The first question is an easy one to answer. You either meet the requirements spelled out in law or you don't. However, the other two questions are ones that only you can answer.

Know when your annuity begins. Ideally, you'll want to retire on a date that affords a seamless break between work and retirement. To come as close as possible to achieving that, you need to know the law.

If you are a Federal Employees Retirement System employee, you must retire no later than the last day of a month to be on the annuity roll in the following month.

If you are a Civil Service Retirement System employee, you have more flexibility. You can retire up to the third day of a month and be on the annuity roll in the same month; however, your annuity for that month will be reduced by 1/30th for each of those three days that you are still on the payroll.

Get credit for unused leave. If you retire before the end of a pay period, you won't get credit for any annual or sick leave you would otherwise have earned. Gaining additional hours of annual leave is important because they are paid to you in a lump sum at your hourly rate of basic pay.

Getting credit for "use or lose" leave. If you have accumulated more annual leave than you can carry forward into the next leave year, you'll want to retire no later than the day before the new leave year begins. Otherwise, that excess leave will be lost along with the dollars you would have received in your lump sum payment.

Therefore, if you are leaning toward retiring at the end of a year, it's important to know when the leave year ends. In 2008, it ended on Jan. 3, 2009, and many CSRS employees took advantage of that fact, giving up three days of their January annuity payment in order to gain the annual and sick leave they earned in that final pay period

In 2009, the first-month annuity reduction will be even less, because the leave year ends on January 2, 2010. The same is true in 2010, when the leave year ends on Jan. 1, 2011. (And yes, you can retire on a holiday.)

December 31, 2011, the end of the leave year in 2011, is a magic date for FERS and CSRS employees.

FERS employees can walk off the payroll and onto the annuity roll without losing a day of pay, and any CSRS employee can do the same without losing a day of annuity.

PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR ALL THOSE WONDERFUL MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY WHO HAVE SERVED HONORABLY IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THIS COUNTRY.

Before retirement, it is the employee's responsibility to contact the person designated in his or her personnel office for retirement counseling, in this case, the Shared Services for Postal Retirement (1-877-477-3273). This should be done in sufficient time to allow that person answers to retirement questions and to address related problems the employee may be facing. The employee should ask to review his or her official personnel folder to make sure all service is documented. An Annuity estimate should also be requested if one has not already been provided. The retirement application should also be carefully reviewed, especially the section where elections are made for survivor benefits since, in most cases, these are irrevocable decisions after the application has been processed by OPM. Understanding and making appropriate decisions about continuing health and life insurance into retirement is equally important.

The Postal Service responsibility in relation to the above is to take the necessary steps to assure that employees are able to make informed decisions regarding their retirement, health and life insurance benefits. The agency bears responsibility for the quality and timeliness of submission of the records to OPM.

The Office of Personnel Management has overall responsibility for administering retirement benefits under CRS and FERS. In processing applications for retirement, an OPM benefits specialist will review all documents to verify entitlement to annuity, health and life benefits. After retirement, OPM serves as the retiree's personnel and payroll office.

Retirees needing specific information about their cases or changes in their accounts may contact OPM at 1-888-767-6738 or by letter to OPM Retirement Operation Center, Boyers, PA 16017, or go on-line to servicesonline.opm.gov, use your pin number and CSA number.

As Director of Retirees, I would like to thank all of the Branch 36 members for reelecting the officers by acclamation to three more years in office. We are proud to continue to represent all of you concerning all your union needs. We sincerely look forward to doing so.

The historic wildcat walkout led directly to full collective bargaining rights for carriers and other postal employees under the Postal Reorganization Act, which was passed in the aftermath of the strike and created the U.S. Postal Service from the remains of the tottering Cabinet level Post Office Department. The pay and benefits today’s letter carriers enjoy have been built upon that foundation. Unless you lived through the event, it’s difficult today to believe how desperate and frustrated rank
and file union members were in the late 1 960s. It was so bad that neither the threat of federal prison nor the appeals of national union leaders could forestall the uprising that began with our Branch 36, and caught the nation by surprise. Tired of low pay and empty promises, some 14,000 Manhattan letter carriers walked off the job March 18, 1970, leading to the largest wildcat walkout in U.S. history.

Eventually, 200,000 postal employees were on strike nationwide as clerks and drivers eagerly joined the carriers. In the years since the strike, the NALC has continued the struggle to make a better life for letter carriers and their families. With the inspiration of the heroes of 1970, and the continued support from the membership, this union, your union, will carry the struggle forever. Because of this incredible action, today letter carriers have better pay with benefits and security.

