1. Art and Diseño

February 2015
Editor’s View
Janette “Gugi” Degen
Editor
s Postmasters, we have an appetite to do the best and be successful. A challenge we face is unraveling the unpopular issues that need to be addressed and not being hesitant or reluctant to speak up. We need to speak with confidence, stand
tall and exhibit an ability to be heard. It is our mission to preserve our
identity as Postmasters, change the channel, reboot and stop looking in
the rearview mirror.
The emotional toll many of us are facing can be amended with the
assistance of NAPUS. NAPUS has played a starring role in many issues
that have changed the course for Postmasters; seeking support from
each other, we can re-energize, despite overwhelming burdens, and establish positive objectives.
We each have a position. At times, it is necessary to tweak our roles
and get back into position and not be required to take on everyone elses’
positions. The workload has to balance; one has to ask, will 2015 mark
an end for Postmasters being overworked?
President Tony Leonardi continues to work diligently for NAPUS;
he engages his team to seek solutions that will influence and improve
our organization. In the January issue of the Postmasters Gazette, Executive Director Dave Ravenelle provided insight into all the cost-saving
measures our executive team has achieved. Tony and Dave are available
to help you; they are only a phone call or e-mail away.
With pleasure, let me introduce in this issue Robert A. Holden Sr.,
who generously shares his postal career after serving 20 years. Associate Editor Rick Dama is an advocate in honoring our military personnel;
in upcoming issues, he will highlight our postal heroes.
Every month we feature TIPS—To Increase Performance & Solutions. This column offers information on how to pull a report; it also
provides shortcuts on how to complete tasks and solutions on how to increase your performance. This is vital information I hope you find beneficial in your daily tasks.
After 39 years of service, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe has retired. We wish him a happy retirement and welcome Megan Brennan as
the 74th postmaster general. We look forward to seeing and hearing
Megan at the 2015 Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. Make
your reservations now to attend (see page 6).
Janette “Gugi” Degen
Editor
Postmaster
Spencerville, OH 45887
[email protected]
Karen Boudreaux
Associate Editor
Postmaster
Loreauville, LA 70552
[email protected]
Rick Dama
Associate Editor
Retired Postmaster
N 6196 County Road F
Sullivan, WI 53178
[email protected]
C. Lynn Wilson
Photographer
Postmaster
Comanche, OK 73529
[email protected]
The Postmasters Gazette
is published by Balent-Young
Publishing, Inc., PO Box 734,
Front Royal, VA 22630-1600;
540-636-2569, phone/fax;
e-mail: kbalentyoung@gmail.
com
For editorial inquiries, contact
Gugi Degen, editor, 4252 Pioneer Rd., Elida, OH 458079784; 419-302-5842.
For subscription service
or change of address,
please call the NAPUS National
Office, 703-683-9027.
For more information about
NAPUS, go to www.napus.org
or scan the QR code below.
Contents
Volume
94 / N u m b e r 2
•
February
Features
2 015
Columns
2 Editor’s View
Gugi Degen
4 Advocating for Postmasters
14
PMG Offers
Perspective and
Advice
Tony Leonardi
7 Working Together
Dan Heins
8 Officers’ Forum
Barbara Swiderski, Richard
Hui and Jim Maher
10 Making a Difference
20
NAPUS Chapter
Presidents Are the
Foundation
Meet the presidents of
Massachusetts and Louisiana.
Dave Ravenelle
12 Legislative Action
Bob Levi
Departments
6 2015 National Leadership
Conference Registration
Form
13 Committees
35
Mardi Gras
in Mobile Is
America’s
Original
18 Portrait of a Postmaster
by Stacy Hamilton
37 2015 National
Robert A. Holden Sr.
19 TIPS
22 NAPUS Constitution
and Bylaws
Convention
Registration Form
40 Postmasters Retired
42 Credit Union
43 Chapter Officers
Postmasters Gazette (ISSN-0032-552X) is printed 10 times
a year—monthly, except for combined May/June and October/
November issues—by the National Association of Postmasters
of the United States (NAPUS), 8 Herbert St., Alexandria, VA
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postage paid at Alexandria, VA, and other mailing offices.
Subscriptions All NAPUS and NAPUS Postmasters Retired
members receive Postmasters Gazette as part of their membership dues. The nonmember subscription rate is $18 a year;
single copies, $3. For address changes, contact the NAPUS National Office, 703-683-9027.
Advertising Inquiries Please contact Balent-Young Publishing,
PO Box 734, Front Royal, VA 22630; 540-636-2569, phone/fax;
e-mail, [email protected].
Publication Content Opinions expressed herein are those of
the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of
NAPUS. The publication of any advertisement herein does not
necessarily constitute NAPUS endorsement of the products or
services offered. Articles, photos and/or artwork may be mailed
or e-mailed to Postmasters Gazette, PO Box 734, Front Royal,
VA 22630; 540-636-2569, phone/fax, kbalentyoung@gmail.
com, with a copy of just the article also mailed to the editor.
Reprint Permission © 2015. Permission is hereby granted to
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provided proper credit is given. Nonmembers may request written reprint permission by writing to the editor.
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Advocating for Postmasters
Tony Leonardi
President
POStPlan RIF Timeline
Extended Until Feb.6
O
n Dec. 31, an agreement was reached between the
chose, they could remain in their offices through the
APWU and the Postal Service to allow the last 700
holidays and retire on Jan. 9.
Postmasters in Level-2 and -4 post offices a final opNext came a VER that allowed Postmasters conportunity to continue their USPS employment in catemplating retirement on Oct. 1, 2014, to do so. As
reer positions. With this agreement, the Postal Seran incentive, they received $10,000 to ease the tranvice extended the RIF timeline from Jan. 9 until Feb.
sition. In the meantime, an additional LAC posting
6 so these remaining Postmasters would have an opof available EAS positions was announced excluportunity to weigh their new option.
sively for impacted Postmasters.
According to the agreement, these Postmasters
Then, the arbitrator’s ruling came down; it
had to be willing to accept PTF
changed POStPlan forever. This declerk positions to remain in
cision determined how these offices
their offices or, if that was not
would be staffed in the future.
“Staffing
issues
possible because of retreat
Staffing issues still are a major conrights for clerks or other clauscern and many questions remain on
still are a major
es in the agreement, they would
how this will work. For instance,
concern. ...”
be offered another PTF clerk
we need a clear, definitive answer
position in the area. In many
on how coverage is to be handled
cases, this was the only option available.
for Postmasters remaining in Level-6 offices.
I have heard from many of these individuals and,
The ruling did allow us to revisit the issue of pay
for the overwhelming majority willing to accept this
for incumbent Level-6 Postmasters. We consulted
final offer, it’s because they simply had no other
with the Postal Service, which agreed to extend
choice. Many of them could not move because of
saved hourly protection until Sept. 30, 2016. This
personal family obligations; some are years away
was not only about the money. It was about ensuring
from being retirement eligible. At least this option
that Postmasters, who have given so much, were
allows them to retain their medical benefits, which
treated fairly and given the respect they deserve.
are vital to their families. I have said many times that
POStPlan barely resembles its original form at inPOStPlan continues to evolve; this was the last step
ception. As I write this on Jan. 17, we do not have
in the initial implementation.
final numbers of how many Postmasters were actualWhen I became NAPUS president in January
ly RIFed out of the Postal Service. Many people at
2014, I promised to make POStPlan my primary
USPS Headquarters and the areas and districts have
focus. I pledged to work with the Postal Service and
worked very hard with me and our other NAPUS ofdo everything within my power to provide impacted
ficers to do whatever they could do to find everyone
Postmasters opportunities to stay gainfully emlanding spots.
ployed. I would like to recap what has occurred over
I’m sure that when we look back at the original
the past year and what we accomplished.
number of impacted Postmasters, then count those
First, we were able to get the RIF timeline exactually RIFed, it will be a small number by compartended from Sept. 30, 2014, to Jan. 9, 2015. This exison. However, it is and will always be my opinion
tension gave impacted Postmasters an additional
that one RIFed Postmaster was too many; they dethree-plus months to find new positions. Or, if they
served better.
4 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
NAPUS Executive Board
PRESIDENT
Tony Leonardi, Rocky Hill, CT, 06067; 703-683-9027;
[email protected].
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Dan Heins, Stewartville, MN, 55976; 507-533-4571;
[email protected]
VICE PRESIDENTS
Area 1—AK/ID/IL/IA/MN/MO/MT/ND/OR/SD/WA/WI/WY
Jim Maher, Chesterfield, MO 63005; 802-482-2292;
[email protected]
Edmund Carley, Lincoln, IL 62656; 217-732-4912;
[email protected]
Area 2—CT/MA/RI
Rob Hackert, Winsted, CT 06098; 860-379-6675;
[email protected]
Area 2—CT/RI/DE/DC/ME/MD/MA/MI/NH/NJ/NY/PA/VT
Richard Hui, Gardner MA 01440; 978-537-8030; [email protected]
Barbara Swiderski, Bowdoinham, ME 04008; 207-666-3465;
[email protected]
Area 3—AL/FL/GA/IN/KY/NC/OH/PR&VI/SC/TN/VA/WV
Tammy Powell, Fountain Inn, SC 29644; 864-862-3383;
[email protected]
Susan Rice, Woodland, AL 36280; 256-449-6162;
[email protected]
Area 4—PA
Kathy Frame, Neffs, PA 18065; 610-767-7230;
[email protected]
Area 4—AZ/AR/CA/CO/HI/KS/LA/MS/NE/NV/NM/OK/TX/UT
Joan Mallon, Kiowa, CO 80117; 303-621-2011;
[email protected]
Brent Cofield, Blair, OK 73526; 580-563-2200;
[email protected]
Area 8—FL/GA/PR&VI
Louise Nix, Cleveland, GA 30528; 706-865-4511;
[email protected]
Areas 9 & 10—IN/KY/OH
Pam Ford, N Manchester, IN 46962; 574-354-0024;
[email protected]
Area 12—MI/WI
Marie Price, Zeeland, MI 49465; 616-772-2971;
[email protected]
Area 14—MN/ND/SD
Margie Jacobson, Waterville, MN 56096; 507-362-4648;
[email protected]
Area 16—KS/NE
DeAnna Stevens, Harper, KS 67058; 620-896-7557;
[email protected]
Area 18—TX
Sharon Janicek, East Barnard, TX 77435; 979-335-4325;
[email protected]
Area 20—MT/UT/WY
Don Knight, East Helena, MT 59635; 406-227-5325;
[email protected]
Area 22—CA/HI/NV
Anne McClure, Alamo, CA 94507; 510-406-6543;
[email protected]
POSTMASTERS RETIRED PRESIDENT
Ann McDorman, PO Box 73, Wimberly, TX 78676; 817-991-4002;
[email protected]
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dave Ravenelle, 8 Herbert St., Alexandria, VA 22305-2600;
703-683-9027; [email protected]
Area 6—VA/WV
Terry Clark, Wytheville, VA 24382; 540-230-5059;
[email protected]
PM Representation Committee
Larry Hall, chair, 170 Trevarthen Rd., Eclectic, AL 36024; h: 334-857-3229; c: 334220-2584; [email protected]
Edith Bradshaw, 895 W Emerald Lake Dr.,
Sumter, SC 29153; h: 803-905-1311;
c: 803-315-4879; [email protected]
Jaime Chacon, PO Box 2014, Mission Viejo,
CA 92690-0014; h: 949-249-2071; c:
949-584-3307; jaimenapuspmrep@
yahoo.com
George Finley,1601 Forum Circle, Lot 151,
Graford, TX 76449; c: 512-365-0066;
[email protected]
Brenda Gibbs, PO Box 445, Garnavillo, IA
52049; o: 563-964-2318; h: 563-9642178; c: 563-880-9490; gibbsbk@hot
mail.com
James Kirschbaum, 1007 Shady Oak Dr.,
North Mankato, MN 56003-3436; h: 507625-6995; c: 507-382-1689; kirsc@
hickorytech.net
Mark Gowan, 6280 Kalama Rd., Kapaa, HI
96746-8629; h: 808-822-4386; c: 808634-7174; [email protected]
Kevin Romeyn, PO Box 1, Warrenton, OR
97146-0001; o: 503-861-7371;
h: 503-861-9699; c: 503-440-1370;
[email protected]
Richard Hui, PO Box 745, Gardner, MA 014400745; o: 978-537-8030; c: 978-5493360; [email protected]
Bill Judge, 1610 Scottsdale Dr., Tipp City, OH
45371; o: 937-773-6424; c: 513-7029702; [email protected]
John Sertich, PO Box 73, Belleville, IL 62220;
o: 618-233-0390; c: 618-830-6535;
[email protected]
Go to www.napus.org and click on “postmaster representation” for more information.
NAPUS
Registration Form
NAPUS 2015 Leadership
Conference
March 14-18, 2015
Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA
2015
LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE
MARCH 14-18
You also may register online at www.napus.org.
Please Note: one attendee per registration form.
Name (as it should appear on your badge): _______________________________________________________________
First Name _____________________________________
Title (please check one that applies):
Post Office You Represent:
❏ Postmaster
Last Name ________________________________________
❏ Postmaster Retired
❏ Associate Member
❏ Guest
City _________________________________________________________ State __________
Your Mailing Address: ______________________________________________________________________________
City __________________________________ State ________ ZIP _____________________
Daytime phone: ______________________________________
Fax: ________________________________________
E-mail: ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Registration Fee: (please circle fee that applies)
After Feb. 2, 2015
Registration
$190
Payment (Payment in full, using one of the following payment options, must accompany this form):
❏ Check payable to NAPUS
❏ Visa/MasterCard only
Card Number
_____________________________________________________
Expiration Date _____/_____ Card Security Code ___________
Signature _____________________________________________
Registration Cancellation Policy:
Requests for cancellation refunds must be made in writing and be sent to the address below. Requests must be postmarked by
Feb. 2, 2015.
Hotel Reservations:
NAPUS has reserved a block of rooms at the discounted rate of $234, single/double/triple/quad, plus tax. You must call the Crystal
Gateway Marriott Hotel directly to make reservations at (703) 920-3230. This rate will be available on a first-come, first-served
basis until Feb. 2, 2015; rooms may be depleted quickly, so please call as soon as possible. A first-night, non-refundable room
deposit will be charged to your credit card on Feb. 2, 2015.
Banquet Seating:
Registrants will be seated with their chapters on a first-come basis. Registrations received after Feb. 2, 2015, are not
guaranteed to be placed at chapter tables and will be seated where space is available. Banquet tickets will be enclosed in your
conference materials distributed to all registrants at the beginning of the conference.
Please mail completed forms, with payment in full, to:
NAPUS Leadership Conference Registration
8 Herbert St.
Alexandria, VA 22305-2600
Working Together
Dan Heins
Secretary-Treasurer
Be Sure to Attend the
Leadership Conference
O
ur annual NAPUS Leadership Conference is just
pointments at your legislators’ local offices and
around the corner—March 14-18, to be exact. This
share your thoughts on what needs to be done to
conference gives us an opportunity to come together
help us as Postmasters and the Postal Service, as
for training and hear from NAPUS and Postal Serwell.
vice speakers. Because we meet only twice a year
I was pleased to be part of the annual audit of
on a national level, I encourage each of you to take
NAPUS’ finances at the end of January. The final readvantage of this event and
port has not been received from
come to our nation’s capital.
our auditor; however, I can tell
If you have never been there,
you that, as an organization, we
it is a great experience; if you
are very healthy financially. I
“Only by staying
have been there, you know there
look forward to being able to
in front of our
always is something new to exshare the full report with our Naperience. If you are a chapter oftional Executive Board at its
congressional repficer or chapter officer “want-tomeeting in March. Thanks to the
resentatives can we
be,” there are great training
great cooperation from the Naopportunities for all the officers.
tional Office staff, we were able
hope to influence
If you are thinking of running
to get the audit started early so
for office, you have the chance
we could have the report as early
them on issues.”
to sit in on a session and find out
in the year as possible.
a little more about what might
With the RIF separation date
be involved. Please remember, though, any time you
extended to Feb. 6, many of you have reached the
have questions about an office and what the particuend of your careers. If you are taking the retirement
lar responsibilities might be, you can contact me or
option and leaving the Postal Service, I wish you the
one of your state officers.
best as you go forward. If you are one of the PostMany times, Postmasters ask, “Why do we even
masters affected by the agreement between the
bother going up on the Hill?” “Why do we spend
APWU and the Postal Service that will allow you to
time and money supporting candidates for office?” I
become a PTF clerk and maintain your career status
know it feels, at times, like we have not gotten much
in the Postal Service, I wish you the best as you go
legislatively for NAPUS or the Postal Service; howforward.
ever, the bottom line is we cannot—and must not—
In recognition of Valentine’s Day this month, I
give up. Only by staying in front of our congressionleave you with this quote from Ann Landers: “Love
al representatives can we hope to influence them on
is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet underissues.
standing, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving.
If we have managed to build a rapport with our
It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles
representatives and senators and their aides, we
for less than perfection and makes allowances for
stand a chance of making a difference when the time
human weaknesses.”
comes for Congress to act on meaningful legislation.
Have a good month, everyone!
