“Rep. Chavez-DeRemer is an excellent choice to serve in this pivotal role. In her brief time serving in Congress, she has been a strong ally to letter carriers and organized labor.

“She is a cosponsor of the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act, the Federal Retirement Fairness Act and voted to pass the Social Security Fairness Act earlier this month. She is also a cosponsor of the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act. Her record proves that she values worker safety, retirement fairness, and unions. 

“Leadership at DOL is pivotal in safeguarding working conditions, such as heat safety and the Office of Worker Compensation (OWCP), which injured letter carriers rely on. We cannot think of a better person to lead in these critical efforts.

“NALC appreciates President-elect Trump’s choice, congratulates Rep. Chavez-DeRemer and looks forward to her swift confirmation in order to continue our strong working relationship with her to protect letter carriers.”

Rep. Chavez-DeRemer is serving in her first term in Congress. She recently lost a tight race to Democratic challenger Janelle Bynum. She previously served two terms as mayor of Happy Valley, OR.

Brother Yates, affectionately known as Bill, devoted his life to his family, his country and his union. A proud U.S. Navy veteran, Bill’s service to his country and community spanned many years and left a lasting impact on the lives of letter carriers nationwide.

Bill’s distinguished career with the NALC began in the 1970s. He held several key leadership positions, including executive vice president of Long Island, N.Y., Merged Branch 6000; national business agent for Region 15 from 1986 to 1994; and secretary-treasurer of the NALC from 1995 to 2002. His tireless dedication to the membership earned him the respect and admiration of NALC members, and he played a pivotal role in advocating for letter carriers and improving their working conditions.

Outside of his work with the NALC, Brother Yates was a loving husband, father, grandfather and brother. He is survived by his wife of many years, Constance “Connie” Yates; children Christine and James; grandchildren Joseph, Anthony, William and Ryan; and his brother, Kenneth. He was preceded in death by his brother Thomas.

“Bill’s commitment to his family and his brothers and sisters in the NALC set an example for us all,” said NALC President Brian L. Renfroe. “He was a leader who never stopped working for what was right, and his legacy will continue to inspire future generations of letter carriers. On behalf of NALC, I extend my deepest condolences to Jim and to all of Brother Yates’ family, friends and all who had the privilege of working with him.”

On behalf of the 280,000 members of NALC, I am calling on the Senate to pass the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82). Following Tuesday’s victory when the House voted overwhelmingly to pass H.R. 82, it is time for the Senate to act and consider this legislation as soon as possible.

NALC proudly represents 90,000 retired letter carriers from every state in the nation, many of whom are victimized by the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. These retirees spent their working lives serving their communities, and it is unconscionable that some of them are not receiving the full Social Security benefits that they earned and were promised.

Passing the Social Security Fairness Act in the Senate is NALC’s top legislative priority in the remaining weeks of the 118th Congress. The Senate companion bill has 62 bipartisan cosponsors, more than enough for passage, and I am calling on the Senate to vote on it as soon as possible.

I urge every senator to prioritize this issue, support letter carriers, and finally repeal the WEP and GPO by passing the Social Security Fairness Act. 

Every active letter carrier eligible to vote in the contract ratification election will be mailed a copy of the changes in the proposed 2023-2026 National Agreement between NALC and USPS, along with the ballot materials. Eligibility to vote is defined by Article 16, Section 1 of the NALC Constitution which provides:

“Ratification shall be a mail referendum vote, and the ballot shall be mailed only to regular members of the NALC, as defined in Article 2, Section 1(a), excluding retirees, OWCP departees, and non-letter carrier regular members, as shown by the records of the National Secretary-Treasurer as of ninety (90) days prior to the date that the proposed agreement is reached.”

The proposed agreement was reached on October 17, 2024. The NALC Constitution also provides that “membership acceptance or rejection of a proposed National Agreement shall be by majority of valid ballots returned by the voters.” If the agreement is accepted, it will go into effect immediately. If the agreement is rejected, then, under the Postal Reorganization Act, the parties may continue bargaining or, ultimately, refer the dispute to an interest arbitration board. Under the law, decisions of the arbitration board are conclusive and binding upon the parties.

More information will be posted on the NALC website as it is available.

The ballot committee members are:

• Paul Roznowski (chair) of Branch 3126 – Royal Oak, MI
• Barbara Stickler of Branch 1100 – Garden Grove, CA
• Mike Hansen of Branch 111 – Salt Lake City, UT
• Elise Foster of Branch 11 – Chicago, IL
• Kathy Walter of Branch 704 – Tucson, AZ
• Rod Holub of Branch 1018 – Manhattan, KS
• Ryan Smith of Branch 440 – Rochester, MN
• Antonia Shields of Branch 530 – Birmingham, AL
• Sylvin Stevens of Branch 545 – Charlotte, NC
• Ethel Ford of Branch 283 – Houston, TX
• Ted N. Thompson of Branch 43 – Cincinnati, OH
• Ted Lee of Branch 84 – Pittsburgh, PA
• Delano Wilson of Branch 2611 – Silver Spring, MD
• Mike O'Neill of Branch 38 – New Jersey Merged
• Andy Weiner of Branch 562 – Jamaica, NY

The vote came after a decades long fight to repeal these unjust provisions. The bill, led by Reps. Garrett Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) has had broad bipartisan support for years, but leadership from both parties have been hesitant to bring the bill to the floor. The full vote details are available here.

