NODAK NAPUS NEWS. May 6, 2014

Transcription

1 NODAK NAPUS NEWS Newsletter of the North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Postmasters April May June 2014 Volume 97, Issue 2 IN THIS ISSUE: Barbara Anderson Hall of Honor 2014 Contacts Bev Rosinski President Mary Kay Schuh Executive V.P. Calendar of Events Message from National President Toni Leonardi Cheryl Weigel Services Karen Dockter Career Development Margie Jacobson Area 14 Vice President Legislative Report Pictures from DC Linda Timian Editorial May 6, 2014 I would like to express my gratitude to all the North Dakota NAPUS members that voted for me to receive the Hall of Honor award for There are so many deserving postmasters and retirees in our organization that give of their time and energy for the betterment of all of us. For me to receive this award from my peers is a dream come true. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sincerely, Barbara Anderson

2 PRESIDENT NAT L AREA 14 VICE PRESIDENT CAREER DEVELOPMENT PM RETIRED PRESIDENT Bev Rosinski Margie Jacobson Karen Dockter Bonita Baltes Edmore ND Janesville MN dkdoc@bektel.com (work) Cell bonitabaltes@msn.com (home) office barosinski@outlook.com margiepm@yahoo.com CHAPLAIN Karen Johnson PM RETIRED SEC/TREASURER Esther Graf EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Mary Kay Schuh MEMBERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP bill@daktel.com Lakota ND (Quadrant Directors) Val Swensrud (work) Retired (home) NAT L AREA 9 REP FOR PM RETIRED mkschuh@polarcomm.com swenteam@rtc.coop Pauline Colamatteo QUADRANT 1 DIRECTOR Elm St 580 & 584 Cornucopia WI VICE PRESIDENT 580 Carol Haase SERVICES Home: Karen Schmelling machaplin29@hotmail.com POLICY Cell: Medora ND Lori Pritchard Cheryl Weigel pncola@tds.net (work) Verona ND Napoleon ND home (work) work (home) PAST PRESIDENT teribek@bektel.com POST OFFICE PRESERVATION Mary Jo Amb Keva Richardson Mayville ND QUADRANT 2 DIRECTOR 2372 Waubonsie Avenue (work) 582 & 583 POSTMASTER REP Thurman, IA (home) Brenda Weinmann Hal Weninger Phone: mjamb62@hotmail.com Maddock Retired mwa8sts_06@yahoo.com (home) (cell) BUDGET QUADRANT 3 DIRECTOR halweninger@ymail.com HALL OF HONOR 585 & 586 CONSTITUTION/BYLAWS Darlene Brecht SECRETARY/TREASURER LEGISLATIVE/PAC Mary Kay Brokaw EDITOR/WEBMASTER Kulm ND QUADRANT 4 DIRECTOR Linda Timian (work) 587 & 588 Langdon ND (home) (vacant) (work) mkbrokaw1@gmail.com (home) timian@utma.com