So, even if you are not able to attend the Leadership
Conference, I strongly encourage you to make apPostmasters Gazette /February 2015
7
Officers’ Forum
Success Requires Proper
Training
e just finished our busiest and highest package volume Christmas season ever; it was the most difficult
one in my 28 years in the Postal Service. The Postal
Service’s mantra of doing more with less made it extremely difficult to get the job done, but we did it because of the dedication and hard work of our employees.
This year, I had two new RCAs experiencing
their first Christmas season with the Postal Service.
It was interesting to see it through their eyes as they
saw the workload and understood what it takes to get
the job done. One of them said, “You all told us that
it would be really busy in December, but I didn’t
imagine it could ever be this busy!” The other commented, “If I survived this, I can survive anything!” I
remember feeling the same way 28 years ago.
Somehow, we always survive.
I am excited to be a part of the National Executive Board representing the new Area 2 as we enter a
new chapter in the history of NAPUS and the Postal
Service. President Tony Leonardi is a leader with a
lot of passion for the job and for Postmasters; I look
forward to working with him and the rest of the
board. We, as an organization, have been forced to
make very difficult decisions to move forward and
remain strong for our members. There still is a lot of
work to be done.
POStPlan resulted in many Postmasters and others taking positions for which they were inexperi-
enced. This is no fault of their
own; they haven’t been provided
with training or other opportunities in which they could gain the
Barbara Swiderski
needed experience. For the past
vice president, Area 2
couple of years in Maine, NAPUS
207-666-3465
has been providing training days
[email protected]
in various locations throughout
the state in addition to our state conventions. We
have asked our members what training they need
and have done our best to provide it.
There are many good people staffing our post offices and they want to do a good job; they just need
the proper tools to be successful. They deserve quality training that many of us, who have been around
awhile, once received. What we have been successful in doing is providing a great networking system
so the new Postmasters know whom to call for help.
I applaud Tony’s initiative to get the Postal Service
to commit to more classroom-based training. He has
been working with Chief Human Resources Officer
Jeff Williamson, who said at our 2014 National Convention in Atlantic City that he is committed to making it happen. I remain hopeful.
I wish all the best to President Tony and his wife
Karyn as they prepare for the arrival of the NAPUS
First Baby. What an exciting time! Congratulations
to you both.
Doing Our Jobs
am extremely delighted to be back on the National
Executive Board to serve our fellow Postmasters. I
will be sharing duties with three other vice presidents in the new Area 2, consisting of the District of
Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and
Vermont.
In the latest Postmasters Gazette, I wrote that I
would like to see NAPUS continue to prosper and all
8 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
Postmasters and managers be represented by one organization. I am
delighted to hear that President
Tony Leonardi, with the blessing
of our members, has begun exploring opportunities to make this
happen.
Now that Sunday package deliveries have officially begun in
most areas, it has added more re-
Richard Hui
vice president, Area 2
978-537-8030
[email protected]
sponsibilities and stress to Postmasters. POStPlan,
with the new conversion of PSE to PTF and the time
frame landing right in the holidays, made it even
more stressful to the extent of being almost unbearable. Just remember, our job is to serve our customers and provide the best service possible.
If you have any issues and problems, do not hesi-
tate to contact any one of your fellow Postmasters.
Sometimes, just having a chance to vent your frustration can give you a better frame of mind. At the
end of the work day, go home and try to leave your
work at the office; hug your children and love your
family.
At your service …
Doing the Right Thing
for Postmasters
e enter 2015 with hopes for a happy, healthy and
successful year. While many start a new year with
lofty resolutions, I try to avoid them, primarily because I break them all the first week! Nonetheless,
every day, a fresh start awaits us.
NAPUS faces the same situation; 2014 was clearly a challenge for our organization. Several things
negatively impacted many of our members. This
year starts with the awareness that many questions
have been resolved. Our membership base should
become static; impacted Postmasters who were
ready to retire have done so. The remaining impacted Postmasters hopefully have found positions that
suit them. While there still are many unknowns facing NAPUS, finding jobs for all our impacted members no longer is the primary issue.
It has been popular in many circles to blame
NAPUS for all the woes facing us. The question
often asked is, “What has NAPUS done for me?”
Well, I suspect Postmasters who stayed in sixhour offices are pleased our leadership negotiated
with Postal Service Headquarters to keep their current salaries until 2016: two years of saved salary,
rather than reducing to $18, as was the plan. This
windfall came as a direct result of NAPUS working
with Postal Service Headquarters to do the right
thing for our members.
The friendships I’ve developed via NAPUS
around the country have been priceless. As I write
this article on New Year’s Day, I am currently swapping Facebook messages with many of my NAPUS
friends. I also received well-wishes with holiday
cheer from many of my NAPUS family, which was
much appreciated during this season.
We all have developed friendships and relationships with fellow Postmasters across the nation as a
result of our membership in NAPUS. If you have not
developed a network of NAPUS friends whom you
can contact for advice or help with a situation, it
would be beneficial to do so. We all are here for you!
This relationship-building is
critical for the future of NAPUS.
Like many of you, I was brought
into NAPUS shortly after my apJim Maher
pointment by a fellow Postmaster.
vice president, Area 1
I never have regretted my decision
802-482-2292
to attend my first state convention
[email protected]
at his suggestion. I’ve been embraced by my NAPUS family and
have developed friendships and working relationships with many people nationwide as a result.
Actions such as this are critical in retaining our
membership base and solidifying our future. We
must ensure we provide value to our members; our
leaders are taking the right steps to provide as much
value to our members as possible.
We have ongoing training and information disseminated via the website, the Gazette and our state
chapters. I found Montana’s Kae McCloy’s article in
last month’s Gazette, “The Alpha-Numeric Soup of
Clerks,” quite valuable. It answered many questions
about managing and administering new clerks.
While we may not like the agreement as signed, the
reality is we have to deal with it. Articles such as
this, with easily understood answers to questions our
Postmasters are facing, are a tremendous help.
Without my NAPUS network, I would not have
seen that article and may not have gotten that information. While this is but one small tidbit of the information available to Postmasters via NAPUS,
training provided to do your jobs and the networking
opportunities via our organization are unparalleled.
Are there uncertainties before us? Of course there
are. The Postal Service is constantly evolving; we
must stay the course and keep doing the right thing
for Postmasters. No one has all the answers; it seems
more questions keep appearing all the time. However, this is an exciting time to be a NAPUS member
and I am proud to be serving you on the National
Executive Board.
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
9
Making a Difference
Dave Ravenelle
Executive Director
have received a number of inquiries from recently proseason, ensuring the success of Sunday delivery of Amazon
moted Postmasters concerned about their salaries.
packages. Many Postmasters were directed to work by their
Postmasters promoted from EAS-11 and -13 positions
supervisors in order to protect service. While many employto EAS-18 and -20 positions found themselves at the
ees worked on Sundays during the holiday season, it was
lower end of the pay scale for their respective salary grade. In
Postmasters who served without compensation. Their dedicasome instances, Postmasters (EAS-20) were not making any
tion and leadership were directly responsible for the successmore money than the employees they supervised.
ful holiday season.
The Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) states,
The ELM, Sec. 519.733, provides for a remedy, “… when
in part, “…when an appointment is to an exempt EAS-15
exempt Postmasters are directed to work a full day in addithrough EAS-19 grade position, the minimum salary must be
tion to normal workdays, Postmasters may request a full day
equal to, or exceed, the supervisory difof personal absence without charging it
ferential adjustment (SDA) rate as deto their official leave.” With the rural
scribed in Exhibit 412.1b of the ELM.”
mail count coming up, now is the time to
“Many Postmasters
The ELM lists the SDA as 5 percent
discuss the use of personal leave with
above PS-5, step O.
your supervisor (MPOO).
worked Sundays
The ELM has not been updated to
Recent arbitration and subsequent
during the holiday
show the current SDA as 5 percent above
agreements made with the APWU have
PS-6, step O. The SDA rate is 5 percent
all but eliminated PMRs from the work
season, ensuring the
above $56,791 (salary for PS-6, step O)
force. They now are limited to working
success of Sunday
or $59,630.55. The minimum pay for an
in two-hour and part-time post offices.
EAS-18 Postmaster is $47,664; $52,630
The diminished work opportunities have
delivery of Amazon
for EAS-20 Postmasters.
led to PMRs losing their jobs or being
The SDA does not apply to EAS-20
forced to compete with new hires for
packages.”
or EAS-18 Postmasters who are not
positions in which they currently are
FLSA exempt (supervising two or more
serving. Recent events, along with the
full-time-equivalent bargaining-unit employees). If you are
low pay and lack of a clear career path, have caused many
FLSA non-exempt, you should be paid for actual hours
to give up.
worked.
It is unfortunate that PMR interests were not represented
I recently received a resolution log at the National Office
at the bargaining table as the APWU and the Postal Service
and, as was customary before forwarding the file to the Postal
decided what, if any, consideration would be given to PMRs
Service, I reviewed it for accuracy and completeness. I noin their diminished roles. PMRs’ experience and hard work
ticed in the file a reference to an EEO case filed in conjuncwere not recognized or considered in the transition.
tion with the resolution log. The log would not be considered
Staffing of remotely managed post offices (RMPOs) conby the Postal Service because it will not address any resolutinues to be a major concern for Postmasters in administrative
tion logs that are the subject of another appeal process, such
post offices. Leave commitments due to Local Memo of Unas MSPB and EEO. Please be sure, prior to submission, that
derstandings (LMOU), leave covered under FMLA and
the issue is not the subject of another appeal process.
workhour limitations for Postmasters performing craft work
Retired Postmasters returning as temporary PMRs? Yes,
will make coverage in many RMPOs nearly impossible durit’s true. The Postal Service sent letters to retirees soliciting
ing the upcoming leave year. Authorized staffing levels must
their assistance in the upcoming rural route mail count. The
recognize the limited flexibility we have with staffing and be
letter outlined terms and conditions for employment; retired
sufficient to meet the contractual commitments of our nationPostmasters will be paid $17.14 per hour. The appointment
al bargaining-unit contracts.
was effective Feb. 1 and expires March 1, 2015. We wish the
We will continue to work with the Postal Service to rePostal Service success in its recruitment and hope the resolve POStPlan-related staffing issues and represent Postmassponse is sufficient to minimize the scheduling of Postmasters in upcoming pay consultations to address current pay
ters to work six days a week during the rural mail count.
anomalies.
Many Postmasters worked Sundays during the holiday
10 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
★
★★
★★★
Legislative Action
X
ossibly one of the most consequential
Bob Levi
Director of Government Relations
issues for postal employees that Congress addressed in the waning days of
the 113th Congress had absolutely nothing to
do with the Postal Service or its employees. Nevertheless, the way in which Washington chose to address a
limited number of struggling private-sector pension
plans is deeply troubling.
Tucked deep within the contours of the end-of-theyear government funding bill, a must-pass bill that finances government agencies through September 2015, is a
Subcommittee on Governmental Operations, which will have
jurisdiction over the Postal Service and federal benefit issues.
The clear message to NAPUS members is this year will
present new challenges, but challenges we should be confident we can meet.
continued on page 17
12 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
Committees
Understanding the
Mediation/Redress Process
By Jaime Chacon, national PM rep
uring a recent meeting I attended, the NAPS state president
brought up a problem she was
having between Postmasters and supervisors during the mediation/redress
process under ELM 650. When the
USPS first allowed mediation/redress
during the ELM 650 appeal process for
EAS employees, NAPUS declined to
use it.
After several costly years for the
USPS as a result of NAPUS declining
to use the process and go directly to the
deciding official and then on to a hearing before the Merit Systems Protection
Board judges, the USPS met with
NAPUS. It was agreed that, if NAPUS
would use mediation/redress during the
650 appeals, the USPS would guarantee
the agency reps would be open and fair
in truly attempting to negotiate a reasonable settlement. Also, its rep would
have full settlement authority.
Since that agreement, NAPUS and
the USPS have settled a vast majority of
cases and avoided costly MSPB ap-
peals. The concern the NAPS state president had was that Postmasters did not
seem to understand the process.
If a supervisor is given discipline
and requests mediation/redress, all time
limits cease and there is a “time out.”
The discipline remains at the “proposal”
stage and is not yet in force. The Postmaster must attend the mediation/redress with an open mind and attempt to
negotiate a settlement.
The merits of the case should not be
discussed. That would give an unfair
advantage to the Postmaster to fix any
weakness in the case and come back
with a stronger charge. The same is
true, of course, if a Postmaster is
charged and in mediation with their
MPOO.
If a Postmaster wants a rep to accompany them during the mediation/
redress process (usually a labor rep), do
not let them take over the mediation.
Unless they are skilled in mediation,
they should remain only as a technical
advisor.
Doing What Is Right
By John Sertich, national PM rep
want to thank President Tony
Leonardi for the confidence and trust
he has demonstrated in me by appointing me to the National Postmaster
Representation Committee. I am looking
forward to working with Chair Larry
Hall and the other members of the team.
As a long-time member and chair of
the Illinois PM Representation Committee, I have sought the advice and support of this committee many times. The
assistance and guidance they provided
allowed me to help countless Illinois
Postmasters in their times of need. I will
continue to rely on them as I progress to
the national level of responsibility.
I have been with the Postal Service
for 37 years. I spent my first eight years
in the craft and the rest in a variety of
EAS positions and details. I have been
the Postmaster of Belleville, IL, a
Level-22 office, since 2000 and in-
National Committee Chairs
Membership/Services—Barbara Whidden,
19633 D’Orr Rd., Altoona, FL 32702; h: 352669-5724; c: 352-408-4578; [email protected]. Layton Hansen, 2024 Gratton
Way, Concord, CA 94520; h: 925-899-2235;
c: 925-686-5148; [email protected]
PAC for Postmasters/Government
Relations—Edmund Carley, PO Box 1, Lincoln, IL 62656; o: 217-734-4912; c: 217-8999256; [email protected]
Education & Development—Becky Burbach, PO Box 535, Sun Prairie, WI 53590;
c: 608-604-4934; [email protected]
Diversity—Pam Brooks, Newark, CA 94560;
o: 510-792-8139; [email protected]
Constitution & Bylaws—Louise Nix, Cleveland, GA 30528; 706-865-4511, louisenix@
yahoo.com
Special Officers
National Convention Chair—Benny Daigle,
113 Crochet St., Pierre Part, LA 70339; c:
225-335-5111; [email protected]
Parliamentarian—John Galera, 94-346
Hokuala St. #123, Mililani, HI 96789; c: 808284-2833; [email protected]
Chaplain—James Gillispie, 1410 W 115th
St., Jenks, OK, 74037-3423; h: 918-2999013; c: 918-694-9998; [email protected]
Sergeants-at-Arms—James Dillard, 10209
Tanglewood Dr., Meridian, MS 39307; c: 601692-3922. Kris Schmit, Fredonia, WI 53021;
c: 262-689-8250; [email protected]
Aide to the President—Bill Judge, Piqua, OH
45356; o: 937-773-6424; c: 513-702-9702;
[email protected]
Liaison to the President—Linda Gurka, Suttons Bay, MI 49682; o: 231-271-3622; c: 734646-2346; [email protected]
Aide to the Secretary-Treasurer—Anita
Pfeifer, 20576 Kearney Path, Lakeville, MN
55044; c: 507-390-1164; amp2016@yahoo.
com
volved in NAPUS for 20 years.
When soliciting members for the
Illinois PM Rep Committee, I invariably was asked what they would have to
do—would they provide training? I always responded by telling them the actual process was pretty straightforward
and anyone could learn to do it. However, dealing with individuals involved in
continued on page 18
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
13
PMG Offers Perspective
PMG Patrick Donahoe was the featured speaker at the Jan. 6 National Press Club Newsmakers Conference
in Washington, DC. Speaking to reporters collectively for the last time before his retirement, Donahoe
praised postal employees for their hard work and accomplishments. Following is the text of his speech:
I
t’s nice to be back at the National Press Club. I would like to thank Herb Perrone and the Newsmakers Committee for making some room on the schedule for a lame duck. About 40 years ago
I was rousted out of my bed by my uncle Bob; he wanted to make sure I got down to the Pittsburgh General Post Office on time to take a postal job exam. If he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t
be here now.
I ended up working afternoons while I was going to the University of Pittsburgh during the day;
it wasn’t so easy managing those two demands on my time. Today, I
consider getting that job a very lucky start to my career. Now,
if you could talk to that younger version of myself at that
time of my life, there’s no way I would ever have guessed
that I would stay with the Postal Service for 40 years—
much less that I would be able to lead a 630,000-person organization and serve as postmaster general.
I was fortunate at every stage of my career; I found interesting challenges and opportunities and great mentors.
That’s a testament to a special organization, and really great
people who are dedicated to serve the American public
every day. However, when you have 40 years of perspective
and you’re still working out of a tough financial crisis, you
wonder about the young person who might be joining the
Postal Service today.
What is the organization going to look like in 10 or
20 years? How will we serve our customers in the future? Will
that person have the
same opportunities? Those questions need to be
addressed. And
and Advice
the best approach is to take a broad, long-term view of the
organization and develop strategies that best serve our
customers and employees into the future.
