June 24, 2023
Statement of NALC President Brian L. Renfroe on the hazard of excessive heat
Statement of NALC President Brian L. Renfroe on the hazard of excessive heat:
America’s letter carriers often work in dangerous environments. There are numerous factors that pose threats to our safety and health on the job. Recently, violent crime has increased and resulted in injuries to letter carriers and, unfortunately, even loss of life. As we continue to utilize every possible avenue to stop this violence against our members, we are continuously reminded of another dangerous threat to the safety and health of most letter carriers – excessive heat.
Unmitigated excessive heat can cause heat stress, often resulting in serious illness or death. Unfortunately, we have seen far too many examples of this over the last several years, including in 2023. This hazard becomes a greater threat every year, as science shows that temperature and heat indices are steadily increasing.
Over the last decade, NALC has fought fiercely in a number of forums to protect letter carriers by insisting that the Postal Service create and enforce a comprehensive heat illness prevention program (HIPP) that protects our members by mitigating the hazard posed by excessive heat. We have participated in extensive litigation with the Postal Service and the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as engaged the Postal Service directly to create and implement a HIPP that helps protect our members. The current USPS HIPP is available here.
In 2023, all letter carriers and supervisors were required to be trained on the current HIPP by April. If any letter carrier has not received this training, please contact your shop steward, branch officer, or national business agent as soon as possible so the matter may be investigated and a grievance filed if necessary.
The most important and immediate step that can be taken to protect anyone from the hazard of excessive heat is to learn as much as possible about this potentially life-threatening hazard, particularly the warning signs of heat illness. NALC Director of Safety and Health Manny Peralta has compiled a plethora of useful information on the NALC website regarding heat safety, including the warning signs of heat stress, available here. I encourage every letter carrier to familiarize themselves with this information. Not knowing these warning signs could result in heat illness or another tragedy.
The 285,000 active and retired members of the NALC mourn the brothers and sisters that we have lost to heat illness. Their loved ones, friends, and coworkers remain in our thoughts and prayers. We also hope for a speedy recovery for all of our brothers and sisters currently suffering from heat illness.
The safety and health of our members is, and always will be, the top priority of all the members of the NALC. Together, we will continue our fight to make our jobs safer and protect our members from the ever-increasing hazard of excessive heat.
May 12, 2023
Contract negotiations update
On Feb. 22, NALC and the Postal Service officially opened collective bargaining for the 2023 USPS-NALC National Agreement. Since then, ongoing bargaining committee discussions as well as main table negotiations have taken place on specific issues that affect city letter carriers.
As part of the bargaining process, members of the NALC Executive Council—resident officers, national business agents (NBAs) and trustees—along with letter carrier staff members from NALC Headquarters were each assigned to bargaining committees. Those bargaining committees, utilizing their own experiences as well as ideas and concerns heard from the NALC membership, worked vigorously to craft bargaining proposals designed to improve the working conditions of city letter carriers. As of yesterday, all those initial bargaining proposals have been crafted and officially submitted to USPS for consideration.
The current agreement between NALC and USPS is set to expire at midnight on May 20. As a push to reach agreement on those proposals, as well as an economic package that rewards letter carriers for their hard work, NALC and USPS representatives will spend the final week meeting day and night at a Washington, D.C. metro area hotel.
If the parties fail to reach an agreement by midnight on May 20, the next step is a legally mandated 60-day mediation period. The parties can use the mediation period to continue negotiations while simultaneously seeking to agree on a neutral arbitrator should it become necessary. If contract negotiations and mediation fail, each party would then present its case to a three-member interest arbitration board—one member named by each party and a third, neutral member selected jointly as board chairperson. The arbitration board would then issue a final and binding decision setting the terms and conditions of our National Agreement.
NALC remains committed to achieving a negotiated agreement but will not hesitate to present our demands in interest arbitration if necessary to gain a contract that properly rewards city letter carriers for what they do day in and day out in service of America’s public.
Stay tuned for future updates as NALC officers and staff continue working with the USPS to reach agreement on a new contract.
May 10, 2023
NALC statement regarding increased attacks on letter carriers
Due to increasing instances of criminal acts, including targeted and violent attacks, being committed against city letter carriers, National Association of Letter Carriers Executive Vice President Paul Barner issued the following statement.
“The National Association of Letter Carriers is outraged and angered by the assaults, armed robberies and even murders that America’s letter carriers increasingly face as they deliver the mail. These attacks are completely unacceptable. It is the job of the U.S. Postal Service to protect the safety of letter carriers as they serve their communities as per the U.S. Constitution, providing service to residents and businesses on a daily basis.
“While we will continue to engage with the Postal Service and relevant law enforcement agencies to develop measures that will enhance the safety of letter carriers, the fear and the danger that letter carriers are confronting has to end. NALC has no higher priority than their safety, and we demand real, immediate solutions to make sure employees are safe from the moment we enter the trucks in the morning to the time we leave the station at the end of the shift.
“We deeply appreciate the overwhelming and longstanding public support for letter carriers and ask anyone who notices anything suspicious or threatening in this regard to alert authorities.”