3 PRESIDENT BEV ROSINSKI During World War II, there was a General named Patton. Perhaps you have heard of him and his methods of combat. One incident that comes to mind is when he was getting his troops ready for a very courageous and dangerous advancement for the next day. He had the tools that he needed to go forward, but the bigger picture handed him rain and terrible overall weather. Instead of quitting or giving up hope, he summoned the troop Chaplain and in his own way, basically insisted that the Chaplain pray a weather prayer for sunshine and dry weather for the next day, because Patton would not accept defeat due to rain and horrid conditions. As it would be, in most cases, the troops were met with mud and muck in the morning, but were also met with Sunshine. This one moment, gave inspiration to his troops and believed the Chaplain must have some closeness with the Lord. They went forward and completed their mission and yes many did not survive, but they believed in their leader and knew he was going to do what needed to be done that day. And so, what does this have to do with us?? Probably nothing that rings a bell, except the determination to forge forward and do what needed to be done in that moment or day. He had a weather prayer from the Chaplain I wish we could say that will work for us too, but we are different, different times, different situations, different friendships, different family priorities, different challenges, different ways of communications, different willingness to step out of our comfort zones and different personalities, and just different all the way around. We are busy, busy with children, busy with meetings, busy with putting food on our tables, busy keeping the family together, busy planning for college funds, busy planning for retirement funds, busy doing at times nothing, busy on our computers, busy with the IPads/Pods and all that equipment, busy with video games that, in some cases, project changing attitudes in our children, busy going from one meeting to another, and just plain too busy to stop and smell the roses anymore. The Postal service is different and it is busy and it has affected all of us to some degree in these last 2 ½ years. Our world, as we knew the Postal Service, is no longer there. It is now big business and has left Ben Franklin turning over in his grave. But and I mean BUT this is still our business, we make of it what we need, in order to make sure our customers are getting the service they deserve, our employees are doing what needs to be done and that they are compensated for their jobs and it still is the best job I have ever had. There are a lot of people, including postal people, that are bitter about what is happening. We, including myself, are not happy with the future as it has been set in front of us. But, I do know we continue to help and assist our fellow postal people, we assist and help our customers and every two weeks we take a paycheck home with us. We need to come together with our peers and communicate with each other, get together, help and support each other. NAPUS and League have been doing that for years and if you choose not to be part of either of these organizations, you are looking backwards rather than moving forward. We all need something from each and every one of us in some manner. I wish you all could or would take the time to meet with your neighboring post office person or calling and offering help or advice. I give you my Postal Prayer don t be bitter, if you have choices, don t be afraid to try different things, don t ever give up and don t forget a phone call can make someone s day better, don t put blame where you cannot change it and by all means, take care of your health, your family and your friends. As we get closer to PostPlan, January 2015, be prepared, make good choices, keep your family involved and keep healthy and wise. Again, I have no clue where Patton joined my scrambled mind, but for some reason, it felt relative to what is happening. We don t give up or in and we certainly don t throw in the towel. We know what we are supposed to be doing and we need to keep doing it. Keep your finances clean, follow protocol, follow the rules and regulations set before us and take that check to the bank every other week. Wishing you all a decent summer and have some fun and stay safe. Bev

4 EXECUTIVE V.P. MARY KAY SCHUH Good morning ND NAPUS members. The word around the USPS lately is the only thing that is constant is change. With PostPlan in full swing, we are all experiencing the changes in office levels, responsibilities, whether to apply for another office, retire, or whatever works best for us and our family. In order to throw a little intrigue into the mix (like we don t already have enough), the last information was that offices were going to undergo another reevaluation and some offices will go up, some down, etc. Even offices that have not been implemented in a PostPlan environment may be affected. This may be good news for some, not so good for others. Make sure to look at all your options and make the best decisions for you and your family. Another big change at least for manual 6 and 8 hour offices is the conversion from emoves to e1412. I was one of the first in North Dakota to convert and am still learning some of the intricacies. There are many good things about this way of reporting finances and I do like it. If you are having trouble with this, or anything else, remember to reach out and ask another Postmaster. If anyone is interested, I have many cheat sheets written (surprise) on the conversion process, and the basic things we do daily in e1412. Have a great summer. Mary Kay Schuh, Executive Vice President Check out the ND NAPUS website: or CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2014 National Convention September Atlantic City Convention Center 2314 Pacific Avenue Atlantic City NJ Fall Conference October Comfort Inn 1030 E Interstate Ave Bismarck ND Legislative Rally and Leadership Conference 2015 State Convention

