M.I.A.R.A.P. is in effect for 2010. Carriers, it’s time to pay attention to what is going on around your route and the things that happen to your route, so you can get good data when they are trying to adjust your route. Pay attention to the 3999s. Pay attention to the 3116s that you fill out for carrier’s assistance. Make sure that anyone that assists you punch in on the right code. Should there be any discrepancies, you need to bring them to your shop steward immediately.

M.I.A.R.A.P. can be a great tool when the mail comes back to your route.
At the membership meeting of February 11, 2010, we will have computers set up in order for you to sign up for COLCPE and be an e-Activist. Come to the membership meeting early so there will be no disruptiveness during the start of the meeting. All union members are welcome.

Union Plus is something union carriers need to know about. It is not just a credit card. Because you are a union member, Union Plus offers various types of discounts, scholarships, mortgages, grants and assistance in hard times to help you with your home heating bills. It also provides legal services. To find out more about Union Plus, you can go to www.UnionPlus.org/ATT or call 1-800-897-7046.

Remember all active carriers should be planning for the second phase of their vacations. It must be submitted by January 31, 2010. It will be posted by March 1, 2010, but no later than March 15th. The second phase of your vacation is from April until November, 2010.

Branch 36 had a mailing in December, 2009; a raffle book was mailed to every union member in Branch 36, whether the carrier is active or retired. The raffle books are not just raffle books. The raffle books are a way to win a prize while supporting your eyeglass plan. No member has ever been turned down for eyeglasses if the member-applicant is eligible. Let’s find that raffle book and mail it back as soon as possible, so that we can still SEE the future with Branch 36 eyeglass vouchers.

February is Black History Month and did you know that the earliest African-Americans to work for the United States mail service were slaves?

Did you know that these slaves carried the mail in the South before 1802?

Did you know that after the Civil War, African-Americans took positions throughout the Post Office Department?

Did you know that James W. Mason, who was born a slave, was the first known African-American postmaster?

Did you know that President Theodore Roosevelt tested his federal powers against racial problems when he refused to allow a community to drive out an African-American postmaster, Minnie Cox, of Indianola, Mississippi. You can find more historical facts stated on the website: www.usps.com/postalhistory/_pdf/
AfricanAmericanWorkers19thc.pdf.

This is for carriers that like football. Branch 36 is hosting its First Annual MDA Superbowl Bash. It will cost you $20. This includes three big screen TVs and refreshments beer and hot dogs. You do not have to watch the Superbowl at home alone. Come spend it with fellow letter carriers and give to a great cause.. So, on February 7, 2010, the doors will open at 5:00 p.m. at the Percy T. McRae Meeting Hall, at 347 West 41st Street, NYC.

No projected accumulation for the sixth regular cost-of-living adjustment for active letter carriers. There is no accumulation toward the 2010 COLA for retirees. The projected accumulation for the 2010 COLA under the FECA was 3.5 percent. This will reflect the CPI change between December, 2008 and December, 2009. It will become effective March 1, 2010.

Until next time everybody, I look forward to providing you with more information about future events.

Open season starts 11-09-2009 through 12-14-2009 for the health insurance.NALC health insurance is still one of the top insurances in the OPM packages, price wise and doctor wise. Active letter carriers with "self-only" will pay $44.75, self and family will pay only $86.11. The cost of retirees with "self-only" is $147.00 monthly. Self and families for retirees pay $299.74. Compare these prices with any other health plan in the OPM book of health plans. Once again you will find out this is one of the best plans. Retirees who wish to switch to this plan during open season can call OPM #Express. The telephone number is 1-800-332-9798.

In the month of December, there will be no penalty overtime from Saturday, 12- 05-09, until Saturday, January 2, 2010. Right now you should have gotten your vacation packages for the first-phase of vacations. The nonchoice vacation bids should be in by December 15, 2009. and should be posted by December 31, 2009. The second phase of the choice vacation bids must be in by January 31, 2010 and posted by March 1, 2010, or whichever possible but no later than March 15, 2010. The Postal Service leave year begins on January 2nd.

