the empire state › 2011 › fall2011.pdfmignosi, director of health benefits brian hellman, nba...

commented that both Representative Tonko CD 21 and Senator Gilli-brand’s office would be addressing the delegates, while Representa-tive Gibson CD 20, one of only 5 NY Representatives who are not cosponsors of HR 1351, would not respond, even though his office is across the street from where we are meeting. After a motion from the floor that passed unanimously, it was decided that we all would demonstrate in front of Gibson’s office on Friday morning, prior to the start of the general session, Over 270 strong carried signs and chanted “Sign the Bill” for nearly an hour. It was a terrific show and we did receive some positive news coverage. My personal thanks go out to Bill Cook and his dedicated officers, who were able to get the permit and create the signs for the demonstration. The second day of the general session was highlighted by the installa-tion of officers which was conducted by Brother O’Malley, assisted by brothers Mignosi and Hellman. My special thanks to all NYSALC offi-cers and Executive board members, for their help in making our con-vention a success; to host Branch 358, for their extraordinary effort and dedication, and a special mention to Credentials chairman Bill Shay, and committee members George Sarvis and Rich Hansen, for a great job.. Please remember to contact your respective Representative now, while they are on recess, and ask for their continued support for H.Res. 137, H.R. 1351, and they oppose the elimination of 120,000 USPS jobs required by PMG Donahoe’s horrendous proposals… Make Labor Day count this year…….Get Active……..Contribute to COLCPE….THE JOB YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN !!!!

PO Box 2000 Astoria Station Long Island City, NY 11102 Home # (570) 369-4276 Cell # (347) 813-9582 Fax (570) 369-4276

T he 59th biennial Conven-tion of the New York State Association of Letter Carri-ers was held 7/6-7/8 2011,

at the Saratoga Hilton of Saratoga Springs, New York…. 243 dele-gates representing 20 New York Branches, and the 2 Branches of Puerto Rico(total representation of 25,529) and 16 elected State Offi-cers attended the event. National Officers attending were Executive Vice President Tim O’Malley, Vice President George

Mignosi, Director of Health Benefits Brian Hellman, NBA Region 11 Dan Toth, NBA Region 15 Larry Cirelli, and RAAs Ron Adams, Mark Camilli (Region 11) and Tom Matthews (Region 15) Jeremy Goldberg, our RFC was also there, along with our good friend Joe Antal, Presi-dent PSALC, Retired NBA Region 11 Bill Cooke, and retired RAA Re-gion 11 John “PeeWee” Walsh. Morning training classes were given by both NBAs and their respective RAAs, and a CDL/Colcpe Coordinator program was given by RFC Jer-emy Goldberg. All classes were extremely well organized and at-tended. The Convention was greeted by CLC Capitol Region President Mary Sullivan and AFL-CIO State Fed. The Special Assistant to the President on Political Affairs Suzy Ballantyne, thanked us for our sup-port and major influence on the special election in NY’s 26th CD suc-cess. All resolutions were passed, including a motion for the Executive Coun-cil to stage a day of informational picketing nationwide, in support of H.R. 1351, after Labor Day, but before the end of the USPS fiscal year. An in-depth presentation by the national officers followed, detailing NALC’s positions regarding USPS and the current political climate. RFC Jeremy Goldberg set our legislative goals, and SSL/Director of Legislation Bill Cook gave us an update on NYS legislation. Bill also

George Mangold

Fall 2011 George T. Mangold, President GM-21

The Official Publication of the New York State Association of Letter Carriers – N.A.L.C. The Empire State

Letter Carrier Representing Letter Carriers in New York State and Puerto Rico

Condolences

Our deepest condolences go out to Art Muoio and his family on

the passing of his mother Esther R Muoio. May the Lord ease

your pain and know that Jesus Christ conquered death for us and

if you believe in him you will receive the gift of eternal life.

NY STATE ASSOCIATION

OF LETTER CARRIERS

George T. Mangold – President (Branch 357)

Art Muoio – Vice President (Branch 210)

Kevin Van Kuren– Secretary

(Branch 333)

Charles Heege – Treasurer

(Branch 36)

George Sarvis – Delegate at Large

(Branch 137)

Andrew Weiner – Alt. Delegate at Large

(Branch 562)

William B. Cook – Dir. of Legislation

(Branch 358)

Norman LeFrois – Director of Retirees

(Branch 210)

Robert Morro– Editor

(Branch 41 )

EXECUTIVE BOARD – DISTRICTS

Tinnelly District – Jay Jackson

(Branch 29)

Central District – James Lostumbo

(Branch 134)

Southern Tier – Genesee Valley

Jeff Potter

(Branch 333)

Niagara Frontier District

Robert McLennan

(Branch 3)

Hudson Valley District – John Springman

(Branch 36)

Long Island District – Walter Barton

(Branch 6000)

Caribbean District – John K. Rivera

(Branch 869)

Director of Education – Mark Sobel

(Branch 294)

NY State Association of Letter Carriers

The Empire State Letter Carrier Fall 2011

Branch 41 President Angelo Mangano marches with his members and convention delegates in front of Rep Chris Gibson’s office to influence him to co-sponsor H.R. 1351 which would help the Postal Service.