5 Postmaster Organizations informed that RIF effective Date Postponed until 01/10/2015 There are a lot of anxious POStPlan impacted Postmasters waiting for final news on the specific RIF timelines and events associated with this phase of POStPlan implementation. We continue to meet with Postal Headquarters and minor changes come from each of these meetings which will push back any formal announcement. The Postmaster organizations and Postal Headquarters have spent a great deal of time discussing the implementation and events that will lead up to the final RIF date, with the same end result in mind get everyone placed before the RIF effective date. These discussions have been in the best interests of all Postmasters who are still impacted and because of this the RIF timeline has been extended. The effective RIF date for impacted Postmasters will now be 1/10/2015. Timelines for notification of impacted Postmasters, Specific RIF dates and possible VER dates will be released in the upcoming weeks. We clearly understand the importance of getting all the dates and events out to impacted Postmasters we hope the extension of the RIF effective date relieves some of that stress. Everyone needs to be very clear on what data will be used to evaluate the remaining 3,200 plus offices. For two years we have shared the process agreed upon with Postal Headquarters. That being said, before RIF letters are sent out, all remaining offices with incumbent Postmasters will be evaluated using FY/13 data to determine the level of the office. Some will go up, some will go down and some will stay the same. This does not change anything for level 18s with incumbent Postmasters -they will be locked at level 18 until the end of FY/16. Those offices that meet the AEWL criteria will be upgraded the first Pay Period in October, After the level 16 and below offices are reviewed for the official POStPlan level, the impacted Postmasters will receive official notification about the timeline, voluntary assignment options, possible VER and PM career options. If you believe there has been a mistake in either receiving or not receiving notification, you need to contact your District immediately for clarification. Please contact us at the NAPUS National office if you have any questions. It is still the intent of Postal Headquarters to find a landing spot for every Postmaster who wants to stay in the Postal Service. The Postmaster General included that statement in both of his last two State of the Business video found on the Link. Postmasters need to help themselves to become good candidates for available positions and be flexible about new opportunities. I encourage you to apply for all career position as they become available to insure that you are placed prior to the RIF effective date. We continue to be asked if there will be a VER. The Postal Service already has authorization to offer the VER but what continues to be discussed with the Postal Headquarters is the question about an incentive tied to the VER. This is still on the table and an important part of future meetings. It may be a few weeks before any formal communication is released with all RIF dates, timelines, and RIF events: we are working towards the best end result we can get during this timeframe. We will continue to message out the information as soon it becomes available. Tony Leonardi NAPUS National President

6 SERVICES CHERYL WEIGEL Joining the NAPUS Federal Credit Union is listed in the TOP TEN reasons of becoming a NAPUS member. You can join the nearly 30,000 NAPUS Postmasters and family members who already are enjoying the convenience of cost-saving accounts and services offered by NAPUS Federal Credit Union. Membership in the Credit Union, which was established by Postmasters in 1970, is open to all NAPUS members and their families. It s easy to join. A membership application may be obtained by calling the Credit Union s toll-free number, Complete the simple application and return it to the Credit Union, along with a check or money order for at least $10. This represents a one-time $5 membership fee and a deposit of at least $5 to open a new share draft account. Among the many financial services and products offered by the Credit Union are free checking, low rate VISA credit cards (as low as 8%), new and used auto loans and leases, mortgage and home equity loans and various savings programs, including IRA s, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. It's time for you to take advantage of the services NAPUS Federal Credit Union has to offer. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Cheryl Weigel ND NAPUS Services Rep CAREER DEVELOPMENT KAREN DOCKTER ND NAPUS State Convention is behind us. Thank you to all that attended and helped to make it a success. To those of you that did not attend, we missed you and you missed out on some excellent training and networking. NAPUS is not just for Postmasters. PMR s can be and should be active members as well. We need you. You need us. There have been and will be many Postal employees retiring and we need new members to help keep our membership above the minimum. It is not only the training that we provide, which you won t get anywhere else, but the networking that we share with each other that helps us in our daily tasks at running our Post Offices efficiently. We said good-bye to a very knowledgeable Louise Potocki, who retired a week after our convention. She gave us an informative session on Intelligent Mail for Small Business Mailers. (IMsb) She also answered any questions that anyone had or brought with them. Lori Bucholz shared with us on how to look at your office SOV. This is becoming increasing important as our offices change. Our National Are 14 Representative, Margie Jacobson, gave us an update on what s happening in DC with NAPUS. Our ND Postmaster Representative, Hal Wenninger, spoke on what to do if you are paid a visit by the Inspectors or the OIG and how to keep yourself out of trouble. Our MPOOs also were there to speak with us and to answer any questions that were addressed. I encourage all of you to go frequently to the ND Napus web page or the National NAPUS web site. There you will always find the latest updates. The National web site has a Knowledge Based training area for NAPUS members. You register with your account number, which is on your Gazette Publication, above your name in the address box. Then you set up a password. Here I have found many helpful items that I can use at my job. Don t wait, Join today. Call or send an and we can get a membership registration form to you.

