14 POSTAL RECORD I DECEMBER 2012 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS

The NALC congratulates PresidentBarack Obama and all the can-didates elected to Congress onTuesday, Nov. 6. The electionresults provide a starting point

for the work ahead of resolving thefinancial problems facing the UnitedStates Postal Service. We set certaingoals for the election, and the workof thousands of off-duty and retiredletter carriers helped re-elect Presi-dent Obama and elect or re-elect sen-ators and House members who sup-port our efforts to strengthen thePostal Service and support hard-working letter carriers.

“The election offers the prospectthat the financial problems facing theUnited States Postal Service can beresolved in a fair and reasonable man-ner that benefits the public,” NALCPresident Fredric Rolando said.

Rolando made clear that while a vic-tory by forces that seek to dismantlethe Postal Service and attack publicemployees would have been bad forthe USPS and for the country, theNALC’s work has just begun. Theelection provides an opportunity forprogress but guarantees nothing.

“We intend to speak with mem-bers of the administration and withlawmakers in the weeks and monthsahead about how best to assure thatthe Postal Service can continue toserve its vital function in the life ofthis country,” he said. “Its role todayis every bit as important as it hasbeen ever since our founders hadthe wisdom to enshrine it in theConstitution.”

Rather than hasty action on exist-ing flawed bills by a lame-duck Con-gress, Rolando called on lawmakersto allow the new Congress to draftlegislation that would improve thePostal Service’s situation, not worsenit as some current bills would. Hecalled on NALC members to remainvigilant over the next couple of

months. However, the results ofmany legislative races promise toimprove our prospects on postalissues, Rolando said.

“Addressing in a responsible man-ner the future of the Postal Servicewould, indeed, be a good place for allsides to demonstrate a commitmentto effective governing,” Rolando said.“Legislation currently before Con-gress in both chambers fails to makethe grade, because it would disman-tle the universal network that pro-vides Americans with the world’smost efficient delivery service, whiledegrading those very services andhence driving mail and revenue outof the system.”

Eliminating six-day delivery, forexample, would impose new costs onsmall businesses that are open onweekends and need to send andreceive financial documents—smallbusinesses that provide two-thirds of allnew jobs. And driving mail out of thesystem would reduce revenue and fur-ther imperil the Postal Service. Endinghouse-to-house delivery for tens of mil-lions of residents and businesses wouldhave similarly negative impacts.

Rolando urged lawmakers tobegin from scratch and focus onrepairing the damage caused by the2006 congressional mandate thatrequired the Postal Service, aloneamong all agencies and companies,to pre-fund future retiree healthbenefits. That accounts for 80 per-cent of all the red ink. Fixing thiswouldn’t solve all of the agency’sproblems, but it would end the crisisatmosphere and allow issues suchas the decline in first-class mail tobe addressed. The Postal Serviceneeds to devise a business plan thataddresses the serious challenges itfaces while also recognizing oppor-tunities such as the explosion inInternet-ordered packages that needto be delivered. ✉

MUCHSTILLTO DOELECTIONSPRESENTOPPORTUNITIESFORPROGRESS

MUCHSTILLTO DOELECTIONSPRESENTOPPORTUNITIESFORPROGRESS

Members of the Wisconsin State Associ-ation with Rob Zerban, who ran againstRep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS DECEMBER 2012 I POSTAL RECORD 15

As this edition of The Postal Record was beingprepared, it seemed increasingly unlikelythat Congress would take up any of the

postal reform bills in each of its chambersbefore the end of the year.

“The complex problems facing the USPSdeserve Congress’ full attention,” NALC Presi-dent Fredric Rolando said, “but our lawmakershave a full plate to handle between now and theend of the year as they deal with the so-called‘fiscal cliff ’ ”—the massive spending cuts calledfor by the 2011 debt-ceiling deal coupled withthe scheduled return of income tax rates toClinton-era levels.

“The last thing we need,” the president said,“is for a lame-duck Congress to hastily ramthrough any reform legislation that fails to takeinto account the unfair mandate to fully pre-fund 75 years’ worth of future retiree healthbenefits within just 10 years—the real reasonthe Postal Service faces its own ‘financial cliff.’ ”

And since the congressional makeup did notchange dramatically following the Nov. 6 elec-tions, Rolando said, “most of the lawmakerswho will be sworn in on January 3 should havea good understanding of what worked in theprevious session—and what did not. We willhave a real opportunity come January to lobbyour friends in both the House and Senate toconsider fresh approaches to saving the PostalService that take into account all stakeholders’viewpoints.” (For a more detailed analysis ofelection results, see page 14.)

