LeagueofPostmasters

Join the League: THE Organization that is WORKING for YOU!

Words of wisdom from Former National Sec/Tres

Linda Rumney

Because I have been involved with League membership for some time, I am often asked the following question.

"WHY SHOULD I JOIN THE LEAGUE?"

There are many benefits that we as League members receive that we may take for granted or not even think about until we have a need for them.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS The League represents the "Voice of the Postmaster" in efforts to enhance the pay, benefits and working conditions of Postmasters. A registered lobbyist provides a direct line of communication with Congress on issues of concern to Postmasters, retirees and the US Postal Service.

SECURITY LEGAL SERVICES AND ADVERSE ACTION The League is the ONLY Postmaster organization that includes legal services as part of it's monthly membership dues. The League is the nation's premier advocate for protecting the jobs and rights of Postmasters. We can feel secure in the knowledge that we have the best legal representation available should the need arise. Adverse Action legal services benefit offers representation by an attorney before the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at significantly discounted rates.

IMPROVED MANAGER'S PROCESS This program offers support for League members and their families to help them to cope with a wide range of medical, behavioral, psychological and addiction issues. A 24 helpline is available at 800-524-4771

LEAGUE PUBLICATIONS The Postmaster's Advocate, Advocate Express and in Nebraska, our award winning publication, The View Newsletter.

POST OFFICE CONTINUANCE CONSULTANT The League employs Mario Principe who was a former discontinuance coordinator with the USPS to deal with Post Office closings.

A SENSE OF FAMILY AMONG YOUR FELLOW LEAGUE MEMBERS.

This is only a partial list of the benefits available through the League. The list could go on and on. If you have any questions concerning benefits or membership, contact any member of the Board .

Membership in the League is an honor and a privilege and we encourage every Postmaster, PMR and EAS employee to join.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POSTMASTERS

NEBRASKA BRANCH 2015-2016 OFFICERS

MICHELE STOLTENBERG

President

PO Box 856

ATKINSON NE 68713-0856

H: 308-527-3451

C: 308-214-1013

O: 402-925-2772

ATKINSONNE 68713

stoltenbergbird@gmail.com

VICKI OZENBAUGH

Ex-Vice President

515 Road 18

Ohiowa NE 68416-3029

H: 402-295-2505

C: 402-759-0411

O: 402-773-4304

Sutton 68979

vozenbaugh@windstream.net

BARBARA STESKAL

Vice-President

86762 478th Ave

Atkinson NE 68713

H: 402-925-2712

C: 402-340-5397

O: 402-924-3232

Stuart NE 68780

BEVERLY ZINK

Secretary/Treasurer

90368 474th Ave

Naper NE 68755-3021

H: 402-775-2206

O: 402-589-1310

Spencer NE 68777

zink@nntc.net

BARBARA STESKAL

Membership Chairman

86762 478th Ave

Atkinson NE 68713

H: 402-925-2712

C: 402-340-5397

O: 402-924-3232

Stuart NE 68780

TONY BALS

District Coordinator

720 W Piedmont St

Ravenna, NE 68869

H: 308-452-4079

C: 308-379-8472

O: 308-754-4942

ST Paul Post Office

tjbls@charter.net

Area Coordinator

Dave Weber

Adrian MO 64720

W: 816-297-2210

H: 816-297-2843

Email: Weber64720@gmail.com

MICHELE STOLTENBERG

President

NE State Legislative Chair

PO Box 856

ATKINSON NE 68713-0856

H: 308-527-3451

C: 308-214-1013

O: 402-925-2772

ATKINSONNE 68713

stoltenbergbird@gmail.com

SHIRLEY STOLTENBERG

Editor

807 N Collins St

Atkinson NE 68713-4889

H: 402-925-5507

C: 402-340-2579

pmstuart65@yahoo.com

CHARLOTTE ZIEG

Chaplain

401 Martin Ave

Beaver Crossing NE 68313

H: 402-532-5170

O: 402-946-2411

Dorchester NE 68343

BEVERLY ZINK

Convention Chairman

90368 474th Ave

Naper NE 68755-3021

H: 402-775-2206

O: 402-832-5977

Naper NE 68755

zink@nntc.net

KS District Coordinator & Kansas President:

Judy Raney

PO Box 1113

Lawrence, KS 66044-1113

Office: (785) 843-8777

Home: (785) 841-0259

Email: judyraney@att.net

NEBRASKA RETIREE OFFICERS

GEORGIA SCHROPFER

Retiree President

P O Box 247

Fairmont NE 68354-0247

402-268-6261

gschropfer@windstream.net

WILLIAM (BILL) KREJCI (RT)

Retiree Vice President

1410 M St

Aurora NE 68818

H: 402-694-5619

O: 720-985-2488

Marquette NE 68854

wkrejci2@yahoo.com

SHIRLEY STOLTENBERG

Retiree Secretary/Treasurer

807 N Collins St

Atkinson NE 68713-4889

402-925-5507

pmstuart65@yahoo.com

ADVERSE ACTION COUNSELOR

Dixie Bentley

1334 Whitetail Ave

Sumner, IA 50674-9586

E-Mail:dixieb@iowatelecom.net

C: (319) 240-6289

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

JOHN P. DiFALCO and

ASSOCIATES P.C.

