NALC Branch 193

The NALC has joined a wide range of progressive national organizations in a coalition known as “A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service.”

The alliance’s stated goal is to fight for the protection and enhancement of a vibrant USPS, both now and for generations to come. It is made up of a broad group of unions, civil rights, religious organizations and progressive policy advocates that support high-quality public services for all Americans.

“This new alliance is a good complement to the one the NALC and the other postal unions have been working closely with over the past 18 months,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said, “a group made up of postal union and mailing industry stakeholders with a mission to advance in Congress a multi-point postal strategy that includes a comprehensive solution to pre-funding, freedom to offer new products, fair treatment on pension valuations, strengthened service standards and a moratorium on plant closings.”

Letter carriers can expect to see advertisements for this alliance in The Washington Post and Politico.

And be sure to check out this video featuring acclaimed actor Danny Glover, who has deep family and personal ties to the Postal Service.

$1.1 billion operating profit in first quarter

The U.S. Postal Service had a $1.1 billion operating profit in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2015, up from $765 million in the same period last year and $144 million two years ago. (See pg. 17 of the Quarter I, 2015 Report on Form 10-Q.)

In addition, USPS’ cash balance grew to $7 billion as of Dec. 31, 2014, an increase of more than $2 billion from the same point in time last year. (See pg. 4 of the Quarter I, 2015 Report on Form 10-Q.)

Overall revenue increased by $767 million over the same period last year, an increase of 4.3 percent. Volume increased as well, to 42.6 billion pieces in the first quarter of 2015, up from 42 billion pieces in the first quarter of 2014.

First-Class Mail revenue increased by 3.7 percent (a volume decline of just 1.1 percent, the slowest decline since the Great Recession of 2007-2009), Standard Mail revenue increased by 7.6 percent (volume increase of 3.5 percent), and Shipping & Packages revenue increased by 10.5 percent (volume increase of 12.8 percent). (See pg. 18 of the Quarter I, 2015 Report on Form 10-Q.)

Expenses (not including retiree health benefits pre-funding and workers’ compensation accounting adjustments) increased by $410 million, or 2.4 percent, compared with the same period last year. The increase came from a combination of last year’s pay increases and additional work hours during the busy holiday season. However, the increase in expenses was well below the 4.3 percent increase in revenue. (See pg. 17 of the Quarter I, 2015 Report on Form 10-Q, “Results of Operations.”)

As letter carriers can attest, the package business was off the charts. The “Parcel Select, Parcel Return, and Standard Parcels” package segment volume increased by 22.6 percent over last year. Priority Mail volume increased by 8.5 percent over last year. Overall package revenue was up by 10.5 percent, boosting the Postal Service’s bottom line. (See pg. 19 of the Quarter I, 2015 Report on Form 10-Q.)

The first quarter’s results, made possible in large part by the hard work of letter carriers, is a promising start for the Postal Service in fiscal year 2015.

114th Congress Convenes

Last Tuesday, the 114th Congress convened and all 535 members of the House and Senate were sworn in. With 74 new members of Congress coming in, letter carriers have a lot of work to do as we prepare for this session and the proposals that are sure to come quickly. Click here for more details.

Six-Day Mail Delivery

Once the 114th Congress was sworn in, in the House of Representatives Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) wasted no time in renewing their commitment to preserving six-day mail delivery by quickly introducing H.Res. 12. Click here for more details. | Click here to download a fact sheet.

Door Delivery

Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA), David Joyce (R-OH) and Peter King (R-NY) are reintroducing their door-delivery resolution for the 114th Congress, calling on the House and Senate to “take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.” Click here for more details. | Click here to download a fact sheet.

More Committee Assignments Announced

Oversight: The House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee chairman is Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) continues his service as ranking member. In the Senate, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC), while Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) stays on as ranking member. Click here for more details.

Appropriations: The Senate Appropriations Committee is chaired by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) the ranking member. In the House, the Appropriations Committee is led by Chairman Hal Rodgers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY). Click here for more details.

2015 calendar for the 114th Congress

We have a request from the National Association of Letter Carriers to be included in a new social media reach! The NALC launched a THUNDERCLAP for the 2014 Letter Carrier "Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive!"

The link below is for you and your community allies on the ground. Please ask them all to connect their
Facebook and Twitter audiences to our Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger Thunderclap!

We ask that you all click on the link above and give your acceptance to be part of a remarkable "advertising" of the Food Drive this year on Facebook and Twitter! Thunderclap is a new website that allows us to send the same message all at once on Facebook and Twitter. It is like an online Flash-mob! Thanks for giving your acceptance on the link and passing this along to everyone you know! The result will be on May 9th, a massive advertising of the Food Drive all at once!