To help assist members to sign up to become an e-Activist, we are including a tear-out postcard in the upcoming August issue of the Postal Record. All a member has to do is fill in the information and drop it in the mailbox.

Additionally, as an incentive the NALC will be launching a raffle to encourage new sign-ups. At the end of year, the NALC will send an email to 10 lucky e-Activists announcing they have each won a $100 American Express gift card. You must be an NALC member and be a valid e-Activist by December 1st, 2011.

Please remind the members and leadership in your state or region to promote the e-Activist program and this raffle at all remaining branch meetings, conventions, and regional trainings this year.

If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Legis-lative and Political Affairs.

George Mignosi, NALC

Vice President

100 Indiana Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20001

202-393-4695

Larry Cirelli

National Business

Agent

Region 15


A s the NALC prepared to begin negotiations with the United States Postal Service on a new col-lective bargaining agreement this August 18th, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe began a

concerted effort on the part of the USPS to enlist outside interference into issues that have been historically “on the table”. PMG Donahoe released proposals to the United States Congress, as well as the news media, to legislate away contractual “no lay off” protection and remove postal employees from federal pension and health benefits pro-grams. These measures, he implied, are critical to main-taining a solvent postal service and would pave the way to cutting back mail delivery to five, or less, days per week and creating independent annuity and health benefit programs that would offer reduced benefits to postal em-ployees.


FIRST SHOTS

The timing of these announcements with the start of NALC-USPS bargaining is clearly not coincidental. NALC President Fred Rolando has responded to the PMG’s propaganda in a forceful rebuke in which he denounced the contention that the USPS would have declared bank-ruptcy by now if it was a private company. He correctly pointed out that 100% of the USPS deficit in the last four fiscal years is attributable to the legislative mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, a mandate which would never have been imposed if the USPS was a pri-vate company. The stage has now been set for what promises to be a tumultuous period leading up to the expiration of our cur-rent national agreement on November 20, 2011. We have elected responsible leaders to represent us at the bar-gaining table, but that does not mean that individual mem-bers of the NALC should be bystanders in this battle. There has never been a negotiation period quite like this before, because the actions, or inaction, of the Congress have never had such a profound influence over the proc-ess. There are political forces in Washington which will embrace PMG Donahoe’s proposals and may find mem-bers of Congress who will introduce them as legislation. We need to be active in the legislative process to counter these efforts. There have already been elected officials characterizing bills to relieve, or at least minimize, the Postal Service’s pre-funding obligation as a “bailout”, and spreading the myth that the USPS receives government subsidies. By becoming a e-Activists and Carrier-Corps volunteers as well as COLCPE contributors, we can present a united opposition to these attempts at undermining the collective bargaining process. We have seen that USPS manage-ment is not above resorting to deceptions, misrepresenta-tions and the inciting of fear in establishing its bargaining position. Why do they feel it necessary to go to such lengths? Because they know that the American people have a deep-rooted respect for the nation’s letter carriers, which has been proven again and again in public polls. As we strive to diffuse the falsehoods being used against us, we must never lose sight of the strength we derive from our elevated position in the public eye. It is a resid-ual benefit of the years of hard work, acts of heroism and charitable contributions that our members have made in their communities, and in the long run, may be the factor which once again permits the NALC to prevail in the struggle for workplace equity and security.

Region 15 NBA Larry Cerilli leads the NYS delegates as they protest the office of Congressman Chris Gibson in an attempt to address postal issues and the financial situation that now faces the agency.

Stand Up And Fight!

