Featured News

Postal Reform:

HR 3076 is set for votes next week in the Senate; stay engaged. There will be a Legislative Zoom Session 8 PM EST Tuesday, March 1^st, 2022 https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3076988328 Meeting ID: 307 698 8328

Performing Craftwork:

UPMA members dedicate themselves to completing the United States Postal Service mission. If the situation arises that mail will not get delivered any other way, UPMA members have stepped in many times. Unfortunately, over the last few years, our goodwill has now morphed into our managers expecting (and even demanding) EAS to perform craftwork on an almost daily basis. UPMA has addressed this with Postal HQ, and this is the official policy per Labor:

"Non-bargaining unit employees may only be permitted to perform bargaining unit work in emergency situations (The exception is for level 18 post offices and Part-Time post offices where Postmasters can perform up to 15 hours of "clerk work"). Those emergency situations must be just that, an emergency. The circumstance or circumstances must be unforeseen. If a facility, installation, or district is planning to schedule non-bargaining employee(s) to perform bargaining unit work, and since planning is not an unforeseen circumstance and not an emergency, it should be reported to District Labor Relations or Human Resources immediately and escalated."

This is official USPS policy; UPMA Chapter Presidents should cite it when challenging this across the country to district managers, labor relations, and HR, then escalate as necessary.

Please copy your Area Coordinator and UPMA HQ on your use of this official postal policy to STOP the practice of utilizing EAS to deliver mail in violation of every postal craft contract.

Postmaster Leave:

519.742 Approval

Except for postmasters and installation heads, exempt employees must obtain prior approval from their supervisors for all absences, whether or not such absences are to be charged to the employee's leave account. At the discretion of the installation head, PS Form 3971 may be used to request personal absences not charged to leave.

Postmasters and installation heads normally are not required to obtain advance approval for personal absences. They are required, however, to keep an accurate record of all such absences and generally to keep their manager informed of planned periods away from the office. In this respect, the manager may require the use of PS Form 3971 to report absences. On an individual basis, vice presidents of Area Operations may require that a postmaster or installation head obtain advance approval of all absences, including personal absences, from the plant or district manager, as appropriate, when the individual's previous performance warrants such action.

NAPS Lawsuit:

On February 22^nd, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit remanded back to the District Court a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Postal Supervisors following the 2017 Field Pay Package. UPMA had intervened as the lawsuit also addressed NAPS assertion that they represent all EAS, including Postmasters. The District Court dismissed the case in 2019. UPMA is reviewing the decision and consulting with legal counsel on the correct course of action going forward.

Chapter Conventions and other Meetings:

As of February 25th, 47 Chapters have shared the details of their Annual Conventions with the National office. Gerri compiles these and posts them to https://www.unitedpma.org/events/chapter-conventions-schedule Chapters need to set up these necessary meetings early and publicize them. Gerri is also available for assistance with hotel and meeting space/food and beverage contracts. Further, Chapters should consider 3-Digit type meetings for communication and potential recruiting purposes. Many Chapters have found these as effective as anything they do to reach members and grow the organization. Missing are AZ-NV-NM-WV-RI.

NPA:

FY 21 - UPMA has asked for a meeting with Deputy PMG Doug Tulino, as the VP Labor Relations position is currently vacant, to appeal the decision to deny mitigation for FY21. To date, this has not happened. UPMA is weighing options as to how to proceed with or without a meeting.

FY 22 - Goals should be in the field very soon.

FY 23 - UPMA is setting expectations that the NPA for 2023 begins almost immediately and that the approval process is changed a little so that goals can be given earlier to the field. Deputy PMG Doug Tulino has committed to November 1^st, 2022, as the date that UPMA members will see their goals for FY 23.

Beyond - The Postal Service is piloting a program for some Headquarter EAS for a new Pay for Performance model. UPMA is consulting on other changes to the overall PFP program, including NPA. Stay tuned.

"Hiring" Team:

USPS and UPMA held a full 8-hour meeting at L'Enfant Plaza with Joseph Bruce, Senior Director, National Human Resources, Gail Hendrix, Senior Director Field HR Operations, and Desiree Manning, Manager HRSSC. National President Edmund Carley, National Executive Director Dan Heins, and IA Chapter Secretary-Treasurer Kerry Nichols represented UPMA. The meeting was informative and very productive; there will be more meetings in the future, and training will go to Chapter Conventions to improve our offices' hiring processes. The Postal Service owned the problems within its control and wanted to work with UPMA to fix them. AS a team, we are developing a feedback process to assist Postmasters and other Hiring Managers in identifying bottlenecks and pinch points and how UPMA can escalate concerns quickly. This meeting is just a first step, but it looks very promising so far.

Membership:

THINK BIG – BE BIG! Your Membership Team continues to meet regularly, and the results are fantastic; we are all closing the gap, and UPMA is beginning to grow. March will be a crucial month for recruitment as we set our sights on Conventions and other summer activities.

"Together We Can"

Edmund A Carley
National President
United Postmasters and Managers of America
8 Herbert Street
Alexandria, VA 22305
703-683-9027
217-899-9256 cell