Article 16 of the NALC Constitution requires agreements to be ratified by a mail referendum vote among eligible NALC members. The ratification balloting process will take place over the coming weeks. The terms of the agreement are not effective unless ratified.

A special episode of the You Are the Current Resident podcast is also available. NALC President Brian Renfroe joins NALC Headquarters staffer Ed Morgan to discuss all the details of the tentative agreement. Listen here and follow along with the summary linked above.

Informational rap sessions on tentative agreement

NALC has scheduled four informational rap sessions the week of Oct. 27 for branch leaders to learn about the tentative agreement. These events will be held as follows:

• Oct. 27 – Houston, TX
• Oct. 29 – San Francisco, CA
• Oct. 31 – Minneapolis, MN
• Nov. 2 – Washington, DC

For more information and to reserve hotel rooms, click here.

“After almost 20 months of tireless negotiations, we are pleased to reach a fair agreement that rewards our members for their contributions to the Postal Service and their service to the American people,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “The NALC Executive Council will meet tomorrow, Oct. 19, to discuss the tentative agreement. All details of the agreement and upcoming informational rap sessions for branch leaders will be made available at that time.”

After review of the charge and the investigative report, the Council voted and determined a substantial charge was not presented.

Over the past week, we have narrowed the remaining economic and work rule issues in negotiations with the Postal Service to reach a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement for city letter carriers. Negotiations will continue into next week. After a tentative agreement is reached with the Postal Service, the NALC Executive Council will meet promptly to discuss the terms of the deal and a tentative agreement will be finalized. The details will be made available to NALC members at that point, along with information on the upcoming ratification balloting process.

Item #11 of M-01990 requires the parties to evaluate these routes 30 days after they are moved to an S&DC, and to do so in accordance with the Technology Integrated Alternate Route Evaluation and Adjustment Process (TIAREAP). Since TIAREAP expired on May 31^st, the national parties have agreed to amend Item #11 of M-01990 with MOU RE: Alternate Route Adjustment Process – Sorting and Delivery Centers (ARAP-S&DC) (M-02006). This MOU provides the mutual understanding of the national parties on the process for evaluating and adjusting routes moved to an S&DC, and applies to all city letter carrier routes impacted by the establishment of, or relocation into, an S&DC on or after June 1, 2024. 

NALC and USPS have also agreed to guidelines (M-02007) which must be followed when evaluating and adjusting routes under the Alternate Route Adjustment Process – Sorting and Delivery Centers (ARAP-S&DC). This joint process utilizes NALC and USPS representatives to evaluate and adjust routes moved into an S&DC and is similar in structure to the many joint evaluation and adjustment processes throughout the years dating back to the mid-2000s.

These agreements can be found in NALC’s Materials Reference System on the NALC website.

Earlier this year, on Jan. 23 and 24, this case was heard by National Arbitrator Dennis R. Nolan in Washington, DC. Since employees represented by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) were victims of the theft as well, both unions intervened and presented their cases before Arbitrator Nolan.

At the hearing, NALC’s counsel outlined the numerous contractual violations the Postal Service had committed when it failed to ensure that letter carriers were paid for their time on the clock. Additionally, arguments were made outlining the Postal Service’s failure to protect its systems from hackers when it did not institute the use of multifactor authentication (MFA) until after the attacks occurred. Post-hearing briefs were submitted to Arbitrator Nolan by all parties in mid-April.

Arbitrator Nolan denied NALC’s grievance. In his award, he posed the questions, “What do the parties mean by the employer’s obligation to “pay” employees? Is it enough to make a direct deposit in the bank account on record, or must the Postal Service take further steps to make sure the employees actually receive the direct deposit money? To put it differently, may the Postal Service simply act on the banking information it has or must it act as a guarantor for employees victimized by cyber criminals?”

Arbitrator Nolan opined, “The term “pay” is ambiguous. It could fairly be applied either way. To prevail, however, the Union has to prove that its interpretation is superior to that of the Postal Service — that the Postal Service actually violated some provision of the Agreement. The Union failed to do so. The grievance must therefore be denied.” He ended his award with, “The Union failed to prove that the Postal Service violated any specific provision of the National Agreement by failing to pay employees after unauthorized access to LiteBlue resulted in changes to direct deposit information.”

The entire decision can be read here.

Branch presidents may begin registering their MBA Representative for the training through the branch president’s Members Only page. The registration directions are below.

As a reminder, the delegates at the 2022 convention in Chicago amended the constitution to require every branch to have an MBA Rep as an officer in their branch. If you do not currently have this position, you may still assign up to three members to attend this training while you go through the process of updating your branch by-laws to add the MBA Rep officer position.

The class will begin at 2 p.m. eastern and is expected to be one and a half hours long.

NALC has developed the ability to create a registration and training gateway through the “MEMBERS ONLY” portal on the NALC website.