One such approach was introduced by Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and was included in theotherwise flawed bill that passed the Senateback in April. Sanders’ amendment to S. 1789called for creation of a “blue-ribbon” commis-sion composed of business leaders and legisla-tors whose goal would be to brainstorm specific strategies to allow the Postal Service to behave more like a business.

“We feel this commission idea is a soundone,” Rolando said, “with two conditions:that it include a place at the table for postalemployees, and that Congress agree to holdoff on taking up any postal reform legislation

until after it hears fromthe commission.”

In the mediaOn Oct. 25, The News

Journal in Wilmington, DE—the state’s largestpaper—published a letter to the editor writtenby Wilmington Branch 191 President Bob Wilkerson. The letter ran the same day thatSen. Tom Carper (D-DE) held a rally in supportof getting the House to consider S. 1789, thedeeply flawed postal reform bill that he co-spon-sored and that passed the Senate in April. “Lawmakers serious about improving thingswould start over and fix the artificial crisis theycreated,” Wilkerson wrote, “alleviating thesense of panic and the financial hemorrhaging.”

On Oct. 26, the Hunterdon County [NJ]Democrat published an editorial supportive ofpreserving the USPS. The piece did an excel-lent job of extolling the value of the Postal Ser-vice, although it neglected to cite pre-fundingas the chief source of USPS’ financial woes. Aneditorial three days later in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, however, did state that the startingpoint for any legislation to preserve the PostalService should be the repeal of the pre-fundingmandate.

In late October, news media coverage ofHurricane Sandy’s assault on the East Coastoften included mention of who was still outdoing their jobs despite the storm—including,in many cases, letter carriers. U.S. News &World Report political and foreign affairs writerSusan Milligan, for example, posted one suchpiece on her publication’s website, with Eliza-beth Dwoskin writing a similar item forBloomberg Businessweek’s web page.

And a letter carrier-led food drive on Nov.10, conducted in upstate New York to helpthose still reeling from the effects of Hurri-cane Sandy, received a great deal of positivecoverage in news media outlets throughoutthe region, such as in Albany, Syracuse andBinghamton. (For more about our efforts tohelp those affected by the storm, see story onpage 4.) ✉

WHEN POSTAL REFORM?

NALC President FredricRolando (c) canvasses withLas Vegas Branch 2502member Paul Peterman (l)and congressional candidateJohn Oceguera.

NALC endorsed 291candidates this elec-tion. Of those, 247 ofour candidates wonand 43 lost, and oneelection is still beingcontested at presstime. So, 85 percent ofour endorsed candi-dates won their elec-tions. We endorsedtwo Independents, 31Republicans and 258Democrats.

CaliforniaIsmael Michael Poblano, Br. 24Johnny Lee Harris, Br. 24Joseph Robert Gibson, Br. 52David Micheal Hoffman, Br. 70Jose Franco, Br. 70Carla Jo Bartlett, Br. 133David Lawson, Br. 133Jeffrey Barton Parr, Br. 183Richard E. Arranaga, Br. 193Justin Neil Wilson, Br. 213John Beaumont, Br. 214Eric James Ellis, Br. 231Jose Santos Garcia, Br. 231Diana T. Herrera, Br. 782Charles L. Tyma, Br. 1100Derek James Simpson, Br. 1100Sandra LeMoine, Br. 1100George R. Heim, Br. 1100Verle G. Craven, Br. 1111Darchelle Turner, Br. 1111Ronald Jones, Br. 1111Elizabeth Corriea, Br. 1111Harold Kelso, Br. 1439Carolyn M. Zorn, Br. 2200Leroy Collier, Br. 2200William H. Smith, Br. 2901David Alan Hyman, Br. 2902Ernestine L. Hernandez, Br. 2902Jill Lemons, Br. 4006Jose Leopoldo Villasenor, Br. 4006Linda Ann Duran, Br. 4494Walter L. Butler III, Br. 4850

ColoradoCindy Kirby, Br. 47Brenda Willis, Br. 47Ami Michelle Nawrocki, Br. 229Jacqueline Skene, Br. 5996

ConnecticutJoseph Mahon, Br. 19Carol A. Emmer, Br. 32Daniel Nacin, Br. 86

FloridaMichael P. Boyle, Br. 53Dennis A. Bonilla, Br. 53Anthony J. Loconto, Br. 1071Deidre Beal, Br. 1071Sandalio Lleo, Br. 1071Frank Ramirez, Br. 1071Shane Ulbin, Br. 1091

