National Association of Letter Carriers

Some things bear repeating. Some things need to be shouted from the rooftops. This article bears repeating from the rooftops.

Back in August, there was a letter published in the Wake-Up! that was co-authored by President Rolando and Anthony Rios, Director Federal Employees’ OWCP. This letter urged ALL letter carriers who have tested positive for COVID-19 to file a form CA-1, Notice of Traumatic Injury. There was also an educational flier attached with the letters.

I can not emphasize enough how important it is to file a CA-1, EVEN IF YOU HAVE COMPLETELY RECOVERED AND USED EFEL OR CCA LEAVE when you had COVID. We do not know the potential long-term effects of this disease. If you file a CA-1, your case will be approved. Even if there is no benefit needed to this date, there could be a future benefit required if a long-term effect is discovered down the line. If you have a claim timely filed now, you will be protected in the future. Please, if you are a letter carrier who had COVID, file a CA-1.

Moving forward, the same reasons apply to filing a CA-1 if you are infected with COVID in the future. There is also another reason. The Emergency Federal Employee Leave has expired. It expired at the end of September 2021. There is no more leave benefit. This is particularly worrisome for CCA’s who don’t earn sick leave and may not have enough annual leave on the books to cover a COVID-related absence.

If you are infected with COVID, you can file a CA-1 and select continuation of pay. You will be paid continuation of pay for your absence. (The first three days of absence you will have to use leave, but if your absence extends beyond 14 days, that leave will be restored).

I have received calls recently asking about the “9-day rule” or “10-day rule”. Apparently, the Postal Service has initiated a unilateral policy whereby they are not allowing letter carriers to work more than 9 or 10 days in a row. To be clear, 9 or 10 days is NOT mentioned in the National Agreement. PTF’s, CCA’s, and regular carriers on the overtime desired list can work every day of the year. What has always puzzled me when I hear about this imaginary 9 or 10 day limit is that the service completely ignores Article 8.5.F of the National Agreement. Article 8.5.F reads: “Excluding December, no full-time regular employee will be required to work overtime on more than four (4) of the employee’s five (5) scheduled days in a service week or work over ten (10) hours on a regularly scheduled day, over eight (8) hours on a non-scheduled day, or over six (6) days in a service week.” The above language does not apply to full-time carriers on the ODL and it does not apply during the December exclusion period. So riddle me this ... where does 9 or 10 days come from?

The service arbitrarily violates the contract and because some members aren’t aware of their rights, the service goes unchallenged and we are injured as a result. One such instance is with the latest early parcel delivery initiative. In theory, it’s a good idea to deliver parcels in the morning as opposed to in the evening. In many instances, customers will be able to retrieve their parcels from their porches before they leave for work in the morning. Early delivery also should lessen the number of parcels that may sit unattended on a customer’s porch and fall prey to “porch pirates” who drive around (especially at this time of year) and steal packages.

The problem with this program is that management is not tracking where the credit for these parcels belongs. Instead of punching to the route that the parcel belongs to, management is having carriers punch to a code that will never be credited properly to the route where the parcel belongs. So what you ask? Well, let’s say your route is overburdened and your considering putting in for a special inspection. If you don’t meet the 30 minute overtime requirement on a particular day, and someone delivered parcels that belong to your route, you have been injured. That is only one problem with the program. There are others.

I was also shocked to hear from one of our offices that their CCA’s were not being compensated mileage when they are sent to other offices to work. To be clear, if you report to work at an office other than your own, you are most likely entitled to compensation. I say most likely as you are entitled to be paid mileage for the difference between your commute to your home office and the commute to the office you are temporarily assigned. If the commute is shorter, there is no compensation. If you punch in at your office and go elsewhere, you are entitled to mileage for the entire round trip. Don’t sleep on your rights. If you are not being compensated for mileage, notify your shop steward or the Branch Office immediately so we can address the issue.

Finally, the shop stewards that just finished their 3-year terms (many continued on to the current term) will be recognized at the December regular branch meeting. I hope that you can find the time to attend the branch meeting to show support for your stewards. Their job is never easy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and a joyous whatever you may celebrate!

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

No, the title of this article doesn’t represent the little cheese cracker that Nabisco stopped making in the early 2000’s (I never liked those growing up). This month, my article will serve to throw out “tid bits” of information that hopefully many of you will find useful.

First, it is that time of year again. It’s time to apply for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Scholarships. There is a link below to the website where you can find the online registration process, as well as study materials and an interactive exam studying tool. The branch presents two (2) $1,000.00 scholarships to children of branch members that are graduating high school and continuing their education. Because the branch participates in this program, our members’ children also qualify for many other scholarships offered by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Be sure to take advantage of this program!

https://www.massaflcio.org/scholarships

The next thing I would like to touch on is something that is misunderstood by even the most veteran carriers and managers. The Holiday Schedule. Specifically, when and if carriers are excused from working on the holiday schedule. It is best to understand the proper meaning of the contractual language, especially with four holidays coming up in the next 60 days.

Many people believe that you can “bookend” your holiday with annual leave and be excused from working. This misconception comes from the language in Article 8 (overtime) which reads: “Normally, employees, including employees on the Overtime Desired List, who have scheduled annual leave, including incidental annual leave, immediately preceding and/or following non-scheduled days will not be required to work overtime on the non-scheduled days ...” The language goes on to state that it is not the parties intent to create a means to circumvent the scheduling provisions of Article 8.

Holidays fall under Article 11 and Article 11 creates an entirely different requirement. The relevant language is “As many full-time and part-time regular schedule employees as can be spared will be excused from duty on a holiday or day designated as their holiday ...” The above absolute language in Article 11 trumps the “normally” language found in Article 8. The Holiday Schedule is not a “normal” schedule.

It is best for everyone to understand this early in their career. Letter carriers have mistakenly believed that they have earned an exemption by using annual leave and have spent money on travel or events or whatever, only to find themselves on the holiday schedule required to work. They are then faced with the decision whether to forgo their plans, potentially losing money spent on reservations and travel, or take the time off and gamble on what management’s response to their absence will be. Neither choice is a good one.