Examining the cost and benefits of the various plans is critical to this process. It is often easy to see what the cost is, the rates are right out there to see, but it takes some more study to understand the wide variance of benefits that are included in each of the plans. That's why it is very important that you examine carefully not only the cost of the various plans, but equally important. the benefits that they provide so that you can be sure that you and your family get the coverage that you deserve and
need. I am confident that you will find in the NALC Health Benefit Plan the level of benefit protection you are seeking for yourself and your family. If you are currently enrolled in the NALC Health Benefit Plan, stay with it and protect your family. For those not currently enrolled, the Open Season period during which postal and federal employees can enroll in health benefit plans for 2010, run from November 9th through December 14th.

I'd like to congratulate all those members who retired from the Postal Service this year. You've been loyal to the public for years, and now it's time for a new life.

PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS FERS SICK LEAVE BILL

President Obama on October 28th signed into law legislation to allow letter carriers and other postal and government workers under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to receive credit for unused sick leave in the calculation of their annuities.

The measure, which had been rolled into the Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 2647), provides FERS postal employees and survivor annuitants - on a phased-in basis - with the same retirement benefit for unused sick leave as retirees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). Those who retire before January 1, 2014 will receive 50 percent of their unused sick leave credited towards their annuity, after which point FERS employees will receive full credit on par with their CSRS counterparts.

Here are more good reasons why 90,000 retired letter carriers are members of NALC.

We protect your annuity. On Capitol Hill we lobby hard, politic and make contributions through our political action committee, to keep your retirement checks safe from congressional meddling.

We go to bat to solve your problems. Our Retirement Department will answer your Questions, check with OPM, give you free publications about your annuity and survivor benefits. Try our 800-number retiree help line! We advise and help dozens of carriers each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10:00 am - noon and 2-4:00 p.m. (EDT).

We keep you up-to-date. We send you the monthly Postal Record, the quarterly NALC Retiree, and legislative bulletins and alerts.

Free insurance. Every retired member gets a free $5,000 accidental death policy. Please sign up and stay with us. Do yourself a favor in your retirement and keep the NALC strong. See the following instructions for retaining NALC membership.

1. Fill out the enclosed Form 1189. Your dues will be paid automatically through deductions from your retirement annuity check, pursuant to the NALC Constitution, Article 2, Section 1 (e).
2. If you are a member of the NALC Health Benefit Plan, you must retain NALC membership.
3. Make sure to fill in your Civil Service Annuity Number, which comes from OPM, sign the form under 'Signature of Annuitant."
4. Forward all copies of the form to your local NALC branch. A branch officer will complete the branch's portion of the form, forward the original to NALC headquarters and return the member's copy to you. 5. Deductions will be made each month. It may take a few months for them to begin. Any necessary adjustment will take place in the first deduction. Your dues are only $2.00 per month as a retiree. 6. If you have retired through OWCP, the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, you are not eligible for annuity dues deductions through OPM. You must contact your NALC branch and pay the dues directly to the local union.

SPECIAL HOLIDAY WISHES TO ALL OF YOU. MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS AND WISHES COME TRUE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AND ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE.

Present at the Brunch were past President Frank Oraplio and his wife Rosemary and past Recording Secretary Ruben Santiago and his wife Rosa. From Wahhington, D.C. arrived the Director of Retirees Ernest Kirkland. Our own National Business Agent Larry Cirelli also made an appearance.

I wish to thank all the retirees who attended the 37th Brunch and I look forward to seeing a greater number of retirees in attendance next year at this gala fun event.

On July 3rd Fredric V. Rolando was sworn in as the 18th president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. President Rolando will govern our national union during the most challenging and turbulent era ever faced by the Postal Service. Currently, the Postal Service has lost billions of dollars due to various factors, which include the recession, the use of fax machines and the internet However, in that respect I'd like to make reference to the last phrase used in Mr. Rolando's August, 2009 article in The Postal Record, titled "President's Message" quoted herein, "If we stay together, I am confident that we can emerge from these dark times stronger, ,better and more prosperous than ever."

We have the resources and the right leader in Fredric Rolando to confront present challenges and overcome those that surface in the future. We have solidarity and a membership nationwide that numbers a total of about 300,000 made up of active and retired letter carriers.

As a retired letter carrier and Branch 36 Director of Retirees, in am greatly confident that Fredric Rolando's leadership talents will guide our union in the right direction. At the same time, I take this opportunity to thank our past president Bill Young for his years of fine leadership and public speaking ability as NALC president. We offer our very best wishes concerning his retirement.

The settlement provides that employees may request counseling on the clock, and that the local management will arrange reasonably private space for this purpose. The employee's spouse and/or advisor may be with the employee during this process. In addition, employees who begin or complete the process of obtaining counseling from HRSSC without assistance will be offered assistance by local management. This settlement does not affect the national level dispute over management's faiIure to provide timely retirement counseling to employees eligible for Voluntary Early Retirement. That dispute remains pending.M-01708.pdf