Do not forget December 31, 2009. If you have a son or daughter graduating from high school you can complete an application in the Postal Record which appears in the November issue of each year for the Doherty & Donelon Scholarships. These scholarships are available in honor of NALC's president from 1941 to 1962, the William C. Doherty Scholarship Fund will again award five $4,000 scholarships to children of members in good standing. The John T. Donelon Scholarship Fund will award one $1,000 scholarship in honor of Donelon, longtime NALC assistant to the president. Make sure you have the application signed by a Branch Officer before the deadline date.

The Postal Service is activating GPS Systems in 50 of their postal trucks that are driven by letter carriers. The station that will receive these GPS is the Centralized Collection Unit housed in the Manhattan VMF Building. Before driving these trucks, management is required to give the carriers a service talk before you can operate it. No telling what management will tell you. I will be giving you the model of the GPS System which is M3G-2. This is a real time vehicle tracking system. If you are interested here is the website that will give you all of its capability, www.gpsfleetsolutions.com/GPS. If you would like to know what you are driving, you should take a minute to do your homework. I will be.

The NALC 2010 convention will take place in Anaheim, CA. The dates are 8/9 through 8/13. If you are a delegate, this is the week you need to put in for. This week will not be charged to you as a vacation week. This should be put in as a convention week.

This is a good thing to end the year with. There will be no MIARAP to adjust any routes from November 15th to January 10, 2010. Carriers, enjoy your holiday from MIARAP.

Our first nation-wide NALC Bowl-A-Thon was a success. Branch 36 was able to raise $4,000 for MDA. The total national fund-raising figure will be posted in December in the Postal Record.

Once again, the Dinner-Dance was a success. Those of you who did not participate missed an additional good festive social gathering. Hopefully, you will be present at the next one in 2010.

Until next time everybody, I look forward to providing you with more information about future events.

On July 26th we had Branch 36's Family Day Picnic, which was a great success. The weather was fine and we fed over seven hundred people. We had a lot of fun and relaxation. Those of you who did not attend should look for Family Day next year, 2010.

There are a few carriers who wander away from the union. They are always welcome to return.

On September 13th, Branch 36 held its retirees' Brunch. I was happy to see the old-timers' return for this event. There were about 150 retirees in attendance. To my surprise, three 50-year pins and one 70-year plaque were presented by John Springman, Patrick J. McNally and Tony Ortiz. This means letter carriers do enjoy a long life, after retirement. Hope to see more retirees attend next year. Make it come true.

Now then, let's get rid of a few rumors. MIRAP is still here. It's time for letter carriers to pay attention to this process because you do have a lot of input if you do use it. Learn the system. Right now it is here to stay. One way we can learn is to attend union meetings and ask questions. All questions will be answered. The combination assignments are still being tested. You should know what your eight-hour day is and be able to break it down into time slots. This will help you prepare for this adjustment

Clerks are turning over to be made letter carriers. I don't know the process of how and who are selected. Congratulations TE! Transitional workers are being reassigned. This is a good thing because they are union members and now have rights

HR22 was voted on and passed by the House of Representatives. This bill now has to pass through the Senate, which looks very good. Thanks to the Eactivists who rallied for our union to let Congress know how important this bill is to the Postal Service

New events are coming to Branch 36. Our first charity event for the fall is the Card Tournament at Branch 36 Meeting Hall. It will be held on Saturday, October 24,2009 at 6:00 p.m. Call the Branch at 212-239-3901, to reserve your seat.

I hope you and your family can enjoy this next event, which is a National Bowl-a-Thon sponsored by the NALC on Sunday, November 1, 2009 between 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Branch 36 has two bowling locations: 110 University Place, NY, NY 10003. To sign up for this location, call Mike Kelly @ 845-728-3334. The second location is 2116 7th Avenue, NY, NY 10027. To sign up for this location, Call David Velazquez @ 212-330-3605, or call your Branch office at: 21 2-239-3901.

