What's in a Name?

What’s in a Name?
By Brian J. Wagner
NAPS Past President

Did you know that Nuts.com sells more than just nuts? The company’s commercial says it sells popcorn, crackers, pretzels, jerky, jelly beans, gummies and more.

I mention this because, despite their name—Nuts.com—they are so much more. Just like NAPS is so much more than just representing postal supervisors. Here’s the scoop.

By law, Title 39, Section 1004—confirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2022—NAPS represents over 500 EAS titles that include the word supervisor, manager, postmaster, analyst, specialist, coordinator, engineer, administrative and many other EAS titles.

If NAPS listed all the EAS positions it legally represents in its name, the name would be longer than the list of Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors. Imagine how big the NAPS business card would be.

It would be the National Association of Postal Supervisors, Managers, Postmasters, Analysts, Specialists, Coordinators, Engineers, Assistants and other Managerial Personnel (NAPSMPASCEAMP). I had to cut it short and use “other managerial personnel” to make it fit the size of a poster board.

As such, because, legally, NAPS represents over 500 EAS titles, NAPS also could be known for doing business as the National Association of Postmasters and Supervisors, National Association of Postal Managers or National Association of Postal Specialists, National Association of Postal Analysts or the National Association of EAS Employees. I could go on.

All these organizational names and more could be under the national umbrella NAPS. My point? NAPS is all encompassing when it comes to representing all EAS employees. Even the Postal Service uses the word “supervisor” as being synonymous for such EAS titles as manager or postmaster.

For example, when appealing an EAS letter of warning (LOW), under ELM 652.42, Step A, it reads: “An employee or representative states the appeal in writing to the immediate supervisor within 10 calendar days of learning the appeal’s cause.” Who is the “immediate supervisor” if an EAS-17 supervisor received a LOW? In this case, the “immediate supervisor” could be a manager or postmaster.

In another example, under ELM 665.15, Obedience to Orders, it reads: “Employees must obey the instructions of their supervisors.” Again, if an EAS-17 supervisor is given an order by “their supervisor,” who are their “supervisors?” Manager? Postmaster? In its own written policies, the Postal Service acknowledges or considers a manager or postmaster as a supervisory position.

My point is there is only one name that says it all when it comes to representing 500 EAS titles in postal pay and benefits. That name is the National Association of Postal Supervisors.

Today’s takeaway, the National Association of Supervisory Post Office Employees (later renamed the National Association of Postal Supervisors) has emerged as a force to influence change. And that change continues today with approximately 29,000 members strong.

Without exception, I wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe holiday season. Enjoy my ice-cream-flavor-of-the-month recommendation: Blue Bell Christmas Cookies.