Can the Postal Service operate profitably far into the
future? Absolutely. Can it continue to adapt quickly to
changes in the marketplace? We’ve proved that. Can it
continue to meet its full potential as an engine of growth
for the mailing industry and America’s businesses? Yes.
Can it do these things within its current business model?
Not likely.
If you’ve followed my tenure as postmaster general
over the past four years, you’ll know that I spent a decent
amount of time trying to push for legislation that would
give the Postal Service greater operational flexibility.
• This means having greater control over the way we
manage our work force, including healthcare benefits.
• This means fully managing our infrastructure.
• This means having greater pricing and product development flexibility.
• It means being able to solve problems and pursue opportunities without irrational mandates and legislative requirements.
Retiree health benefits are my favorite example of an
absurd mandate. Unlike practically any other organization, the Postal Service is required to prefund the retiree
health benefits that we have promised to our employees.
Unfortunately, Congress decided to make the Postal Service prepay a 40-year obligation in a 10-year period—
which we could have been able to pay if the Internet had
never been invented.
To compound the issue, we massively overpay for retiree health insurance. That’s because our employees are
in plans that don’t leverage the Medicare benefits for
which the Postal Service and its employees have already
paid. Under our current mandates, we’re supposed to pay
a total of $96 billion into a Treasury Department account.
We paid roughly $48 billion prior to 2011 and defaulted
on roughly $22 billion over the past three years.
The sad part of all of this is it could be fixed immediately with legislation. If we integrate Medicare
into our retiree healthcare plans, we
would be fully funded after just
one final $3 billion payment.
Done. Rather than overspend
on healthcare, we could be
spending those funds on a new vehicle fleet, package sortation equipment, pay down debt and significantly slow
postage price increases.
What’s holding us up? Myopia, shortsightedness.
That may sound a little harsh, but it would be too easy
to say that it’s just congressional gridlock. To no avail,
we’ve been trying to get postal reform legislation passed
for the past four years. As much as we try to have an elevated conversation about the future of the organization,
we never get beyond the narrow set
of interests that are determined to
preserve the status quo.
“Can the Postal
The Postal Service put together a
Service operate
smart, comprehensive business plan
profitably far
and made recommendations for legislative changes to get us back on
into the future?
sound financial footing. We didn’t
Absolutely.”
get much support from our unions
or the mailing industry because it
threatened the status quo.
The mailing industry views the future of the Postal
Service mostly through the lens of pricing, so they don’t
want the Postal Service to have greater product and pricing flexibility. I’ve always found this very odd because the
ongoing lack of reform creates more pressure to raise
prices, which is what happened this past year.
Our labor unions view the future of the organization
mostly through the lens of preserving jobs and benefits as
they currently exist. Technology is driving dramatic
changes in delivery services; just look at how Amazon is
offering one-hour delivery in New York City. The Postal
Service needs the flexibility to be a part of those changes
and, more importantly, to shape those changes.
The Postal Service is delivering packages seven days a
week in most parts of the country. We don’t need to be delivering mail on Saturdays. It just doesn’t make financial
sense given the drop in mail volumes and the public supports making the change to five days of mail delivery.
My hope is the new Congress will find ways to build
consensus. It has to start with a real willingness on the
part of all stakeholders to take a longer-term view of the
organization. The narrow interests can’t continue to get in
the way of the broader national interest.
Just last year, the American Postal Workers Union
mounted a protest campaign and disrupted our partnership
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
15
PMG Offers Perspective and Advice
with Staples, which was a great business partner for the
Postal Service. The Postal Service partnered with Staples
to provide our customers with more convenient access to
a wide range of our products and services in roughly 82
Staples stores. It was successful in terms of driving
greater revenue for both partners.
Unfortunately, the APWU approach is to try to keep all
of our transactions in post offices. That’s not convenient
for our customers and it’s not a smart retail strategy for
our business. We’d much prefer to be able to sell our
products and services with a multitude of retail partners
and be in popular locations to make it easier and more
convenient for people to do business with us.
It’s an example of the narrow, near-sighted view winning over the broader, long-term strategy. Unfortunately,
it’s now tougher for us to find retail partners. Attitudes
have to change; I hope they will. I’ve been accused of
being optimistic to a fault. Perhaps I am, but I believe this
new Congress will take a fresh look at the long-term future of the Postal Service and pass the legislation we need.
As someone who’s leaving his job in a few weeks, I’ll
offer some unsolicited advice on the way out.
First of all, acknowledge the reality that the mailing
and shipping marketplace is
changing—rapidly.
• First-Class Mail volumes
“We owe our
have declined by 35 percent in
customers and the past 10 years. That would be
the nation a
worth $17 billion in annual revenue today; it’s not coming back.
Postal Service
• E-commerce is driving big
that will contin- demand for delivery services.
That’s what’s driving our packue to drive the
age business growth.
economy.”
• Location-based technology
is enabling tremendous new ways
of adding value to delivery.
• Integrating mail with digital technologies is creating
powerful, strong business opportunities for senders of
mail.
These facts about our business need to be part of the
business model discussion. Will the Postal Service always
continue to fulfill its core service mission? Yes, but Congress needs to look at the Postal Service as a business that
is going to be a lot different in the coming years. And it
should view this as a positive, desirable outcome.
Second, Congress needs to take a broader, long-term
view of the organization. America needs a strong Postal
Service. It needs a Postal Service with a business model
that is profitable over the long term so it can continually
16 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
invest in the future. We owe our customers and the nation
a Postal Service that will continue to drive the economy,
help businesses grow and provide continually improving
products and services.
The discussion about the future of the organization
would benefit greatly by working toward a 10- or 15-year
time horizon. If you truly embrace the longer-term view,
many of the narrow, special-interest issues have a completely different context and become much less important.
Third, the Postal Service needs the authority and flexibility to manage the organization more like a business.
That means streamlined governance, fewer constraints on
pricing and products, work-force flexibility and freedom
from irrational mandates. We will always have strong
oversight and checks and balances. We also need to have
the attitude across the industry that encourages flexibility
in the way we manage the organization and adapt to the
marketplace.
Fourth, I would encourage Congress to view the Postal
Service as a test bed or laboratory of change that might be
applied to the rest of the federal government. When we
look at the work force we’ll need in 20 or 30 years, what
we are doing today will have to evolve. Most young people aren’t looking for a single employer over the course of
their careers. In today’s world, does it really make sense
to offer the promise of a government pension to a 22-yearold who is just entering the work force? And how reliable
is that promise?
The Postal Service’s financial issues are similar to those
facing the federal government. At some point, the costs
have to come down and those promises of benefits have to
be paid. Just look at the unfunded liabilities with military
vets and federal, state and local retirement systems.
We’ve proposed transitioning from a defined benefit
program to a defined contribution program for postal employees. A thrift savings plan or IRA would give our employees much more mobility and flexibility. It may also
be a much more responsible and honest arrangement
when all is said and done.
I’d like to see Congress encourage much more experimentation at the federal level. The Postal Service has the
kind of management that would appreciate being at the
front edge of change and make good use of opportunities.
Health-care reform is another important area for experimentation. I don’t think anyone would argue the federal
government isn’t massively overpaying for employee and
retiree health-care benefits. Let the Postal Service develop
a more cost-effective approach. We’ve developed some
promising proposals; we should have the flexibility to
pursue them.
Over the past four years, I have had the privilege to
lead a great management team and a tremendous organization through some challenging times. I’m very pleased
to say that our past fiscal year was our best of the past six
years. We earned a controllable income profit of $1.4 billion. Considering that we recorded a $2.4 billion controllable income loss in 2012, that profit represents a very big
success for the organization. We’ve also accumulated $6
billion in cash, which gives us some flexibility to make
long overdue investments.
It was pretty gloomy coming out of the 2008/2009 recession; we were facing declines in every part of our business. We had to revamp and improve our core offerings.
We significantly upgraded our product development and
marketing strategies, which helped spur strong growth in
our package business in particular. We offer date-specified
delivery, free insurance and free tracking for our Priority
Mail offerings. That’s a great value to the sender and it
continues to attract more customers to the Postal Service.
However, we couldn’t have offered those features if we
hadn’t taken a long-term approach to upgrading our technology and tracking systems. We’ve worked hard to put a
strong data and technology platform in place to drive future innovation. One of the reasons we’ve solidified our
mail revenue over the past two years, especially standard
mail, is because of the rich reporting data we now provide
to our commercial customers.
We’ve also worked hard to develop a culture of risktaking and experimentation. We’re delivering groceries in
San Francisco, doing same-day deliveries in New York,
delivering on Sundays in many markets and doing some
small-scale warehousing services. It’s been yielding results.
Every Door Direct Mail is a digital tool designed to
bring small businesses into the mail. It was an experiment
that’s now driving almost a billion dollars in annual revenue for us. We’ve also invested in our product development and marketing strategies. We’ve revitalized our Sales
operations. Nagisa Manabe and her team have done a
wonderful job getting closer to our customers and competing for their business. We’ve now got a lot of momentum
as an organization as a result.
We’ve been just as aggressive on the cost side of the
equation. Since 2006, we reduced our cost base by almost
$16 billion.
• We did that by consolidating 305 mail processing facilities.
• POStPlan optimized the window hours at 13,000 post
offices.
• We eliminated 23,000 delivery routes, even as the
number of delivery points rises every year.
• We’ve reduced the size of our work force by 212,000
positions, relying on an orderly process of attrition and
without resorting to layoffs.
I think from any perspective, you
have to say that it was the result of
“We made a
developing a strong, long-term stratelot of tough
gy, ignoring the naysayers and foldecisions that
lowing through. If we hadn’t pressed
so hard and moved as quickly as we
were based on a
did, especially on the cost side of the
long-term view
equation, I have no doubt we would
have run off the financial cliff by
of what was
now. Had we done nothing, Congress
right for the
likely would be bailing us out to the
organization.”
tune of billions of dollars annually.
If there’s one message I have
today, it’s this: We made a lot of
tough decisions that were based on a long-term view of
what was right for the organization. We used every bit of
flexibility we had—as we should have. That should be
seen as a strong argument for allowing the organization to
have the additional flexibility it needs to deal with some
of our bigger structural issues.
If given that flexibility, I have no doubt the Postal Service will continue to aggressively adapt to a changing
world and a changing marketplace, and do so profitably.
That would be the best way to meet the expectations of
the American public.
Let me conclude by recognizing the performance of
our employees over the holiday season. We saw package
deliveries increase by more than 18 percent and our ontime performance was the best ever. Our employees were
delivering in some tough weather conditions—as they always do—and on Sundays for the past eight weeks in all
the major markets.
That’s a testament to an incredible organizational effort
and employees who are highly dedicated to their public
service mission. With all the technology changes and disruptions, the Postal Service still remains a critical part of
the American economy and American society.
It has been a pleasure to serve the organization and the
American people for almost 40 years. As I leave, I do so
with a lot of optimism and confidence. My successor,
Megan Brennan, is going to be a tremendous leader of the
Postal Service. She’s been vital to our recent successes
and will do a great job of leading the organization in the
coming years. It makes it a lot easier to pass the baton
knowing that the organization will be in such good
hands.
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
17
Committees
of a Postmaster
R o b e r t A . H o l d e n S r.
am the son of the former Orfordville, WI, Postmaster and a
World War I veteran; he lost his
right leg at the battle of Cantigny in May
1918. He was postmaster at Orfordville
from Feb. 1, 1922, until he retired on
Aug. 30, 1960.
I worked for my dad during the summers of 1937 to 1940. He had to pay the
clerk out of his own pocket. I also
helped at other times of those years.
During my father’s term, he had to be
re-appointed every four years. This
changed in the 1940s under President
Roosevelt; all appointments were made
permanent.
I served 33 months in the Army Air
Force, 15 of them with the 398th Bomb
Group (B-17s) at Nuthampstead, England. I was a clerk typist with the rank of
corporal in Group Headquarters.
In February 1943, my father was authorized a civil service clerk and was allotted 36 hours per week, at 79 cents per
hour. I took the civil service exam and
had the high score; I was appointed
clerk on March 1, 1947.
I served as clerk for more than 12
years. When the rural carrier retired in
1959, I eventually
was appointed after,
once again, taking
the civil service
exam.
When my father
retired in 1960, I applied for the job and
my name was submitted to
the Senate by President Eisenhower. No
action ever was taken by the Senate, but
President-elect Kennedy submitted my
name on the list he sent to the Senate;
my appointment was retroactive to Aug.
31, 1960. I retired on Aug. 30, 1980,
after serving 20 years
My wife Jean, whom I married in
1944 on a 24-hour pass from Chanute
Air Force Base, Rantoul, IL, and I enjoyed 25 glorious years of retirement,
spending our winters in Florida and
summers in Black River, WI. We were
married for almost 66 years. She died in
November 2009 after a five-year battle
with Alzheimer’s disease.
My son, Robert Jr., also an Air Force
veteran, had a one-year postal career as
a city carrier before returning to his love,
drafting. I have one grandson and one
great-granddaughter, who turned three
this past October.
Robert A. Holden Sr., 91, is still enjoying
his retirement.
In Our Prayers
… the family of Phyllis “Pat” Vincent,
retired Postmaster of Lake Stevens, WA,
who died July 28. Cards may be sent to her
family at PO Box 1068, Bellevue, WA 98009.
… the family of Henry Spruill, retired Postmaster of
Aulander, NC, who died Dec. 22. Cards may be sent to Ruth
Spruill, PO Box 160, Aulander, NC 27805.
… the family of Lorenda Card, Postmaster of Macon, MS,
who died Jan. 8.
18 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
continued from page 13
discipline or adverse action cases is more
a work of art: helping people through difficult times, being a good listener and,
most importantly, relentlessly pursuing
the truth.
In most discipline cases, I find there
usually is a communication barrier that
has to be removed in order to reach a resolution or compromise; emotions are
tense. The boss wants to be right and
the Postmaster feels they have been
wronged. But the boss is not always right
and sometimes Postmasters do things that
are wrong. Getting each party to see and
understand the other party’s point of view
is fundamental in the communication
process and in reaching a resolution. I
have not always succeeded, but I will continue to make every effort to do so.
I am looking forward to this new challenge, as well as networking with the veteran members of the committee. I want to
close with something I wrote in one of
my Gazette articles this past year. I try to
follow these beliefs each and every day; I
encourage you to do the same.
“Doing what is right and making the
right decisions are rarely the easiest things
to do. As Postmasters, we are expected to
be leaders in our offices and communities.
Is character and integrity the foundation of
your leadership? Resolve to make it so in
every decision you make.
“People may follow instructions out of
fear, but they follow people out of respect.
When you are faced with a decision to do
what is right or what is simply demanded,
I hope you do the right thing. If you need
any motivation, give me a call; I will be
glad to assist.”
… the family of Jim Syers, former NAPUS
president (1980-1982), Kentuckiana District
manager and retired Postmaster of Sturgis, KY,
who died Jan. 8. Cards may be sent to the family at 4175 Tradition Way, Lexington, KY 40509-4486.
… the family of Harold Good, retired Postmaster of
Wellsville, KS, who died Jan. 15. Cards may be sent to the
family, 304 W. 7th St., Apt. 407, Wellsville, KS 66092.
TIPS—To Increase Performance & Solutions
The Lean, Mean, Function 4 Machine
Obtaining your office’s Function 4
operation performance just got a little
easier for you and senior leadership.
While the Lean Matrix isn’t brandnew, there certainly is a renewed emphasis on this tool, mainly because it
provides a snapshot of your entire
Function 4 operation in one location.
Why is it important for you to understand the Lean Matrix and the data
flows into the program? This is the
report card your senior manager most
likely will be using to grade you as a
manager in this area.
Finding the Function 4 Lean Matrix is easy; just go to the Variance
Program’s page. You can get there
by simply typing CSV in the address bar. After selecting “Lean Matrix” from the Customer Services
column, you will be taken to the
Lean Matrix selection range.
You can narrow your search as far
down as the previous week or broaden
your search as wide as the entire fiscal
year. The Lean Matrix will rank areas,
districts and offices based on nine specific elements of performance: budget,
overtime, manual productivity, CSAW
usage, SPMS scanning, PO Box DPS
%, retail transactions per hour, administrative variance and overall CSV
performance.
Each of these nine elements is
ranked. The rankings are totaled (each
element receives equal weight). The
best overall score over all elements receives the top rank overall. The lower
the composite score, the better.
After selecting the report range,
you will see the National Function 4
Lean Matrix. From here, you can start
by selecting the area
your office is attached to, followed by
the district and then MPOO/POOM
area. Now, let’s take a closer look at
each element and the data flows feeding them:
F4 % to Plan—Data source is
eFlash; actual F4 hours vs. planned
F4 hours.
F4 OT %—Data source is eFlash;
actual F4 OT hours vs. planned F4
OT hours.
Automated/mechanized volume
to SPLY, manual volume to SPLY
and retail transaction volume to
SPLY—This data is included for information purposes only. One element here that could be monitored
more closely than the other two is
“manual volume to SPLY.” Unless
your office has recently inherited
more mail routes via DUO, in most
cases, manual volume should not be
on the rise.
Manual pieces per hour—Manual distribution letter and flat volume +
box distribution manual letter and flat
volume + DPS box volume/Total
LDC 43 + LDC 44 hours.