Have you been injured on the job...yet? It has been my experience over my career that most letter carriers, at some point in their career, suffer an on-the-job injury. Would you know what to do if you are injured on the job? There are forms that need to be filled out. Which form depends on what type of injury.

A CA-1 is for a traumatic injury. A traumatic injury is one that occurs during the course of one work day. A CA-2 is for an occupational disease or injury. This is an injury that develops over more than one work day. I won’t get into a CA-2A as they are uncommon and a discussion on a CA-2A is better had with specific fact circumstances available.

Anyway, if and when injured, you should make note of the time. Not only is the time required for the CA form, but if management doubts your story and the OIG investigates, they will make a federal case out of your reporting of the time if it is not accurate. Think Ring doorbell cameras with time stamps showing that you tripped down the stairs 6 minutes later than you said you did. It’s best to report everything accurately. If you forget to note the time, then say words to the effect of “I believe it was approximately xx:xx as I had just finished delivering this address.”

Report the injury to your supervisor, in writing! Keep a copy of the notification as you will need it if you don’t fill out a CA form immediately. Once you report your injury, if you are going to seek medical, get a CA-16 from your supervisor. You also need to get your supervisor’s work email address, you will need it when you file your claim on ECOMP. The CA-16 is authorization for payment for your medical provider. You present it to your provider as opposed to presenting your health insurance card.

When you go for medical treatment, a MEDICAL DOCTOR must sign (or countersign) the CA-20, which is the Attending Physician’s Report. Notice it is not the “Attending Nurse Practioner’s Report” or the “Attending Physician’s Assistant Report”. It is the PHYSICIAN’S report and as such must be signed by a physician. Hopefully, your doctor takes the time to answer the questions as asked on the form. It is far easier to get a claim approved on first submission than it is to have to appeal a denied claim.

Unless you need emergent care, it is a good idea to talk to someone at the Union office so that we can guide you through the completion of the CA form and also to give you tips on how to speak with your doctor so that he or she properly completes his or her forms. Often times, carriers don’t provide good descriptions or explanations of what happened. If you speak to us first, you will have a better idea of how to properly express yourself.

Finally, after you have completed your CA form and submitted it online, you can follow its progress on the ECOMP portal. You can access anything that has been submitted in your case and check for accuracy. Again, if you see any discrepancies it’s always best to talk to us at the Union office about them so that we can advise you as to what your next steps should be.

Lastly this month, and certainly not least, I want to wish my friend, Mary Tournas, a long, happy, healthy retirement. Mary is a letter carrier that cares and has never been afraid to call out anyone, including me. I wish you the best Mary, enjoy the hell out of your family, especially that granddaughter of yours!

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

I have written in the past about the fact that just about every day I put a “Life is Good” t-shirt on. Most of the t-shirts have some sort of positive message or comical phrase. My favorite message is “Be The Good”. I won’t rewrite the article, but with this month being the month for Steward elections in the Branch I wanted to mention that I believe that the “Be The Good” phrase is interchangeable with “Be The Steward” in the Postal Service, particularly for the NALC.

We have really great stewards. Each, in their own way, does their best to “Be The Good” in their offices. It’s not always easy, and they don’t always get it right (nobody’s perfect), but they do their best everyday for YOU, the member. Often times, they are caught in the crossfire of sarcasm and complaints from both management and the members, and unfortunately from the very vocal NON-MEMBERS. They don’t give up and they don’t leave the members hanging, they persevere and get the job done.

I am appealing to you this month to consider giving them a hand, or perhaps stepping up to be the steward in one of the half dozen offices where we don’t have a steward. There will be steward elections this month throughout the branch. If you are so inclined, get involved.

The Shop Steward job is a difficult job to train for. We have all stewards up to the office for a few hours of general training when they become stewards, and then there’s a ton of communication over the phone and sometimes in person. It would be impossible to train anyone for each possible scenario that they could face any given day, so we take the approach of call us when you have questions and we will teach you what you need to know. If you think you can “Be The Good”, then put your name in the running and see what happens.

I wrote a little about overtime last month and I wanted to touch on it again, especially since we are heading into peak season. If you are not on the overtime desired list and you are assigned a piece of a route to do on “down time” and you know that you can’t get it done on “down time”, fill out a 3996. If you don’t fill out a 3996 and we file a grievance on your behalf, it is almost certain that management will say that they didn’t know that you would go into overtime. Take that excuse away.

There is also confusion as to how many hours carriers on the overtime desired list must work before carriers that aren’t on the overtime desired list can be forced to work overtime. There are many answers to this one. First, if an ODL carrier can complete the work on regular overtime, then that carrier should provide assistance to the non-ODL carrier. The caveat is that management does not have to provide 15 minutes of assistance to a non-ODL carrier if there is going to be 30 minutes of travel time involved. That goes against the “rule of reason”.

If a non-ODL carrier is going to be required to do overtime off his or her assignment, the contract states that all ODL carriers should be maxed to 12 hours. Over the years this has been challenged and management has argued (successfully at times) a “window of operation”. What that means is that if it is only “occasionally” that management has to go off the list, then they are only required to work the ODL carriers to the last truck which is the end of the window of operation. We would argue, however, that if management is going off the list regularly, then they have to meet the 12 hour requirement of the contract. Unfortunately “occasionally” and “regularly” are subjective terms and more often than not, a grievance must decide the definition.

The best thing to do is to make your steward aware of the circumstances so that he or she can investigate and determine whether a grievance exists. Overtime violations are far too common in the Postal Service.

Unfortunately, I must also touch on an unfortunate trend that surfaced in the last couple months. We have had carriers placed on “Emergency Placement” in two offices for inappropriate interaction with each other. The inappropriate interaction was in the form of shouting matches on the workroom floor. It seems that for whatever reason, whether it be the long hours or the stress we are all experiencing from the persistence of the pandemic and the way it has impacted our lives, people are getting on each other’s nerves. Please, don’t do anything that will cause you to end up on the outside looking in. Count to 10, keep your cool, take a walk, do what you have to do to NOT threaten someone, even if it’s an empty threat.

