Have a good week!

Dan Heins
UPMA National President