Born in Murphysboro, IL, Brother Helsley proudly served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1982 to 2002, retiring honorably with the rank of gunnery sergeant. After his military retirement, he continued his commitment to public service, spending the next 22 years as a letter carrier and NALC member. Until recently, he served as president of Branch 56, a position he held with dedication for the past eight years.

Those who knew Brother Helsley remember him for his joyful sense of humor and unwavering commitment to his fellow letter carriers.

Brother Helsley is survived by his wife, Amy; his children, Justin, Lyndsey, Cody, Kent and Amanda; nine grandchildren; and many other loving family members and friends.

“NALC mourns the loss of Brother Helsley,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “On behalf of NALC, I commend his years of devoted service to his branch and community, and I extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Today, NALC joins all Americans in honoring and celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s message that workers’ rights and human rights are intertwined is as evident as ever. Today, NALC recommits to the ongoing fight for civil and human rights, economic justice and dignified workplaces.

As we head into collective bargaining next month, Dr. King’s teachings and philosophies will guide us as we fight for a fair contract. Dr. King said, “The time is always right to do what is right.” Regardless of how difficult it may be or what challenges might surface, NALC is committed to fighting together for what is right, just and fair for letter carriers at the bargaining table.

NALC is also sponsoring this year’s AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference. We look forward to continued opportunities to work alongside the entire labor movement in our collective effort to combat discrimination and injustice, fight for equality and voting rights, and to finally realize Dr. King’s dream.

The second group of Rank-and-File Bargaining Committees has convened and is meeting in person in the Washington, DC, area. This group of 30 letter carriers from across the country is divided into three committees: Branch Leaders, Contract Enforcers and Newer Members.  

Branch Leaders

Contract Enforcers

Newer members

• Desiray Anderson—Southern Delaware Branch 906
• Jacinta Fair—Colorado Springs, CO Branch 204
• Daniel Gordon—Warwick, RI Branch 3166
• Jade McBride—Olympia, WA Branch 351
• Brett Meissinger—Colby, KS Branch 4635
• Josiah Morse—Maine Merged Branch 92
• Kiara O’Donnell—Saint Paul, MN Branch 28
• Chris Podunajec—Paducah, KY Branch 383
• Ryan Raeke—Wichita Falls, TX Branch 1227
• Diana Sanchez—Garden Grove, CA Branch 1100

Branches can register via the Members Only portal. The registration deadline is Friday, March 20, 2026. Watch the video below for step-by-step instructions on how to register.

For additional information and resources, visit the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive tool kit. The tool kit webpage will continue to be updated as this year’s food drive approaches.

In anticipation of the 2026 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, NALC President Brian L. Renfroe shared the following:

“Letter carriers are in every community and can see who in their communities are in need. Our members step up every year by filling the shelves of local food pantries through the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, the largest one-day food drive in the country. NALC’s commitment to this effort is unwavering, and we look forward to another successful drive in 2026.”

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 the training 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 San Antonio is $285 single/double plus tax. 

Pursuant to the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, the act permits eligible nonexempt employees to deduct the premium portion of overtime pay from their federal taxable income. This deduction applies to the portion of overtime pay required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). For tax years 2025 through 2028, employees who receive qualified overtime compensation may claim this deduction, subject to applicable limits and eligibility criteria.

Branch presidents may begin registering branch officers for the training through the branch president’s Members Only portal. The registration directions are below.

This session covers completing the annual LM-2, a lengthy report that is required to be filed by branches with total annual receipts of more than $250,000.

The class will begin at noon Eastern time and will be four and a half hours long.

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NALC has developed the ability to create a registration and training gateway through the Members Only portal on the NALC website. 

Registration

Once a meeting has been scheduled through the Members Only portal, branch presidents will need to register their members in order for them to attend. To access the registration option, branch presidents can go to the NALC website at nalc.org and log in to the Members Only portal. Once logged in to the Members Only portal, click the “Meetings Registration” button, which will display a list of upcoming meetings. From there, presidents can register a member(s) by entering their last name in the “Search” box and selecting the correct member from the drop-down list. A member can also be removed from the “Registry” list by checking the box under the “delete” column next to the corresponding member. Branch presidents will not be able to register more than the maximum number of attendees per branch or exceed the maximum number of attendees for that session. The maximum number of registrants per branch and for the session, as well as the registered-to-date counts, are displayed on the registration screen.

Training materials

Training materials and other pertinent information may be supplied for each session in the form of PDFs. These documents will be available to registrants on their Members Only portal. The documents can be printed, copied and/or saved.

Accessing meeting information and/or joining the meeting

When a registered member wants to access training materials, view topics or join a meeting, they can go to the NALC website at nalc.org and log in to the Members Only portal. Once logged in to the portal, the member will press the “Meetings” button, which will display a list of those meetings the member is registered to attend. For each meeting, there will be three buttons: The “Documents” button will give the member access to the training materials; the “Topics” button will give the member access to a list of topics (if any); and the “Join” button. The “Join” button will appear 10 minutes prior to the start time on the day of the meeting. If you log in to the Members Only portal sooner than 10 minutes prior to the start of the meeting, you will need to exit to the home page and re-enter to access the “Join” button. Once you select the “Join” button, you will be taken to a Webex website titled “Starting your meeting…”  Scroll down to select “Join from your browser.” When joining, the member will be prompted to enter their name and email address in order to attend the meeting. Proceed by selecting the “Next” button, followed by the “Join Meeting” button.   

During this week’s meeting, the Executive Council discussed priorities and key economic components of the National Agreement as part of the ongoing collective-bargaining preparation process. While at Headquarters, NALC’s six collective-bargaining subcommittees, composed of Executive Council members and letter carrier staff, are continuing to meet to review information and develop bargaining proposals. Following last month’s national rap session in Cleveland, OH, subcommittees are reviewing members’ feedback, suggestions and ideas received at the event.

An entire day of the national rap session was devoted to attendees hearing from each subcommittee and learning about the articles of the National Agreement they are working on, as well as the ideas and proposals the subcommittees have discussed so far. A significant portion of each presentation was dedicated to attendee questions and feedback. Subcommittee members answered questions and took notes, which are now being reviewed as they work to finalize their proposals. Videos, podcasts and more from the rap session can be found at nalc.org/2025rap.

Additionally, subcommittees have reviewed a wide range of materials, including official NALC bargaining positions, prior bargaining proposals, collective-bargaining agreements of other unions, and reports from the Rank-and-File Committee that met in mid-September.

Next month, a second Rank-and-File Committee will convene outside of Washington, DC. Organized into groups of branch leaders, contract enforcers and newer members, the committee undertakes a weeklong review process similar to that used by the Executive Council and staff on the bargaining subcommittees. As with the first Rank-and-File Committees, the input they provide will offer valuable guidance for the subcommittees as they refine and finalize their proposals.

NALC will continue to provide updates on the collective-bargaining preparation process.