Centerstone Business Park

8010 South County Rd 5, Suite

206 Fort Collins

CO 80528-9004

difalcolaw@comcast.net

O: (970) 530-2121

F: (970) 530-2122

League Members,

LEAGUE Votes to Move Forward with New Organization in 2016

United Postmasters & Managers of America (UPMA) received a majority vote by LEAGUE members at the National Convention in Washington, D.C., on Wed., July 1, 2015, in preparation for creation of the organization along with NAPUS. While the new management association is still a year away, the LEAGUE proceeded with business as usual including today’s nomination of candidates for Thursday’s elections as well as hearing from David C. Williams, Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service.

Williams spoke to the future of the Postal Service in a time of dramatic change. “We think we know what the customer wants,” he said, “but we don’t always ask.”

“We can see the beginning of the future, but need to go on that path without changing our DNA—Postal Service means something, and we need to make sure it is ‘us’ at the end of the day. Studies being conducted were asked for by the mailers, to help with marketing strategies and the ‘mysterious mix’ of postal mail and electronic media. Customers also told us they wanted to go to a post office and deal with you. The ways we communicate are changing dramatically during our lifetime and the Postal Service has an important role in aggressively expanding what we do,” he added.

David E. Williams, COO and Executive VP of USPS, provided an in-depth review of service performance for FY15 Q1/Q2. He noted tremendous growth in package services, and shared customer insights on how we are competing for every single customer where everyone has a choice. Growing the business, he added, will mean more innovations in our industry and in the value of mail. Developments include new mailbox designs that will fit 85 percent of the parcels and with different designs for suburban and urban locations and, as a big game changer, new mobile delivery devices.

Retired League Postmasters held their election in the afternoon, and John Olson was chosen to take the lead as the LEAGUE moves to forming UMPA. He joins the National Executive Board in the RLP President capacity.

APCU presented the annual leadership awards, recognizing the efforts of Glen Cook (MA), Rita Henderson (WV), Daniel Alvis (KY) and Amye Ground-Madsen, (ID).

Workshops on accounting help desk, SOV/CSV/PS 1260, Labor Relations on Grievance Procedures, and PS 150, WSC and Pay Policy/Salary Schedule completed the afternoon before it was time to head to National Harbor for an evening off and perhaps a ride on a giant ferris wheel offering a spectacular view of the nation’s capital along with LEAGUE networking and camaraderie.

G. Sean Acord

National League of Postmasters Legislative White Paper

Forum 2010 Legislative Issues

Postmaster Hours and Post Office Management Practices.

January 28, 2010

As is well known, the Postal Service is facing difficult financial times. The economy has had a damaging effect on the Postal Service, and there will not be much relief until next year.

No one knows this better than America's Postmasters. Postmasters are on the front lines and see and feel the effects of the recession on operating budgets and employee complements more than anyone. Throughout this crisis, Postmasters have responded heroically to the challenge.

Shifting Hours. In FY 09, the Postal Service cut over a million work hours. While some of those hours are hours saved because mail volume is down, the vast majority of the time has not been driven out of the system, as claimed by the Postal Service. In fact, many of the so-called work hour savings are actually hours shifted to the backs of Postmasters who must not only perform their job, but also perform much of the job of clerks and carriers. Over the last several years, the Postal Service has failed, by design, to adequately staff post offices, or the Postal Service has deliberately failed to budget sufficient work hours to adequately operate a post office. The result has been that either the Postmasters took up the slack, or the system crumbled.

For example, instead of having five or six clerks or carriers work two to six additional hours per week, that 10 to 36 hours of work has been shifted from those clerks or carriers who get paid by the hour to the one person who does not get paid by the hourthe Postmaster. The result, as this example shows, are six (sometimes seven) day work weeks, that range from 50 hours to 76 hours per week for Postmasters. Critically, instead of being occasional occurrences, this practice has become standard operating procedure, month in and month out, throughout the country.

Additionally, in those offices that are supposed to have supervisors, the Postal Service initiated a freeze on the hiring of supervisors. In some cases, this left Postmasters little choice but to do two or more jobs where supervisor vacancies opened up or existed. In other cases, where extra hours by supervisors were needed, those extra hours were denied by upper level management, since supervisors are entitled to be paid for all hours worked. Again, the Postmaster had to make the time up, since the work did not disappear and service had to be maintained.

