President's Hotline Message

February 9, 2006
Steve LeNoir, President

Greetings Fellow Postmasters and LEAGUE Members

In the February ADVOCATE, I focused on 2006 as “The Year of Delivery.” Based on the large response I received, it is good to see that so many of you are reading the magazine closely. I do want to clarify a few points about that article, which was simply a report on a meeting that Vice President Mark Strong and I attended where the strategic plans to capture expenses in delivery and window operations were shared with the LEAGUE. Most of the responses received were from our fellow employees in delivery.

Let me make it clear that I have great respect for our carriers and clerks. They are our front line with our customers. I never intended the article to sound as if members of NALC or APWU were not doing their jobs and were therefore responsible for all the productivity losses we are currently experiencing. Without everyone’s involvement and understanding about what is driving the strategies we are faced with implementing, we will not make headway in the many challenges of the future. Surely, we must understand that the dedicated employees in the NALC are a key part of this strategy.

Most of the data shared with us—which showed the opportunities available—was derived from DOIS. It was determined by evaluating the variance between base data and actual performance. We, too, have many concerns with this data and, in fact, have brought many of these issues to Postal Headquarters in our consultative meetings. While DOIS is a national program, Areas are given the ability to manipulate the program as they feel necessary. Some Areas have even removed Parcel Post and sequence mail from the daily workload analysis, giving an inaccurate projection for the day. This causes confrontation between the supervisor and the carrier and can be a setup for failure. But, putting DOIS aside, it is clear that we have to look at every part of our operations and make improvements wherever we can to meet the financial challenges we are facing. We also have to share this information with all of our employees so that we are united in working towards the goal. It will take all of us working together to maintain our core mission—universal service at a universal price.

PBP Health Plan Withdraws from the FEHB Program

As many of you know, in mid-November the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified the LEAGUE of its intent to withdraw approval of our health plan for 2006. In the 1980’s, the Plan had over 80,000 members. After the 2005 Open Season, the Plan’s membership was down to around 7,900. We put up the best defense possible, but in the end we agreed with OPM that it would be in the best interest of our members to terminate our health plan. I wish to thank the Plan’s membership and employees for their loyalty over the years, and I apologize for any inconvenience associated with this transition.

The loss of our health plan is causing us to take a serious look at our internal operations with an eye toward reorganization. It will affect our bottom line—which will force change. But make no mistake about this, the LEAGUE will not only survive, but grow stronger. We are currently looking at every aspect of our operation to improve efficiency to serve our Postmaster needs well into the future.

Talks to Resume on Work Service Credits

I’ve been in contact with Postal Headquarters and have received confirmation that we will resume discussion in March on revamping the Work Service Credits (WSC) system. The system has been in place since 1978 and is in dire need of change.

To refresh your memory, the Postal Service gave us their initial proposal in March of 2005. The proposal was simply unacceptable. It was clearly a step in the wrong direction because over half of our Postmaster positions (primarily the lower levels,) would have been downgraded as Postmaster vacancies occurred. I firmly believe our higher-level Postmasters deserve upgrades. In a shared services environment, higher-level Postmaster jobs have increased in difficulty and complexity. Frankly, they have earned and deserved these upgrades, but not at the expense of their fellow Postmasters.

When letter carriers were upgraded (at the direction of an arbitrator) and when supervisors received upgrades, others within their ranks were not asked to take downgrades. This is fundamentally wrong, and Postal Headquarters needs to rethink their strategy on this one. It is my hope that by working with our sister organization NAPUS and Postal Headquarters that we can revamp the WSC system that recognizes the additional duties and responsibilities Postmasters have assumed over the years and properly reward them.

LEAGUE President Steve LeNoir