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LTS Delegates Contribute to Another Record-Breaking SPAC

LTS Delegates Contribute to Another Record-Breaking SPAC
By Ivan D. Butts
NAPS Executive Vice President

We should remain cautious and in compliance with the sound CDC guidance we have received, especially those of us with some of the underlying risk factors also working against us. Your NAPS resident officers continue to engage the USPS Executive Leadership Team (ELT) on issues as they arise with COVID-19 and USPS operations.

We completed our 2020 LTS in Arlington, VA, March 8-11. LTS took place on the budding knowledge of COVID-19 coming to America. Its potential had yet to be fully understood.

I thank all the delegates who showed up to kick off our 2020 legislative grassroots efforts. We had a tremendous start to what could lead us to significant changes to our EAS working lives in the USPS. On March 4, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) introduced H.R. 6085, the “Postal Supervisors and Managers Fairness Act of 2020.”

The introduction of the legislation comes as a result of over 10 years of NAPS futility in its attempts to engage USPS leadership in meaningful changes to the Pay-for-Performance (PFP) system. Professionals have documented the failures of this process and its severe flaws in meeting the statutory requirement for an adequate and reasonable differential between field EAS employees and the craft employees, as well as overall flaws in compensation and PFP.

Based on fact-finding report FMCS: #180706-06229, the NAPS Legislative Team engaged our congressional champion on two adopted points found in H.R. 6085 that address the timeliness of pay talks and accountability for implementing a fact-finding panel’s recommendations in the event pay talks do not achieve an amenable outcome.

As we continue to deal with the impacts of COVID-19 and look to the recovery, we will have 100% focus on our grassroots engagement with legislators in support of this bill. We certainly have other bills we also will continue to pursue. However, this bill is exclusively ours as EAS employees in the USPS.

We also greatly appreciate Congressman Mike Bost (R-IL) to sign on as the original co-sponsor to this legislation. We look forward to aggressively moving this grassroots agenda item forward.

I want to thank our National Auxiliary, led by President Patricia Jackson-Kelley. This group of men and women are our stalwart advocates for SPAC during LTS. I appreciate their vision and guidance to continually help move our association to its highest levels of support through giving.

This year, we had another record-breaking SPAC collection effort. With the support of our Auxiliary and your generosity, we collected $36,748.85. If you don’t believe in the work a local NAPS auxiliary can do for your branch, try them. Your spouse, significant other or teenager over 17 can help build a local NAPS branch auxiliary.

We also received tremendous support from our legislators in the form of remarks from Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), chair, House Committee on Oversight and Reform; Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-SC), House majority whip; and Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL). These leaders added value to our 2020 LTS by their participation.

I also want to thank Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman for his ever-reliable honesty and leadership. We also had the pleasure of hearing from Lauren Doney, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). She participated in and critiqued a mock congressional visit put on by our role-playing team led by NAPS member Carl Walton.

All and all, we had another successful NAPS LTS. Kudos to Bob Levi for all his work putting this LTS together and to the office staff for their support.

Regrettably, as of the last week of March, we learned that an LTS attendee had tested positive for COVID-19. The attendee was present at LTS from Sunday, March 8, through Wednesday, March 11; they returned home March 11. The attendee returned to work on March 16 and developed COVID-19 symptoms on March 18. They were tested for COVID-19 on March 21 and received positive test results for COVID-19 on March 27. NAPS Headquarters has taken all necessary steps in notifying all LTS attendees as a precautionary step.

I thank everyone who was able to attend our 2020 LTS. I look forward to moving our legislative agenda forward this year.

In solidarity…