Finally, I would like to appeal to everyone to make an effort to attend your branch meetings. I realize that the September meeting was difficult, as it was the day after a holiday and many folks worked very late. But, for the first time since I’ve been President, there were more pizzas than members. We do our best to have the meetings efficient and shoot to get the members out in an hour. Ultimately it is up to the membership as the meeting lasts till there are “no further questions”.

I look forward to seeing you on October 5 !!!

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

It’s not often that the same person graces both the front AND back cover of the Wake-Up!. However, Ron Noviello’s career of service to the NALC, Branch 25 and beyond, warrants the honor. Ronnie has decided that for personal health reasons it’s time to call it a career.

Ronnie was an officer of Branch 25 longer than I’ve been a letter carrier, and that’s 34 years for me. He was the Union’s version of a “consigliere” to Randy Keller for many, many years. If you went to a National Convention, you would see him sitting next to Dave Ferris, his partner in crime.

Ronnie carried mail in Reading, MA, where he never backed down from a confrontation with any number of Postmasters and Supervisors over the years. He participated in the strike of 1970 that was instrumental in securing a better future for all carriers that have carried mail since. The carriers of his generation elevated letter carriers from collective begging to collective bargaining.

Ronnie accompanied countless letter carriers to Boston to assist them with their workers’ compensation claims. In his day, it was not unusual for him to barge into the JFK building and insist upon being seen. Sometimes, he may have had a box of chocolates, sometimes just his brash personality. Either way, he got the job done. Many members had lunch with Ronnie at Jeveli’s in East Boston after their meetings.

Although Ron has not been able to return to work since the onset of the pandemic, his retirement will still leave a void in the branch that won’t be easy to fill. I speak for all members of the Executive Council in wishing Ronnie the best. Here’s to a long, healthy retirement! Salud!

With Ron’s retirement effective September 4, I have appointed retired Burlington letter carrier Mark Gangi to serve as trustee. Mark served as Secretary of Branch 25 for many years before retiring and moving to Florida. Well, heeeeeee’s baaaaaack!

Next month, there will be steward elections throughout the branch as required by the by-laws. If you are willing to be part of the election committee in your office, please contact the branch office or email me at djbbr25@gmail.com. There is not much to it, simply posting a sign-up sheet for those that want to run for steward and then distribute and collect ballots from members. I will have all the necessary material available on the Branch Website, or for those that aren’t computer savvy I will get the materials to you at your office.

Last month, there was a fact sheet about OWCP and COVID-19 claims. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to file a CA-1 if you have had COVID-19. Even if you have fully recovered, and you have no symptoms, we never know what the future brings and there could be future effects from COVID-19.

The summer is winding down and hopefully so too are overtime violations. I recently participated in a labor management meeting in one office and a grievance meeting in another where the violations were rampant. In both instances, management raised similar concerns. Primarily, they said they didn’t feel right sending ODL carriers back out to the street after they had already completed their assignment, and provided assistance on another assignment.

I understand their concern and I understand the frustration of letter carriers that are sent back out to deliver. I also understand the contract. The contract is clear. Non-ODL carriers should not be utilized for overtime when there are ODL carriers available at the regular overtime rate. Further, non-ODL carriers MUST NOT be used off their assignment for overtime unless all ODL carriers have been maximized to twelve hours. Granted, there could be legitimate circumstances that could require the use of non-ODL carriers before ODL carriers work 12 hours. A manager “not feeling comfortable” asking an ODL carrier to go back out to deliver is NOT a legitimate circumstance.

If you are on the overtime desired list, and it has become too much for you to work 12 hours, you can get off the list. That may sound harsh, it is not intended to. The point is, you have made a choice and management must respect that choice. Your choice, according to the contract, is that you want to work 12 hours before someone off the list can work 12 minutes off their assignment. You may not really want to work that many hours, but that is what you are saying you want to do when you sign the list. Likewise, management has to respect the contractual rights of those that don’t sign the overtime list. Management has to ensure that the ODL is properly “maxed out” before requiring them to work overtime. You may find that your manager may ask you in the morning how much work they have to give you in order for you to work 12 hours. Your manager may also let you know that if you return to work you are expected to continue working for up to 12 hours. It is up to each local steward to make sure that the rights of both non-ODL carriers and ODL carriers are protected.

Finally, I hope everyone is taking precautions to protect themselves and their family, friends, and coworkers from the breakthrough strain of COVID. More and more people are being vaccinated with the full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Stay safe.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

Since May of this year, the House and Senate have had identical, bipartisan bills aimed at bringing financial stability to the Postal Service. These bills are H.R. 3076 in the House of Representatives and S. 1720 in the Senate. I wish I could report that our Massachusetts delegation have all gotten onboard as co-sponsors, but I can not. As a matter of fact, the only lawmaker from Massachusetts that has become a co-sponsor of either bill is Representative Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts’ 8th District.

We need to change that. I am asking everyone to go to www.nalc.org and then hover over the “Government Affairs” tab and choose the “News and Updates”. Then, scroll most of the way down that page till you come to the entry titled “Tell Your Representative and Senators to Pass the Postal Service Reform Act (H.R. 3076/S.1720). Click on that link and it will bring you to a page that provides a little information on the Postal Service Reform Act. At the bottom of that page you will see “Please take a minute to personalize and send your message now in the Legislative Action Center.” Click on the “Legislative Action Center” and you will be taken to a “Take Action” page. Once there ... take action! You will be able to send an email to your Representative, and your Senators as well.

I realize that the last paragraph detailed a lot of steps to take, and I also realize that not everyone is all that comfortable with computers. If that’s the case, ask your children or grandchildren to help you out. You’ll get the added benefit of spending a couple minutes with them.

It is important that we get involved now more than ever. We may have a short window to get this done. Presently, we have slim majorities in the House and Senate and that could change with the midterm elections in 2022.

Unfortunately, one of the challenges that we face is the well-meaning outrage of our own members and some politicians and others that think they are furthering our interests. Specifically, I am speaking of those that are still focusing their energies on firing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. I’ll start by saying that I am not drinking the DeJoy Kool-Aid, I’m simply a realist.

