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 One Beltway Center |
President's MessageApril 18,2008 Dear Leaguers, The Convention season is in full swing and that means that the National Board and I are very busy people! If you have not yet planned to attend your own branch convention, do that now! It is getting tougher out in the world of Postmasters, and Postmasters absolutely must tighten up their relations with their fellows to be successful. I’m not talking about circling the wagons; I’m talking about taking an active role in seeing that things are better for you and for all the Postmasters in your state. With limited resources, both personnel and equipment, it is more important now than ever for Postmasters to provide support for one another. It is often said that tough times bring out the best and worst in people. Well, times are tough; I am confident, however, that these tough times will bring out the best in our League Postmasters. You are entitled, yes, entitled, to 5 days of convention leave each year. You cannot accumulate this leave. If you don’t use all of it every year, you will lose it. But the loss of a few days of leave is not all that you’ll lose. You’ll also lose an opportunity to get excellent League training on subjects that actually mean something to you. You’ll miss an opportunity to network and share ideas with fellow Leaguers. You’ll miss an opportunity to meet with District, Area, and even Headquarters personnel. You’ll miss a chance to relax and enjoy some fun times with people who understand you. You’ll lose the opportunity to form those relationships that would make your job easier. Don’t lose out; take a break from your day-to-day routine and register for your branch convention today! While we are on the subject of conventions, let me encourage you to treat yourself to our League National Convention to be held in beautiful Louisville, Kentucky. For all of the same reasons that you don’t want to miss your branch convention, you don’t want to miss our National Convention. At our National Convention, as a professional Postmaster among professionals, you’ll get to see how you fit into the “Big Picture” of the Postal Service and how you play an integral part in the Postal Service’s mission to provide service to America. You’ll get to hear from PMG Jack Potter, the leader of the largest postal system in the world. Experts from the League and Postal Headquarters will be there to provide you with the types of excellent training that your home district can’t or won’t provide. Among the other great training that we will make available, will be some very effective presentations on revenue generation as well as some things for our retirees. The rolling green hills of Kentucky are some of the most beautiful in our country, and many of you will likely extend this convention to a small family vacation. We have many activities planned for both young and older. You won’t be able to help having a great time! You can register right now for our National Convention elsewhere on this website. Okay, time to put this rumor to rest. According to Deputy PMG Pat Donahoe, there is no plan afoot to combine Districts and Areas. Apparently that would only save about 35 positions per District. While I’m not advocating closing Districts, it does give some food for thought. If we closed all 80 Districts and we figured the average salary to be about $70k that would net us a savings of about $200 million. Throw in the Areas and manage everything by computer from Postal Headquarters, we might be able to bank a cool quarter of a billion dollars. That’s probably a conservative number, but it would go a long way to balancing our budget. As long as we are cutting employees everywhere else and going to shared services wherever we can, it is kind of interesting to consider a Postal Service without two more layers of management. Of course, it would allow Postmasters to do what they were hired to do, and that is to manage their post offices. I’ve already begun my own 12 weeks of traveling to your branch conventions. I’ve been able to meet with Postmasters from Alaska, Oklahoma and Hawaii. I’ve found that most of you have common problems and that you all have something else in common. In spite of being Postmasters during the most challenging time for Postmasters, you are all deeply committed to the Postal Service and are proud to be serving as Postmasters in your communities. Whether you receive recognition or not (most Districts are still bad at recognizing good performance by their Postmasters), almost all of you are a credit to your profession. When I am with you, I sense an almost urgency to be freed from the fetters of computers and telecoms so that you can get out there and provide more service and generate more revenue. I’m trying to get to all of the states that I couldn’t get to last year, but due to some scheduling difficulties, I’ll still miss two. The League has been successful in helping a number of post offices to get credit for their SCF operations under the Customer Service Variance. They’ve had thousands of hours added to their budgets, and, all of a sudden, they are not the idiots their districts were making them out to be. What a difference a few hours make! We continue to work with Napus and the Postal Service to make improvements to that program. If you haven’t yet, take some time off this springtime. There is something special about all that new life popping out of the ground, and on tree branches and in the air. Get away with your families to drink it all in; it will do wonders for your soul! Respectfully, Charley Mapa President, National League of Postmasters |
League EventsAugust 3 - 7, 2008 National League of Postmasters Convention Marriott Louisville Downtown January 31 - February 3, 2009 Crystal Gateway Marriott |
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