There will be no cost of living adjustment, but active letter carriers in November will receive their next raise under this contract. There is no projected calculation at present for the retirees for the cost of living adjustment.

The next event is one of the best celebrations of the year for letter carriers, and is one you should not miss. It is always a lot of fun and is always talked about. This is Branch 36's 33rd Annual Dinner-Dance at the Marina Del-Rey on November 8, 2009.We at Branch 36 will be.honoring one of our own. Brian Hellman. He is now a national officer. He is the NALC Director of Safety and Health. He came from FDR Station, where he worked for many years. If you know Brian, you know this is one event that you should attend. He is a carrier who always fought for the union and still does. Those who want a table at this Dinner-Dance should call as soon as possible to reserve a table.

All stations should remember to take a journal ad because it benefits you as well as your family. The journal ads sponsor our Branch 36 eyeglass plan and the scholarship awards, which are presented each year.

Until next time everybody, I look forward to providing you with more information about future events.

Let's resolve these rumors.
Rumor 1: Clerks are joining the carriers' craft. If you read the literature you will know that this rumor is true. In the month of June, clerks are becoming carriers.
Rumor 2: The Postal Service will deliver mail five days a week. This rumor is untrue. The carriers, with the help of Congress, will not tolerate a five-day workweek. Five days can hurt the Postal Service.
Instead of listening to rumors, read the literature and attend meetings, especially because of the way the economic situation is today. You need firsthand information, not rumors.

During our Annual Food Drive in May, 2009, letter carriers collected a record 73.4 million pounds of food across the country. Branch 36, with the help of the camers, collected over 92,000 pounds, 30,000 more pounds than last year. With the way the economy is today, this will help replenish food banks, which helps a lot of farnilies.

Event Flash: For the letter carriers and their families. Our 6th Annual Picnic will kickoff on Sunday, July 26, 2009 in FDR Park. All letter carriers and their families are welcome. We will be serving food from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. The Branch is supplying activities for the children. Come to the park early and get your spot. This event will only cost you $6.00 per car to enter the park. The next event is Branch 36 Day at Citi Field on Sunday, August 16, 2009. The Mets will play the San Francisco Giants. Tickets are going fast. Tickets are $20.00 each. This will get you a trinket from the Mets and a T-shirt. You need to call Branch 36 to get your order in. Last but not least, is the Branch 36 Annual Dinner Dance. The Annual Dinner-Dance will take place on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at Marina Del Rey, from 11:30 a.m. through 4:30 p.m.

Shop Stewards will be coming around through the summer and into September to get a journal ad to place in Branch 36's Dinner-Dance Journal. The journal ads will support the eyeglass program and the scholarship program. This year, we will be honoring Brian Hellman, one of our own carriers from FDR Station, who is now the NALC Director of Safety and Health. He is now one of the resident officers in Washington, D.C. Every letter carrier should attend the Dinner-Dance to show support for Brian Hellman. He has always supported Branch 36.

Over the summer, the retirees will be sent a letter informing them of the Retiree Brunch on Sunday, September 13, 2009. This year it will be at a new location, the Hard Rock Cafe on 43rd Street. Make sure you return your form early. Hope to see all retirees in September.

Branch 36 is pushing a new way to give to COLCPE. It is payroll deduction. Every shop steward has forms that they will give you to fill out. Giving to COLCPE is like having job insurance. This helps to support our friends in Washington.

In the month of June, ten transitional carriers were terminated due to the decline in mail volume. This is one way the Postal Service can lay you off. This layoff cannot be pretexual. If you receive a letter of termination and think this termination is pretextual, you need to contact your shop steward immediately and give him/her a statement as to why you feel this is a false reason to hide the real reason for your termination.

Welcome aboard all clerks who are now letter carriers.

Until next time, I look forward to providing you with more information and keeping you posted about future events.