There are some things that we all need to understand. First and foremost, according to our National President Fred Rolando, DeJoy is interested in contract compliance. Perhaps more importantly, Fred believes that we would not have reached our negotiated contract had there been a different Postmaster General. DeJoy has also listened to Fred with regard to personnel decisions.

Then, we have the Postal Board of Governors. The Chairman of the Board of Governors is Ron Bloom. Bloom has spent a great part of his career in Union roles. He spent 3 years as a Special Assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers.

Beyond Bloom, the Board of Governors is currently configured in a labor-friendly way. In other words, should anything begin to go off the rails, the votes exist to prevent it from happening and if need be, to terminate DeJoy.

So, I ask that you resist the urge to participate in the bashing that takes place on social media. The Postal Service will not be privatized with the current board of governors, even if that were DeJoy’s plan. As a matter of fact, because of DeJoy’s former role for the Republican party, he is actually an asset in our quest to secure postal reform. He can garner votes from across the aisle from friends of his that may not necessarily be friends of ours.

Enough of that for now. Again, please contact your Representative and Senator and urge them to support H.R. 3076 and S. 1720.

Speaking of politics, I want to give a shout out to our very own Rich Donlon. Rich has been elected to the Democratic State Platform Committee Convention where he will participate in creating the planks for the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s platform. Rich is a political junkie and without a doubt the best person for the job!

Elsewhere in this Wake-Up! you will find the latest information (at press time) regarding COLA’s and wages. By the time you read this, hopefully the July numbers will have been released and we will know what our Cost of Living Adjustment will be. After the release of June’s numbers, the COLA stood at over $1700 or over 81 cents an hour. The COLA has the potential to be even larger than that, and it will be followed shortly thereafter by a 1.3% contractual increase. Depending on where you’re at in the Pay Scale, the 1.3% raise is anywhere from $537 to $892 a year. Finally, although there is nothing confirmed by the Postal Service, it seems that the back pay from the current contract is supposed to be in the August 20 paychecks. Based on the phone calls and the social media posts you would never know that that is just five months after the contract was ratified. I know to many it seems like a year and a half, but no, it’s only been five months. Considering that each employee had to have unique calculations and the time period involved multiple pay rates due to step increases etc., it’s not terrible. And, because it took that amount of time, the amount of the back pay simply grew more so you’ll have more in your pocket.

Although I don’t want the summer to end, I look forward to seeing everyone at the next Branch Meeting in September! Until then ...

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

For the last couple years I have provided the information regarding the OSHA Heat Safety tool. It is available for download at the Google Play Store as well as the Apple App Store. It is free of charge, and it provides both the current temp and heat index, as well as the upcoming hourly temps and heat indexes and suggestions as what to do in order to stay safe under various conditions. We had 9 days in the 90’s in June, with two heat waves. Please, be proactive with your health and safety. The Postal Service is sending messaging over the scanners to find shade “during your authorized breaks”. If conditions warrant it, if your body tells you to, take additional breaks so that you can hydrate, get our of the weather temporarily and perhaps find air conditioning or at least shade. Do NOT wait until it’s too late.

I have been notified that the NALC will be holding a Virtual Conference for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Members. This conference will be hosted by Director of Safety and Health Manny Peralta and Director of Retired Members Dan Toth. The conference will be held via Webex on Sunday, August 8 at 2:00pm Eastern Time. The conference will run approximately two hours. Registration for the conference will take place beginning July l2 and will run through the date of the meeting. Registration will be done via the NALC website. The website is www.nalc.org. Once you log onto the site you go to the “Members Only” portal. Once at the “Members Only” portal, click on “Meetings Registration” button which will display a list of upcoming meetings. From there select “Deaf and Hard of Hearing Conference” and submit your registration.

There is another topic that I feel the need to address. Many of us are eligible, or will soon be eligible to retire. Hopefully, you have planned properly and contributed to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and you have accumulated a nest egg to contribute to your retirement in a substantial manner. If you have, that‘s great. What I would like to do now is to tell you to make sure it stays there, that someone doesn’t “help you out” and take a chunk of your nest egg.

What am I talking about? Well, there are people that call themselves financial planners that contact postal employees when they are eligible to retire. They get their foot in the door by telling them that they will help them with their blue book. (The “Blue Book” is the book with all the forms that need to be completed when you’re retiring from the Postal Service). Once they have their foot in the door, they may tell you that they have products that will benefit you. They might suggest that you sign your TSP account over to them. They might even say that their product is so good that you have to make up your mind by the end of the day! Consider this a great big red flag!

The TSP maintenance fees range from 0.049% to 0.068%. That’s 49 cents or 68 cents for ever $1,000 you have invested. I don’t think you will find a product out there that has administrative fees that low, or anywhere near that low. Over the last few years we have had carriers that have signed over their TSP accounts to someone that has come to their home to help them. A close look at the fine print revealed that there were to be thousands of dollars in fees and fortunately the carriers backed out before it was too late.

What makes me scratch my head even more is when our carriers refer their friends to these people that help them with the Blue Book. The Postal Service provides on-the-clock retirement counseling to assist you in completing the Blue Book. I’ll be the first one to tell you there aren’t many things the Postal Service does right, but without exception, everyone I have spoken to about the counseling process has said that the Postal Service does a great job with the Blue Book retirement counseling session. It makes no sense to go outside for assistance, especially when the person helping you could potentially be a snake oil salesman.

I am NOT offering financial advice. I am not qualified to do that. I am qualified to tell you to know what you are doing with your money, with your retirement. If you do decide to speak with someone about your retirement account(s), at least consider contacting a fiduciary. A fiduciary is bound legally and ethically to act in YOUR best interest.

This past weekend, there was a shelter-in-place order in Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield. This was the result of a 9-hour standoff between police and 11 heavily armed individuals wearing tactical gear. There were three AR-15’s amongst the weapons seized. The Postal Service was in contact with the State Police and the local police of the affected communities. I was in contact with the POOM on that morning and was apprised of the fact that some routes that were in the area were being held back in the office until such time that the police cleared the neighborhoods. Some of our carriers were late for work as well.