Norman C. LeFrois

Director of Retirees

Daniel Toth

National Business

Agent

Region 11



Over the years we have celebrated, as we have recently, the holiday known as Labor Day. The day was set aside so that those in the work force would be recognized for efforts put forth in their respective field of employ-ment, and tens of thousands who labored in the Nations indus-tries had a day off. We still celebrate Labor Day but the difference is, there are tens of thousands out of work. As retirees we can look back and feel good about having had a job that provided us with a pension and health benefits after leaving the work room floor. But are we guaranteed that we will continue to maintain these benefits at a significant level. Will our Health Benefits including Medi-care, continue to serve us well or will benefits be reduced and premiums increased to a point where out-of-pocket costs are outrageous. There are those in Congress who want to strip Federal employees and retirees of the benefits we have today. Don’t let it happen. Don’t sit on the sidelines while they run away with what we have today. Become involved in the NALC Legislative Agenda program and become a NALC Activist as well as a regular contributor to COLCPE. ************************************* Health Benefits Open Season is soon approaching (November 14 – December 12, 2011) and there has been notification that the Federal Employees Group Health Benefit Insurers will not be sending 2012 hard copy brochures to their respective members. The NALC Health Benefit Plan has mailed notice to their respec-tive members with a return card that can be sent back to the Plan requesting a hard copy of the brochure be mailed to them. I would strongly suggest that as Letter Carriers we ask to have the brochure mailed. A question that usually comes up during Open Season is…Should I enroll in Medicare Part- B. While the answer to that depends on a families circumstances be advised that if you are covered by Medicare Part-B and it is the primary payer, the NALC Health Benefit Plan pays the Medicare Part-B deductible and the balance of covered Part-B expenses not paid by Medi-care. Your out of pocket costs are nil because NALC supple-ments Medicare’s payment up to 100% of the covered charge When you receive the NALC-HBP brochure you are urged to review the contents closely giving strong consideration to the benefits and excellent preventative care provisions.

I f you like your job with the current wage and benefit package, you need to stand up and fight! If you want to maintain the quality of life you currently enjoy, you need to stand up and fight! If you want to retire as a

hard working middle class American, you need to stand up and fight. As a member of this great union, you no longer have the luxury to sit on the sidelines and expect your

elected officials to do the work for you. I am proud of the efforts of our leaders at the national level. I am proud of every national business agent and their efforts to save the postal service. But we cannot do it alone! On September 30th, the postal service will be re-sponsible for making a payment of $5.5 billion dollars that we do not have. The postal service is also obligated to make a payment of #1.2 billion dollars to cover costs of our injured employees - money that we do not have. Be prepared to read the negative publicity that will most cer-tainly occur when we are unable to make these payments. It is time to set the record straight on what a great institu-

tion the postal service is and the need to maintain a net-work that not only provides a middle class wage for postal service employees, but also affects 7 million other jobs in the private sector that are either directly or indirectly re-lated to the mail industry. It is of vital importance that we fight the fight to maintain six-day delivery! There are members in congress that are not of this opin-ion. Congressman Darrell Issa of California has introduced HR2309 that strikes right at the heart of our collective bar-gaining. Issa's bill will allow for an independent commis-sion that will make budgetary decisions in the event that we are not able to pay our bills. This independent commis-sion will sit down with the postal service and the unions

and attempt to modify their collective bargaining agree-ment in order to raise sufficient revenues to pay their bills. In the event that they would be unsuccessful in this negotiation, this independent commission would have the authority to unilaterally make decisions regarding our col-lective bargaining agreements. Continued on page 5

Labor May Not Celebrate


Mark Sobel

Director of Education


T he beginning of September brings the last days of Sum-mer, of emptying beaches and parks, of grills needing to be cleaned, of cool breezes, of football, of Autumn leaves and, at last, the hesitant return of our children to

school. But to a Union person, it also means Labor Day, that first Monday of the month which reminds us of our legacy to march and not succumb, to protest and not relent, to speak our minds and not fear, to parade with our brothers and sisters in

celebration and not in animosity.

Sadly, for most of Americans and for most of our union mem-bers, Labor Day doesn't mean recalling our glorious history of pitched battles in the streets to protect the 40-hour workweek, collective bargaining, the right to strike, overtime pay, health care, pension benefits, grievance procedures, etc.. What it means in 2011 are great sales at the Mall, a 3-day weekend, an extra couple of hours of sleep, burgers and hot dogs at the fam-ily barbecue and a parade moved to the Saturday after Labor Day because most members wouldn't give up their day off to spend it marching in celebration of their union's achievements. Gone even are the union stories that used to be shown every year on the History Channel or PBS or the celebration of the Labor Movement in movies like Norma Rae or F.I.S.T. or even Hoffa, for that matter. Not even a commercial. As we meet the challenges that State Governors and their legis-lative cronies are planning with the demolishment of workers' rights and of the right-wing ideologues rising to the belief that they can blame everything on unions and their members, we must not doubt that the Postal Service has not been watching what happened in Wisconsin and Ohio and in the Halls of Con-gress, for what they presented to Congress two weeks before Labor Day of dire shortfalls and defaults and of the need to break the contract they agreed to was the result of a plan that

came to fruition on the heels of those visions.