CSAW Data—Assumes 14 required inputs daily: distribution letter
volume (2), distribution flat volume
(2), box manual letter volume (2),
box manual flat volume (2), box DPS
volume (1), box parcel volume (1),
LDC 43 letter hours (1), LDC 43 flat
hours (1), LDC 43 parcel hours (1)
and LDC 43 allied hours (1). To monitor your office’s CSAW data entry, I
recommend using the CSAW Exceptions Report.
PO Box Scan SPMS—Early and
on-time scans/total required scans.
PO Box DPS %—DPS
volume/total reported LDC 44 manual and DPS letter volume. An office
with zero DPS volume will receive
the lowest rank in this category.
Retail Transactions per hour—
Total retail transactions/LDC 45
workhours. This will include downstream retail offices with the same finance number.
Admin FTES Variance—Actual
LDC 42 & 48 hours minus earned
LDC 42 & 48 hours shown as a
weekly FTES equivalent (1 FTES =
6.6225 hours).
CSV performance—Data source
is CSV. Total Function 4 hours
earned/actual.
Total score—Adds all of the rankings; the lowest score receives #1
rank within the selected group.
The most positive or negative impact to how your office ranks in the
F4 Lean Matrix will be from clerk
clock ring integrity and accuracy.
Whether you are using more or fewer
hours than your office earns, the more
evenly your hours are spread in the
correct operations and LDCs can only
help your score.
As clerks move from one operation to another, they must be instructed and trained to make the corresponding move on the time clock. And by
all means, don’t allow them to clock
to a base LDC and linger there for the
entire shift.
Feel free to contact me with any
Function 4 or Lean Matrix questions
or challenges. Together, we can
search for answers and strategies to
help improve your operation. “Let us
do together what we cannot do
alone.”
This information was provided by Bryan Hawkins, the Missouri Chapter’s Area 3 vice president and Postmaster of Van
Buren; 573-323-4703 (o), 573-660-1510 (c); [email protected].
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
19
NAPUS Chapter
Presidents Are
the Foundation
The strength of NAPUS is in its members. And guiding and helping them
are the chapter presidents—the leaders in the field. The presidents of Massachusetts
and Louisiana are featured this month.
John William Fitzpatrick
Massachusetts
I
have been married to my
wife Sue for 31 years; we
have three children: Ryan,
Meghan and Emma. I began my postal career 30 years
ago as a PTF clerk/carrier in Westborough, MA. Ten
years later, in 1995, I relocated my family to Sandwich,
MA, on beautiful Cape Cod and began working as a
PTF clerk in South Yarmouth. Within two years, I was
selected for the ASP. After graduating, I worked as a
city delivery supervisor in Falmouth and, later, in Buzzards Bay.
During my tenure in Buzzards Bay, I also served as
a route examiner, route inspection team leader, BPI
team member and on OIC details. I landed my first
Postmaster position in 2005 as a Level-18 Postmaster
in rural North Falmouth, where I also served the SENE
District as a POS One subject matter expert.
In 2008, I received the POOM MVP award and was
selected as Postmaster at Osterville, a Level-20 city delivery office. I also play guitar, sing and appear in local
theater productions.
One of the reasons I have committed to representing
my chapter is because of the fun. I remember when I
first joined NAPUS and began attending the Massachusetts conventions; everyone was laughing and really
enjoying themselves and each other’s company. We
have had a terrific lineage of leadership in Massachusetts; I wanted to be a part of it.
20 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
They are good, smart, hard-working, fun-loving
people. They dragged me in, got me involved and I had
fun. They invited me to pedal my bike to raise money
for PAC and breast cancer research. Over the past 10 years,
“After 10 years
we have pedaled more than 750
of benefiting
miles each and raised more than
$15,000 as a chapter for
from my associNAPUS PAC and $15,000 for
ation with these
breast cancer research.
people, it was
They invited me to play my
guitar and sing and plan entertime for me to
tainment and appear in skits. I
give back.”
set up staging, lighting and
sound and broke down staging,
lighting and sound. I stayed up way too late and, occasionally, reveled a little too much. And I had fun!
After 10 years of benefiting from my association
with people who have so thoroughly enriched my work
life, it was time for me to give back. I am proud to say I
am the president of the Massachusetts Chapter.
Vicky Johnson
Louisiana
I
n 1988, my husband and I
moved to Harrisonburg, LA,
from Houston; we wanted to
raise our family in a small town. My mother-in-law
grew up in Harrisonburg and my husband spent a lot
time there as a child. In 1991, I started my career with
the Postal Service as the PMR of Harrisonburg.
I loved working at the post office; it was a great way
to get to know people in the community and allowed
me to be home with my three girls. I also realized that,
one day, I would like to be a Postmaster. I worked for
10 years as a PMR and, when my girls all were in
school, I applied for a PTF position in a neighboring
post office. I worked for two years as a PTF clerk/carrier; in 2003, I had my first OIC position.
Shortly after I started my OIC position, I was invited to my first NAPUS meeting. Everyone was so nice
and encouraged me to pursue my goals and offered to
help me in any way they could. It was so wonderful to
know I could pick up the phone and ask for help.
At one of the first meetings, Dale Goff told us to
make sure we kept our finances straight, leave our jobs
at work and go home and love on our families because
that was what was most important. That was one of the
reasons I kept coming back; I really felt they cared
about me and my family.
I was given other opportunities to serve as an OIC
and, on Dec. 11, 2004, I became Postmaster of Water-
proof, LA. Since then, I have had many opportunities
to serve as OIC and been Postmaster in Wisner, Jena
and now Vidalia. I consider it an honor and privilege to
be a Postmaster and blessed to be
“Being part
a member of NAPUS.
I have made friends all over
of NAPUS is
the state and met other NAPUS
being part of a
Postmasters from all over the
country. I am proud to be a part of big family that
Louisiana NAPUS. They have
always is there
given me wonderful examples to
to help.”
follow and always tried to be the
best they can be.
I have been on the chapter’s Executive Board for the
past seven years as District 3 vice president and have
served as state convention chair for two years. Being
part of NAPUS is being part of a big family that always
is there to help. I like to be available to help other Postmasters and hope that being chapter president will give
me even more opportunities to do that. I have a lot to
learn, but I look forward to being able to give back
some of what NAPUS has given to me.
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
21
Constitution
of the
National Association of Postmasters
of the United States
Adopted by the
Membership of the
National Association
of Postmasters of the
United States in
Annual Convention
Assembled at the City
of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, on the
8th Day of October
1970, and in the 73rd
Year of Its Existence.
Amended September 28, 1978, Atlanta, GA
Amended September 27, 1979, St. Louis, MO
Amended October 8, 1982, Biloxi–Gulfport, MS
Amended August 25–31, 1984, Columbus, OH
Amended September 7–13, 1985, Las Vegas, NV
Amended August 23–29, 1986, San Antonio, TX
Amended August 15–21, 1987, Portland, OR
Amended September 2–8, 1989, San Francisco, CA
Amended August 15–22, 1991, Honolulu, HI
Amended August 22–28, 1992, Nashville, TN
Amended August 14–20, 1993, Boston, MA
Amended August 20–26, 1994, Albuquerque, NM
Amended August 19–25, 1995, Chicago, IL
Amended August 24–30, 1996, Salt Lake City, UT
Amended August 14–20, 1999, Charlotte, NC
Amended August 19–25, 2000, Minneapolis, MN
Amended August 25–31, 2001, New Orleans, LA
Amended August 2–8, 2003, Milwaukee, WI
Amended August 20–25, 2005, Long Beach, CA
Amended August 26-31, 2006, Fort Worth, TX
Amended September 8-13, 2007, Albuquerque, NM
Amended August 23-28, 2008, St. Louis, MO
Amended September 11-16, 2010, Grand Rapids, MI
Amended September 10-15, 2011, San Juan, PR
Amended September 1-6, 2012, Oklahoma City, OK
Amended August 17-22, 2013, Bellevue, WA
Amended September 13-18, 2014, Atlantic City, NJ
Incorporated under the laws of the State of Virginia
Preamble
B
Beginning with the year 2000,
the screened dates at the end
of a section indicate the
year(s) the section was
amended.
ecause the efficient and economical operation of the U.S.
Postal Service demands from
its entire staff a cooperative approach to
common goals; because the Postmasters
of the United States are both individually and collectively an integral part of
the postal family; because Postmasters
have similar problems which are
amenable to similar solutions; and because organization is fundamental to effective thought and action; the National
Association of Postmasters of the United
Article 1
Name
Section 1. This organization shall be incorporated
under the laws of the State of
Virginia as a non-profit organization and shall be
known as the “National Association of Postmasters of the
United States.” Wherever used
in these documents, the
acronym “NAPUS” or the single word “Association” when
capitalized shall stand for the
full name of the organization.
Section 2. The affiliated
state units of this organization shall be known as “Chapters.” 2005
Section 3. The term “National Executive Committee”
is changed to “National Executive Board.” 2005
States was conceived in Detroit, MI, on
Oct. 6, 1898, and achieved maturity
through adoption of a comprehensive
constitution at Chicago, IL, on Sept. 25,
1935. That constitution and the many
amendments thereto, are hereby repealed. The revised and updated constitution herewith is adopted by the membership of the National Association of
Postmasters of the United States in annual convention assembled at Philadelphia, PA, on this 8th day of October
1970.
Article 2
Purposes
Section 1. The primary
purposes of this organization
shall be as follows: to promote the best interests of the
U.S. Postal Service and
NAPUS members; to foster a
favorable image of public
service; to assure the users of
the mails the best service possible; to cooperate with other
groups and levels of postal
management in the achievement of common goals; and
to cultivate the welfare and
enhance the happiness of its
members. 2005
Article 3
Membership
Section 1. Active Mem-
bers. Any Postmaster, Acting
Postmaster, Officer-inCharge, Postmaster relief/replacements (PMRs) hired to
operate a Remotely Managed
Post Office, or any other person designated by the U.S.
Postal Service to carry out the
duties of a Postmaster at a
Post Office or at other separate postal operational facility, such as a separate air-mail,
preferential mail, bulk mail or
parcel post facility, shall be eligible for active membership
in this Association. All active
members shall have the right
to vote and hold office, with
the exception as specified in
Article 17, Section 2. 2014
Section 2. Postmasters
Retired. Any member who
has retired from the Postal
Service with the title of Postmaster or any person who has
served with the title of Postmaster during the tenure of
his or her postal career and
has been honorably retired
from said service, regardless
of position held at time of
said retirement, shall be eligible for membership in Postmasters Retired, provided
that he or she maintains an
active membership in the
organization during his or
her break in service. Postmasters Retired shall not have the
right to vote or hold office,
except as provided in Article
5, Section 6; Article 17, Section 1, and in Article 10, Section 1, but shall be privileged
to attend all meetings. 2014
Section 3. Associate
Members. Any member as
defined in Section 1 who has
been honorably separated or
transferred from the position
qualifying him or her for
membership, except as stated
in Section 2, shall be eligible
for associate membership in
the Association. Associate
members shall not have the
right to vote or hold office,
except as provided in Article
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
23
5, Section 6, but shall be privileged to attend all meetings.
2013
Section 4. Upon the
death of an Active Member,
Associate Member or Postmasters Retired Member, the
surviving spouse shall be eligible for Associate Membership.
Section 5. Any postal
manager accepted for Associate Membership under prior
provisions of this Article may
retain such membership so
long as dues are paid.
Section 6. Upon the
death of an Active Member,
Associate Member or Postmasters Retired member and
their spouse, the surviving dependent child or children incapable of self-support shall
be eligible for Associate Membership for the specific purpose of continuing health
benefits.
Article 4
Organization
Section 1. The Association may establish a chapter in
a state, commonwealth, territory, possession or grouping
thereof after receiving a petition for a charter on forms approved by the national secretary-treasurer. The petition
shall carry the signatures of at
least twenty (20) eligible
members of the petitioning
group and shall be accompanied by a charter fee of twenty
dollars ($20.00). 2013
Section 2. The national
secretary-treasurer shall submit the petition with his or
her report of approval or disapproval to the national president. Only upon the approval
of both shall a charter be issued.
Section 3. The National
Executive Board shall automatically consider at its next
meeting any petition on which
the national president and the
national secretary-treasurer
are in disagreement. The National Executive Board’s decision shall be final, subject only
to a review by the membership at the next national convention.
Section 4. All chapters
must maintain a 20 percent
minimum representation of
the post offices within the
state, commonwealth, territory, possession or grouping
thereof so chartered. A new
chapter shall be allowed one
year to reach this minimum.
Any chapter failing to maintain this minimum shall, at
the discretion of the National
Executive Board, be liable to
forfeit its charter. 2013
Section 5. Upon the issuance of its charter, a chapter
shall be designated and recognized under the name of its
state, commonwealth, territory, possession or grouping
thereof, followed by the words
“______ Chapter, National
Association of Postmasters of
the United States,” and shall
immediately effect an organization. 2013
Section 6. Each chapter
chartered in accordance with
and under the provisions of
this Constitution shall be subject to the Constitution, rules
and policies of this Association, and
(a) shall hold an annual
chapter convention at which
all chapter officers shall make
a report and conduct such
other business as is deemed
necessary in the best interest
of the members, the chapter
and this Association;
(b) shall elect a president,
secretary-treasurer and such
other officers for such period
of time as the membership of
the chapter shall determine to
be necessary;
(c) shall be free to conduct its own affairs and generally perform the acts of an
independent organization so
24 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
long as such conduct and performance are not in conflict or
inconsistent with this Constitution; and
(d) may edit and issue its
own chapter publication.
Article 5
Representation and
Voting at National
Conventions
Section 1. Each chapter,
if its charter has not been declared forfeited by the National Executive Board as provided
for in this Constitution, shall
be entitled in a national convention assembled to one (1)
vote for each ten (10) members, or major fraction thereof. Five (5) members shall
constitute a major fraction.
Section 2. On any voice
vote at a national convention
assembled each member registered and reported in good
standing by the respective
chapters shall be entitled to
vote. 2008
Section 3. On any roll
call vote at a national convention assembled the vote shall
be cast in accordance with
each chapter’s own decision as
to method.
Section 4. A candidate
running unopposed may be
elected to national office by
acclamation. 2010
Section 5. Voting by
proxy shall not be permitted.
2000
Section 6. Postmasters
Retired and Associate members shall be entitled to vote
only on questions affecting
their eligibility for membership or the dues structure of
their categories of membership. On these questions only,
they shall be entitled to one
vote for each member registered and in attendance at the
National Convention. 2013
Article 6
Officers
Section 1. Any member
of this Association except as
provided in Article 6, Section
4, and Article 17, sections 1
and 2, is eligible for election
or appointment to national
office if said member has been
a member in good standing of
this Association during the
three (3) calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which said member is elected or appointed to
national office. 2014
Section 2. The elected officers of this Association shall
be:
(a) a national president,
(b) a national secretarytreasurer, and
(c) national vice presidents without designation of
rank. 2013
Section 3. Duly elected
officers shall assume their
duties on the first day of January subsequent to the annual
national convention at which
they are elected, except as otherwise provided for in this
Constitution.
Section 4. Elected officers
shall be ineligible to succeed
themselves in the same office,
except as otherwise provided
for in this Constitution.
Article 7
National President
Section 1. The national
president shall be elected by a
majority roll call vote of the
members of this Association
at a national convention. 2011
Section 2. The term of
office for the national president shall be three (3) years.
An incumbent national president may not seek re-election.
