Prepared for The Frank McClenny Branch, 736, of the National Association of Letter Carriers

2000 National Convention Report\

\ I want to thank the members of Branch 736 for allowing me to represent you at the National Convention this summer. It was an informative and enjoyable time for my family and myself. \

Dave Bergevin

\ The convention began on Monday July 31st and ran through Friday Aug. 4 at the Lakeside Center of Chicago' s McCormack Place complex. Session opened each day at 10:00 AM and finished at 3:00 PM. Each session began with the singing of the National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance and opening comments by President Vince Sombrotto.\ \ The balance of the day was divided into segments for voting on a host of resolutions put forth by individuals, Branches, and State Associations and then sub divided into three sections; National Agreement Resolutions, General Resolutions, and Legislative Resolutions. There were close to 80 issues that were voted upon in the five days. Most resolutions were offered well in advance of the Convention and the Contract Administration Unit or the Executive Council would pass judgement on whether they approved or disapproved of the resolution. There were a few resolutions that were presented for the first time at the convention. Some resolutions were adopted even though National disapproved of their passage. Following the reading of the resolution a member of the CAU would explain the Unions position followed by discussion in which anybody could come to the microphone and tender their opinion one way or the other. Some resolutions were \ldblquote no brainers\rdblquote others were hotly debated. Interspersed were speeches by Congressmen, American and International Labor Leaders and other invited guests including Vice President Al Gore and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Close to 8000 delegates plus their families were in attendance.\

\ \tab Each morning prior to the General Session there were early morning workshops. I attended the three that I reasoned would be appropriate as your representative. I would have gone to one other but it ran concurrent with one I was attending. The three I went to were The Postal Service Faces the Digital Age workshop, the Contract Administration Unit workshop, and the City Delivery Workshop.\

\ The digital age workshop concentrated on the fact that delivery of information is changing in a dramatic fashion. The only way the Postal Service will survive is if we change, adapt, and put ourselves into a position to take advantage of the new marketplace. If we continue the status qou and don\rquote t meld to what is inevitable there is a good chance our jobs will become obsolete in as little as 10 to 20 years. There must be a joint effort between the Postal Service and Labor for us to survive. We all know how much our jobs have changed just in the last 5 to 10 years. There will continue to be changes in the way our jobs are performed therefore we must adjust to the explosive growth of electronic communications and e-commerce. We can adapt, work together and survive or be complacent and confrontational and diminish our chances to be a viable business entity in the future. The NALC\rquote s position is that we can work together for our common good but the Postal Service must live up to the agreements that have already been made. \

\ The Contract Administration Unit workshop dealt with significant pre-arbitration and Step 4 settlements since the last convention. Overtime, work hour limitations, local and district policies and transitional employee issues were discussed. A large booklet with the pre-arbitration and Step 4 settlements was handed out and it was delivered to our Shop Steward Bill O\rquote Flaherty.\

\ The third workshop was Led by Director of City Delivery Gary Mullins. He touched upon Delivery redesign tests and their affect on letter carriers, the POST program, and the new Delivery Operations Information System (DOIS) that may replace POST. Topics also included the new Dispute Resolution Process, the ever-evolving impact of automation, and the possible assimilation of the Rural Carrier union into either the NALC or the APWU.\ \

\ Delivery redesign is dead for now. One problem was the Postal Service never sought input from the people that actually do the job. Even when our union volunteered to be a part of the process we were rebuffed at every turn. Apparently the Postal Service doesn\rquote t believe the men and women that do the actual work have anything constructive to offer. Seems kind of an odd way to run a business! \ POST program; NALC has yet to be furnished with the software that runs the program. Is it because after evaluation of the accuracy of projected leave and return times that independent experts could challenge the accuracy of the figures the \ldblquote COMPUTER\rdblquote spits out? Anyone who has ever taken a course in probability and statistics has to be shaking their head. Anybody that has carried mail for a while knows how many variables that can come into play on any given day that the \ldblquote COMPUTER\rdblquote doesn\rquote t take into account. 99% of the managers don\rquote t even know how the software works. Their job is to dutifully recite the figures whether accurate or not. (Listen to our Postmaster. He reels off those figures like they\rquote ve come from a voice from above). In addition, any manager with the knowledge can alter the figures in the software or change the individual carriers \ldblquote demonstrated ability numbers\rdblquote to try to coerce someone to believe that they are not doing enough work. Don\rquote t be intimidated! Do your job the way you know how. Work in a calm, safe manner and follow the rules. Don\rquote t run around like a scared Jackrabbit. The problem with computer programs like POST is they don\rquote t take into account the \ldblquote human factor\rdblquote . Nobody works at the same pace everyday for a thousand different reasons. \ Delivery Operations Information System (DOIS) is a new program out that may replace POST. We know very little about it at this time. What we have seen makes us believe it may be more accurate than POST but we\rquote ll have to wait and see.

\ The Dispute Resolution Process has been a great success to date. It has reduced the amount of Step 3 grievances dramatically. It is being tested in a small number of districts and will be expanded in the near future. It relies on a common understanding of the National Agreement between craft and management as put forth in the Joint Contract Administration Manual (JCAM). \ The evolution of processing, sorting and casing mail by robotics is ongoing, the ultimate goal of having the mail ready to go to the street when the carriers arrive in the morning. Times are a changing and we\rquote ll have to adapt! Hopefully the Postal Service will allow members of the NALC to be \ldblquote part of the team\rdblquote .\ The NALC has some concern regarding the leadership of the NRLC. They appear to be giving into management on a number of issues. It degrades our ability to negotiate with management when another group of employees that do basically the same job are \ldblquote giving in\rdblquote to management\rquote s demands. Some interesting facts concerning the rural route carriers. 1) Over 50% of the dues paying members are PART TIME!! 2) Part time workers have no health benefits or retirement benefits and yet they help pay (with their union dues) the benefits for the regulars. 3) NRLC members don\rquote t have a one person one vote system. Even though nearly 60% of the members voted against the Postal Services latest contract proposal their \ldblquote leaders accepted the contract against the wishes of the majority. The Postal Service is on the side of the NRLC in cases where Rural and City Carrier territory overlap. Why would that be the case? Simply put it costs the Postal Service less in wages and benefits to employ rural carriers as a group than it does city carriers.

The general session began at 10:00 A.M. and dealt with discussion and debate on the merits of the resolutions presented. The vast majority of resolutions dealt with the National Agreement, and the remainder dealing with general and legislative issues. The resolutions were printed in a book and given to each delegate. I will include in my report this booklet (which will show if the individual resolution passed or failed) and the daily Chronicle, which gives a summary of each day\rquote s activities at the general session.\ \ \tab Other literature included in my report;\ \ Postal E-Volume, The future of mail service in a digital age.\ NALC BIENNIAL OFFICER\rquote S REPORTS 1998-2000.\ Committee Reports.\ Handouts concerning retirement questions and Social Security issues.\ A copy of the Constitution of the NALC.

\ \ The next National Convention will convene in Philadelphia in August 2002.\ \

That concludes my report.\ \

Dave Bergevin\