The last thing I want to address is CCA’S being sent to Lawrence. Please notify the branch office if a CCA from your office is being sent to Lawrence. This is legal under certain conditions. A call to the office will confirm whether or not management is acting within their rights. There is also an agreement in place to allow regular carriers to work in Lawrence on their day off, regardless of whether they are on the list. Call the Union office for details if you might be interested.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

If you guessed that’s the number of days between in-person branch meetings, you are correct. To borrow a phrase from former Patriot’s coach Pete Carroll, I’m “pumped and jacked” to get back to meeting in person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to miss seeing some of the kids that were sitting on your laps as you attended the Zoom meetings, I’m gonna miss my beer-sipping, recliner-sitting, TV-watching friend. I can’t thank those of you that have attended the ZOOM meetings enough. BUT ... I’m not going to miss the reason that kept us apart!

Your participation has allowed us to conduct the business of the branch without missing a beat. I am proud of all of you and I am proud to represent you. It’s been a long 15 months. The pandemic is not over, and we can’t let our guard down, but we can attempt to restore normalcy. I have spoken to the management at the Knights of Columbus. The hall will be set up for 100 people, so there should be ample space to spread out. We will have pizza for dinner, the only difference is that we will have a couple volunteers serving the pizza.

As you are probably aware, with the ratification of the 2019-2023 National Agreement on March 8, 2021, there was a local implementation period from April 28 - May 28. Thanks to the help of Assistant Secretary Tony Bossi, Vice President Dan Wheeler and Executive Vice President Paul Desmond, we were able to address the 29 locals in the branch. At press time, all but three of the locals have been signed. Once all of them are signed, the branch website will be updated with the new 2019-2023 LMOU’s. I would like to thank all the letter carriers that made suggestions and I would also like to thank the managers that worked in good faith to wrap things up.

On the next page, you can read Paul Desmond’s article where in part he writes about the Postal Reform Act of 2021 (HR 3076) that has been introduced in the House. On May 19, a companion bill was introduced on the Senate floor. This bill (S 1720) was introduced with 19 bi-partisan co-sponsors. There are 10 Democratic and 10 Republican Senators that have shown their support for the bill by acting as sponsor and co-sponsors. This is significant in that 60 votes are required to break a filibuster. This initial strong bi-partisan support is encouraging. Please contact your representatives in Congress to ask that they support HR 3076 (House of Representatives) and S 1720 (Senate).

I want to again remind everyone that this fall there will be steward elections throughout the branch. Our bylaws dictate the election procedure and the by-laws state as follows:

During the month of October, of election years, an election of Shop Stewards shall be held in each station or unit. The President shall appoint an election committee of three (3) members, in good standing, in each station or unit. The committee shall organize and receive nominations during the second week of October, and no later than the 15th of the month they shall post the names of all the nominees (in alphabetical order) for a period of seven (7) days, after which the vote shall be taken by secret ballot. The election committee shall supervise the election, count all ballots and declare the nominee receiving a majority of votes cast, the elected Shop Steward and then notify the Branch Secretary at the Union office. The nominee receiving the second highest vote shall be the Alternate Shop Steward.

If you would like to volunteer to serve on the election committee in your office, please contact the Union office as soon as possible. If you are interested in serving as steward and would like to know what that entails or would like training, please contact the Union office.

As I mentioned last month, we have a busy fall coming up. At the October branch meeting we will have nominations for branch officers, and nominations for the National Convention that is currently scheduled to take place in Chicago in 2022. The branch has gotten younger during the course of the pandemic with the addition of James Metilinos as Trustee and Chris Bruno as Wake-Up! Publisher. That is a good trend that I would like to see continue.

There are currently two special route inspections scheduled in the branch. One will take place in Amesbury while the other is scheduled in Beverly. I am glad to see that there are carriers willing to take the initiative to address their overburdened routes. In case you aren’t aware, if your route shows 30 minutes or more of overtime or assistance 3 or more days a week over 6 consecutive weeks, you qualify for a special route inspection and said inspection must be completed within 28 days of your request. There is a form on the branch website (nalcbranch25.com) under the “Carrier Resources” tab. It is listed as “SRI Request Form”. You can print the form off of the website, fill it out in duplicate and turn it in to management and be sure to get a copy of the signed form for yourself. If you do request a special inspection and are denied, please contact the branch office so that we can investigate. If you request an inspection and are approved, please contact the branch office so that we can arrange to provide you with training and answer any questions that you may have. I recently had a Zoom meeting with a letter carrier to answer his questions about the special inspection process.

Finally, it gives me great pleasure to announce the winners of this year’s Branch 25 Scholarships. They are Madison McKeon and Julia Stearns.

Once again, I hope to see you at the branch meeting on June 1.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

If you're wondering, the numbers above do not represent some sort of combination to unlock a treasure. Quite the opposite, the numbers above represent tragedy as they are the number of mass shootings in the United States so far this year, followed by the number of people killed, followed by the number of people injured in those shootings.

Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Columbia, and then the United States. That is a list of the 7 highest gun death rates in the world. Not a list that we should be proud to be in the top 10!

The United States, has a gun death rate of 12.21 per 100,000 of population and a homicide by gun rate of 4.46 per 100,000 of population. More than 2/3 of the gun deaths in the United States are suicides.

How do you think the United States compares regarding police shootings that result in deaths? In the U.S. there are 28.4 per 10 million population that result in death. Although the numbers are not available for every country, a sampling of countries reveals that the rates for the same 10 million population are .2 in Japan, .5 in the UK, 3.8 in France, 1.3 in Germany and 76.9 in South Africa. I am just reporting numbers, I am NOT intending to disrespect police officers in the United States. I do believe that resources and training must be improved and I do believe that some sort of reform is desperately needed.

This should not be a political issue. President Biden refers to the numbers as a national embarrassment. Is it? Let's take a look at the numbers in other parts of the world. The numbers in parenthesis after each country listed below represent total gun deaths per 100,000 of population and total gun homicides per 100,000 of population.

