Our first regional meeting in over 2 years took place in Atlantic City from March 13-16. This update is directly from National President Fred Rolando.
Juneteenth will be observed for career employees starting in 2022. 2021 is currently being negotiated for career employees. Juneteenth for 2022 is being negotiated for non-career employees.
The JCAM’s will be updated in late March/early April as the final 2022 version. There was language in the previous 2021 version which management did not agree with. This will be posted on the NALC website when it is available.
National is currently working on a major increase in our uniform allotment. New items and the skyrocketing costs are the reason behind this. Look for more information on this soon.
Covid MOU’s will likely be extended for the foreseeable future due to the many variables the USPS is facing regarding staffing. As a reminder, anyone who tested positive for Covid-19 from January 2020 through January 2023 and filled out a CA-1, the claim will be approved.
PTF’s will be directly hired in some locations in the country going forward. This is based off staffing issues in specific areas of the country. These locations will be determined by USPS and the NALC.
The $50 billion in the Prefunding account will be used to pay benefits in the future. The following items were in the Postal Reform Act: a. Repeal prefunding b. 6 day delivery stays for good c. January 1. 2025 - Medicare integration begins for 64+ or those who are retired d. Any active, retired or 65+ will have to get a Medicare A and B; exceptions include VA coverage and people moving to locations without Medicare (i.e. Canada, Mexico)
New Joint Route Inspection Process
A joint route inspection process is being negotiated at the national level. The Digital Street Review will use the scanners data throughout the day as well as the carrier’s opinion and volumes recorded to adjust routes. It is very unlikely Chapter 2 of the M-39 will be conducted in the future. Similar route inspection processes such as JRAP and CDRAAP were both successful in creating more routes instead of removing them.
AL carryover to 520 hours per year is being discussed at a national level to be woven into our contract going forward for good.
The savings from the Prefunding can be used as leverage in new contract negotiations. The USPS can no longer claim they are bleeding money due to the prefunding mandate. The National officers believe this is their chance to get rid of non-career letter carriers and get language to hire directly to PTF into the next contract.