Registration

Once a meeting has been scheduled through the “MEMBERS ONLY” portal, branch presidents will need to register their members in order for them to attend. To access the registration option, branch presidents can go to the NALC website and log on to the “MEMBERS ONLY” portal. Once logged on to the “MEMBERS ONLY” portal, click the “Meetings Registration” button, which will display a list of upcoming meetings. From there, presidents can register a member(s) by entering their last name in the “Search” box and selecting the correct member from the drop-down list. A member can also be removed from the “Registry” list by checking the box under the delete column next to the corresponding member. Branch presidents will not be able to register more than the maximum number of attendees per branch or exceed the maximum number of attendees for that session. The maximum number of registrants per branch and for the session, as well as the registered-to-date counts, are displayed on the registration screen.

Training Materials

Training materials and other pertinent information may be supplied for each session in the form of PDF documents. These documents will be available to registrants on their “MEMBERS ONLY” page. The documents can be printed, copied, and/or saved.

Accessing Meeting Information and/or Joining the Meeting

When a registered member wants to access training materials, view topics, or join a meeting, they can go to the NALC website and log on to the “MEMBERS ONLY” portal.  Once logged into the portal, the member will press the “Meetings” button, which will display a list of those meetings the member is registered to attend. For each meeting, there will be three buttons: the “Documents” button will give the member access to the training materials; the “Topics” button will give the member access to a list of topics (if any); and the “Join” button.  The “Join” button will appear 10 minutes prior to the start time on the day of the meeting.  If you log into the “MEMBERS ONLY” portal sooner than 10 minutes prior to the start of the meeting, you will need to exit to the home page and re-enter to access the “Join” button. Once you select the join button, you will be taken to a WebEx website titled “Starting your meeting…”.  Scroll down to select “Join from your browser.”  When joining, the member will be prompted to enter their name and email address in order to attend the meeting. Proceed by selecting the “next” button followed by the “Join Meeting” button.

The nation’s 290,000 active and retired city letter carriers represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) are proud to announce our endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz to serve as the next president and vice president of the United States. 

The debate on Tuesday night reinforced what we know: Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have the pro-labor record we support and the pro-worker vision we need in the White House in 2025 and beyond. Both have a strong history of fighting on behalf of unions and union members.

We know a Harris-Walz Administration will work with NALC to address unique challenges facing letter carriers and the Postal Service.

As a local prosecutor, state attorney general, senator, and vice president, Kamala Harris is a proven supporter of working families, organized labor, and the Postal Service. As a senator, she was instrumental in advocating for essential relief for the Postal Service at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She served as vice president of the administration that signed the Postal Service Reform Act into law. She is a fierce defender of civil rights, voting rights, and our democratic system. 

Governor Walz is a union brother and veteran. He is a former public school teacher who has devoted his life to public service. As governor, he has kept working families at the forefront by enacting a paid family and medical leave program, child tax credits, and universal free school meals for all Minnesota students.

A Harris-Walz Administration will work with NALC to address the unique challenges facing the Postal Service and our members, who are at the center of a $1.6 trillion shipping industry supporting 7.3 million jobs.

At NALC’s 73rd biennial convention recently held in Boston, nearly 5,500 delegates voted overwhelmingly to endorse and support the Harris-Walz campaign.

NALC proudly supports the Harris-Walz ticket and looks forward to working together to ensure the stability of the Postal Service, one of our country’s most treasured institutions.

The Leadership Academy consists of three week-long sessions held over a five-month period at the Maritime Institute near Baltimore, MD. During the classes, students discuss effective leadership skills and the union’s legislative agenda. They learn about topics such as the Dispute Resolution Process, strategic planning, branch financial responsibilities, retirement issues, route protection, workers’ compensation, effective negotiation techniques and communicating through traditional and social media.

Students are required to complete outside learning projects upon returning home following Weeks 1 and 2. Upon graduation, students will spend a fourth week working in their national business agents’ offices.

The Academy curriculum is designed to both develop and enhance the knowledge and skills that are essential for NALC leaders. In addition to the Leadership Academy staff, each of the resident national officers, as well as many headquarters staff members, help teach at the Academy, providing students with NALC’s top experts in each field.

Applications are available here and will be accepted until September 27, 2024. 

For more on the Leadership Academy, click here.

A few reminders:

• Registration begins Saturday, August 3 at 12 PM on the Exhibit Level of the convention center. Click here for a full schedule of events, including additional registration dates and times.
• The convention kicks off with a Welcome Reception on Sunday, August 4 from 4:30 to 7:30 PM in Exhibit Hall C. All Delegates and guests are invited and must show proof of registration to gain entry. Delegate credentials and guest badges can be obtained at the registration area.
• Complimentary shuttle service is provided between the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and hotels within the NALC block not within walking distance of the Convention Center. Click here for shuttle information.
• When in doubt, consult your Convention Pocket Guide, which will be included in your registration bag.
• Issues of the Convention Chronicle will be published daily for all NALC members on the convention webpage.

Additional resources can be found at nalc.org/convention.