This term of office will take
effect in 2014. 2011
Section 3. The national
president shall:
(a) preside at all meetings of this Association and
the National Executive Board;
(b) call special meetings
of this Association when requested to do so by a petition
authorized and signed by
twenty-six (26) chapters;
(c) appoint all committees necessary for the proper
handling of the business of
this Association;
(d) require that the Constitution of this Association,
the NAPUS Fiscal Policy and
all instructions of the national
convention be observed;
(e) request needed reports from all officers and employees of this Association;
(f) approve all vouchers
upon the treasury of this Association;
(g) in general perform
such other duties as may pertain to the office; and
(h) approve all contracts,
according to the provisions of
this Constitution, deemed
necessary for the daily operation of this Association. No
contract involving payment,
or penalties, in excess of
$100,000 shall be entered into,
or dissolved, without approval
by a majority vote of the Executive Board. 2006
Section 4. In the event of
a permanent vacancy in the
office of national president
through death, resignation, or
permanent disability as determined by a two-thirds vote of
the National Executive Board,
the national secretary-treasurer shall give written notice of
such vacancy to each member
of the National Executive
Board within fifteen (15) days
thereafter. Each member of
the National Executive Board
shall immediately vote for one
of the elected national vice
presidents to serve as the national president for such period as provided for in this Section by sending his or her vote
in writing to the national sec-
retary-treasurer. In the event it
is necessary to conduct the
election provided for in this
Section by mail, the national
secretary-treasurer shall determine the date by which all
written votes are to be received but in no instance shall
the date so determined by the
national secretary-treasurer be
less than ten (10) days or
more than fifteen (15) calendar days after the date of the
written notification that a vacancy exists in the office of
national president as provided
for in this Section is mailed to
the members of the National
Executive Board or, in the
event a subsequent vote is
necessary, be less than ten (10)
or more than fifteen (15) calendar days after the members
of the National Executive
Board are notified in writing
by the national secretarytreasurer that none of the
elected national vice presidents received a majority of
the votes cast by the members
of the National Executive
Board. When any elected national vice president receives a
majority of the votes cast by
the members of the National
Executive Board, the national
secretary-treasurer shall forthwith notify the elected national vice president receiving the
majority vote, and give notice
to all members of the National
Executive Board and to the
presidents and secretary-treasurers of all chapters; and the
elected national vice president
so chosen to be national president shall immediately assume
that office and shall serve as
the national president until
the completion of the unexpired portion of the term to
which elected or until the 31st
day of December following
the next national convention,
whichever is sooner, at which
a national president shall be
elected in accordance with
Section 1 of this Article for
that portion of the unexpired
term which remains after the
31st day of December next, if
there be any, or for a regular
three (3) year term as provided for in Section 2 of this Article. Should any of the elected
national vice presidents not
receive a majority vote after
two (2) ballots have been
taken, then the elected national vice president receiving the
highest number of votes on a
third or subsequent ballot, in
the event there is a tie vote,
shall be declared elected as national president. 2011
Section 5. Elected national vice presidents elected
by the National Executive
Board to fill a permanent vacancy in the office of national
president in accord with Article 7, Section 4, above, may be
elected to fill the unexpired
term which remains after December 31st following the
next national convention and
one (1) successive term. 2011
Section 6. Members
elected by the national convention to fill a permanent vacancy in the office of national
president for the unexpired
term which remains after December 31st following the national convention in accord
with Article 7, Section 4,
above, may be elected to fill
one (1) successive term. 2011
Section 7. All written
ballots cast by the members of
the National Executive Board
in electing an elected national
vice president to fill a permanent vacancy in the office of
national president shall be
filed by the national secretarytreasurer in the Washington
Area office of NAPUS where
they may be audited or inspected by any member of the
National Executive Board or
elected officer of any chapter.
These ballots shall remain on
file for a period of one year
from the date the elected national vice president was de-
clared elected national president by the national secretarytreasurer.
Section 8. The national
president of NAPUS shall be
paid such salary and compensation as determined by the
National Executive Board.
Article 8
National Vice Presidents
Section 1. There shall be
three (3) national vice presidents from each of the four
vice presidential areas, one (1)
national vice president being
elected annually from each
vice presidential area, except
as provided for in Section 7:
Area 1: Alaska, Idaho,
Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana, North
Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin,
Wyoming.
Area 2: Connecticut,
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont.
Area 3: Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky,
North Carolina, Ohio, Puerto
Rico/Virgin Islands, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia,
West Virginia.
Area 4: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Pacific Possessions
and Trust Territories of the
U.S., Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Texas, Utah.
Section 2. National vice
presidents shall, except as provided for in Section 5 of this
Article, be elected to serve for
a term of three (3) years.
Section 3. No member
shall be elected or appointed
to the office of national vice
president unless the member’s
post office is located within
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
25
the same national vice presidential area that he or she is
elected or appointed to represent. No state shall have more
than one national vice president serving on the National
Executive Board at one time.
Section 4. Voting for the
office of national vice president shall be restricted to
those chapters whose post offices are located within the
same vice presidential area as
the post office of the candidate. National vice presidents
shall be elected at the annual
national convention by majority roll call vote of the members of the chapters of the vice
presidential area to be represented.
Section 5: In the event of
a vacancy in any vice presidential office, the chapter
president from which the
member last holding the vacant vice presidential office
came shall coordinate a conference call with all the state
presidents from the area. They
shall be allowed to come forth
with names of possible replacements from the states
that do not currently have a
representative on the National
Executive Board. An electronic
vote shall be taken from the
list of candidates put forth
with one name submitted to
the national president. The
national president shall confirm the appointment and
swear in him or her at the next
National Executive Board
meeting. 2014
Section 6. National vice
presidents shall perform such
duties as may be assigned to
them by the national president
or the National Executive
Board.
Section 7. This section
shall be in place until Dec. 31,
2015, when the newly constituted board will be fully operational and then it shall be
eliminated from the constitution. At the 2013 National
Convention, eleven (11) vice
presidents shall be elected to
serve a two-year term per the
constitution in place at that
time. At the 2014 National
Convention, two (2) vice presidents shall be elected from
each vice presidential area
with one from each area to
serve a term of two (2) years
and one from each area to
serve a term of three (3) years.
Determination of who serves
the two- and three-year terms
shall be decided by drawing
numbers from a hat for each
area. At the 2015 National
Convention, there shall be one
vice president elected from
each of the four vice presidential areas. So, in 2014, there
will be the current twenty-two
(22) vice presidents serving; in
2015, there shall be nineteen
(19) vice presidents serving;
and in 2016 and beyond, there
shall be twelve (12) vice presidents serving. 2013
Article 9
National SecretaryTreasurer
Section 1. The national
secretary-treasurer shall be
elected by a majority roll call
vote of the members of this Association cast by chapters at an
annual national convention.
Section 2. The term of
office for the national secretary-treasurer shall be three
(3) years. An incumbent national secretary-treasurer may
not seek re-election. This term
of office will take effect in
2015. 2011
Section 3. The national
secretary-treasurer shall:
(a) make periodic financial reports to the National
Executive Board and an annual financial report to the national convention;
(b) certify all charters issued in accordance with Article 4;
26 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
(c) have recorded the
proceedings of all national
conventions and meetings of
the National Executive Board;
(d) be the custodian of
the official seal;
(e) collect all membership dues and other monies
belonging to NAPUS, deposit,
withdraw and have custody of
the same and be responsible
therefor, and keep accurate
and complete accounts,
vouchers and receipts of the
same. If the national secretary-treasurer should see fit to
designate any employee or officer of NAPUS to assume any
or part of these duties he or
she may do so. However, all
such duties shall remain his or
her responsibility.
(f) perform such other
duties as may pertain to the
office; and
(g) assume the presidency during any vacancy caused
by death, resignation or permanent disability of the president until the provisions of
Article 7, Section 4, have been
fulfilled. 2005
Section 4. The national
secretary-treasurer shall be
paid such salary as shall be determined by the members of
the National Executive Board.
Section 5. In the event of
a permanent vacancy in the
office of national secretarytreasurer through death, resignation or by permanent disability as determined by a
two-thirds vote of the National Executive Board, the national president shall fill the
vacancy by appointment with
the advice and consent of a
majority of the members of
the National Executive Board
and the member so appointed
by the national president with
the advice and consent of a
majority of the National Executive Board to be national secretary-treasurer shall serve as
such until the completion of
the unexpired portion of the
term to which appointed or
until the 31st day of December
following the next national
convention, whichever is
sooner, at which a national
secretary-treasurer shall be
elected in accordance with
Section 1 of this Article for
that portion of the unexpired
term which remains after the
31st day of December next, if
there be any, or for a regular
three (3) year term as provided for in Section 2 of this Article. 2011
Section 6. Members who
are appointed to fill a permanent vacancy in the office of
national secretary-treasurer in
accord with Article 9, Section
5, above, may be elected to fill
the unexpired term which remains after December 31st
following the next national
convention and one (1) successive term. 2011
Section 7. Members who
are elected to fill the unexpired term which remains
after December 31st following
the next national convention
in accord with Article 9, Section 5, above, may be elected
to one (1) successive term.
2011
Article 10
National Executive
Board
Section 1. The National
Executive Board of this Association shall be composed of:
(a) the national president;
(b) the national secretary-treasurer;
(c) the national vice
presidents; and
(d) the president of Postmasters Retired.
All members of the National Executive Board shall be
voting members. 2012
Section 2. The National
Executive Board:
(a) shall carry out the in-
structions of this Association
as expressed in national convention, by referendum, or
otherwise;
(b) shall have direct control of all business and all the
affairs of this association;
(c) shall establish a budget and authorize necessary expenditures;
(d) shall bond the executive director, the national secretary-treasurer and such
other officers and employees
in such amounts as may be
considered proper;
(e) shall have an audit
made of all funds or accounts
of this Association if at any
time it is deemed necessary;
however, there shall be an
audit annually of receipts and
disbursements by a certified
public accountant of recognized standing;
(f) shall interpret and
take whatever action deemed
proper and necessary to protect the general welfare of this
Association if between annual
conventions, any article or
part of this Constitution or
instructions of the national
convention shall become ambiguous, conflicting or require
amendment or clarification;
(g) shall meet at least
twice annually at a time and
place to be designated by the
national president;
(h) shall have power to
remove any of its members for
good and sufficient reason by
two-thirds vote of the committee when in session;
(i) shall establish and
maintain an office of this Association in the Washington,
DC area;
(j) shall cause all records
of this Association to be maintained at the Washington Area
office;
(k) shall, together with
the national president, have
control over all personnel,
records, and functions of the
Washington Area office;
(l) may employ such personnel, designate such titles,
pay such salaries, and assign
such duties and responsibilities and authorize such expenditures of Association funds as
deemed necessary for the efficient and proper conduct of
the Washington Area office;
(m) may enter into contracts for a period not to exceed two (2) years at one time
with such personnel as are
deemed necessary to conduct
the Washington Area office;
(n) may enter into contracts for the rental of office
space required for said office,
and
(o) may enter into contracts with insurance carriers
and into agreements with the
U.S. Civil Service Commission
to make available to members
a Civil Service approved
health benefits plan which
would qualify for government
(U.S. Postal Service) contributions to premium. Such agreements shall be limited to coverage of active, associate, and
Postmasters Retired members
on initial inception of the
plan, but may be extended to
other categories of government employees if authorized
by the Executive Board at a future date.
Section 3. The National
Executive Board shall direct
the national president to have
published an official magazine
of NAPUS, as a magazine of
record, and take whatever action is necessary to publish
said magazine. The editorial
policy shall be formulated and
controlled by the National Executive Board. Annual financial and other reports shall be
included in its pages.
Section 4. The national
president, with the advice and
consent of a majority of the
members of the National Executive Board, may appoint an
executive director who shall:
(a) be assigned to the
Washington Area office of
NAPUS;
(b) manage the affairs of
that office under the direction
and guidance of the national
president and the National
Executive Board;
(c) make periodic reports
to the national president, the
national secretary-treasurer, the
National Executive Board and
the membership of this Association as to the conduct of that
office, the affairs of the Association and such other matters as
deemed appropriate;
(d) have all expenditures
of the funds of this Association approved by the national
president; and
(e) if so designated by
the national secretary-treasurer, collect all membership
dues and other monies belonging to this Association,
deposit, withdraw and have
custody of the same and be
responsible therefor, keep accurate and complete accounts, vouchers and receipts
of the same under the direction of the national secretarytreasurer.
Section 5. The tenure of
office, salary and items related
thereto, of the executive director of this Association shall be
determined by a majority
vote of the members of the
National Executive Board. Any
contract entered into with the
executive director shall not exceed two (2) years at any one
time.
Section 6. This Association has established a “reserve
fund” and said “reserve fund”
shall, commencing with the
calendar year 1971, be increased each calendar year, if
possible.
(a) The National Executive Board shall have the responsibility, duty, and authority to determine how the
monies in this “reserve fund”
shall be invested so as to yield
the greatest return to this Asso-
ciation at the least possible
risk. All income derived from
the investment of this “reserve
fund” shall be paid into the
treasury of this Association
and shall be available for use to
defray the annual cost of conducting the affairs and business of this Association.
(b) None of the monies
placed in this “reserve fund”
may be withdrawn and expended for any reason whatsoever without the consent
and approval of two-thirds of
the members of the National
Executive Board.
(c) The National Executive Board, in its discretion,
shall determine the size of the
“reserve fund” and shall limit
the amount to be accumulated
in it.
Section 7. The president
shall call a special meeting of
the Executive Board when requested in writing to do so by
a majority of the vice-presidents, when necessary for the
best interests of Postmasters.
Section 8. When, in the
judgment of the president or a
majority of the vice presidents, an emergency situation
makes immediate action on
an issue necessary, a meeting
of the Executive Board may be
held by conference call, provided full notice of the issue
to be resolved has been given
in writing to each member,
delivered not less than 48
hours prior to the time set for
the meeting.
A quorum of the Executive Board shall be required
for the purpose of conducting
business during any telephone
conference call. Following any
telephone conference call
meeting convened under this
Section, a roster of the Executive Board shall be circulated
to all members, each of whom
shall sign to verify adequate
notice of the meeting, and
participation in the meeting.
2007
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
27
Section 9. Except as
specifically provided in Section 8 above, no mail or telephone polls for the purpose of
official action shall be conducted. Any action taken in
polls conducted in contravention of this Section shall be
null and void.
Article 11
Dues
Section 1. Each chapter
shall be responsible to this Association for the dues of its
members and shall promptly
report to the secretary-treasurer the name, title, address,
the salary schedule level and
class of office of each Postmaster, Acting Postmaster and
other persons eligible for
membership who are members of the chapter. Each
chapter shall also promptly report to the secretary-treasurer
the names and addresses of all
Associate Members of the
chapter.
Section 2. The annual
membership dues for this Association shall be determined:
(a) By multiplying the
salary for the midpoint for
each level of each Postmaster
position in the EAS schedule
by .5 of 1 percent.
(b) By multiplying the
salary for the midpoint for the
level of the EAS-26 Postmaster
position by .5 of 1 percent for
each member in the Postal Career Executive Service.
(c) By multiplying the
base salary for each PMR level
by .5 of 1 percent, but in no
case will active Postmaster
dues be less than dues for the
Postmaster Retired. 2014
Section 3. The product
obtained under the provision
of subsections (a), (b) and (c)
of Section 2 of this Article
shall be rounded to the nearest higher whole dollar.
Section 4. In no event
shall the annual dues of this
Association as determined in
accordance with Sections 2, 3,
and 5 of this Article be less
than any amount established
previously under this Constitution except as determined in
accordance with Section 8 of
this Article.
Section 5. The determination of the annual membership dues schedule as provided for in Sections 2, 3 and 4 of
this Article shall be on the
basis of the midpoint for the
level of each salary schedule
level in effect on the first day
of the Postal Service fiscal year
which next precedes the calendar year for which said annual
membership dues are due and
payable. 2005
Section 6. The annual
membership dues for members renewing their membership in this Association shall
be the amount determined by
Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this
Article for the salary schedule
level designated for the position of Postmaster where said
members are assigned as of
the first day of the Postal Service fiscal year which next precedes the calendar year for
which said renewal dues are
due and payable.
Section 7. The annual
membership dues for new
members accepted for membership in this Association
shall be the amount determined by Sections 2, 3, 4, and
5 of this Article for the salary
schedule level designated for
the position of Postmaster
where said members are assigned on the date their applications for membership are
submitted. For the purposes
of this Section, new members
are defined as those persons
who were not members of this
Association in the calendar
year which next preceded the
calendar year for which their
applications for membership
were submitted.
28 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
Section 8. The annual
membership dues for Associate Members, Postmasters Retired and Officers-in-Charge
shall be sixty dollars ($60), except that persons who are active members in good standing or surviving spouses
specified in Article 3, Section
4, shall not be required to pay
dues through the remainder of
that calendar year in which
they become eligible for membership under this section. In
order to remain a member,
those eligible must fill out
Form 1187 or 1187-R for dues
withholding; only exception:
Associate Members or a
spouse not receiving an annuity may pay by cash. Of each
$60 in membership dues received by the National Office
under the authority of this
section for a Postmaster Retired or an Associate Member,
the National Office shall remit
$14.50 to the chapter, $12 to
the Postmasters Gazette,
$13.50 to the national secretary-treasurer of Postmasters
Retired and $20 shall be retained by the National Office.
2014
Section 9. The national
secretary-treasurer is authorized and directed to determine
the annual membership dues
schedule of this Association in
accordance with the provisions of Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and
8 of this Article and to cause
same to be communicated to
each chapter by the 1st day of
the month of November each
year and to further cause the
same to be published in the
November issue of the official
magazine of this Association
which next precedes the calendar year for which said annual
membership dues schedule
shall be applicable.
Section 10. Any member
of NAPUS in good standing,
when reaching ninety (90)
years of age, will be automatically awarded Life Member-
ship, without any dues being
paid to the state chapter, to
Postmasters Retired or to
NAPUS. These members will
be presented with a certificate
that grants the right of membership for life, without having to pay membership dues.
The certificate will be presented by the national president or state president in person on behalf of the National
Association of Postmasters of
the United States, NAPUS.
Section 11. (a) All membership dues paid by active
members to a chapter shall be
divided between the chapter
and the National Association
of Postmasters of the United
States with 48 percent being
retained by the chapter and 52
percent being forwarded to
the national secretary-treasurer or his or her designee.
(b) All membership dues
paid by members through the
execution of a Standard Form
1187, Request And Authorization For Voluntary Allotment of
Compensation For Payment of
Employee Organization Dues,
shall be divided between the
chapters of the members authorizing the United States
Postal Service to withhold
membership dues from their
salaries and the National Association of Postmasters of
the United States with 52 percent being retained by the national secretary-treasurer or
his or her designee for the National Association of Postmasters of the United States and
48 percent being forwarded by
the national secretary-treasurer or his or her designee to
the chapters.