• Japan (.06, 0.0)
• Great Britain (.23, 0.6)
• Spain (.62, .15)
• France (2.83, .21)
• Italy (1.31, .35)
• Greece (1.52, .53)
• Germany (.99, 1.01)
• South Africa (8.3, 8.2)
• Columbia (18.65, 17.74)
• Jamaica (30.72, 30.38)

I would tend to agree that the gun death rate and the homicide by gun rate in this country are indeed a national embarrassment. Yet, many citizens, and the politicians that they elect, insist that no change is necessary. Do you think that's true?

I don't claim to have the answers, and I am not advocating confiscating EVERYONE'S guns. However, there has to be a way to curb these death rates. Psych evaluations, background checks, waiting periods, all seem like reasonable steps that can be taken.

In Japan, in order to purchase a gun, citizens must take an all day class, pass a written exam, and complete a shooting range test scoring at least 95% accuracy. Candidates will also receive a mental health evaluation, performed at a hospital, and will have a comprehensive background check done by the government. Only shotguns and rifles can be purchased. The class and exam must be retaken every three years. I hate to say it, but I will. If the American public were given a guarantee that the above restrictions would eliminate gun deaths in this country, they would not support legislation that would make it happen.

Why is that? Again, I don't claim to have the answer and I sure as hell don't understand why this country wouldn't support it, but I know in my heart of hearts that we wouldn't. After all, it's our constitutional right to bear arms. But, is it our right to bear arms if we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with said arms? I don't think so. Is it our right to bear arms if at some point after we legally obtained a firearm we could no longer pass a psych evaluation? I don't think so. I think that the only people that would object are the people that may be concerned that they would fail the test.

Since the beginning of this article has probably already caused a stir with some, I may as well go "all in" and remark on something else that is in the news right now that I find repulsive and shameful. Maxine Waters' recent RESPONSE TO A QUESTION. She was asked "What should protestors do?" She responded "We've got to stay on the street, we've got to get more active, we've go to get more confrontational, we've got to make sure that they know that we mean business." Her response was referring to what protestors should do. Some in the media have said that anyone with half a brain would realize that Waters was not attempting to incite violence. Well, guess what, those that act in a violent manner at protests could be described as not having half a brain. Just as Trump's words contributed to the violence at the Capitol, then so should Waters receive blame if there are violent confrontations as a result of an unsatisfactory verdict in the Chauvin trial.

Anyone in a position that lends to people following them must be aware that what they say has consequences. If they are not, they are not qualified and should face the consequences of their words and actions.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

At press time, postal employees are FINALLY eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts. As a matter of fact, not long after you receive this month's "Wake-Up!", EVERYONE in Massachusetts will be eligible for the vaccine. Hopefully, people will receive the vaccine in a timely manner. I would like to think that as soon as May we may be able to meet in person again. Of course, I will monitor CDC guidelines and the branch will adhere to them. It is important to get together and meet as a body and I am looking forward to doing so.

This is a big year. In the fall, there will be nominations and elections of branch officers, shop steward elections, and nominations and elections for the 2022 NALC Convention in Chicago. If you have questions about any of the above, don't hesitate to contact the branch office.

I don't have information yet regarding when and whether normalcy will return to the Postal Service regarding social distancing, start times, etc. I would like to think that as more carriers are vaccinated, perhaps more carriers can start at the same time. Perhaps the "A" and "B" designations can be modified to accommodate the change in the make-up of vaccinated and non-vaccinated employees. Only time will tell.

Since we last met, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act. Along with another round of stimulus checks, one of the significant provisions of the Act is Emergency Federal Employee Leave (EFEL). The leave, which became effective on March 12, covers ALL federal employees. The leave will last until September 30, 2021, or until the $570,000,000 funding runs out.

To give a little perspective, there are 2.1 million civilian workers in the federal government. The maximum amount of pay per week allowed under the Act is $2,800. That would yield 203,571 weeks of pay, or roughly 4 hours of pay per employee if every employee earned that rate and decided to put in for leave. The point I'm trying to make is that there is no guarantee the funding will last till September 30 and there is no guarantee that you will be able to get the leave. Get your shots as soon as possible so that you can use the leave to get your shot and you can use the leave if you have an adverse reaction to your shot. You can go to the branch website to see the criteria for using the leave.

The three most popular questions that the branch office is dealing with lately are: When can we stop scanning MSP points? When are CCA's converted to career employees? And when do we get the retro pay? The answer to the first two questions is no later than May 8, 2021. The answer to the retro pay ... as soon as practicable.

There are staffing issues in many offices. However, there is an outright staffing emergency presently in Lawrence. Lawrence is not part of Branch 25, but some of our CCA's may find themselves being required to work in Lawrence if they haven't been required to do so already. This is explained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Union and the Postal Service back in December of 2013. If you would like a copy of the MOU, contact the Union office and we will email you a copy.

If you are a steward in an office where CCA(s) are being sent to Lawrence, be sure to protect the rights of the carriers in your own office as well. First, unless a CCA volunteers to go to another office, CCA(s) are sent by inverse relative standing. Second, the text of the MOU provides that "Temporary assignments must otherwise be consistent with the National Agreement (e.g. assigning CCAs to work outside their employing office may not violate Article 7.1.C.4 in the temporary office or the letter carrier paragraph in the employing office)."

The letter carrier paragraph reads as follows: "In the Letter Carrier craft, where management determines that overtime or auxiliary assistance is needed on an employee's route on one of the employee's regularly scheduled days and the employee is not on the overtime desired list, the employer will seek to utilize auxiliary assistance, when available, rather than requiring the employee to work mandatory overtime."

That means that management should not send a CCA to another installation and require you to work overtime on your own assignment on a regularly scheduled day. If this happens, request union time and speak to your shop steward or call the union office on your lunch break or 10-minute break.

If there is any positive that can be drawn from the situation in Lawrence it is that there is opportunity for CCA's to go to Lawrence permanently and make regular very quickly presently. Although it is a very personal decision that only the individual can make, it is something worth considering for a newer CCA that is looking at 24 months before becoming a PTF and then who knows how much longer to become a regular. Again, if you have questions about the process, contact the branch.

