 Region 5 National Business Agent Mike Weir has unionism in his blood. “I was born into a strong, union, working-class family,” said the member of St. Louis, Missouri Branch 343. “My father and brother were members of Teamsters Local 6, and an uncle was a member of Branch 343.”
Immediately after he was hired as a carrier, Weir joined the NALC. He soon found himself “increasingly unhappy with management’s disparaging and disparate treatment of my fellow letter carriers” and that engendered an intense desire to rise to their defense.
“I gradually became more interested and involved in various union roles with additional opportunities to represent letter carriers and more effectively address their concerns and interests,” he said.
Starting in 1987, Weir, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a degree in anthropology, took on a succession of Branch 343 leadership positions—some of them concurrently—including 10 years as steward, six years as editor of the award-winning Mound City Carrier, and a stint as Postal Record scribe. From 1993 to 1997 he represented NALC in the UMPs program.
Weir was elected branch vice president in 1997, and held that role until President Vincent R. Sombrotto appointed him full-time Regional Administrative Assistant for Region 5 in 2001. Five years later, he was elected by acclamation at the 2006 National Convention in Las Vegas as the National Business Agent for Region 5.
As NBA, Weir intends to build on the region’s tradition of strong, innovative leadership to provide the best possible representation for NALC members.
“I will put a renewed emphasis on training for local officers, stewards and rank-and-file members,” he said, “so that they can understand and more fully exercise their rights and responsibilities on the workroom floor.”
“My goal is to do everything I can to improve working conditions for the letter carriers in Region 5,” he said. To that end, Weir plans to meet frequently with USPS management “to discuss issues of mutual concern, to address problems as expeditiously as possible and to seek reasonable and effective solutions.”
Weir and his wife, Jeannette, live in St. Louis.
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REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS
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Dan Pittman
Nicole Rhine
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