“This is a major win for letter carriers and other federal annuitants who have been victimized by the WEP and GPO for decades,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. 

“We appreciate Reps. Graves and Spanberger’s steadfast leadership and commitment to finally get this bill to the floor, and we commend every House member who voted “yes” on this critical bill.

“With House passage, we are one step closer to finally righting this wrong that impacts so many CSRS retirees. We must keep up the momentum. NALC calls on the Senate to pass the Social Security Fairness Act as soon as possible and send it to the president’s desk.


“I want to thank every NALC member who lobbied their representative to support H.R. 82. I urge them to keep up the work and contact their senators. It’s time to finish the job.”

While the bill has 330 cosponsors, we need to ensure EVERY COSPONSOR votes yes to sustain the two-thirds majority needed for House passage. Every vote is critical, and it is important to ask your representative to vote yes on this priority legislation.

Take Action
Click here to contact your representative through NALC’s Legislative Action Center, or call (202) 224-3121.

More on H.R. 82
H.R. 82/S. 597 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which are parts of Social Security law that unfairly reduce or sometimes eliminate Social Security benefits of federal annuitants, including letter carriers. 

Click here for NALC’s fact sheet. 

Today, NALC honors the nation's veterans for their dedicated service, including 30 percent of our members who have served. You are all heroes, and we thank you for your commitment to preserving America’s freedoms.

Nearly 30 percent of NALC members are military veterans. Our union is proud to represent tens of thousands of veterans who chose to continue their commitment to service and community as letter carriers.

To recognize and support our veteran members, our union formed the NALC Veterans Group in 2015. This group, which is now nearly 20,000 members strong, creates comradery, provides information and tools specific to veterans’ benefits, and encourages community service that supports veterans.

This month’s issue of The Postal Record includes the name of every member of our growing veterans group. If you are a veteran and an NALC member who has not signed up, please visit nalc.org/veterans.

I join all NALC members in saying thank you to our nation’s veterans. We appreciate your sacrifice, bravery and dedication, and today we celebrate you.

Branch Officers Training sessions consist of three and a half days of educational seminars tailored to assist branch presidents, vice presidents, treasurers, recording secretaries, financial secretaries, and trustees in the performance of their duties.

Branch Officers Training covers the basics for financial officers: reporting to the Department of Labor; fiduciary duties under the Landrum-Griffin Act; bonding of branch officers and IRS reporting requirements.

Additional training topics include the NALC Constitution and branch bylaws; branch operations and identifying branch policies; maintaining accurate and complete meeting minutes; member notification requirements; record keeping; branch elections and branch dues and how to read a dues roster.

The registration form for both trainings will be included in the next NALC Bulletin. Branches and State Associations must use the registration form to register for the class.

Note: Do not make airline reservations until you receive an acceptance letter as the training has limited space. For budgeting purposes, the daily room rate for the training in Los Angeles is $209 single/double plus tax. The daily room rate for the training in Minneapolis is $159 single/double plus tax.

Steve dedicated 36 years to serving his community as a letter carrier in Gloucester City, NJ, before retiring. In addition to his work as a letter carrier and NALC leader, he enjoyed reading, grilling, visiting new craft breweries, spending time with his family, cheering on Philadelphia sports teams and listening to the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Reflecting on Brother Lipski’s positive attitude and strong will, Branch 908 President Gary DiGiacomo shared, “Steve will be remembered as the calming factor of this branch when things became testy. He was the guy we would always lean on for his honest opinion when we faced difficult decisions. As my mentor before I took over his spot 15 years ago, I can say he taught me a lot about how to lead a branch.”

Steve is survived by his wife of 43 years, Janet; three children; four grandchildren; and many friends and loved ones.

“For over 40 years, Brother Lipski was a dynamic leader in Branch 908,” said NALC President Brian L. Renfroe. “He dedicated himself to advocating for letter carriers and supporting his fellow members. His influence and legacy will endure, and he will be deeply missed. On behalf of NALC, I want to express my gratitude for Steve’s decades of service and extend my heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Article 16 of the NALC Constitution requires agreements to be ratified by a mail referendum vote among eligible NALC members. The ratification balloting process will take place over the coming weeks. The terms of the agreement are not effective unless ratified.

A special episode of the You Are the Current Resident podcast is also available. NALC President Brian Renfroe joins NALC Headquarters staffer Ed Morgan to discuss all the details of the tentative agreement. Listen here and follow along with the summary linked above.

Informational rap sessions on tentative agreement

NALC has scheduled four informational rap sessions the week of Oct. 27 for branch leaders to learn about the tentative agreement. These events will be held as follows:

• Oct. 27 – Houston, TX
• Oct. 29 – San Francisco, CA
• Oct. 31 – Minneapolis, MN
• Nov. 2 – Washington, DC

For more information and to reserve hotel rooms, click here.

“After almost 20 months of tireless negotiations, we are pleased to reach a fair agreement that rewards our members for their contributions to the Postal Service and their service to the American people,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “The NALC Executive Council will meet tomorrow, Oct. 19, to discuss the tentative agreement. All details of the agreement and upcoming informational rap sessions for branch leaders will be made available at that time.”