(c) Levels of funding derived from dues income for
the Association’s national activities shall be set annually by
the National Executive Board,
with the following limitations.
Funding from dues income
for national legislative activities shall not be less than an
amount equal to 5 percent of
total dues contributions from
active members as determined
in Sections 2 and 3 of this Article. Funding from dues income for legal representation
activities shall not be less than
an amount equal to 5 percent
of total dues contributions
from active members as determined in Sections 2 and 3 of
this Article.
Section 12. The execution by members of this Association of Standard Forms
1187, Request And Authorization For Voluntary Allotment
of Compensation For Payment
of Employee Organization
Dues, authorizing the United
States Postal Service to withhold from their salaries their
dues for membership in this
Association shall constitute
the payment of said dues as
required by this Article, and
members executing such authorizations shall be considered in good standing until
the dates on which said authorizations are cancelled.
Section 13. All members
who have failed to pay their annual dues by the first (1st) day
of the month of March of the
year for which dues are owed
shall be declared delinquent,
and the National Executive
Board shall order the names of
all such delinquent members
removed from the rolls of this
Association; and it is further
provided that the names of any
members so removed shall not
be restored to the rolls of this
Association during that year
unless the full year’s dues for
that year are paid.
Section 14. Dues as specified in Section 8 of this article
shall increase by the same percentage as Cost-of-Living Allowance increases equal to the
notice of annuity adjustments
as issued by OPM. Funds will
be disbursed at the new rate
established in Section 8, except future COLA increases
would be divided equally
among the National Office,
Postmasters Retired and chapters effective 2016. To ensure
timely conformity with such
increases, this section will authorize automatic amendment
of Section 8 to that end. 2014
Article 12
Order of Business
Section 1. The order of
business at any national convention or other meeting of
this association shall be:
(a) Call to order
(b) Invocation and
pledge of allegiance
(c) Roll call of officers
and chapters
(d) Announcement of
convention committees
(e) Adoption of rules
(f) Adoption of preliminary report of credentials
committee
(g) President’s Report
(h) Report of the Secretary-Treasurer
(i) Reports of committees
(j) Unfinished business
(k) Election of officers
(l) New business
(m)Installation of officers
(n) Benediction, and
(o) Adjournment
Section 2. Election of officers shall be held one day
prior to the closing day of
convention.
Article 13
Sergeant-at-Arms and
Parliamentarian
Section 1. At any national convention or other meeting of this Association, the national president:
(a) shall appoint a sergeant-at-arms and as many assistants as are necessary to
maintain order and perform
such other duties as may be
assigned; and
(b) may appoint a parliamentarian to advise on matters
of parliamentary procedure.
Article 14
Quorum
Section 1. At any national convention or other meeting of this Association a quorum shall be deemed to be
present if twenty-six (26)
chapters are duly represented.
Section 2. At any scheduled meeting or telephone conference call of the Executive
Board, a majority of the Board
members must be present or
logged on for the call; this will
constitute a quorum. 2007
Article 15
Parliamentary Procedure
Section 1. “Robert’s
Rules of Order,” new revised,
shall govern the deliberations
of the proceedings at any session of a national convention
or other meeting of this Association, except that where any
provisions of this Constitution are inconsistent or in
conflict with “Robert’s Rules
of Order” then this Constitution shall prevail.
Article 16
Amendments
Section 1. All proposed
amendments to this Constitution from individual members, chapters, or from the National Executive Board shall be
submitted in writing to the
chairman of the Committee
on Constitution at least sixty
(60) days prior to the opening
of the annual national convention of this Association.
The proposed amendment or
amendments to the Constitution shall be published in the
official publication of this Association prior to the national
convention at which they are
to be considered.
In the event that a proposed amendment is submitted to the chairman of the
Committee on Constitution at
least sixty (60) days prior to
the opening session of the annual national convention, and
it is not published in the official publication of the Association prior to the national
convention, it may be submitted at the national convention
if the majority of the members of the Committee on
Constitution agree that it
should be presented.
Section 2. All amendments to this Constitution
shall be considered by the
Committee on Constitution,
which shall recommend to the
convention passage of all
those proposed amendments
supported by a majority of the
committee. Any proposed
amendment not recommended by the committee may be
submitted by motion from the
floor by any member seeking
its adoption. All amendments
recommended by the committee or presented from the floor
by a member shall be read at
one session of the convention
and acted upon at a subsequent session of the convention.
Section 3. No amendment
to this Constitution shall be
deemed to have been adopted
as part of this Constitution and
be valid to all intents and purposes, unless the amendment
has been approved by a national convention of this Association on a roll call vote by chapters present and two-thirds
(2/3) of the votes by chapters
have been recorded in the affirmative. 2012
continued on page 34
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
29
Bylaws
of the
National Association of Postmasters
of the United States
These Bylaws were established and accepted by the organization on Aug. 20, 2013,
at the National Convention in
Bellevue,WA, by roll call vote.
The guiding principle of these
Bylaws is to maintain the integrity of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States.The purpose of these
Bylaws is to provide guidance
to the organization for the benefit of the members.
The NAPUS Constitution
and the NAPUS Bylaws shall
be the governing documents of
this organization and may be
amended as specified in Article
6 of these Bylaws.
Contents
Article I:
Committees
Article II:
Fiscal Policy
Article III:
Fiscal Policy on National
Conventions
Article IV:
Official Family
Article V:
National Convention
Article VI:
Amendments to the Bylaws
Incorporated under the laws of the State of Virginia
30 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
Article I
Committees
Section 1. The national
president shall establish the
following committees:
a. Constitution
b. Credentials
c. Rules
d. Any other special committee as he/she deems necessary.
Section 2. Each of the
committees required under
Section 1, a-c, shall be composed of a committee chair
appointed by the national
president and one member
appointed by the national vice
president for each of their respective areas. The committee
chair and all committee members are voting members. For
purposes of conducting committee business, 66 percent of
the committee members shall
constitute a quorum. The
number of members and
makeup of special committees
shall be determined by the national president.
Section 3. The appointments of committee chairs by
the national president must be
announced in the official publication of the organization
prior to the national convention.
Section 4. The Committees on Rules and Credentials
shall report at the first official
business session of the convention. No other business
shall be conducted prior to
the adoption of rules and a
preliminary credentials report.
Section 5. The Committee on Constitution shall make
its reports not later than the
day next preceding the last day
of any national convention or
other meeting of this Association. Final action on the reports submitted in accordance
with the provisions of this section shall be taken no later
than the last session of any national convention or other
meeting of this Association.
Article II
Fiscal Policy
Section 1. An annual
Audit Committee shall be established, consisting of three
(3) members. The members of
the Audit Committee shall be
three (3) national vice presidents, maintaining a one-day
audit, selected on a rotating
basis starting with Area 1. The
committee shall serve from
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. The President shall provide the members of the Executive Board
with the names of the committee members prior to the
National Executive Board
meeting at the Leadership
Conference.
Section 2. The Audit
Committee shall meet each
year prior to the first meeting
of Executive Board and at
other times as directed by the
National Executive Board. The
committee shall audit all expenditures of the NAPUS National Office. This audit shall
consist of an examination of
all expenditures and supporting documentation of the
NAPUS National Office.
The report of the committee shall be presented to
the National Executive Board
at its first meeting following
the audit. The report shall detail any irregularities and/or
questionable expenditures by
NAPUS account number, the
nature of the expense, to
whom paid, the date of the expense and the amount. The
audit shall be of the prior
year’s expenses for the annual
report and for such periods as
may be directed by the National Executive Board.
Section 3. To assist the
organization in maintaining
financial integrity, adequate
documentation shall be provided for all expenses incurred. Specifically, all expenses shall be supported by
invoices for the services provided. All travel expenses shall
be submitted in accordance
with the NAPUS Travel Handbook and on a NAPUS travel
voucher completed to indicate
the nature, date and amount
of the expense, with the supporting documentation required by the voucher. Expenses for mileage, meals and
other expenses shall be at the
rate prescribed by the National Executive Board.
Travel vouchers shall be
submitted to the NAPUS National Secretary-Treasurer for
review and payment authorization. Vouchers submitted by
members of NAPUS committees shall first be submitted to
the chairs of the respective
committees who shall initial
the vouchers to indicate concurrence with the expenses
claimed and then forward the
vouchers to the National Secretary-Treasurer.
Section 4. In compliance
with Article 10, Section 3, of
the NAPUS Constitution, the
National Secretary-Treasurer
shall provide a quarterly report, by budget category, to
the members of the National
Executive Board. In addition,
a copy of the NAPUS budget
for the current year and the
prior year’s financial report
shall be published in the April
issue of the Postmasters
Gazette, or in an issue as soon
thereafter as practicable.
Section 5. An annual
Budget Committee shall be
appointed by the President at
the meeting of the National
Executive Board held at the
Leadership Conference. The
committee shall consist of five
(5) members, the National
Secretary-Treasurer, who will
serve as committee chair, two
(2) national vice presidents
and two (2) active NAPUS
members. The annual budget
for the organization for the
calendar year Jan. 1 through
Dec. 31 shall be prepared and
submitted to the National Executive Board within seven (7)
days of its completion or no
later than fifteen (15) days
prior to the annual national
convention. The budget shall
be established and approved
by the National Executive
Board at its meeting immediately prior to the annual national convention.
Section 6. The expenses
allowed under the approved
budget shall not be exceeded
without consent of the National Executive Board. If it
appears, from a review of the
quarterly budget reports, that
a budgeted category (i.e. national convention expenses
#820, or Gazette expenses
#830) is in danger of exceeding the annual budgeted
amount, the National Secretary-Treasurer shall so advise
the members of the National
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
31
Executive Board in writing
and may request additional
funding or other appropriate
action. Individual expenditures in excess of $5,000 that
are not part of the approved
budget shall require approval
of the National Executive
Board.
Section 7. The ten (10)
smallest state chapters will be
reimbursed a maximum of
$1,500 per chapter of verified
expenses for officers to attend
the Leadership Conference.
Section 8. NAPUS credit
cards, charge accounts and/or
NAPUS funds shall not be
used for personal purposes.
The NAPUS National Office
will maintain separate credit
cards for the President, Secretary-Treasurer, Executive Director and Director of Government Relations.
Section 9. National vice
presidents may be assigned,
with approved expenses paid,
to the annual conventions of
the Chapters and multi-state
officers’ conferences they have
been elected to serve. They
also may be assigned, with the
approval of the National President, to attend Chapter conventions when official NAPUS
representation is required and
the National President or the
National Secretary-Treasurer
is unable to attend.
The following persons
may be assigned to Chapter
conventions, and regional and
local meetings, as appropriate
for their positions and the
needs of the Chapter, the
NAPUS National Office and
the USPS, with the approval of
the National President, subject
to budgetary guidelines:
• National Vice Presidents
• Executive Director
• Director of Government Relations
• National Editor
Spousal travel for the National President shall be an allowable expense while travel-
ing on official NAPUS business. Effective Jan. 1, 2013,
spousal travel for the National
Secretary-Treasurer shall not
be an allowable expense.
Section 10. The National
Office shall prepare a handbook of instructions concerning the policies of reimbursement of expenses of national
officers and other persons on
NAPUS travel orders. A copy
of the handbook shall be provided to each person issued
travel orders.
Section 11. The provisions of this Fiscal Policy shall
apply to all elected and appointed officials of NAPUS or
any persons reimbursed for
expenses incurred. Any person
suspected of violating any
provision of this Fiscal Policy
shall be reported by a member
of the Executive Board to the
Ethics Committee for investigation. Any person found
guilty of violating any provision of this Fiscal Policy by the
Ethics Committee shall, by a
two-thirds vote of the National Executive Board, be required to make financial restitution and may be prohibited
from serving in any elected,
staff or appointed office or
position in NAPUS and may
be prohibited from traveling
at NAPUS expense for a period of not less than two years.
The Ethics Committee
shall be selected by the procedures set forth in Article 4,
Official Family Policy.
Section 12. The entire
Executive Board will be involved in the discussion of
salary increases, merit payments or bonuses for the National President, National Secretary-Treasurer, Executive
Director, Editor and Director
of Government Relations. The
Executive Board will enter
into executive session on the
second day at the National
Convention Board Meeting to
discuss and/or confirm salary
32 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
increases, merit payments or
bonuses.
Section 13. The National
Executive Director shall prepare a report to be given to all
members of the National Executive Board listing all National Office staff employees
(not including elected or contractual employees) with their
current salaries and benefit
packages at the meeting of the
National Executive Board held
at the Leadership Conference
each year. This report should
include any recommendations
to change salaries, benefits or
staffing levels.
The National Executive
Director shall have the authority to award merit payments to National Staff employees (not including elected
or contractual employees).
The total of the merit payments cannot exceed the budgeted line item for National
Staff merits without prior approval of the National Executive Board.
The NAPUS executive director shall schedule a certified home inspector to evaluate the official residence
during the first year of each
president’s term. The executive director will present a
summary of the inspector’s
findings to the Executive
Board for its review and action at the first scheduled
face-to-face meeting, which
currently is the Leadership
Conference. 2014
Section 14. The National
Executive Board shall provide
the National President with a
vehicle while domiciled in the
Washington, DC, area. The
vehicle shall be leased by
NAPUS for a period not to
exceed three (3) years. The
choice of vehicle shall be left
up to the National President,
with the stipulation that the
annual fee for the lease does
not exceed the budgeted
amount. At the end of the
lease agreement, the vehicle
shall be returned to the lessor.
Any deviance from this section must be approved by a
two-thirds majority vote of
the National Executive Board.
Section 15. The National
Executive Board shall reimburse the National President
for travel expenses to his or
her home twice each year during his or her term of office.
(Effective Jan. 1, 2013)
Section 16. Annual leave
and sick leave are considered
to be part of the National
President’s pay package. There
will be no provisions for the
buyback of any type of leave.
Article III
Fiscal Policy on National
Conventions
In the interest of ensuring the fiscally responsible
planning and management of
NAPUS National Conventions, the National Executive
Committee does hereby
adopt, as part of the official
NAPUS Fiscal Policy, the following:
The national meeting
planner, national convention
chair and all other individuals
serving on national convention committees, or otherwise
helping plan or coordinate
convention activities, shall, at
all times, adhere to the convention-planning guidelines
detailed in the NAPUS National Convention Planning
Guide, adopted in October
1989 and subsequently revised.
A tentative, proposed national convention budget, including an estimate of anticipated paid registration and a
recommended registration fee,
shall be prepared by the host
chapter, with the cooperation
and counsel of the NAPUS
National Office, national
meeting planner, previous na-
tional convention chairs and
others as required and be submitted to the NAPUS National
President by Jan. 1 of the year
preceding the year of the national convention.
The National President
shall present this proposed national convention budget to
the Budget Committee preparing the annual budget for the
organization for the calendar
year Jan. 1 through Dec. 31.
This committee shall review
and submit a report to the National Executive Board no later
than 15 days prior to the annual national convention.
The National President
and the National SecretaryTreasurer may approve, in
writing, without referral to the
national convention budget
review committee, subsequent
budget alterations not exceeding $5,000 in each instance.
No national convention
contract that obligates the National Association, its chapters
or members to the payment of
any sum of money, under any
conditions or circumstances,
shall be awarded unless recommended, in writing, by the
national convention chair and
approved, in writing, by the
National President and the
National Secretary-Treasurer.
No other individual(s) shall be
authorized to approve any national convention contracts.
Special exceptions to this
provision to provide for the
advance payment of convention funds to facilitate the efficient management of the national convention may be
approved by the National Executive Board meeting in person or by teleconference.
Convention expenses in
excess of those specifically approved in the final budget or
subsequent alterations shall be
the sole responsibility of the
host chapter.
A concern for fairness in
all facets of NAPUS business
reflects the need for guidelines
that can be understood by officers and committee persons of
NAPUS serving at the national
level. These guidelines are presented to avoid any possible
charges of bias or conflict of
interest and shall be considered
as part of the rules of serving
as a national officer, appointed
officials or appointed committee persons. These rules will
apply to all current and future
officials of NAPUS. Any
change to this policy requires a
two-thirds vote of the National
Executive Board.
Inasmuch as elected officers, appointed committee
persons and other national
representatives of NAPUS are
in a peculiar position to aid
and abet in campaigns of candidates for national office, it is
imperative that a set of guidelines be followed to provide all
NAPUS members with leadership above reproach.
Article IV
Official Family
Section 1. With the exception of their home states,
national officers, appointed
officials and appointed committee persons in official pay
status will refrain from participating in or advocating a candidate for national office.
Nothing in this directive shall
take away from the rights of
members and associate members of NAPUS by participation in these political activities
while on their own time and
money.
A. Examples of violations
outside home states would be
providing transportation for
candidates or allowing candidates to room with those on
official travel orders. The intent of this article is to prohibit any funds provided by
dues money to benefit any
candidate for national office.
Any questions regarding this
mandate should be referred to
the Ethics Committee.
Section 2. National officers, appointed officials and
appointed committee persons
in official pay status may run
for a national office. The
above mentioned may campaign at any NAPUS-sponsored event when not obligated to perform their official
duties, during officially designated free time or when the
convention coordinator designates the time for him or her
to address the body at a
state/national convention.