It is important to remember that our indifference, our apathy to our hallowed past has given strength to naysayers and the forces of evil anti-unionism, for they could easily see that when given a choice of celebrating our history and our solidarity, we chose instead to shop and eat burgers. Let this be a shot across the bow: we still have the chance to fight the good fight, but it takes recognizing our strength in numbers and understanding the war is not over. In fact, it has just begun.

T his is not my vision of the postal service in the future, and I pray as a member of this organiza-tion that it is not your vision either.

There currently are bills in congress that we must sup-port. HR1351, a bill introduced by congressman Lynch, will be a "fix" to our pre-funding. HR1351 does not provide

an answer to all of our problems but it gives us a fighting chance to survive. Please, contact your congressman if he/she is not a co-sponsor and ask them to please consider signing on as a co-sponsor. If they are a co-sponsor, p l e a s e r e a c h o u t a n d t h a n k t h e m . Another bill in congress is HRES137 which maintains six-day delivery. Once again, contact your congressman to e n s u r e t h e y a r e a c o - s p o n s o r . I know we have been hearing nothing but doom and gloom, but this fight is far from over! As members and leaders of this organization, we must consider this a chal-lenge. There are solutions for this challenge. The solutions

are as follows:

Immediately enroll in COLCPE, e-activist, and carrier corps. These are the tools that will determine if we are successful in our fight to maintain six-day delivery and the right to collectively bargain. If you need assistance in enrolling in any of the above letter carrier programs, please contact my office. If you need assistance in reaching your mem-bers to motivate them for this upcoming fight, contact my

office.

Continued from page 4

Stand Up And Fight

NYSALC President George Mangold (center) is flanked by Region 15 NBA Larry Cirelli, Vice President George Mignosi, Director of Health Benefits Director Brian Hellman Excutive Vice President Timothy O’Mally and Region 11 NBA Daniel E. Toth at the NYSALC convention in Saratoga NY


William B. Cook

Director of Legislation, NYSALC P. O. Box 358

Schenectady, New York 12301

[518] 374-1046

[518] 374-1047 (fax) [email protected]

T he state of the USPS is as President Vince Som-brotto described: what you gain at the bargaining table, you can lose in Congress.

Today the leadership of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Darryl Issa, is driven to solve the problems of the Postal Service on the backs of the work-ers. His proposal is to break the backs of the unions, re-duce wages and benefits, and gut the collective bargain-ing agreements. On top of that Issa proposes two addi-tional layers of Congressional oversight commissions that w i l l t e l l t h e U S P S w h a t t o d o . Sounds like Wisconsin, doesn't it? Well think about this: the USPS is the second largest employer in the United States, second only to Wal-Mart. There you have the stark examples of what the American worker faces: a solid middle class job in a highly unionized environment where the worker has some say in their wages and work-ing conditions, and then you have Wal-Mart the low wage low benefit anti union icon of the American corporate world. Any questions about why they are after us? As September rolls to an end, we look to Congress to pass the appropriations bill which contains the language that service will not be reduced below1983 levels, thus

Collective Bargaining Give It , Congress Take It Away


preventing the Board of Governors through the Postmas-ter General from reducing our work days from 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 to whatever the BOG wants. The Board of Governors is a major focus of our failure to right this Postal Service. The replacement of the members of the Board Of Gover-nors is through Presidential appointment, approved by the Senate. After three years the appointees from the previous administration are still in place, wonder why? The same is true with the Postal Rate Commission. These two entities are not looked upon by our members with a great amount of time and detail, but if they are not comprised of people who are champions of the Postal Service, then you get what we have today. The possibility of getting our finances straightened out depend on the same congress that has extremists who were willing to let the country go into default in August and taking down 100% of the US economy. Imagine how they react when they look at the postal service and the related mailing industry that is only 11% of the gross do-mestic product. Above and beyond everything we do between now and next year, we need to focus on electing champions of the Postal Service and its workforce.

NYSALC President George Mangold (center) is flanked by Region 15 NBA Larry Cirelli, Vice President George Mignosi, Director of Health Benefits Director Brian Hellman Excutive Vice President Timothy O’Mally and Region 11 NBA Daniel E. Toth at the NYSALC convention in Saratoga NY

On September 27th, the four Postal Unions are participating in public events to “Save America's Postal Service” in every Congressional District across the country. The rallies are designed to urge Congress to pass H.R. 1351 and gen-erate public support for the Postal Service. In the interest of time and solidarity, each Postal Union will be responsible for being the lead organizer in targeted districts. NYSALC is responsible for CDs 8, 9, 11, 12, and 18; The CDLs for these Congressional Districts are being des-ignated as the lead organizers, and will receive their packets in a separate email... They will need help from all Branch Presidents and Officers....

Additionally, President Rolando wants NALC coordinators in each district who will work with the three other Postal Unions to insure these events are a success.

mailto:[email protected]

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