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Working to Stay Strong

Working to Stay Strong
By Chuck Mulidore
Secretary/Treasurer

Happy New Year; 2019 is upon us! Hopefully, your holiday season was safe, blessed and merry. Even though winter is in full force in some parts of the country, I know many of you are thankful peak season is over. I am certain you gave it all your effort—as you do each peak season—for your customers on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service.

Hopefully, you received a warm thank you from your boss or district leadership—maybe even USPS executive leadership—recognizing your service and sacrifices to keep the Postal Service strong and viable. And while we certainly appreciate some recognition, I follow the old adage that nothing says thank you like a pay raise each year.

Even if you were in a district or office that had a challenging year, I know you worked hard and gave your all, as you always do. It is a travesty that so many EAS employees will not receive pay increases in 2019 due to a faulty compensation system, in spite of your best efforts.

However, in this first 2019 column for The Postal Supervisor, I want to focus on membership because NAPS can stay strong only if we continue to promote membership in our association. Stay strong to fight this unfair EAS compensation system, stay strong to continue representing members at all levels from arbitrary and capricious corrective actions and stay strong to represent all EAS employees in legislative actions that will affect the future of the Postal Service.

The business dictionary defines membership as the state of belonging to or being a part of a group or an organization, often a non-profit or voluntary organization, whose members have a common cause for which they seek to influence public policy, without seeking control; special privileges or benefits are entitled to members. I think this defines NAPS perfectly—an organization that seeks to influence public policy both on Capitol Hill and at USPS Headquarters. And an organization that regards its members as family and joins them together in a common cause.

I can report to you that, as of the October 2018 DCO, membership has increased to nearly 27,300. Most impressively, over 95 percent of those are actively working EAS employees: supervisors, managers, postmasters, SDOs, MDOs, MMOs, plant managers, HR personnel, OPS support and district, area, and Headquarters employees—so many. We represent them all, continuing to make NAPS the best, largest and most effective management organization representing EAS employees in the Postal Service.

We do not inflate those numbers by signing craft employees whom we cannot represent. Because of the growth in membership, NAPS Headquarters is able to return over $380,000 to our local branches each month in the form of electronic transfers of funds, allowing our branches to provide excellent service to our members in terms of education, training and local representation.

However, the most pressing reason to grow our membership may be because we have many new EAS employees who may not even realize they need to be part of NAPS. There are currently over 10,000 EAS employees not a part of NAPS. Why? Many have been in the Postal Service only for a short time. Thus, we need to mentor them in their EAS roles and also as NAPS members. Explain the value of NAPS membership to them, invite them to branch meetings and fellowship with them. They need us and we need them to continue to grow the mission of this great organization.

As winter slowly moves toward spring, please talk to the non-members in your branch, sign them up and receive a $25 check from NAPS Headquarters for doing so! It is a duty and responsibility we have to the future of our grand association to keep NAPS strong, viable and growing for decades to come. Have a safe, happy and productive 2019!