Charlie was elected President of Branch 36 in 2007. He has held this position for 15 years and was recently re-elected in 2022. Charlie’s long history of putting the carriers first began in 1979, when he joined the Postal Service and began his Union membership. Not long after starting his career at the postal service, Charlie was elected as Shop Steward in 1983. President Arty Ullman recognized his future within Branch 36 and appointed him to Formal A Designee in 1987. Charlie has held multiple positions, all of which increased his contractual knowledge and launched him to the forefront of Branch 36. In 1992 Charlie was elected as Branch 36 Executive Vice President and served in this position for 15 years. Charlie’s wealth of knowledge became an essential part of not only Branch 36 but the NALC when he was appointed to serve as a NALC AFL, CIO Delegate from 1996 thru 2022. In 2007, Charlie was elected as New York State Association of Letter Carriers Treasurer, a position he currently holds. From the beginning Charlie has always been for the carriers and he is quoted as saying “he always looks for ways to help Letter Carriers and make their jobs safe and worthwhile.” 2022 landed Charlie not only one elected position but two. Charlie was re-elected President of Branch 36 in early 2022 and was recently elected on the National level to serve as NALC trustee. Charlie’s positions will ensure Branch 36 always has a seat at the table.

Count & Inspections

TIAREAP is an acronym for Technology Integrated Alternate Route Evaluation and Adjustment Process. In other words, it is the national route adjustment process negotiated between the NALC and USPS in Washington, D.C. This process deals with foot routes. Branch 36 was initially faring well in regards to this process, but lately, the numbers haven’t been favorable.
We also have formal Count & Inspections taking place on driving assignments. These inspections are being done unilaterally by New York District Management. The New York District management has no desire to jointly inspect these assignments with Branch 36 Officers.
When management first began and completed a station’s driving assignments, they were willing to sit with Branch 36 officers and station shop stewards. It had always been a common practice to sit down and go over the inspection results together. Branch 36 officers need station stewards present at these meetings because they are knowledgeable on both the assignment territories and on what is going on in their stations.
During one of the meetings, we were able to show the mistakes made by the Inspection personnel and as a result, an assignment was returned to the station. Branch 36 officers will not meet without the shop stewards being present.
Management has been mailing Branch 36 some of the inspection forms, as per the handbooks and manuals state. On inspection, we have found countless violations of the handbooks and manuals in regards to count and inspection. Rather than jointly adjust driving assignments, as close to eight hours as possible, management would prefer shop stewards file countless grievances.
One of the craziest responses from the Inspection personnel was an answer to their own statement. They said, they used a formula to take away time on the 1840. In turn I asked, “What handbook or manual can I find this formula in?” To which they replied, “None, we created the formula.” That is a glimpse into what we are dealing with at the moment.
I actually had a glimpse of hope a couple of weeks ago about creating a joint process. Until the management negotiator said it was a dealbreaker to involve shop stewards in meetings with Branch 36 officers. Shop stewards are our eyes and ears in the stations. They will attend all meetings with Branch 36 officers whenever changes effecting station carriers are proposed. On to the grievance procedure.
It is no secret that Branch 36 officers believe in education. Executive Vice President Pascual and 1st Vice President Sonny have formulated and given numerous seminars on Count & Inspection, both in person and virtually. These seminars were offered to shop stewards and carriers with driving assignments. Pasky and Sonny did an excellent job of letting drivers know what to look for during the count and inspections. It helped to prevent management from getting away with violations of the handbook and manuals. Great job Pasky and Sonny!

Food Drive

I would like to thank each and every one who participated in this year’s NALC Stamp Out Hunger Annual Food Drive. Many thanks for delivering the food drive postcards, and to all of you, who brought in food items. To those of you who purchased this year’s neon-green Food Drive t-shirts, we thank you. The proceeds from the t-shirts goes directly to City Harvest. In turn, City Harvest buys and distributes food to Food Banks in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Special thanks to our Food Drive Co-chairs Shirtedra Thomas from Lenox Hill South Station and Charles Kinard from Parkchester Station, who did a great job. I felt bad that I could not be in attendance at Branch 36’s Food Drive kickoff this year, which was held at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger. However, Pascual and Sonny stepped up and gave kickoff speeches in both English and Spanish. I was in Washington, D.C. attending a Trustee meeting, Contract Negotiations Subcommittee, NALC Heroes Luncheon and the NALC Food Drive kickoff in the Hutchins Hall at the NALC headquarters. I would like to thank the many Branch 36 carriers who did attend the Branch 36 kickoff. During the event, 2nd Vice President Danielle and Recording Secretary Melinda were busy representing Branch 36 carriers in an Arbitration Hearing resulting in 17 carriers getting paid 8 hours pay each. Great job Danielle and Melinda!
Last year, we had purple t-shirts and this year we have neon-green t-shirts. We do have some t-shirts left over from both years, which are still up for sale with all proceeds going to City Harvest. What color sounds good for next year?

---