Senior letter carriers of Branch 36, if you like to drive and have a combination wagon that lost their collections, you should think about bidding to get into the new centralized collection unit. Don't wait until all the junior carriers have filled these positions. Every carrier should make sure that they bid for an assignment that the work can be tested. That's one way to protect your assignment. If you have an assignment like a reserve camer, with no core of duties, no telling what you will have in the future. It's best to have an assignment than to be an unassigned regular waiting for management to give you a job.

To bring us back to the brighter side of Branch 36 and the Postal Service, here are a few events we need to concentrate on. Get ready to have another successful Food Drive campaign. Everyone needs to participate. There are a lot of people without jobs and we are blessed to have a job. So let's give a little.

We are also offering a seminar to those who are thinlung about retiring and want to know about the Thrift Savings Plan, on Thursday, May 7,2009 located at Branch 36 at 5:00 p.m. Also, the Postal Service has offered another volunteer early retirement. Eligible carriers must apply by June 19,2009. Those carriers who are 50 years old with 20 years of service, or are of any age with at least 25 years of service are eligible and may select one of these effective dates to retire: May 3 1,2009, June 30,2009 or July 3 1,2009. Those covered by CSRS must accept a permanent reduction in their annuities of 2% for each year they are under the age of 55. There is no reduction for eligible carriers covered by FERS, but those carriers will not receive the special supplementary annuity benefit payable to the annuitants under the age of 62 until they reach their minimum retirement age of 55-57 depending upon the employee's year of birth. The Postal Service does not provide any financial incentives.

Don't forget we'll have our 5th Annual Branch 36 Comedy Show for M.D.A. It will be held Saturday, May 30,2009. The price will be $40 for buffet, comedy show, open bar and after-party. We have comics from HBO, so come join us once again. It wdl be great fun.

Branch 36 is going to have a defensive driving class for all New York State driver licenses on Sunday, May 17,2009, at Branch 36 from 10:00 am-4:00 p.m. Drivers who complete this course will receive a savings of 10% on their liability and collision insurance for three years. It will also reduce 4 points from your driving record in New York State.

Remember to prepare for the Branch 36 Family Day Picnic, which will be held in F.D.R. Park on July 26,2009. Come! Have fun! Bring your family! Enjoy the other families!

Until next time, I look forward to providing you with more information and keeping you posted about future events.

The post office still has a declining mail volume which happens not to directly affect the letter carrier at this time. The way the Postal Service is dealng with this matter is downsizing, concerning which on Friday 28th the first group of retirees would have taken the early out. We do not know how that nunher will affect the budget within the Postal Service. Another way to deal with this matter is by cutting overtime; that is why the Postal Service has been doing minor route adjustments. This is a way to bring the route around eight hours so no one loses his/her job.

Every E-Activist should get to their computers and correspond with their Congressmen urging them to adopt legislation for the bill HR22. This bill will help the Postal Service to free up billions of dollars that Congress has them prepaying into future Retirees Health Fund, which no other govanmental agency has been forced to do as yet. Under our new president and new labor friendly Congress, we should be able to get bills passed. That is why CQLCPE is so important to tbe letter carriers fight.

Stated in the NALC Bulletin is the following: For the fifth consecutive year, letter carriers and other postal employees are the most trusted federal employees according to a new survey by Ponimon institute, as in every year since the survey started in 2004.

Let not forget our Branch 36 Scholarship Raffle that was mailed out in December, 2008. This raffle should be mailed back or retnrned in person by March 12th to Branch 36 . Buy a chance and help a good cause, but please return it. It will benefit you with scholarships for your children and eyeglasses for every carrier.

For all thme Branch 36 members who are also credit union members, the annual meeting will be held on March 26,2009 in the Percy T. McRae: Meeting Hall at 5:00 p.m. Following the meeting, refreshments will be served. The new vacation loan opened on February 23, 2009 and will remain open until September 23, 2009, The credit union will still make a way for you to enjoy your vacation.

Dayligtht Savings Time begins March 8th. That mans it will be lighter for a longer period of time, and you will have more time to spend with your family during the daylight hours.

