WASHINGTON -- Over 9,300 letter carriers are planning to convene in Las Vegas August 14-18 as delegates to the 65th Biennial National Convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers -- the largest convention among AFL-CIO unions.

The week-long event at the Las Vegas Convention Center will bring together carriers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. The 300,000-member union, founded in 1889, represents active and retired city letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service.

NALC President William H. Young will deliver the keynote address on August 14.

Speakers scheduled to address the convention include: Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) of the House Government Reform Committee; Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and John F. Tierney (D-MA); Donnie Pitts, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association; John Hegarty, president of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union; John Podesta, president and CEO, Center for American Progress; Vicki Escarra, president and CEO, America’s Second Harvest; John Pederson, assistant general secretary, Union Network International; Billy Hayes, general secretary, Communication Workers Union, United Kingdom; Yuitsu Yoneda, director of the Japan Postal Workers Union, and Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.

Delegates will discuss issues critical to the future of the Postal Service including Senate- and House-passed postal reform legislation. They will also nominate officers to lead the NALC for the next four years and consider resolutions on various issues including bargaining proposals for contract negotiations due to begin in Washington August 28.

Registration will be August 12 and 13. General sessions will begin Monday, August 14 and continue daily from 10 a. m. PDT to 3 p.m. PDT through August 18.