James F. Brown, Br. 1091Orville Elliott, Br. 1477Lori Bell, Br. 1477Kevin J. Byrne, Br. 1690Gerard Lonergan, Br. 2008James Cox, Br. 3367Jesse Costin, Br. 4716

HawaiiCynthia Ann Ishizaki, Br. 860Glen Takara, Br. 4454Terry Ann K. Kaolulo, Br. 4682Michelle Luke, Br. 4837

IllinoisSteven A. Bilzing, Br. 155Melissa Dyan Kinworthy, Br. 209Anthony Bultinck, Br. 292Mark Leasure, Br. 305Christopher E. Bragg, Br. 317Mark Dowdle, Br. 825Gregory W. Ferritto, Br. 825Luis Rivas, Jr., Br. 2076

IowaThomas J. Reisdorf, Br. 257Jeff Erickson, Br. 352Mark Fallis, Br. 352Kelly E. Steinke, Br. 373James Beach, Br. 644

MassachusettsKenneth Janulewicz, Br. 12Paul E. Mulcahy, Br. 18Scott Doughty, Br. 18Van C. Heffernan, Br. 18Kenneth W. Mooney, Br. 18Barry N. Doherty, Br. 25Kenneth F. Dusombre Jr., Br. 25Richard F. Donlon, Br. 33James J. Bursey, Br. 33Maureen Marinelli, Br. 34Joseph DeMambro, Br. 34Robert H. Damatin, Br. 34Patricia Rogers, Br. 46Liliana Franco-Melo, Br. 51Kevin D. Poe, Br. 212

MichiganJered Scott Andrus, Br. 56Peter Summit, Br. 56Robin P. Randall, Br. 438Patricia Linna, Br. 2184Scott Watts, Br. 2184Mike Sheridan, Br. 4374

MinnesotaCatherine Burton, Br. 9Lisa O’Neil, Br. 9Kevin J. Dorff, Br. 28Shawn Raymond Hansen, Br. 114

MissouriKevin T. Boyer, Br. 203Ronnie D. Lewis, Br. 763Thomas Bolen, Br. 1015Patrick Flora, Br. 1264Kevin Holmes, Br. 5050

MontanaBruce E. George, Br. 220Rebecca Nylund, Br. 621Stephen H. Swanstrom, Br. 701Randall S. Rabas, Br. 815

NevadaCindy Groves, Br. 709Kenneth Groves, Br. 709Daniel Bettridge, Br. 709Paul Peterman, Br. 2502Lloyd Bell Jr., Br. 2502Alberto Leon, Br. 2502Colleen M. James, Br. 2502Cynthia F. Lindemon, Br. 2502Lucy James, Br. 2502Lisa Contos, Br. 2778Leon M. Grizzle, Br. 2778

New HampshireCheryl Acker, Br. 44Bill Brickley, Br. 44Stephen B. Phillips, Br. 44Wayne G. Alterisio, Br. 44

New YorkDouglas Fordyce, Br. 3Thomas J. Dlugolenski, Br. 134Richard H. Hansen, Br. 137Kevin Montgomery, Br. 210John J. Duffy, Br. 358Robert R. Riley Jr., Br. 358James R. Tuthill, Br. 6000

North CarolinaJames Charlet, Br. 464

OhioRegina Williams, Br. 40Mary Campbell-Stack, Br. 40

Bill Devore, Br. 40Alesha Ann Chappell, Br. 43Kevin Grabel, Br. 43Jennifer L. Linz, Br. 43Jacquelyn Mitchell, Br. 78Charles Sanders, Br. 78Herbert E. Renfer Jr., Br. 100Patricia M. Haupricht, Br. 100Jeffery M. Kranz, Br. 143Tim Heitic, Br. 148Ron Green, Br. 164Daniel L. Wolff, Br. 182Patricia A. Drews, Br. 196Gary Arthur Scherer, Br. 238Scott Howell, Br. 297

PennsylvaniaCharles A. Hamilton, Br. 84Howard W. Brandt, Br. 84Edward J. Morgan II, Br. 157Clay Smith, Br. 157Roger Douglas Jenkins, Br. 284Paul A. Rozzi, Br. 332Joseph G. Antal, Br. 451Darrel Vance, Br. 500Andrea Goodwin, Br. 2572

TexasHomer G. Hernandez, Br. 421

WashingtonPaul Garrett Scott, Br. 79James Andrews Hubbard, Br. 130Robert James, Br. 791

WisconsinAllen Jelinek, Br. 2Robert John Borowski, Br. 2Bonnie Alsup, Br. 125Keith Steffan, Br. 507William Rogers, Br. 507JoAnn Hertel, Br. 700BaLynda Schweitzer, Br. 822Sallie A. Wylie, Br. 1083

The full list of silver- and gold-level Carrier Corps members will be run in next issue of The Postal Record.