Section 3. All individuals
declaring their candidacies for
any National Executive Board
position shall be prohibited
from announcing their intentions to run earlier than the
first day of the first month
one year following the election. The measure would not
affect “exploratory” campaign
activities, such as prospective
candidates making telephone
calls to individuals to ask for
their support if the prospective candidate should decide
later to run.
Section 4. Facilities of the
NAPUS National Office, including, but not limited to, the
telephone, Internet, website, email, mailing lists, mailing
room or computer, will not be
used to enhance any candidate, unless the appropriate
fees have been paid by the
candidate. The fees will be established by the Executive Director based on actual costs.
Section 5. Violations of
this policy will be reported by
a member of the Executive
Board to an Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee
will be selected annually at the
Leadership Conference. It will
be comprised of four members of the National Executive
Board selected as follows: two
members appointed by the
National President and the
other two members by random drawing of the remaining members of the National
Executive Board. These members immediately will select a
committee chair. This committee will be charged with investigating violations of this
policy referred to them by the
National Executive Board and
reporting results to the National Executive Board for any
necessary action. Necessary
actions could include, but
shall not be limited to, removal from an elected or appointed position and/or monetary remuneration.
Article V
National Convention
Section 1. This Association shall hold an annual national convention.
Section 2. The time and
place of the annual national
convention shall be determined by a majority vote of
the membership assembled at
a national convention two (2)
years prior to the date of the
future convention. Site selection shall be based on an
east/west division of the country. The areas shall be determined using the makeup as
outlined in Article 8, Section
1, of the NAPUS Constitution.
The east area shall consist of
Areas 2 and 3 and the west
area shall consist of Areas 1
and 4. The east area shall be
eligible to bid for the 2017
convention starting in 2015,
after which bidding eligibility
shall rotate between the areas
on an annual basis. Chapters,
or groups of chapters, from
within the area wishing to
host the convention shall recommend sites to the national
president by March 1 prior to
the national convention at
which the vote on that site will
be held. If no recommendations are received by March 1,
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
33
then bidding shall be open to
all chapters or groups of chapters throughout the country.
The national president and/or
his or her designee shall research these sites, as well as
other available sites, and present to the National Executive
Board one or more sites to be
voted on. All proposals submitted to the National Executive Board for consideration
must be with the approval of
the chapters, or group of
chapters, that would be needed to host the national convention. The national convention shall not coincide with
the National Rural Mail
Count.
Section 3. Management
of the annual national convention, including the convention budget, shall be under the
direction of the National President and/or his or her representative.
Section 4. National convention registration fees
charged Postmasters Retired
Constitution
continued from page 29
Article 17
Right to Vote and Hold
Office
Section 1. Retired Postmasters who are members in
good standing of the NAPUS
Postmasters Retired organization shall have the right to
hold office, whether elected or
appointed, in their respective
chapter with the exception of
chapter president, chapter executive Vice President, chapter
vice president(s) or any other
office that, according to the
chapter constitution, is in the
line of succession to assume
any of these positions. In addition, members of NAPUS
Section 1. All proposed
amendments to these Bylaws
from individual members,
chapters or from the National
Executive Board shall be submitted in writing to the chair
of the Committee on Bylaws
at least thirty (30) days prior
to the date the Executive
Board will meet. The proposed amendment or amendments to the Bylaws shall be
published on the official
NAPUS website; the proposed
amendment or amendments
are to be e-mailed to all Chapter presidents and secretarytreasurers and the National
Executive Board. In the event
a proposed amendment is
submitted to the chair of the
Committee on Bylaws at least
thirty (30) days prior to the
date the Executive Board will
meet and it is not published
on the official NAPUS website, nor was the proposed
amendment e-mailed to all
Chapter presidents and secretary-treasurers and the National Executive Board, it may
be submitted to the National
Executive Board if the majority of the members of the
Committee on Bylaws agree
that it should be presented.
Section 2. All amend-
ments to these Bylaws shall be
considered by the Committee
on Bylaws, which shall recommend to the National Executive Board passage of all those
proposed amendments supported by a majority of the
committee. Any proposed
amendment not recommended by the committee may be
submitted by motion by any
member seeking its adoption.
All amendments recommended by the committee or presented by a member shall be
read and acted upon at the
same session (teleconference is
permitted).
Section 3. No amendment to these Bylaws shall be
deemed to have been adopted
as part of these Bylaws and be
valid to all intents and purposes, unless the amendment
has been approved by a twothirds vote of members of the
National Executive Board
present.
Postmaster Retired shall not
be eligible to be elected to any
national position (i.e., president, secretary-treasurer, national vice president) that
would serve on the National
Executive Board with the exception of the president of
Postmasters Retired, who is a
member of the National Executive Board.
All retired Postmasters
who are members in good
standing of NAPUS Postmasters Retired shall have the
right to speak on behalf of, or
against, any candidate that is
running for an office at any
level of the organization.
However, they only are permitted to vote on those offices
for which members of Postmasters Retired are eligible to
hold office. Members of Post-
masters Retired must be present at the meeting at which
the election is being conducted to vote or to be elected to
the position for which they
have been nominated. 2014
Section 2. Postmaster relief/replacements (PMRs) who
are members in good standing
of NAPUS shall have the right
to hold office, whether elected
or appointed, in their respective chapter with the exception of chapter president,
chapter executive vice president, chapter vice president(s)
or any other office that, according to the chapter constitution, is in the line of succession to assume any of these
positions. In addition, PMRs
shall not be eligible to be
elected to any national position (i.e., president, secretary-
treasurer, national vice president) that would serve on the
National Executive Board.
All PMRs who are members in good standing of
NAPUS shall have the right to
speak on behalf of, or against,
any candidate that is running
for an office at any level of the
organization. However, they
only are permitted to vote on
those offices for which PMRs
are eligible to hold office.
PMRs must be present at the
meeting at which the election
is being conducted to vote or
to be elected to the position
for which they have been
nominated. 2014
members and their spouse
shall be 25 percent less than
such fees charged for active
Postmasters and guests, and
shall include all functions included for active Postmasters
and guests. 2014
Section 5. Postmasters
Retired and Associate members shall be entitled to vote
on floor votes for time and
place selection of future national conventions. They shall
be entitled to one vote for
each member registered and
in attendance at the National
Convention.
Article VI
Amendments to the Bylaws
34 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
By Stacy Hamilton
D
id you know that Mobile, AL, is the birthplace of America’s original Mardi Gras? That’s right, Mardi Gras originated in 1703 right here in our port city. It was revived
after the Civil War when a citizen,
Joe Cain, fed up with post-war misery, led an impromptu parade
down city streets.
We’ve been doing it
ever since, marking the
annual occasion with
majestic parades, colorful floats and flying Moon Pies. Mardi Gras celebrations begin two and a half weeks before Fat
Tuesday and the Port City comes to life. Our first
downtown parade this year rolled on Friday,
Jan. 30; celebrations continued
until Feb. 17. More than 30
parades in less than three
weeks; things don’t
slow down much
here in Mobile after the new year.
Elaborately themed floats
manned by masked mystic societies, mounted police and marching bands wind through downtown Mobile and surrounding
areas, entertaining nearly a million
revelers each year. Our carnival is
a family-friendly time of parties,
balls, parades and revelry. If you
find yourself in town, find your
spot and get ready to catch Moon
Pies, beads and trinkets.
If you aren’t here for Mardi
Gras, be sure and visit the Mobile
Carnival Museum when you are
here in August for the 2015
NAPUS National Convention. Immerse yourself in the rich history
and traditions of carnival. See
firsthand the intricate designs and artistry of majestic
crowns, scepters and robes of Mardi Gras monarchs.
You also can discover the art of costume design and
float construction. View videos of parades and balls and
witness the pomp and pageantry of past coronations. The
museum has a pictorial gallery of historical photographs
dating back to 1886. And experience a behind-the-mask
view of a street party by climbing aboard a rocking float.
The museum opened in 2005 in the historic Bernstein-Bush House. The
Mobile Carnival Association coordinated the
volunteer effort
36 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
of historians, artists,
lawyers, businesspeople, architects
and contractors to
establish the museum. Families of
monarchs donated royal robes, crowns
and scepters. Members of local mystic organizations
donated emblem costumes, favors and doubloons. The
accumulation is displayed throughout the
museum.
Stacy Hamilton is vice
The museum offers 14 gallery rooms, a
president of Marketing
pictorial hallway, theater, den (social gather& Communications,
ing area) and gift shop. The home also is
Mobile Bay Convention
registered as a historic building; visitors can
& Visitors Bureau.
enjoy detailed crown molding, pine floors
and exquisite chandeliers. For more information, go to
www.mobilecarnivalmuseum.com.
111th National Convention
Aug. 29-Sept. 3, 2015
Official Registration Form
Registration also available online at www.napus.org
Please complete one form per registrant. Photocopy the form for additional registrations.
First Name:________________________________ Last Name:______________________________________
Title:_____________________________________ First Name (for your badge):__________________________
First-Timer? ❏ Yes ❏ No
Post Office You Represent City: ___________________________ State:_______
Your Mailing Address:_________________________________________________________________________
City:__________________________________________ State:______ ZIP+4___________________________
Daytime Phone:__________________________________ Fax:_______________________________________
E-mail:_________________________________________________
Hotel Reservation
Convention Registration (only one person per form):
Please circle the
appropriate fee:
9/13/14- 4/1/153/31/15 5/31/15
Postmaster/Spouse/Guest/
OIC/Associate/PMR
$175
Postmasters Retired and
one guest
$156.25
(PM Retired Luncheon included)
6/1/158/15/15
after
8/15/15
$200
$225
$250
$175
$195
$215
Children (17 and under) $75; includes child’s meal at the Grand Banquet.
RTJ Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove is the site of the golf tournament;
fee is $100. Are you planning on attending? ❏ Yes ❏ No
Payment Information
Convention Fee:
$______________
_____ Additional tickets for Postmasters
Retired Luncheon @ $25 each
$______________
Total Payment: $______________
❏ Check payable to NAPUS
NAPUS has a special rate at the
convention hotels beginning Sept. 1,
2014. You must call the hotels directly to make a reservation. The
NAPUS National Office will not handle room reservations. To make a
reservation, you must make a deposit to the hotel in the amount of
your first night’s lodging; this deposit is non-refundable after July
1, 2015. All room cancellations
must be made directly with the
hotel. To secure the special NAPUS
rate, you must identify yourself as
part of the NAPUS convention. The
rate is available only until July 17,
2015, or all rooms in the block are
sold, whichever comes first.
Renaissance Mobile Riverview
Plaza Hotel
800-922-3298
$109—single/double/triple/quad
The Battle House Renaissance
Mobile Hotel and Spa
866-316-5957
$124—single/double/triple/quad
Be sure to request the NAPUS
convention rate.
❏ Visa/MasterCard
Card number___________________________________________
Card security code:_____________
Expiration date:____________
(3- or 4-digit code
imprinted on card)
Signature:_____________________________________________
Mail or fax with full payment to NAPUS National Convention
Registration, 8 Herbert St., Alexandria, VA 22305-2600.
Questions? Call 703-683-9027
Registration Cancellation Refund Policy
Requests for cancellation refunds must
be made in writing to the NAPUS National
Office. Requests must be postmarked by
April 1, 2015, for 75 percent refund; and
by July 1, 2015, for 50 percent refund.
No refunds after July 1, 2015. These
dates will be strictly adhered to; exemptions may be made with approval of the
NAPUS Executive Board.
Submitted by Jerry L. Hulick
B
etween 8,000 and 10,000 baby
boomers are turning 65 every day
until 2030, according to the Pew
Research Center. When it comes to
claiming Social Security benefits, this
traditional retirement milestone has
changed. But it’s still seen as an important retirement marker for those approaching this age to think about Social
Security benefits.
To claim or not to claim—that is the question
You could take early retirement and start claiming
benefits as early as age 62. However, the Social Security
Administration cautions benefit amounts could be reduced by as much as 30 percent. The alternative is to
wait until full retirement age to receive full benefits (for
the boomer generation, between 66 and 67 years).
By waiting even longer, until age 70, you could receive your largest benefit, thanks to delayed retirement
credits. Many factors come into play when deciding
what age to claim benefits. For example, does longevity
run in your family? Are you in poor health with a shorter
life expectancy? Do you have enough saved and can afford to claim higher benefits later?
What about spousal benefits?
For married couples, a spouse’s decision on when to
start receiving benefits can have a significant impact on
the other spouse’s benefits over his or her lifetime. For
example, if you’re the higher-earning spouse and you take
early retirement instead of waiting to your full retirement
age, you will receive reduced benefits and likely will reduce your spouse’s lifetime benefits, as well. Check out
ways to time benefits in order to try and increase what
both of you could receive from Social Security.
38 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
For example, one strategy could allow
your lower-earning spouse to take his or
her benefits earlier while you delay
benefits to a later age. You simply
file for benefits at full retirement
age, which allows your lower-earning spouse to collect benefits based
on your higher earnings. You then
file to suspend your benefits while
continuing to work and delay taking
those benefits until a later age when they
are worth more.
Consult your financial professional who
can help you run the numbers and discuss your options
for claiming Social Security benefits.
What do boomers expect for retirement?
A recent study of boomers by the Insured Retirement
Institute finds that:
• 28 percent of boomers plan to retire at age 70 or
later. That’s a significant jump from 2011, when only 17
percent of boomers planned to wait until age 70 to retire.
• During the past year, 25 percent of boomers postponed their plans to retire.
• Only 55 percent of boomers have calculated a retirement savings goal.
• Boomers who work with a financial professional are
more than twice as likely to be highly confident in their
retirement plans compared to those planning for retirement on their own.
(Reprinted from MassMutual’s Annuity Department)
Jerry L. Hulick, CLU, ChFC, ChSNC, CLTC, Mass
Benefits Consultants, is the adviser for NAPUS’ supplemental insurance programs; 703-865-6501.
I
f you are thinking about retiring,
there are a number of issues you
must consider. As you evaluate
your options, you must also consider your assets and your vision for the future. And every
Postmaster’s situation is unique:
◆ What is your time frame for
retirement?
◆ How healthy are you? How will that
impact your health care decisions?
◆ What factors are important for survivor
benefits?
◆ If you are in the Thrift Savings Plan, will you leave
your funds with the government or roll them into various
alternatives?
In addition, you must review your basic and supplemental
life insurance, long-term care insurance, allotments and taxes.
The professionals at Mass Benefits Consultants, Inc. can
help. They will help you understand your options, ensuring
you make the right decisions.
Learn more about the NAPUS Supplemental
Retirement Plan by calling 800-221-3083.
Mass Benefits Consultants,Inc.
PO Box 828, Annandale, VA 22003-0828
800-221-3083
www.massbenefits.com
Postmasters Retired
Failure Is Not an Option
By Rodney Boland, PM Retired secretary-treasurer
want to thank the members of
NAPUS Postmasters Retired for entrusting me with the position of secretary-treasurer for the next two years. I
will give you the very best I have to
offer and do the job to the very best of
my ability. I also want to thank everyone who supported me for this position,
especially my three campaign managers: Linda Carter, Mandy HeslepWhitten and Kathy Herring.
I look forward to serving you and
working with our Executive Board for
the next two years. I think the foreseeable future will be difficult, but I’m excited that we have the opportunity to do
something worthwhile for our organization. We are losing many Postmaster positions; revenues will be going down accordingly. I look forward to our having
a new postmaster general with whom to
work and dealing with political threats
that arise from time to time.
How we deal with these changing
times will determine the future of
NAPUS. I once knew a man who grew
up a few miles from me. Times were
hard at his house and he left home at an
early age. He got the chance to go into
business selling gas, pecans and various
items to customers visiting Florida; he
made a lot of money before he died.
He related to me the many obstacles
he faced in the beginning. He also told
me that he only had one chance to be
successful. His exact words were, “Failure was not an option.” I feel that same
way about NAPUS; we’ve come too far
to fail now.
In 1639, King George of England
decreed that Richard Fairbanks, the proprietor of Fairbanks Tavern in Boston,
would be the official “keeper of the
posts” in the colonies; he is recognized
as the first Postmaster. This was long
before there was a postmaster general, a
Postal Service, the United States, Congress or president. I’m proud of Postmasters’ history and want to see our title
and organization preserved.
There are three areas on which we
must concentrate to be successful. Of
Your Input Is Important
By Elizabeth Schnitzler, PM Retired Constitution & Bylaws Committee chair
t’s Christmas morning and my
husband is feeding the cattle. We
go to our daughter’s for lunch, so
this is a great time to write. As I look
back, I had great days in NAPUS
and an excellent career that put me
economically at ease and helped me
raise my children and pay for their
education. As I look forward, we still
have NAPUS working to do the best
for us.
As the PM Retired Constitution
& Bylaws Committee chair, I need
to remind you to please submit your
40 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
ideas for possible additions or
changes to the Constitution and
Bylaws. If you aren’t sure how to
submit an idea, get in touch with
me (815-598-3272; meschnitz@
yahoo.com) and I will help you
word your submission for consideration. We don’t want to discourage
anyone from coming forward just
because they don’t know how to express their ideas.