For the past 3 or 4 years, this has become an increasingly popular strategy in thePostal Service. During this same time period, the Postal Service also willfully shifted work from other employees to Postmasters. As the Postal Service eliminated or reduced different functional groups in districts, such as Finance, Human Resources, and Training and Development, Postmasters had to take up the slack as best they could, because there is no one else to do so. Although Postmasters are accustomed to regularly and routinely working extra hours each week, when needed, the situation has escalated to where it is not unusual for many Postmasters to work fifty, sixty or seventy hours a week, week after week, month after endless month.

This additional workload is taking a tremendous toll on many Postmasters. A recent League survey shows that 60% of FLSA Exempt Postmasters are working 50 or more hours a week. This same survey reports that 45% of Postmasters are working 2 or more weekends a month. These Postmasters are men and women trying to raise families and play active roles in their churches, schools, communities, and other local

organizations. Their overloaded workweek is negatively impacting their families, personal lives, and health. Ultimately it is affecting the postal service.

The survey reports that almost 73% of Postmasters state their health is directly suffering from their workload, including bouts of depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, anxiety attacks, ulcers and other problems.

Inefficient and Ineffective Post Office Management Practices by Upper Level Management.

In many districts the working climate for Postmasters is destructive. Every facet of a Postmaster's day and operation is micromanaged. Chasing numbers has cultivateda climate where verbal abuse and threats from senior managers are now in vogue. Not long ago, a high-ranking manager was quoted as saying "those non-performing supervisors should be taken out and executed." Management associations complained about this inappropriate comment. Our complaint was ignored; nothing was done.

Many Postmasters live in fear of their district leaders and are reluctant to speak up on important district issues. Often, small office Postmasters , who are entitled to overtime pay and not represented by unions, refuse to claim those overtime hours because of intimidation from senior managers who do not want overtime to appear on district reports. That is not only morally wrong, it is illegal. Postmasters are even being "disciplined" for the inadvertent errors of their employees. A Postmaster who employs one hundred mail carriers may be suspended if one of his carriers fails to scan even one collection box.

Another pressing issue is that Postmasters have been saddled with a pay for performance program that is largely ineffective. It is supposed to be a motivator; it is anything but. This is not a bonus program; it is the only avenue through which a Postmaster can get a raise. Last year, because of the manipulation of the program andrevenue goals being set artificially high, tens of thousands of hardworking Postmasters were termed "non-contributors" and received no raise while practically every other postal and federal employee received something. If management is going to be honest and respectful of its employees, it should say that there will be no increases, regardlessof pay for performance results, and not "fix" the system so that everyone fails. That is neither honest nor respectful.

Finally, the Postal Service has failed the American people, especially those in rural communities, by not filling Postmaster positions in smaller post offices. In many cases, these offices have been staffed by temporary personnel for more than two years.Sometimes a series of managers have been cycled through such post offices, placing the Post Offices generally under management that is neither as trained nor as experienced as the Postmaster, and generally does not know the community as well as the Postmaster. This deprives communities of the Postmasters they deserve, and the service and continuity a Postmaster would provide. This is costing the Postal Service millions of dollars in lost efficiency each year.

For over two hundred years the Postal Service has faithfully filled Postmaster positions in these offices, but now, in 2010, it is failing to do so. The dedicated employees managing these offices deserve better from the Postal Service as do the American people in the communities these post offices serve. This may not be a pretty picture, but it is an accurate one. Granted, the financial state of the Postal Service is not good. But that is because, as the Postal Service's Inspector General has pointed out, the Postal Service has overpaid $75 Billion into the Federal Treasury for the CSRS pension obligations. In any case, the state of the PostalService cannot be used as an excuse to treat people poorly. Postmasters are among the Postal Service's most loyal and dedicated employees. Over the years they have worked under adverse conditions with very little complaint. The National League of Postmasters has taken every issue recounted above to Postal Service Headquarters in efforts to get relief for, or resolution to them. The Postal Service has repeatedly refusedto even hear our voices.

Coming to Congress is not an easy move for Postmasters. That choice was not made lightly. But in view of the Postal Service's refusal to consider their issuesmuch less positively resolve themCongressional oversight must be exercised.

Congress should open an investigation into these issues and hold hearings. Ultimately Congress should instruct the Postal Service to cease shifting workload from supervisors, clerks, and carriers to Postmasters and get them to realize that such actions are not a long term solution to anything. In doing so, Congress should instruct the Postal Service to institute and follow standards for senior management interaction, cease frivolous disciplinary action, and put into place a reasonable and less complicated pay for performance system for Postmasters.

Finally, the Postal Service should immediately fill all Postmaster vacancies. The increase in efficiency will be notable.

