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Where Do We Go From Here?

Where Do We Go From Here?
By Tommy Roma
Northeast Region Vice President

With the 2020 presidential election over and President-Elect Joe Biden preparing to become our 46th president, the question remains, “Where do we go from here?” Biden has been a moderate senator his entire life; he is the perfect choice to bring politicians from both parties together for the good of the nation. I hope he gets the chance.

As for the Postal Service, we did it again! Our employees were regarded as heroes in New York and across the nation. I would like to give credit to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his leadership team, along with our employees, for raising the bar to make sure we delivered ballots in a timely manner. Remember my motto: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

The future of the Postal Service would be bright if we got a little help from Congress. We can’t continue to operate under current conditions. It would be a great help if Congress relieved us of the $5.3 billion albatross of prefunding future retirees’ health benefits.

DeJoy has said we now are players in the parcel business and we need to upgrade our truck fleet. Let’s not talk about it; let’s do it! What we really need is to be left alone to do our jobs, not be micromanaged and have the respect of the USPS.

The great President Vince Palladino said to me, “We must show the USPS we are not the enemy and we only want what is best for NAPS and the USPS.” A lawsuit and appeal of the lawsuit’s decision certainly does not bode well with the USPS. History will show that NAPS should be going to Congress to modify Title 39, which, in my opinion, favors the USPS over the management associations.

We have gone down this road before, but never have been successful. In the eyes of the Postal Service and Title 39, we are a supervisor association that represents EAS supervisors and managers; we are not entitled to represent postmasters. Yet, when faced with the same problem years ago, Palladino told the USPS, “Anybody can represent anybody.” That’s how he got around the problem.

We represent about 3,500 NAPS postmasters. The only way to represent them officially is to change the wording of Title 39. This is why we should be going to Congress rather than suing the USPS. Earlier this year, working with Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Mike Bost (R-IL), the “Postal Supervisors and Managers Fairness Act of 2020” was introduced to amend Title 39.

In closing, it is my opinion that, with this year’s election now history, we all should rally around our new PMG and give him the full cooperation he needs to provide a new working model that will give us a bigger and better Postal Service—ready to take on all challenges—that will last for years. I am putting my trust in the PMG. How can I not trust a guy raised in Brooklyn to do the right thing?