Branch 36 is having its second Tournament m May 2, 2009 for MDA. This tourament will be a little different because if you bring five rion-perishable items or $5.00, you will receive an extra 500 in chips.

PLEASE REMEMBER if you have a child who is eligible for a scholarship, fill out application no later than March 21 , which will be featured in the Outlook
I wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day, Happy Passover and joyous Easter.
Until next time, I look fornard to providing you,with more infomation and keeping you posted about future events.

This is the year we cannot stop giving. We have to make COLCPE stronger. Now that we have a new democratic president who's labor friendly, along with a Senate and Congress with a Democratic party majority, we need to use COLCPE to make a change, whereas COLCPE was used to fight off the last eight years of the Bush administration. It is the job of all of us to make the change in the new democratic administration by giving what we can.

It is time for us to continue helping M.D.A. Last year Branch 36 sent 50 children to camp, and our goal is to increase that number. Our first fund raiser was the Texas Hold-Em, which was held January 10,2009. The second fund-raiser, which is always a lot of fun, is the Comedy Show. It will take place on February 28, 2009. These events took place and will take place at Branch 36 Meeting Hall at 7:00 p.m. Call the Branch office and speak to Dina by calling; (212) 239-3901.

Let us not forget our Branch 36 Scholarship Fund Raffle tickets that were mailed out in December, 2008. Those raffle tickets must be mailed back or returned in person by March 12,2009. Everyone who received an envelope in the mail needs to participate. The raffle book costs $10 for six tickets. Take a chance! Help a good cause!

President William Burrus of the A.P.W.U. is extending an invitation to all NALC activists to attend the inaugural assembly of Barack Obama at the NAHB located at 1201 15" Street N.W., Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2009. The space will be reserved from 7:00 a.m. to midnight.

The COLA has not projected the fourth cost of living adjustment of our contract for March 2009.

TE's should follow the same uniform schedule that was set up in September 2007.

Until next time, I'll look forward to providing you with more information and keep you posted about future events.

Those of you who weren't able to attend our annual dinner-dance at the Marina Del Rey missed another great event. This year we honored Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of the 14" Congressional District. Also in attendance were the families of the late Leon Brown and the late Award Mikhael. We remembered these two officers of Branch 36. There were about 500 partygoers celebrating these special individuals. Carriers, this is your dinner-dance, and it is a great dance. Every station, every carrier, should make every effort to join us next year for the carriers' celebration.

Bless everyone for this early out on November 21". Carriers who chose to retire, congratulations.

Now is the time for open season in the Health Benefit Plan. It starts November 10th and ends December 8th. Every letter carrier should sit with his/her family and think very seriously about the NALC Health Benefit Plan. This is a letter carrier owned plan of high quality. You can compare it with all other plans and you will see that the NALC Health Benefit Plan offers the same as other plans, and much much more, at a less expensive cost. It is superior to other plans. The price for "self-only" increased by 10 cents from last year, and its cost is still $32.71. "Self and family" increased by $8.30 with a new cost of $62.84 bi-weekly. The co-pay for an office visit is $15.00, decreased by $5.00. All retirees need to look at this plan too. "Self-Only" decreased by $4.98 with a monthly premium of $122.42. "Self and Family" increased by $5.14. This monthly premium is $252.14. This is a great deal to be a part of your own letter carrier owned union plan.

Parents, remember 12-31-08 is the deadline to return the scholarship application for Doherty & Donelon. It must be signed by one officer of Branch 36. If you have a child graduating high school in 2009, you can apply.

Members should start attending general membership meetings on the second Thursday of every month. Stop listening to rumors and come get your information first hand.

The fnst phase of the non-choice vacations should be posted by November 3, 2008. V Time will stop on December 6, 2008 and end on January 2,2009.

I hope every letter carrier felt the way I did on November 4,2008 when I became a part of history by voting to make a change by voting for Senator Barack Obama to be'the next president of the United States. I hope every letter carrier went out and voted and to those of you who failed to vote, shame on you!

Until next time, I will look forward to providing you with more information and keeping you posted about future events.