S.1742 - Rural Postal Act of 2015

Amid a significant downsizing of the money-strapped U.S. Postal Service, the number of letters arriving late has jumped by almost 50 percent since the start of the year.

And that’s as measured against the agency’s own newly relaxed standards.

The delays have become so serious that the Postal Service’s watchdog issued an urgent alert earlier this month recommending that postal officials put all further closures of mail-sorting plants on hold until service stabilizes.

“The impacts on customer service and employees have been considerable,” Inspector General Dave Williams wrote.

Mail that’s supposed to take two days to arrive took longer — anywhere from 6 to 15 percent of the time during the first six months of 2015, investigators found, a decline in service of almost 7 percent from the same period last year. Letters that should take three to five days took longer anywhere from 18 to 44 percent of the time, a 38 percent decline in performance over the same time last year.

First-class mail has gradually been traveling more slowly since the Postal Service started closing dozens of mail-sorting plants in 2012. But in January, something more drastic happened: To prepare for another round of plant closings, the agency eliminated overnight delivery for local first-class letters that used to arrive the next day. And up to half of mail traveling longer distances was given an extra day to reach its destination.

These longer delivery times became the new normal, or “service standards” in postal parlance. Mail was considered on time if it took four to five days to arrive instead of three.

But postal officials have struggled this year to meet even these lower standards. The delays have been compounded by two factors, the inspector general found: Severe storms last winter and changes to plant operations that started when the new standards took effect. Thousands of postal workers were reassigned and shifts were changed, resulting in a disorganized, inefficient workplace.

From January through June, 494 million pieces of mail did not meet the standard for local or cross-country delivery, a 48 percent jump from the same period last year, investigators found.

Snail mail still is a dying business for the post office, which is ramping up its e-commerce business with packages and same-day delivery of everything from groceries to Amazon orders. But the mail still matters to Americans, who sent or received 155 billion pieces in fiscal 2014. Checks, medicine, magazines, mail ballots, newspapers, greeting cards, court documents — they’re all in the mail stream.

“The volumes are still immense,” said Steve Hutkins, whose blog Save the Post Office reports on consolidations facing the postal system. “There’s a lot of important stuff in the mail. The whole goal of the postal system is to deliver the mail in a speedy, timely way.”

The slowdown “is a huge issue for many nonprofits that rely heavily on mail to fund their critical missions,” said Stephen Kearney, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, calling mail a “lifeline for curing diseases, helping returning veterans, informing consumers” and other services.

Service gradually has rebounded a little each month since January, with scores for both two- and three-day mail within .914 and 10.9 percent, in June of where they were during the same month last year. But the inspector general cautioned that mail still is not reliable.

Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer, in a statement, described the changes in January as the “greatest operational changes the Postal Service has ever implemented.

“Despite our best efforts to minimize the impacts of the changes, there were some insurmountable challenges that negatively affected service performance, especially when considering the impacts of severe winter weather conditions.”

“We remain totally committed to identifying and correcting errant processes in our operations as early as possible.”

But the agency did not agree with the inspector general’s recommendation that plant closings stay on hold until service improves across the board. Postmaster General Megan Brennan has temporarily halted the closings; it’s unclear when they’ll resume.

In recent years, the Postal Service has tried to shutter thousands of post offices and end Saturday delivery to save billions of dollars. Politicians stopped these efforts because they weren’t popular with constituents. The consolidation of mail-sorting plants went further before anyone really started to feel the effects.

Members of Congress are now hearing from angry constituents whose mail is taking longer to arrive. The House took a drastic step this spring, passing a measure that requires the Postal Service to return mail delivery standards to 2012 levels. It raised the possibility that some shuttered plants would have to reopen.

The Congressional Budget Office said the cost to turn back the clock was so high that it would be unrealistic. The Senate didn’t take up the bill.

Plant closures have long been a concern for postal unions, who fear a shrinking workforce. Two weeks ago, Ms. Brennan met with labor leaders as well as civil rights and consumer groups calling themselves “A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service,” and slow mail delivery was among the issues on the table.

After foundering in three Congresses, legislation to stabilize postal finances is still a possibility, congressional aides say. One of the key issues a bill is likely to address is how to make sure that as the post office cuts costs, it doesn’t shortchange its customers, particularly those in rural areas.

That’s the primary thrust of a bill sponsored by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., who started a campaign last year called “Fix My Mail.” Hundreds of residents wrote to her complaining of late deliveries, nonexistent deliveries, mistakes with mail forwarding and short hours at post offices.

Ms. Heitkamp, joined by three senators with rural constituencies, introduced legislation this summer called the “Rural Postal Act.”

Its No. 1 requirement would be restoring service standards so mail reaches its destination faster.