The devastating tornado that struck outside Oklahoma City on May 20, killed at least 24 people, including one member of the APWU.

NALC Region 4 Regional Administrative Assistant Dan Versluis reports that, according to Branch 458 in Oklahoma City, the Moore station took an indirect hit. It appears that all carriers’ personal vehicles in the Moore Post Office parking lot were destroyed.

Several carriers suffered damage to, or total loss of, their homes but there are no reports of injury or loss of life involving carriers.

“When a storm like this hits, we must match its ferocity with our own generosity,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “Please contribute to the Postal Employees’ Relief Fund, to help our brothers, sisters and co-workers rebuild after this tragedy.”

Click here for PERF’s official website.

Click here to find out how you can contribute to PERF immediately via text message.

Oklahoma City Branch 458 has created a relief fund for the immediate help of NALC members affected by the Moore tornado. You can send donations to: Branch 458 Relief Fund, Branch 458, 221 S. Eagle Lane, Oklahoma City, OK 73128.

Five more letters suspected of containing the poison ricin have recently entered the mail stream, prompting the Postal Service to hold a number of stand-up talks on employee safety.

Two letters, postmarked in Spokane and discovered on May 14, were addressed to the Spokane Post Office and to a federal judge in Spokane. A stand-up talk the following day [PDF] stated that there is no reason to believe postal employees are at risk from handling these letters.

A second stand-up talk on May 22 [PDF] revealed the discovery of a third letter bearing a May 13 Spokane postmark, this time addressed to President Barack Obama.

KREM-TV reported that authorities arrested Spokane resident Matthew Buquet, 37, on May 22 and charged him with at least one count of mailing a threatening communication. A bail hearing was set for May 28.

The Postal Service held a further stand-up talk on May 28 [PDF] after it was determined that two more letters suspected to contain ricin, bearing Shreveport, LA, postmarks, were mailed on May 20 to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York and his gun-control group in Washington. No arrests have yet been made in connection with this latest incident.

According to the stand-up talks, the suspected substance was not in a form that could be inhaled or otherwise ingested. The three letters in Spokane also reportedly contained physical threats and are being investigated by postal inspectors and the Federal Protective Service.

All five letters are undergoing further tests, and inspectors are keeping an eye out for additional letters.

Each talk also briefly outlined the symptoms of ricin infection and directed postal workers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web page on ricin for further information.

The talks also encouraged increased vigilance and reminded postal employees about the “PACKAGE, PEOPLE, PLAN” suspicious mail message:



• PACKAGE: Don’t handle suspicious mail. Isolate it.

• PEOPLE: Clear people from the area. Immediately notify your supervisor.

• PLAN: Contact the Inspection Service. Follow your facility emergency plan.

Click here to review the Postal Service’s poster on suspicious mail [PDF].

Those who wish to speak to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselor may do so by calling 800-EAP-4-YOU (800-327-4968).

NALC members who have further questions may call Director of Safety and Health Manuel L. Peralta Jr. at NALC Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The NALC and the USPS have agreed on two national-level settlements regarding FMLA and the use of NALC FMLA forms.

The Postal Service proposed changes to the Employee and Labor Relations Manual which required employees to use Department of Labor forms to certify FMLA protection.

The NALC took the position that there was no requirement under the FMLA to use Department of Labor forms and initiated two disputes. The first dispute was over the proposed ELM changes and the second was the over the Postal Service’s refusal to allow employees to use NALC FMLA forms.

In our first dispute over the proposed changes of the ELM, the Postal Service agreed to change the language in section 515 of the ELM (M-01812) to allow employees to use another format other than Department of Labor forms to certify FMLA protection.

The change in section 515 of the ELM resolves the NALCs second issue and employees may now use the NALC FMLA forms for FMLA protection. (M-01817)

Click here for the NALC FMLA forms or go to the NALC FMLA page for more information.

The first case involved hiring transitional employees (TEs) for a period less than 360 days. The parties agreed M-01813 that the TE classification was phased out on 4/10/2013 for a new employee classification, City Carrier Assistants (CCAs). In accordance with Article 7.1.C.3 of the 2011-2016 National Agreement, CCAs are hired for terms of 360 calendar days.

The next dispute concerned the suspension of posting and bidding during data migration from the Complement Management System to the Human Capital Enterprise System. The parties agreed M-01815 that the subject suspension of bidding did not modify or alter the posting and bidding provisions of Article 41.1 of the National Agreement.

The parties further agreed that any case held pending resolution of this national case shall be processed pursuant to the provisions of the National Agreement.

The third issue dealt with the electronic PS Form 1769/301. The postal service created an electronic form that combined information from the PS Form 1769 and OSHA Form 301. The electronic form required supervisors to obtain information shielded by the Privacy Act. The postal service agreed M-01816 to modify the system through a Service Change Request; which no longer solicits information the union believed violated the Privacy Act.

The last case involved changes to questions used in the automated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. The NALC had issues that when an employee called the Employee Service Line to request unscheduled leave, the IVR system required limited responses (yes or no) that an employee could not always answer.

The parties agreed to resolve the issue M-01818, when an employee calls the IVR system for unscheduled leave and is unable to successfully negotiate the prompts, the IVR system will direct the employee to contact his or her supervisor.

In Sunday's Los Angeles Times, a reporter examined Postal Service finances, citing the major role of pre-funding in the red ink, the agency's efficiency, its popularity with the public, its history of adapting to technological changes, and the rise in package deliveries. For the article, he interviewed NALC Chief of Staff Jim Sauber.

Meanwhile, the notion that young people are uninterested in USPS was belied by a Philadelphia high school student interning at The Philadelphia Inquirer, who last month made her journalism project—for the Saturday newspaper, no less—a look at the relationship between social media and the Postal Service. She closed the article by quoting NALC President Frederic Rolando.

Federal Times reported Wednesday that an audit by the USPS Inspector General found that the Postal Service is not taking full advantage of its existing agreements to save money.

Click here to read more in POSTAL FACTS.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 21st annual national Letter Carriers’ Food Drive to combat hunger.

All across America on Saturday, May 11, letter carriers collected non-perishable food donations as they delivered mail along their postal routes.

Special thanks go to the customers who left food by their mailboxes, and to the thousands of family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers who helped sort and distribute food to local food banks.

NOTE: NALC Headquarters is still tabulating branch Food Drive collection totals. If you haven’t sent yours in yet, please do so immediately.

The updated list of vacancies available for transfer opportunities is available here.

For more information on the process and how to apply for these full-time vacancies, click here.