NRLCA updates

The NRLCA was notified Friday afternoon that the SPM sampling will change from scanning up to 5 pieces to scanning up to 15 pieces effective Saturday February 13th. The NRLCA has requested a meeting to address the lack of advance notice and what the compensation should be. The NRLCA has also heard from several carriers … Read more

NRLCA Reaches Tentative Agreement with USPS for Three-Year Contract The NRLCA and Postal Service have negotiated a tentative agreement to cover the 3-year period from May 21, 2015 to May 20, 2018. In this special edition of The National Rural Letter Carrier, you will find the details of the tentative agreement, including an explanation of … Read more

The NRLCA is aware that many carriers have already been given service talks on the Service Performance Measurement (SPM) over the last couple of weeks. The USPS prematurely put out talks and begin dates prior to the NRLCA and the USPS agreeing on the terms for this new work function. The NRLCA and the USPS … Read more

Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA-14) has proposed legislation that would amend title 18, United States Code and title 39, United States Code to allow the USPS to ship alcohol likes its competitors UPS and FedEx. Currently, the Postal Service cannot ship beer, wine, or liquor. The bill would allow USPS to ship alcoholic beverages directly from … Read more

On November 19, 2014, the NRLCA filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the Postal Service, alleging that the Postal Service violated federal labor law by failing to bargain over and provide information concerning the September 2014 “cyber intrusion” by hackers into the Postal Service’s computer systems. On May 21, … Read more

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015, after more than two months of contract talks, the NRLCA and USPS reached impasse over the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. Early this week it appeared as if the parties were making progress toward a negotiated settlement. However, contract talks stalled and impasse was declared at 6:30 p.m. … Read more

National Arbitrator Das Issues Award on DPS Flats Implementation Procedures In September 2011, pursuant to Article 19 of the National Agreement, the Postal Service issued its final DPS flats implementation procedures. These procedures differed significantly from the existing DPS letter implementation procedures and the Union challenged them on grounds that they were not, fair, reasonable … Read more

The Postal Service notified the NRLCA recently about new texting functionality on the new scanners Mobile Delivery Devices (MDD). Prior to the NRLCA having the opportunity to discuss several issues related to this new feature, the Postal Service implemented the texting functionality to the field. The NRLCA had an initial meeting with Postal Headquarters to … Read more

Wounded Warriors Act Passes House The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015 (H.R. 313) was passed in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The NRLCA had previously endorsed the legislation when it was first introduced in January 2015. The bipartisan legislation would allow disabled veterans who enter the federal workforce 104 hours … Read more

National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association Supports the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave ActFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 17, 2014National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association – www.nrlca.orgContact: Margaret Boehm, MBoehm@nrlca.org, 703-797-8412The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association endorses the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act that was introduced by Senators Jon Tester D-MT and Jerry Moran R-KS. The bipartisan legislation would allow … Read more

Postmaster General Donahoe to Retire February 2015 The United States Postal Service Board of Governors announced today that Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Patrick R. Donahoe has decided to retire February 1, 2015, after 39 years with the Postal Service. At a public meeting of the Board of Governors this morning, Mickey D. Barnett, … Read more

At 9 o’clock this morning, the NRLCA received the following information on the cyber-breach that compromised Postal Service employees’ personal information and employment information just minutes before Stand Up talks on the subject began around the country in Post Offices. President Dwyer did receive a phone call on Sunday night from Postmaster General Donahoe as … Read more

The issue in this grievance is whether rural carriers are entitled to additional time when they make more than one pass to a locked mail box. The parties agree that a locked mail box should have a slot large enough to accommodate the customer’s normal daily volume of mail. The parties further agree that there … Read more

New 800 Number for CVS Caremark Member Services   Beginning July 7, 2014, Rural Carrier Benefit Plan members must use a new toll-free number to access CVS Caremark Member Services. The new phone number is 1-800-292-4182. The new toll-free number will provide RCBP members with direct access to the CVS Caremark Member Service Team that … Read more

USPS CONTRACTS FOR NEW SCANNERS (MDDs) After several months of testing and evaluation, including some hands-on device evaluation by rural letter carriers, the USPS has contracted with Honeywell International, Inc. to produce the newest version of a handheld scanning device for rural letter carriers. The Honeywell Dolphin 99EX, called the Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) by … Read more

On March 10, 2014 an historic agreement was signed by the Postal Union Presidents representing the Rural Letter Carriers, Mail Handlers, American Postal Workers, and City Letter Carriers. The purpose of the agreement is to show our solidarity, and to protect the invaluable institution that is the United States Postal Service. We call upon our members, … Read more