NALC RELEASED MEMBERS

16 POSTAL RECORD I DECEMBER 2012 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS

Right up to Election Day on Nov. 6,pollsters and pundits were warningthat the country faced the prospect

of an extremely close presidential vote,with the results possibly coming downto a battleground state such as Ohio orFlorida—raising the specter of another2000 with recounted ballots and delays,lawyers and courts.

In the weeks leading up to the elec-tion, there even seemed to be a chanceof a split between the popular vote andthe Electoral College. That would havereinforced the political divisions andpolarization that have roiled the nation’spolitics for years, while also weakeningthe new president’s mandate.

Some analysts spoke of a possibletie—269 to 269—in the electoral vote,meaning the House would choose thepresident while the Senate wouldchoose the vice president, likely result-ing in the bizarre situation of a Republi-can president, Mitt Romney, and aDemocratic vice president, Joe Biden.

But in the end, of course, none of thismaterialized. The results came in early,they were unambiguous, and they wereunexpectedly one-sided.

President Barack Obama retained hisjob by more than 3 million votes. Hewon the majority of the states. He sweptthe Midwestern battleground states hisaides had designated as his “firewall”—and even captured Florida and Virginia,which the Republicans had counted on.

So what does it mean? What is thesignificance of the results for the coun-try, for labor, and for letter carriers?

Some would depict this as a status-quo election, and in a literal sense itwas. The White House remainedDemocratic, the Senate remainedDemocratic, and the House remainedRepublican. But that is a superficialanalysis that overlooks what actuallyhappened.

Despite a still-weak economy, Presi-dent Obama easily bested a challengerwho promised to use his business back-ground to improve the economy. In re-electing Obama, Americans said—bytheir votes and by their responses inexit polls—that they felt the country ison the track to economic recovery. Theyvoted for the candidate who promised torebuild the middle class while askingthe wealthiest among us to pay their fairshare in taxes, and against the chal-lenger who wanted to provide tax reliefto millionaires. They voted for the candi-date who had provided national healthcare and against the candidate who saidhis first order of business would be torepeal “Obamacare.”

They voted for the candidate who cam-paigned with labor, not against it; whospoke of the importance of the labormovement and of worker rights such ascollective bargaining; and they rejectedthe candidate who spoke of “laborstooges” and who supported the variousstate initiatives that would have restrictedcollective-bargaining rights or introduced“right to work laws” that would erode thestanding of living of working people.

And they voted against the candidatewho spoke of privatizing the U.S. PostalService and whose party platform stood

WHAT ELECTION MEANS FOR COUNTRY, LABOR

Top: NALC members with Rep. Jo AnnEmerson (R-MO).

Above: Members of West Palm Beach, FLBranch 1690 go door to door to increasevoter turnout.

Below: Carriers took to the street to helpre-elect Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO).

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS DECEMBER 2012 I POSTAL RECORD 17

reality on its head by talking about under-funded pensions for postal employees.

Perhaps most dramatically, they votedfor the candidate who spoke of the needfor a strong federal government to exerta positive influence in our society, andrejected the candidate who called for areduced federal presence in our lives.

That philosophical contrast wasbrought into sharp relief by MotherNature, when Hurricane Sandy ravagedparts of the Northeast the week beforethe election. Its political impact was sopowerful that some analysts dubbed itthis year’s “October surprise.”

The nation watched as PresidentObama rallied federal agencies, includ-ing the Federal Emergency Manage-ment Agency, to help victims in hard-hitNew Jersey and New York. There wasan inescapable comparison to the hap-less workings of FEMA when Hurri-cane Katrina hit the Gulf states in 2005and the administration of George W.Bush had devalued the agency. AndRomney was put on the defensive by hisprior comments about FEMA represent-ing an improper federal usurpation ofresponsibilities that properly belongedto the states.

The political impact of this was mag-nified when New Jersey Gov. ChrisChristie—who had been a keynotespeaker at the Republican National Con-vention—lavished praise on PresidentObama for quickly providing federalassistance to the state’s flood-ravagedcoastal areas.

While voters were clearly concernedabout the lingering high unemploymentrates and the deficits, they also madeclear that the answers do not lie in taxcuts for the wealthy, a repeal of the newhealthcare law, wholesale cuts in socialprograms, a shrinking of the federal gov-ernment and the vilification of unions.

