Yvette Kinard was elected to Editor of the Outlook in 2022. Yvette Began her career as a letter carrier and a member of Branch 36 in 2001. She was elected by her fellow carriers as a Shop Steward and appointed to Safety Captain in 2017. Her roles expanded as she became an On-the -Job instructor, and Formal Step A Designee in 2019. In 2020, Yvette was appointed to the position of Director of Education and her roles continued to broaden as she volunteered and was appointed to become a Employee Assistance Program Liaison (EAP). She continued to volunteer for work, and in 2022 was appointed as Food Drive Co-chair. Ultimately in 2022 Yvette was elected as Editor of the Outlook publication. In that same year Yvette was asked to train in the Dispute Resolution Process and was picked to serve on the Dispute Resolution Team, where she continues to defend the rights of all Letter Carriers.

What Are We Doing?

I would first like to thank everyone who participated and assisted with the March/April edition of the Outlook. The Women’s Day edition was put together with love and I hope everyone enjoyed reading about the wonderful women of Branch 36. Talking with the women stewards and officers left me in awe of the amount of talent that we have in our Branch.
May is Food Drive month and the stations have stepped up and made this year another success. I do not have the numbers, as of the date of this article. However, the feedback, which I received from the Food Drive co-chairs Shirtedra Thomas and Charles Kinard, leave me with no doubt that we have exceeded expectations and surpassed that of previous years. Thank you to everyone who helped to get the word out, worked tirelessly to pick up food from our customers and purchased a food drive t-shirt. All of your efforts should make you feel proud of what we have accomplished as a Branch. The thought of helping our customers, neighbors and friends put food on their tables pushed us all to do our very best and we sure did.
May 10th was our Food Drive kick off event. Pasky, Sonny and Melinda all gave heartfelt speeches along with postal representatives and Ellen Granger from City Harvest. Ellen told me (behind the scenes) that she looks forward to the Branch 36 phone call every year because of all the help and support we bring to the food pantries. Next year we are looking for one representative from each station to attend the event and prove that we stand together as a branch in the fight against hunger. Our fight against hunger is to benefit the lives of our customers and their families. Many people use the pantries in our community and together we always make a difference.
Over the next few months, we will be implementing changes to the Outlook. We have so many ideas and I am excited to see them come to fruition. The goal of the Outlook is to keep everyone engaged and educated. We will include things such as carrier spotlights, contract talk, letters to the editor and special announcements. We also plan to introduce things such as fun facts and a cartoon section to make it fun. If you have any ideas or know of someone with a talent you think we could use, contact me.
The Executive Officers of Branch 36 conducted an Informal A training seminar for all shop stewards that I had the privilege of attending. It was amazing and everyone in attendance learned a lot. The Officers of Branch 36 know training is key to our strength and success as a union and plan to keep all members well educated. Charlie, Pasky, Sonny, Danielle and Melinda made excellent teachers and kept the training fun and interactive. The goal of the training is to create a judgement free environment where everyone can feel comfortable asking questions while learning from each other. Networking and knowing who you can call for advice or a question allows you to defend yourself and members accurately. Having that support system available at your disposal will ease the stresses of the job. Come to the meetings and learn the different ways to make our branch and union stronger.
Happy Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to all the parents of Branch 36. The job can keep us busy, but your ability to work and maintain a happy home life makes you all superheroes. “Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.” - W.E.B. DuBois