Finally, a parcel sorting machine will be installed in the Woburn installation mid-April. The machine has a very large footprint which results in the delivery units being moved into less than ideal conditions. We are investigating OSHA compliance and will stay on top of future developments. On a positive note, parcels should be complete before carriers clock in in the morning.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference"

Reinhold Niebuhr

Some may recognize the above quote as a mantra for twelve step programs, most notably AA. The full text of the prayer is quite a bit more religious, but the passage above has been "lifted", presumably for its conciseness.

The "prayer", however, can also serve as a mantra in daily life. Almost daily, one can face a challenging situation and invoke those words. Think about it, each one of you that reads this article go to work each day in less than optimal conditions. Whether it be extreme parcel volume, overbearing managers, terrible staffing, or just a plain old bad day, you are all up against it.

So what are the things that you cannot change? Well, you cannot change the mail. It's going to come, and you're going to deliver it. So, is it really worth looking at the mail and stressing? I would say it's not. Just forge ahead and do your best, that's all that anyone can ask.

What requires courage to change? I'm going to modify the words a bit and add the word "knowledge" as it fits my narrative. Knowledge is power and power generally fosters courage. So, if you're being taken advantage of you can most likely change that by learning the rules. Elsewhere in this Wake-Up! you will learn about opting on routes. With that knowledge, you can exercise your rights and improve your experience at work, five days at a time.

Opting on a hold down is just a small part of what you can learn. If you take the time to meet your steward and start a relationship with him or her, you should be able to learn all about your rights. If you're not a conversationalist, simply go to the branch website at nalcbranch25.com and click on "E-Mail Us". You can ask whatever question you may have and we will respond as quickly as we can. If we don't have an answer for you immediately, we will find the answer for you.

Perhaps your route is overburdened. Show the courage to change that. Put in for a special route inspection and demonstrate that your route is overburdened. Management is required to adjust your route to as near to 8 hours as possible.

Finally, there is wisdom. We have to be able to realize when we are shoveling the proverbial @#$% against the tide. To keep in line with my analogy, I'll again point to knowledge. In terms of a letter carrier or Union official, the "Wisdom to know the difference", to me, means that we can't change what the contract allows management to do. Although some provisions of the National Agreement, and some local agreements, may seem unfair, we have to realize that while the contracts are in effect, we can't change them. The wisdom to know the difference is understanding that what we want and what we are allowed are often times two different things.

This is probably the most difficult part of a Union official's job. I have written in the past that four of the most common words that I have to say, and they are four of the words that I don't enjoy saying, are "They can do that." These four words are usually spoken to a letter carrier that has called to complain about something in their office, something that management is doing that the carrier believes has run afoul of the contract. Very frequently, after listening to the carrier's complaint, we are forced to tell them that "they" or management can do that.

We don't tell the carrier that because we lack the courage to change things, but because we have the wisdom to know that they can't be changed. We can't make something so simply because that is what you, or we want. During the course of my career, I couldn't even hazard a guess at how many times I've told a carrier that I just can't show up at their office with a big stick or a baseball bat and bend management to my will. It doesn't work that way.

BUT, if all the members start realizing what can't be changed and instead focus their energies on what can be changed, and learning the difference, we can make progress.

I wanted to hopefully clear up some misinformation that was disseminated in the postal service in mid-February by Operations Programs Support during a telecon with managers. Apparently, OPS misinformed some managers that Massachusetts was including the Postal Service with first responders in the COVID-19 vaccine cue. There were instructions on how to complete the questionnaires for vaccine websites, indicating that we were first responders. Many employees followed the instructions. Some were successful, and some were turned away at vaccine locations. The District Manager made management and the Union aware that the instructions were not correct, and that the Postal Service is still not eligible for the vaccine in Massachusetts. As many of you are probably aware, the age has been reduced from 75 to 65 and there have been various conditions such as asthma and obesity that qualify Massachusetts residents for the vaccine. We will relay any updates as we become aware.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

I have been delaying writing my article for this month's Wake Up! till the last possible minute. I have done so because I wanted to be able to communicate to you. the members, concrete information regarding vaccinations for COVID-19. Unfortunately, as of today, I don't have the concrete information that I desired. All I can say is that I am confident that before I have to write my NEXT article that the vaccine rollout for postal employees will have begun.

One need do no more than compare the CDC website guidelines with the mass.gov website guidelines to get thoroughly confused. The CDC language is:

Phase 1b:
Frontline essential workers such as fire fighters, police officers, corrections officers, food and agricultural workers, United States Postal Service workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, and those who work in the educational sector (teachers, support staff and daycare workers.)

While the language from the mass.gov website is:

First Responders (EMS, Fire, Police)

As far as I'm aware, the CDC makes the recommendation and it is ultimately up to the states to accept or modify based on each state's needs. The best advice that I can give at this time is to contact your local Department of Health to find out what may be available in your home town. At present, it does not appear that the vaccine will be provided at your workplace. Instead, you will have to make an appointment at a location that is listed on the mass.gov website unless your local board of health can provide more locations than are listed on the above mentioned site.

There has also been a policy issued by the White House. The "Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing". Fortunately, it was already a requirement to wear a mask at the Post Office, but this Executive Order certainly strengthens the requirement. As discussed at a prior Branch 25 ZOOM meeting, we have obtained a couple hundred masks and gaiters for the members that would like them. I would ask the stewards in each office to make a list of individuals who may want a mask or gaiter. It will be more efficient to distribute them through the stewards than to send them out to individuals. At any rate, you can certainly contact the branch office if you would like one and one will be provided.

While on the subject of masks, I find it necessary to mention that I have been to offices as recently as last week and have observed people within 6 feet of each other conversing without face coverings properly affixed. I hope that is not the norm. Most locations that I visit I see almost all employees abiding by the policy, social distancing and wearing their masks. Keep it up!