The NALC e-Activist Network

Dear Letter Carriers,

Just now, the full House of Representatives voted to preserve six-day mail delivery appropriations language by passing H.R. 5016, the Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill.

As you know, the base bill was introduced last month without the six-day provision, which has been part of appropriations bills for decades. But following extensive lobbying efforts nationwide, that language was successfully reinserted into the bill that was approved on June 25 by the House Appropriations Committee, thanks to an amendment co-sponsored by Reps. José Serrano (D-NY) and Tom Latham (R-IA).

(It’s worth noting that House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) last-ditch attempt to remove the language during the House rules process also was defeated.)

Today’s victory is a major one for the NALC and our activists who have pressured lawmakers—and continue to pressure them—to support six-day mail delivery.

With 15 days to go until Congress’ August recess, the window of opportunity for more legislative attacks is closing fast—at least during August. Nevertheless, we stand ready for anything that comes our way.

In solidarity,

Kori Blalock Keller
NALC Director of Legislative and Political Affairs

If you need to update your NALC e-Activist Network e-mail address, you need complete the sign-up process again to help us validate your membership information. Click here to go to the e-Activist Network sign-up page at nalc.org.

If you wish to unsubscribe from the NALC e-Activist Network, please click here.

The National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO
100 Indiana Avenue NW · Washington, DC 20001-2144
202-393-4695 · nalc.org

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FOURTH CONTRACT COLA

FOURTH CONTRACT COLA: Following the June 17 release of the May Consumer Price Index (CPI), the accumulation toward the fourth cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) under the 2011-2016 National Agreement is $645 annually. This COLA will be based on the increase in the CPI between January 2014 and July 2014 and will be effective in the second full pay period after the scheduled Aug. 19 release of the July 2014 CPI—that is, Pay Period 20
(pay date Sept. 26)

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Letter Carriers' Food Drive Day

2nd Vice President of Branch 193, Ernie Arrañaga had the honor in representing NALC Branch 193, in accepting a proclamation making May 10, 2014 "Letter Carriers' Food Drive Day" in the city of San Jose.

" I would like to extend a great deal of thanks to Councilmember Ash Kalra for making this possible, to Mayor Reed, Councilmember Kansen Chu, and the rest of the City Council. Thank you for your support!"

Ernie Arrañaga, 2nd V.P. Branch 193

March 12, 2014—The Postal Service has announced the deployment of a new Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) to be used by letter carriers. The device, from Honeywell, will transmit scan data in real time and will replace the current Intelligent Mail Device (IMD) and paired cell phone. For detailed information on the new MDD, read an advance copy of Director of City Delivery Brian Renfroe's April 2014 Postal Record article here.

March 11, 2014—Declaring that “the U.S. Postal Service is under unprecedented attack,” the four postal unions have formed an alliance to fight back to preserve America's postal service for the benefit of the public. Click here to read more.

March 5, 2014—President Obama’s 2015 budget proposals not only fail to address the main source of the Postal Service’s problems, they also directly threaten nearly 100,000 good postal jobs at a time when the Postal Service’s finances have rebounded strongly. “The Office of Management and Budget remains under the spell of a misguided postmaster general, a leader who seems committed to sticking to an obsolete austerity plan devised in very different circumstances,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “OMB has lazily produced a weak, job-killing postal reform plan that Congress should soundly reject.” Click here to read more.

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FOURTH CONTRACT COLA

Following the March 18 release of the February Consumer Price Index (CPI), the accumulation toward the fourth cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) under the 2011-2016 National Agreement is$122 annually. This COLA will be based on the increase in the CPI between January 2014 and July 2014 and will be effective in the second full pay period after the reoease of the July 2014 CPI.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

In 2014, both of the deferred 2013 COLAs, $146 annually and $541 annually, will be added to the Step O pay rates in Table 2 of the Pay Schedule, which applies to City Carriers hired in career positions on or after January 13, 2013. The pay rates of Steps A through N of Table 2 will be increased proportionally, as provided by the contract. For example, Step A is set at 61.5% of Step O, so the COLA for Grade 1, Step A is $333 annually.

RETIREE COLA

The accumulation toward the 2015 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for both Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) was 0.2 percent following the March. 18 release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for February. The 2015 COLA will be based on the increase in the average CPI between the 3rd quarter of 2013 and the 3rd quarter of 2014.

Click here for further details about the retiree COLA.

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