7 AREA 14 V.P. MARGIE JACOBSON Time for Constitutional Changes Nationally we are proposing Constitutional changes for We will be discussing this more at the State Convention but just wanted to touch on a few points now. The change for Article 3 Membership allows the Postmasters Retired to hold office and vote within limits. The change to Article 6 Officers allows Postmasters Retired and PMRs to have equal voting rights. The change to Article 8 National Vice Presidents in the event of a vacancy. Since there is no longer a rotation in the election, the person elected competes throughout the whole area and not the state; therefore, the position belongs to the person and not the state. Each of the states should have the right to put forward the name of a candidate. The only drawback for the member competing for this vacancy would be that it would be for a reduced term (the balance of the vacated position) and the member would not be eligible to succeed himself or herself for a full term. The change to Article 11 Dues changes the multiplier in the formula for dues from the to.500. This will bring revenue more in line with current costs and allow us to eliminate the Legal Defense assessments that have been renewed for the past five years. These increases will bring stability for our National office. We also propose to change the dues for Associate Members, Postmasters Retired and Officers In Charge from $42 to $60 per year. This was proposed as a means of increasing needed revenue in a fair manner. We also propose a change to Section 14 to this article to increase dues based on COLA. This would allow us to move forward in a proactive way and not just continue to react to shortfalls in our dues structure. This would ensure that we will not have to revisit the dues structure every couple of years. Example: If you receive a $30,000 a year annuity, and you receive a 1% raise in 2016, you would receive a $300 per year increase. Your NAPUS dues would increase by 1% of the $60 dues or 60 cents. That would be a nickel per month and it has no relationship to your annuity. Active Postmasters also have their dues adjusted automatically when their pay scale increases. The change to Article 17 Right to Vote and Hold Office allows PMRs and Postmasters Retired to hold office except for President or Vice President. This will assist Chapters experiencing difficulty finding people who are willing to hold office and ease some of that burden. Many retired Postmasters now have the time and would welcome the opportunity to take a more active role. We also proposed a Bylaw change to give the 25% discount not only to the Postmaster Retired but to their spouse also. Hope to see you soon. Margie Jacobson NAT L AREA 14 VICE PRESIDENT Janesville MN Cell office margiepm@yahoo.com

8 Legislative report - Linda Timian, Legislative Chair There are two major bills proposed in Congress that concern the Postal Service. S.1486 sponsored by Senators Carper and Coburn, and H.R sponsored by Representative Issa. S was introduced and sent to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee last August. It passed the committee earlier this winter, but has not been brought to the floor. When S.1486 does go to the floor, there will probably be a number of amendments to make it passable by a larger number of senators. As written, S addresses FERS overpayments, health care prefunding, establishes a postal module in FEHBP, consultative rights, closing post offices, retail service standards, 5 day delivery, centralized delivery, moratorium on plant closings, makes the exigent rate case permanent, establishes a Chief Innovation Officer, and new products. H.R made it through committee last year, but has done nothing since. H.R recalculates FERS overpayments, provides temporary relief from prefunding, requires collective bargaining for health benefits, makes it easier to close post offices, immediate 5 day delivery, phases out door delivery within 10 years, establishes a Chief Innovation Officer, and increases borrowing authority by $5 billion while the USPS is under the control of a Financial and Management Authority. At the Legislative Conference in Washington DC in March, we were briefed by Bob Levi, NAPUS Governmental Affairs, on the issues and the position NAPUS had on those issues. Hal Weninger and I met with aides from the offices of Senator Heitkamp, Senator Hoeven, and Representative Cramer. Congress was in recess during the short time I was there. NAPUS advocated strongly for: Health care prefunding relief Refunding the FRES overpayments Innovation Flexible rate setting Preserving earned benefits Universal service There is information written by Bob Levi on the ND NAPUS website and the NAPUS National website. If you would like to study the issues in depth, I highly recommend reading Bob Levi s 2014 Legislative Manual. I currently have it posted on the ND NAPUS Legislative page. PAC Report ND PAC totals were $ in 2013, from 23 different individuals. Senator Heitkamp received $ from NAPUS PAC.