Rather, they favored a balancedapproach that includes investment in thecountry, a fair share of taxes from mil-lionaires and billionaires, investment in

education and infrastructure and publicservices, an effective federal govern-ment and positive policies toward themiddle class and working families.

This analysis is only reinforced whenone looks at the legislative races. Giventhe tough economy, for months manycommentators had posited that anti-gov-ernment forces might take over the Sen-ate or at least make inroads. Not only didn’t that happen, in a number of states—Massachusetts, Ohio, Montana, HawaiiMissouri among them—ardent defendersof working people and of the federal gov-ernment were elected or re-elected.

While changes were less dramatic inthe House, several of the shrillest voicesagainst government and unions weredefeated.

“We have several new pro-workerallies and welcome key returning ones,”NALC President Fredric Rolando said.“Elizabeth Warren, elected from Massa-chusetts, will be—in fact, long hasbeen—a tireless voice on behalf of work-ing people.” Rolando also cited the winsby Virginia’s new senator, Tim Kaine;Hawaii’s senator-elect, Mazie Hirono;Wisconsin’s newly elected senator,Tammy Baldwin; Ohio Sen. SherrodBrown; Missouri Rep. Jo Ann Emerson;Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly; MontanaSen. Jon Tester and many others electedor re-elected.

Congress now needs to act responsi-bly when it comes to an institution olderthan the country itself and indispensableto rebuilding a strong economy—theUnited States Postal Service.

“Addressing in a responsible mannerthe future of the Postal Service wouldbe a good place for all sides to demon-strate a commitment to effective govern-ing,” President Rolando said.

Among its other meanings, the elec-tion showed the power of the labormovement and of working families.Despite its declining numbers—labortoday represents 12 percent of the work-force, compared to three times that in

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS

Top: Florida carriers showtheir strong support for Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz(D-FL).

Above: Phoenix Branch 576members pass out fliers.

Below: NALC teamed up withmembers of the United Teach-ers of New Orleans to turn outthe vote in Louisiana.

Bottom: Workers in Illinoisprepare for a rally to promoteworkers’ issues.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS DECEMBER 2012 I POSTAL RECORD 19

the 1950s—its political clout hasremained strong. While it typically isoutspent by business adversaries, corpo-rations cannot match the boots on theground that labor supplies, as it did onceagain this year to boost pro-worker can-didates in key states such as Ohio,Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.And union members voted in the mil-lions across the country.

Labor’s role was broader in this presi-dential election than it had been inrecent ones. Not only was labor a player,it also was an issue. Long ignored by themedia and much of the public, the labormovement became a political flashpointafter efforts by Wisconsin Gov. ScottWalker and governors or lawmakers inother states to make unions into scape-goats for the economic crisis. Beyondthe state battles, labor was brought intothe political spotlight by attacks on deci-sions by the National Labor RelationsBoard, on the compensation accordedpublic employees, on labor’s role in theauto bailout and healthcare reform.

Several anti-worker candidates soughtto gain votes by lashing out at unions, atworker rights and at the very idea ofpublic service, which they often soughtto privatize.

For the most part,these efforts failed. Votersin state after state showedan understanding that theeconomic crisis was notcaused by teachers or let-ter carriers, by autowork-ers or nurses, by coal min-ers or truck drivers—butrather by Wall Street andbankers and by politicianswho had insisted on laxregulation of these sec-tors. And the voters said

in unequivocal terms that the crisis can-not be resolved on the backs of middleclass and working families.

Indeed, in Wisconsin—the state thatcame to symbolize the “war on labor”after Gov. Walker tried to revoke pub-lic-sector collective bargaining, not tomention the home state of Republicanvice presidential nominee Paul Ryan—voters sided with President Obama.Moreover, they sent a progressive, pro-labor candidate to the U.S. Senate.

So what does all this mean for us—forletter carriers and the NALC?

President Rolando said the electionresults provide an opportunity, but thatthe rest is up to us.

“It gives us the chance to save thePostal Service, to protect our craft, to continue to provide the Americanpeople with the world’s best deliveryservice,” he said. “The results guaran-tee nothing, but they do provide a pathforward.

“I know that we can rely on you,wherever you live, whatever your political views, to help get our messageout and to let friends, neighbors, customers and lawmakers know theimportance of retaining the world’sbest delivery network.” ✉

Top left: Labor walkers inSedalia, MO Branch 139

Top right: Members of Region13 work to turn out the vote inVirginia.

Above: A phone bank to re-electSen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Below: Cleveland, OH Branch 40members head to a rally.