See you at the Leadership Conference and thank you for being a
part of NAPUS!
course, the first is membership. We
stress the need to sign up newly retired
Postmasters on 1187-Rs, but we also
need to sign up the ones who retired 10
or 15 years ago when membership was
not as critical. I suspect everyone out
there knows at least one retired Postmaster who is not a member of NAPUS.
It’s easy to check with your state membership chair whether someone is a
member. I believe we can increase our
membership at least 10 percent if we
focus on this group of retirees, but it
will take everyone working together to
accomplish this goal.
The second area is working with the
new leadership team at L’Enfant Plaza.
There are many areas where the Postal
Service can make needed changes and
we can be involved in this change. In
years gone by, the management organizations were part of the leadership team
and were treated as such, instead of
being treated as the enemy.
In his last speech to our organization
at the Leadership Conference a number
of years ago, former PMG Bill Henderson stressed the need for new revenue
and not just cutting back. “You can’t
cost-cut your way to prosperity,” he declared. That line of thought is about as
silly as Congress thinking it can spend
its way out of debt. Both these philosophies are doomed to failure. The Postal
Service must change its focus and we
must be involved.
The third area is the political arena.
Many years ago, Postmasters had a lot
of input on legislation introduced in
Congress, but, in recent years, not so
much. We must regain the influence we
once had or we won’t impact the outcome of legislation that would affect
our retirement benefits and future
changes to the Postal Service.
I have made some rather blunt statements, but, as I have said many times,
“I’m not smart enough to use psychology, I’m just going to tell you like it is.”
We had better get serious because failure is not an option!
Postmasters Retired
And the Fat Lady Sang …
By Bob Podio, PM Retired Area 14 rep
uly 31, 2012, was a bittersweet
day for me. It was a day of reflection and rethinking my future—a
day for celebration! Yes, a very bittersweet day that comes once in a lifetime.
The reflection was all the years of
my career in the Postal Service. It was a
bittersweet taste of a lifetime of work
that basically was over.
The Postal Service was good to me;
it gave me and my family a great life. I
found out that hard work and loyalty
pay off, at least in my career. It was a
great place to be with people, both the
good and the bad, as it gave me a
chance to make a difference—for the
organization and the postal people who
came into my life.
I always tried to make my employees look to their health and family first
and then to the Postal Service. I would
like to think that made a small difference in a lot of lives. From my start in
Wyoming, to Colorado (the first time),
to Oregon, to California and then back
to Colorado, I have been blessed with a
lot of good times and wonderful people
along the way. I will always carry these
memories with me!
The celebration was having lunch
with my good friend, talking about our
past and deciding if we were really
going to take the plunge to retirement.
We both had letters in our hands ready
to fax, withdrawing our retirement, thus
going back to work. We weighed the
pros and cons of what each meant to us.
We talked about what the future might
hold and what challenges lay ahead.
At 2:45 p.m., we decided, together,
that retirement is where we were headed and we heard the “fat lady” sing. Exciting? In looking back, yes, it was. But
it also was a little scary considering the
unknown. We celebrated and congratulated each other on our decisions.
I believe NAPUS has a bright future,
but it will change—just like I changed
to being retired and gone from the
Postal Service. We need to face these
challenges and make more lemonade
from the lemons we have been handed.
Can each of us, active and retired,
help NAPUS figure out what this organization will be as we move forward?
The challenge is up to us!
Cruising
By Jill Groves, PM Retired Area 4 rep
ast winter, Randall and I returned from a wonderfully perfect cruise to the Panama Canal.
What a great time to escape from the
frozen north! We have been on about 15
cruises over the past 20 years, from the
Caribbean to the Mediterranean.
More than 20 million people went
on cruise vacations in 2013. But the
mere fact you will be living in close
quarters with a couple thousand people
on the sea for a week can create some
unique problems. Illnesses can spread
through ships, although this happens
only in a small percentage of cases.
Cruise lines have taken some noticeable
steps to reduce this danger, including
screening all passengers for illness before boarding and providing hand sanitizer around the ship.
A breakdown of engines and other
systems have stranded some cruisers on
the seas and weather and rough seas
may cause nausea or worse. In the larger ships, you can count on standing in
line for some events. Time spent in
ports is limited, usually less than one
day, leaving you wanting to see more.
Although the price of a cruise includes most of your food, beverages and
entertainment, be aware that some
things cost a premium. These include
soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, Internet
President
Ann McDorman, PO Box 73, Wimberley, TX 78676-0073; 817-991-4002;
[email protected]
Vice President
Clara McCullar, 324 Country Club Ln.,
Selmer, TN 38375-1537; 731-6456619; [email protected]
Secretary-Treasurer
Janiece Taylor, 1321 W Bend Rd., Coffeeville, AL 36524-4083; 251-2763623; [email protected]
Past President
Jack Wilkins, 15870 Caswell Ln.,
Reno, NV 89511; 775-848-2228;
[email protected]
Recording Secretary-Treasurer
Charley Peters, 290 Castle St., Monticello, KY 42633-1569; 606-3485623; [email protected]
Editor
Sally Robinson, 325 Garfield St., #102,
Kittanning, PA 16201; 724-545-6816;
[email protected]
services, tours and excursions, specialty
gourmet restaurants and spa services.
If you are on a budget, book an inside cabin. On most cruises, there is
nothing to see but sea and sky and the
cost savings is significant. Take tours
when in port. The times we have taken
the tours were significantly more memorable than when we ventured out on
our own. Booking some tours on line
before the cruise can save you cash;
money on tours is almost always well
spent.
Take in the shows on board. Cruise
lines have invested a lot in providing
quality entertainment. Sign up for the
later seating in the dining room. This
will allow you to rest up after a strenuous day in port. Whenever possible, sit
with strangers in the dining room. We
have met the most interesting people
from all over the world. Remember to
take some Dramamine or other nausea
meds just in case the seas turn rough.
I guess you can see I am sold on the
whole cruising experience. I hope all
your cruising experiences are perfectly
wonderful!
Postmasters Gazette /February 2015
41
Credit Union
Pick the IRA That Works For You
e all have different ideas about
what retirement means: traveling, starting a business, teaching, spending time with family. Whatever you’re imagining, having your
financial foundation in place will make
for a better future.
An IRA (individual retirement account) helps you build retirement savings that generally offers tax advantages. Even if you have an employersponsored retirement plan, you still can
open a separate, supplemental IRA account to help build a retirement portfolio that gives you the freedom to do
what you’re hoping to do.
Not sure what kind of IRA is best for
you? Let’s take a look at the summary
chart and discuss the basics of IRAs so
you an consider which one is best for
you and your family.
Although this article mentions potential tax benefits of IRAs, none of the
information here should be construed as
tax advice; always consult a professional tax adviser for your needs.
by law to begin withdrawing the funds,
which you might hear referred to as a
required minimum distribution (RMD).
If you need to withdraw funds before
age 591/2, you may face IRS penalties.
Roth IRA
For a Roth IRA, you or your spouse
must have eligible compensation and
also meet limits to your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), which is
your adjusted gross income before certain deductions or adjustments to income. Contributions to a Roth IRA account are taxed before you make
contributions and grow tax-free. However, contributions to a Roth account are
not tax-deductible, as they are with a
traditional IRA. Where you may get a
tax deduction for contributions made to
your traditional IRA, you cannot get the
same benefit for Roth contributions.
A special feature of Roth IRAs is
there is not an age when you are required to start making withdrawals, so
you can continue to let your savings
grow through retirement. Roth IRAs
Contributions Earnings
Age Requirement
allow you to make
Traditional Tax-deductible
Tax-deferred 701/2 to start
tax- and penaltywithdrawals
free withdrawals
Roth
Taxed
Tax-free
No requirement
when you meet certain qualifications.
Your account must
Traditional IRA
have been open for at least five years
If you are under age 70 1/2 and you or
and you must be:
your spouse have eligible compensation
• a first-time homebuyer
(generally considered compensation
• at least 591/2 years old
• disabled or
earned from working, but see www.irs.
• beneficiary of a deceased Roth IRA
gov for details), then you are eligible to
holder
contribute to a traditional IRA. With this
account, your contributions are tax-deEducation Savings Account
ductible and grow tax-deferred until you
Education savings accounts (ESAs)
start to make withdrawals.
are a great way to save for a child’s eduYou can start withdrawing funds at
cation. ESA contributions are never taxage 591/2 or you can wait until you
reach age 701/2, when you are required
deductible and the earnings accumulate
42 February 2015 / Postmasters Gazette
tax-deferred; withdrawals you use to
pay for qualified education expenses are
tax-free. Contributions to an ESA do
not affect the contributions you are allowed to make to a traditional or Roth
IRA.
Simplified Employee Pension Plan
A simplified employee pension plan
(SEP) is an employer-sponsored retirement account that allows you to contribute funds into your personal traditional IRA accounts, giving you more
options to build your retirement savings.
The same rules that apply to traditional
IRAs also apply to SEP plans. Check
with your employer for more information about specific plans they might
offer.
Opening an IRA now helps you live
the way you want during retirement.
Feel free to contact NAPUS FCU at
800-336-0284 if you are interested in
learning about our IRA accounts. We
offer traditional and Roth IRAs and Education Savings Accounts that can help
you meet your future goals. Visit
www.napusfcu.org for more information and additional resources through
our IRA Service Center.
Federally insured by NCUA.
NAPUS Chapter Officers
Chapter President • Secretary-Treasurer • Editor
Alabama
Hector Rivera, Kenai, 99611 • Celia Dumag, Sitka, 99835 • Candice Olson, Ketchikan, 99901
Arizona
Karin Lopez, Laveen, 85339 • vacant • Karin Lopez
Arkansas
Tanya Thomas, Clinton, 72031 • Theresa Peebles, Bald Knob, 72010 • Teresa Shelton, Clarendon, 72029
California
Anne McClure, Alamo, 94507 • Pam Forest, Running Springs, 92382 • Patricia Bennet, 848 Descanso Way, San Rafael, 94903
Colorado
Joan Mallon, Kiowa, 80117 • April Mae Torres, Mead, 80542 • Frank Parker, Peyton, 80831
Connecticut/Rhode Island
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
National
Conventions
New Orleans
Aug. 27-Sept. 1
Virginia Greger, Kuna, 83634 • Judy Mecham, Cambridge, 83610 • Linda Sundrstrom, Troy, 83871
Illinois
Pam Bardell, Savanna, 61074 • Shelly Zellers, Havana, 62644 • Cheryl Quaka, Marseilles, 61341
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Leadership
Conferences
March 14-18
2016
March 12-16
Karen Wolf, Gas City, 46933 • Pam Ford, N Manchester, 46962 • Kimberly Rae Sharpe, 1711 Jenny Ln., Warsaw, 46580
Kevin Schwab, Eldora, 50627 • Ellen Opperman, Clinton, 52732 • Sheila Ludwikowski, Perry, 50220
Mark Clark, Clearwater, 67026 • Judy Wasko, Burdett, 67523 • Debbie Wright, Alma, 66401
Jill Smith, Paducah, 42001 • Teri Thomas, Greenup, 41144 • Paula Berry, Hanson, 42413
Vicky Johnson, Vidalia, 71373 • Tracy Johnson, Walker, 70785 • Karen Boudreaux, Loreauville, 70552
Steve Pardue, Oakland, 04963 • Susan Lawson, Bethel, 04217 • 38 Snows Point Rd, St. George, 04860
Ray Walker, Woodsboro, 21798 • Robert Booker, 16813 Hawkglen Place, Lithia, FL 33547 • Ken Carter, 6149 Westbrooke Dr., Salisbury, 21801
John Fitzpatrick, Osterville, 02655 • Donna Legro, Haverhill, 01830 • Deanna White, Groton 01450
Linda Gurka, Suttons Bay, 49682 • Lisa Gregory, Baldwin, 49304 • Lorraine Lindsey, 1279 Klink Rd., Tekonsha, 49092
Greg Geheren, Hugo, 55038 • Renae Ingersoll, Moorhead, 56560 • Margie Jacobson, Waterville, 56096
Gloria Bilbrew, Canton, 39046 • Mandy Whitten, 901-B Maple St., Cleveland, 38732 • Barbara Morris, 321 Pearson St., Clarksdale, 38614
Missouri
Craig Slate, Cape Girardeau, 63701 • Shelly Hays, Willard, 65781 • Don Knoth, 519 Natchez Trace, Jefferson City, 65109
Montana
Kae McCloy, Ballantine, 59006 • Jamie Valgamore, Clyde Park, 59018 • Dawn Bishop-Moore, Hays, 52527
Nebraska
Nevada
2015
Robin Bugg, Sharpsburg, 30277 • Tammy Cantrell, Dahlonega, 30533 • Rebecca Spivey, Hampton, 30228
Sheila Apana, Kahului, 96732 • Kenji Higaki, Honolulu, 96820 • Daniele Morris, Hanapepe, 96716
Maryland
2016
Mike McManus, Hastings, 32145 • Brian Kirke, Youngstown, 32466 • Vickie Smith, Williston, 32696
Idaho
Kansas
Mobile Bay, AL
Aug. 29-Sept. 3
Peter Urbani, Waterford, CT 06385 • Paul Bianca, Sherman, CT 06784 • Rob Hackert, Winsted, CT 06098
John Douds, Ocean View, 19970 • LaShawn Jones, Middletown, 19709 • Fred Latteri, Magnolia, 19962
Hawaii
Iowa
2015
Susan Rice, Woodland, 36280 • Ricky Long, Eufala, 36072 • Teresa Washington, Moundville, 35474
Alaska
New Hampshire
Christina Thin-Elk, Ainsworth, 69210 • Terry Abbott, Elm Creek, 68836 • Virginia Steenson, 10345 711 Rd., Stamford, 68977
Chris Pearce, Mesquite, 89024 • Jan Williams, West Wendover, 89883 • vacant
Michael Renkert, Rumney, 03266 • Ann Provenzano, West Ossipee, 03890 • Tina Potter, Belmont, 03220
New Jersey
Gary Carrasquillo, Williamstown, 08094 • Bernadette Puodziunas, Wildwood, 08260 • Agnes Elam, Port Norris, 08349
New Mexico
Cynthia Ulibarri, Anton Chico, 87711 • Robert Roarke, Tucumcari, 88401 • Cynthia Ulibarri, Anton Chico, 87711
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Dan Leonard, Dundee, 14837 • Gerald Geddis, Cambridge, 12816 • Mary Dillon, Alexandria Bay, 13607
Drew Martin, West Jefferson, 28694 • Juanita Meeks, Pineville, 28134 • Laura Hilton, Gulf, 27256
Bev Rosinski, Edmore, 58330 • Mary Kay Brokaw, PO Box 1, Kulm, 58456 • vacant
Mari Beth Kirkland, Burton, 44099 • William Judge, Piqua, 45356 • Paul Joseph, Celina, 45822
Brent Cofield, Blair, 73526 • Tamara Kindle, Westville, 74965 • De Wood, Wheatland, 73097
Janet Wedgeworth, Kelso, 98626 • Padric Fisher, Independence, 97351 • Vicky Brown and Sally Mann, 7221 NE Fryer Rd., Yamhill, 97148
Jeff Schoch, Pottstown, 19464 • Stephanie Campbell, Harrisville, 16038 • Nancy Isenberg, Elderton, 15736
Pedro Nazario, Canovanas, 00729 • Elizabeth Rivera, Barceloneta, 00617 • Antonio Guzman, Aguas Buenas, 00703
Tammy Powell, Fountain Inn, 29644 • Darlene Dickson, Inman, 29349 • Kim Deese, Leesville, 29070
Sherrie Redman, Wessington Springs, 57382 • Cheryl Tisher, Faulkton, 57438 • Lynette Jungemann, Highmore, 57345
Josh McNeal, Kingston Springs, 37082 • Monty Ray, Linden, 37096 • Jacquelyn Taylor, Beechgrove, 37018
Ben Walker, Brookshire, 77423 • Greg Nors, Hillsboro, 76645 • Elizabeth Owens, Del Valle, 78617
Clayton Querry, Kamas, 84036 • Lori Heyder, Honeyville, 84314 • Lorri Frandsen, Woodruff, 84086
Vermont
Stacy Gregoire, Enosburg Falls, 05450 • Linda Kirkpatrick, Hinesburg, 05461 • Norman Peters, Jefferson, 05464
Virginia
Beatrice Robertson, Gretna, 24557 • Elaine Cook, Newport, 24128 • Anne Falls, 1805 Shadowlake Rd., Blacksburg, 24060
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
William Carlton, Elma, 98541 • Wendy Allen, Castle Rock, 98611 • Dana Starfire, Lopez Island, 98261
Herb Balser, Oak Hill, 25901 • Jim Bibey, Valley Bend, 26293 • Lori Ewing, Canvas, 26662
Cori Crawford, Brookfield, 53045 • Sunday Barnaby, Winter, 54896 • Rick Dama, N6196 County Rd F, Sullivan, 53178
Curt Artery, Guernsey, 82214 • Cindy Paustian, Story, 82842 • Toni Benthusen, Powder River, 82648
Underline denotes a change from previous listing; please send changes to NAPUS and also to Balent-Young
Publishing, PO Box 734, Front Royal, VA 22630-0016; 540-636-2569, phone/fax; [email protected]