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Friday Message – June 18, 2021

National Convention Update – As of this past Wednesday we have reached 850 registrations for the National Convention in Sandusky, Ohio in August.    We are pleased with that number and we are looking forward to welcoming all of you to the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center from August 14-20.    As a reminder the Ohio UPMA Chapter is offering free shuttle service from Cleveland-Hopkins Airport on Saturday, August 14 and Sunday, August 15 to transport those of you flying into Cleveland over to the Resort and then on Thursday, August 19 and Friday, August 20 to take you back to the airport.    It is ESSENTIAL that you pre-register to take advance of this perk that is being offered by the Ohio Chapter.   The information to sign up is in the UPMA Leader magazine and on our national website, unitedpma.org.   Another reminder is that if you were registered for the 2020 National Convention in St. Louis and you have not requested a refund, your registration was carried over to this year’s convention.   If you have any questions about your registration, please reach out to Gerri Swarm, at the National Office to check your status.   Gerri’s email address is: gswarm@unitedpma.org.

Juneteenth Holiday – The Federal Government is closed this coming Saturday, June 19th in observance of the new Juneteenth Holiday; however, at this point this does not apply to the Postal Service.    The plan is that a holiday/day off will be offered somewhere down the road but at this time the specifics of how that will be administered still need to be determined and plans put in place.    PLEASE do not put any employees in TACS for holiday pay on Saturday, wait for further instructions somewhere down the road.    Holidays and Holiday compensation fall in the area of items that are included in the collective bargaining agreements with the craft unions and obviously, since this happened so recently, there has been no opportunity to undertake those negotiations.

Legislative Summit – The Legislative Summit is coming up at the end of September.     The dates are September 26-29, 2021.    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.   If you have any questions on the Summit, please reach out to Gerri Swarm, or myself, and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Star Chapter Award – Again this year we are going to be recognizing the Chapters that earn the Star Chapter Award at the National Convention in Ohio.   Chapter officers are advised to make sure that you submit your application to the National Office by July 1, to be recognized.    The components of the award are available on our national website.  There is no “application” form, as such, you can just do a narrative about your chapter’s accomplishments as it relates to the five points of the star: Membership, Chapter Recognition, Legislative/PAC Activity, Communication/Training, and Chapter Administration.    Extra credit will be given if your chapter has an Auxiliary group.

Join the USPS Social Media Advocacy Team  - I am including this again this week in case anyone missed it last week.

Are you #PostalProud and active on social media? Consider joining USPS Zone, our new social media employee advocacy program!

What is an employee advocacy program? Employee advocacy is when enthusiastic employees share pre-approved organization content (e.g. stamp FDOI) to their personal social media accounts on the organization’s behalf. Employee advocacy is well-practiced in many large organizations because it helps build social presence by working with, listening to, and including an organization’s most valuable asset: its employees!

What type of content will you see in USPS Zone? USPS Zone has several categories of content including: Stamps promotion, USPS in sustainability, Post Offices around the country, Postal trivia, Tips and How-to’s, Postal history, Interactive #PostalProud storytelling, and more! In addition to pieces you can find on our corporate social pages, participants will have access to platform-exclusive content that’s been curated to spark conversation, provide helpful information and encourage feedback.

What are the benefits of participating in USPS Zone?

• Gain access to an approved directory of creative, informative social media content to share to your personal social media quickly and easily.
• Become part of a network of thought leaders within the Postal Service on an easy-to-use app.
• Provide feedback to improve USPS’s social media content via two-way communication with USPS Zone community managers.
• Encourage your friends and family to use the Postal Service.  That’s good for business and good for employees.

Important to note: Participation in USPS Zone is completely voluntary. In agreeance with the Office of Government Ethics, no social media accounts will be monitored by any Postal entity. Platform training is required and accessible in HERO. If interested, please email uspszone@usps.gov for immediate next steps. We hope to hear from you!  

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