9 Postmaster General Pat Donohoe NAPUS National President Tony Leonardi Inspector General David Williams PRC Chair Ruth Goldway COO Megan Brennan Linda Timian representing ND Hal Weninger saluting the flag Installation of 2015 Officers: Carolyn Haase, Brenda Weinmann, Julie Dionne, Karen Schmelling Mary Kay Schuh, Bev Rosinski, and Margie Jacobson

10 DC IS ALWAYS A GOOD TRIP The thing I like about the legislative conference is that you get to hear a diverse group of speakers. One of my favorites is David Williams, the Inspector General. He is always brimming with ideas how to move the postal service into a more vital, value added service. His office researched and wrote the white paper about the opportunity of the postal service to expand its simple financial services. As we heard from our acting district manager, one in four Americans do not have access to normal free banking, and they spend about 10% of their income on fees. There is $9 billion in new revenue in that arena. Mr. Williams also talked about modern interactive mail. IKEA has a catalog that can show you what their furniture looks like in your house with the use of your smart phone. You can see how this kind of mail would appeal to the wired generation. I call them the wired generation, but if guess the new term is digital native. The trillion dollar online shopping industry is expected to grow 20% this year. What company wouldn't die for 20% growth? Apple makes 60% of its profits from devices that are less than four years old. This is unprecedented. The communication revolution is unfolding faster and in ways we didn't dream of a few years ago. There are opportunities for the postal service to fill in the gaps that will enhance our footing in the future of communications. And one very important thing he said: training is an investment, not an expense. Senator Carper spoke to us at the conference about his legislation. He wants this bill to fix the problems so that it does not have to be revisited again in another three to five years. He wants the postal service to think outside the box for innovation and revenue generation. His bill addresses the health care prefunding problem, which is the 800 pound gorilla. Without addressing that, we will simply cut our way to the bottom. His bill adopts a volume threshold of 140 billion pieces of mail. If we drop below that we can move to 5 day delivery. As we know now, 5 day delivery means 5 days of letters and flats, 6 days of parcels, and 7 days of parcels in selected areas. Bob Levi addressed the Legislative chairs to prepare them for the meetings with their congressmen. Bob had written material and posted it on the NAPUS website. The main points this year were: innovation, flexible rate setting, address the health care prefunding, refund the FERS overpayments, preserve earned benefits, and universal service. These issues were presented to our three congressional offices on Tuesday. Phil Jones, attorney for NAPUS Legal Defense, talked about a few cases but his main point was to encourage everyone to increase membership. Without members NAPUS will not only lack funds, but also weight. Headquarters and Congress will not listen. NAPUS officers and the Board are trying to make a difference. Use the funds and the influence you have wisely. Vote wisely. PMG Donohoe talked about a wide variety of things. Here are some main points: You have his word that if you are on the bubble, we will find you a landing spot. We pay for Medicare, we should have the same access to it. We should not have to pay double for the wrap around policy. This takes our liability down to where we have it paid off. (This has passed the Senate committee). We are going after the parcel business, we are trying to hold companies in the mail, it actually costs more to do electronic billing than mailing bills. Mailers can use mail to drive potential customers to their internet sites (yes, a good thing). They order stuff and a parcel is born. We are not closing plants anymore due to big customers (Amazon, WalMart.) wanting to drop parcels for last mile overnight or same day delivery. Sunday delivery is new volume. We will not miss this opportunity. Stamps.com did a study that knocks down all the myths about the postal service. Six day delivery beats the competition, seven day clobbers them. We are supplanting UPS in Staples. Megan Brennan had a PowerPoint presentation full of numbers, but it was beautifully intermixed with photos of carriers climbing over snowbanks, LLVs being pushed through the snow by customers, flooding and mudslides. It showed just how hard employees work to get the mail delivered. I felt it was representative of everyone who works for the postal service. She reiterated that if you are flexible, we are going to find you an opportunity (landing spot). She talked about growth in the alternate access channel, Staples is new revenue, how best to leverage our physical footprint, scanning and the parcel business, APWU arbitration, and some new retail lobby ideas that the Prime post offices will see before the next holiday season. There may be changes to the Legislative Conference in the future due to changes in the constitution and actions taken by the Executive Board. NAPUS events continue to be an excellent source of training and meeting other Postmasters and PMRs. Visit and for information, contacts, and news releases. Linda Timian Editor