Illinois Rural Letter Carriers' Association
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National Convention 2020 in Spokane Cancelled go to NRLCA website for details
2020 ILRLCA Convention Cancelled
On April 2nd, 2020, a conference call between NRLCA President Ronnie Stutts and State Presidents was held. He informed State Presidents that the NRLCA board strongly urged cancelling the 2020 State Conventions.
President Lisa Grubar held a conference call with the State Board to begin researching and discussing the contractual and constitutional issues involved in cancelling the State Convention.
As the NRLCA continued encouraging States’ to cancel conventions, the State Board gathered information, negotiated with the hotel, and held several electronic meetings. On April 8th , a verbal agreement was reached to put aside the hotel contract with no cost to the State Association. In return, a good faith agreement to negotiate towards holding a meeting or meetings at the hotel on a future date was offered. An “agreement to cancel” was provided by the NRLCA legal counsel for the Mid States Conference. This was updated for the Convention contract and has been submitted to the hotel management for approval. At this time the State board believes that agreement, or similar, will be approved by both parties. Protecting members from potential harm is our greatest concern. Thoughtful handling of the contract cancellation allowed us to protect the members without incurring unnecessary cancellation expenses.
Based on language in the 2019 State Constitution, all current State Officers will remain in their current position until the 2021 State Convention. All Officers have accepted the term extension. No vacancies will occur due to the cancellation of the State Convention, along with the elections scheduled to be held at the annual meeting.
This was an unprecedented situation that required an unprecedented decision. That decision was reached with careful consideration and the best intentions to protect our members.
Sincerely,
Your State Board
Our Thoughts and Prayers go out to the families of Diana Newton and Emily Anderson who lost grandsons Gabriel and Tyler
NRLCA and USPS sign MOU on Temporary Expanded Use of Sick Leave for Dependent Care During COVID-19 Crisis Today, President Stutts signed an MOU expanding the use of sick leave for dependent care for rural carriers. For the 60-day duration of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), in addition to the purposes outlined in the Sick Leave for Dependent Care MOU in our National Agreement, sick leave may be used by an employee for unexpected childcare needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, employees may use sick leave for dependent care in the event they must care for a child as a result of daycare closures, school (Pre-K through Grade 12) closures, or the unavailability of a child’s primary caregiver as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This MOU does not change the 80-hour limitation for sick leave that may be used for dependent care in any leave year. Approval of sick leave for dependent care will continue to be subject to normal procedures for leave approval. This MOU will expire May 17, 2020.
Domestic Mail Manual 508 2.2 Rural Delivery Service 2.2.4 Delivery to Recipient With Contagious Disease
Mail is delivered to a customer’s mailbox if a quarantined disease exists, provided
that delivery can be made without exposure to contagion. No mail is collected from
such box while the quarantine is in force.
The Lakeland District Manager is holding twice weekly teleconferences with the NRLCA District Representative to stay connected during this ever evolving situation we are in, together. Some of the discussion today pertained to supplies of hand sanitizer, gloves and wipes; management is authorized to make these purchases. There is discussion regarding staggering start times in order to enhance the social distancing that we should all be practicing. If there are any hot topics or issues, please let me know so I can share any concerns during these meetings. Please take to heart the service talking points recently disseminated; a fractured excerpt; the White House and CDC guidance states, if you work in a critical infrastructure industry, (which includes the United States Postal Service) you have a responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule. Our core mission is to bind the Nation together, and we continue to be a vital connection for millions of people throughout the Nation. Everyone of you should be proud of what you do and what you accomplish every single day as a Postal employee. Two MOUs have recently been signed between the NRLCA and USPS, I encourage you to check NRLCA.ORG frequently, liteblue, USPS.COM and the state web-sites often, to stay fully informed on the efforts of our employer and Union. Stay safe and well,
The USPS has released a 5 year plan. go to NRLCA website for details
House Bill 2382 has passed the House. A motion to suspend the rules on 2/5/20 at 5:30 PM and pass the bill agreed to by Yeas and Nays. (2/3 required to pass) Vote was 309 Yeas and 106 Nays. Vote total Democrats 222 and Republicans 87 and 1 independent. Nays were 105 Republican and 1 independent. This bill H2382 still has to be passed by Senate and signed by the President. Congratulations on the Grass Roots movement that made this possible!
The USPS and the NRLCA have agreed to move forward with the new mapping program that has been developed and tested. Pilot offices in eight districts are being mapped now and the process will expand shortly with a goal of getting all routes mapped in the next few months
The Administration released its 2021 Budget Proposal. The proposal recommends many reforms included in the President's Task Force report on the US Postal Service from last year. The Budget proposes a combination of Operational reforms and retiree health and pension changes. Operational reforms include: changes to delivery processing mode and frequently; increased use of private sector partners; more closely aligning Postal Service employees wages with those of other Federal employees; licensing access to the mailbox ; and providing additional Government services at retail locations. Remember PAC is our way of protecting our jobs and benefits.
Attention Lakeland District Rural Carriers;
DPM (Delivery Point Manager) and LTM (Line of Travel Manager) is coming to your office and your route soon!
These programs are associated with RRECS; in the DPM program, carriers will be working with a facilitator to map points related to their route using a program specifically designed for the implementation of RRECS (rural route evaluated compensation system). LTM will follow shortly thereafter. Lakeland District has gathered about 50 facilitators, Rural Carriers and Managers, to work in offices around the district with the carrier assigned to a route, to enter data into these programs. We are expected to be completed by the end of June, so the better prepared, the smoother it will go!
There is much preparation for the first step, DPM; responsibilities that are assigned to Management as well as Carriers; edit books must be current and in delivery order. All addresses accounted for. PO Boxes or new pre-construction deliveries, if lumped at the end or beginning of the edit book must be moved to proper sequence within the edit book. PS4003s must be in delivery order, it must match the edit book. All the header data on the 4003 must be accurate. Carrier case labels must be in the same delivery order as the edit book, the PS4003 AND you have to be delivering the route in this exact same order. On another set of edit book pages, markings to group together cluster box units and NDCBUs, curb line deliveries that are within close proximity (less than 5’), traffic control points, location of RR crossings and school zones. You may need to acquire site maps for apartment complexes or trailer parks if you deliver to these types of structures, to assist with plotting (the 4) points. (MailBox, MailStop, ParkPoint, FrontDoor)
All the extra work (listed here and more) associated with getting ready for mapping is compensated for, as is the time spent with a facilitator doing the mapping. As the carrier assigned to the route, your input is vital; your input is what will be entered in to the program. Make sure you are well informed and well prepared, so you can create an accurate base-line of your route in the program for when implementation of RRECS arrives.
Current EMA
On March 11, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the February 2020 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which established the Private Transportation Index at 203.056, a decrease from the November 2019 Index of 205.481. Therefore, based on the February 2020 CPI-W release, the Equipment Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for rural carriers will decrease 1.0¢ to 71.0¢ per mile.
This EMA rate will be effective March 28, 2020 (Pay Period 08-2020).
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2019 National Convention First Timers Chelcee Owens, Blake Jurasich, Paul Mendernach, Tim Shaw
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2018 Member of the Year Tim Sutton
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A picture from the past. Emmet Bennett, Emily Anderson, Lee Cutright, Joyce Wilson, Steve Traylor, Nancy Traylor, Janice Jeremiah, Terry Powell.