Unfortunately, it isn't just us that we have to be concerned about. There are still those that are not taking the virus seriously, that aren't respecting the virus. I'm at a loss for words for this situation. I can only hope that everyone is educated to the fact that we are in a critical situation and as I stated so many months ago that they can respect those around them even if they don't respect the virus.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the carriers of the Bedford office. Recently, the carriers had decided that they had had enough and wrote statements detailing incidents of abuse and mistreatment by the Postmaster. The local steward forwarded information to the branch office and we in turn made the District Manager aware. An investigation was ordered and hopefully the results will be forthcoming soon. It takes courage to stand up and the Bedford carriers showed such courage. Hopefully I will be reporting positive results in a future issue of the Wake Up!

Please, if there are circumstances in your office that are inappropriate, bring them to the attention of your steward AND the branch office. We will work together with your steward, and with you, to bring such activities to an end. However, if you remain silent and hope that things just get better on their own, there is nothing that we can do and you will most likely be sorely disappointed. Bullying behavior doesn't normally just "go away".

The last thing that I would like to touch upon is the fact that the district has reestablished the hubs. I could not disagree with this decision any more than I do. The week leading up to the "recoupling", I had spoken to a few postmasters who were apprehensive about the decision. On the Wednesday prior, I attended a telecon with District Manager Mike Rakes. Although he has made other decisions that have been beneficial to us in the past, he couldn't have been more off the mark than he was with this one. During the telecon he had just discussed the upticks in infections and quarantines that spiked beginning with the Thanksgiving holiday and continued to worsen shortly after Christmas. I asked him based on what he had just reported wouldn't this be the wrong time to reestablish the hubs? To parrot the words often found on a letter of discipline, "During this meeting, Mr. Rakes offered no plausible explanation for his actions."

All I can do is to advise you to take extra precautions if you have to work on Sundays in a hub. Be sure they have disinfectant and clean the vehicle before and after you use it. It is preferable not to enter the building but to instead retrieve the parcels outside. Be safe, take all precautions possible!

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

Do I have your attention? I'm sure there are those that will have just read that four word title and moved on. I'm glad that I could fuel their energy.

*I really don't care if you work 8 hours. That is the complete quote. I don't care if you come in and work 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 10 hours on your day off. I DO care that you get paid your guarantee!

The eight-hour guarantee is nothing new. The language has been in the contract since before I started my career in 1987. The heartburn has been around just as long. I can still recall being a steward in the early 90's and filing grievances to ensure that carriers were paid 8 hours when they went home early on an N/S day. The phone call would come in the morning, the carrier wouldn't want to work the entire day, and the supervisor would say something like "just get your route done and you can go home." The grievance would follow, and then the 8-hour guarantee. It's nothing new.

This year, with the advent of Sunday work being commonplace due to the staffing issues and more so now with peak season upon us, the guarantee battle has again reared its ugly head. I understand that you don't want to work 8 hours on Sunday if there are only 5 hours work. I also understand that you may be working both of your days off and you don't want to work 8 hours on either of them if you can get out in less than 8. I don't blame you. Contrary to what management may tell you, I (OR THE UNION) AM NOT MAKING YOU STAY 8 HOURS WHEN YOU'RE DONE IN 5! That's right, if it were my call, you could go home. I just want to make sure you are PAID for 8 hours which is your guarantee.

Recently, in one of our offices where we have filed grievances and received pay and cease and desist orders, the local managers think they are being cute. When carriers ask in the morning if they can waive their 8-hour guarantee and leave early, the supervisors have said "You are guaranteed 8 hours, but, if you don't feel well, I can't make you stay. After all, in the days of COVID we have to be careful." Carriers then complete their work for the day and sign PS Form 3971's to leave early. I don't know if the carriers realize it or not, but you can't be paid sick leave at the overtime rate of pay. So, in effect, all the 3971's do is let management off the hook for the balance of your 8-hour guarantee. There are many offices where the managers have integrity and they simply pay the guarantee. The carriers leave when they're done, and they get paid 8 hours. That is what the contract, and the union, calls for. Please, be aware, management is not doing you a favor letting you go early UNLESS they are going to pay you. I can think of no worse form of disrespect than management stealing wages from carriers who are busting their butts to keep the mail moving under present-day conditions!

Very soon, those of you that are still active carriers will have the opportunity to participate in a ratification vote for our tentative National Agreement. Ratification materials will be sent out on January 10-11 and will be due back by February 16, 2021. Details of the tentative agreement have appeared in the Postal Bulletin. My portion of the January Branch 25 Zoom Meeting will be primarily dedicated to discussing the tentative agreement and I will answer any questions that I am able to answer between now and then and in the new business portion of the branch meeting. Please make an effort to attend via Zoom.

I attended a Virtual National Rap Session on Sunday, December 20, 2020. Some of the key provisions that were discussed were as follows:

• Duration 9/21/19 through 5/20/23
• Pay increases of 1.1, 1.1, 1.3, and 1.3 percent retroactive for the first two upon ratification
• Regulars with at least 46 weeks at Step O will become Step P 11/2022
• 6/21 Step CC eliminated, CCA new entry rate will be Step BB which is 50 cents higher than the present Step CC
• CCA'S receive an additional 1%/year on top of prior mentioned pay increases in lieu of COLA
• Retirees will get adjustment for any hours worked after pay increase dates. Annuities will be recalculated if necessary
• CCA'S with 24 months relative standing in the same installation will be converted to career
• CCA'S can decline conversion, but won't be offered another opportunity
• Health Benefits: Postal contribution remains at 73% through 2021, becomes 72% in 2022 and 2023. The 1% amounts to less than $4/pp for individuals and less than $8/pp for family plans
• Effective 2022, USPS will pay 75% of the total premium for CCA's in the Postal non-career plan. This is regardless of how long a CCA has been employed and applies to both individual and family
• Holiday Pay: If you work the actual holiday that you receive holiday pay for, your holiday pay can be converted to A/L. This applies to CCA's that work on holidays that they would be paid for

There will be more discussed at the Branch meeting. One other subject of note was that of new vehicles. It appears there will not be a new fleet in 2021. There may be some replacements made, but not service-wide. There is talk that the new administration may provide assistance in making government vehicles green. The service is waiting to find out what funds there will be.

Stay informed and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dave Barbuzzi