2024 Matt Lopez - Local 323 Scholarship Awarded

The Local Union Council was once again confronted with a difficult decision regarding the selection of a recipient for this year's Matt Lopez – Local 323 Scholarship. Several applications were submitted, all the applicants were well qualified, and every applicant received votes.

The successful applicant, and this year’s recipient of the Matt Lopez – Local 323 Scholarship, is Jermond Gonzales. Jermond is the son of Minneapolis Branch Member Terry Swenson. The Local Union Council offers its congratulations to Jermond and wishes him the best in the pursuit of his education.

June Update - From the Local President

Let’s look down the road a bit. Where are we going to be a year from now? A year from now we will be engaged in an activity of paramount importance to all Mail Handlers and MHAs, contract negotiations. The 2022 National Agreement will expire on September 20, 2025, and around this time next year we’ll be sitting down at the bargaining table. So, when’s the time to start thinking about contract proposals? Well, how about now.

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May Update - From the Local President

I’m in need of some restraint. Local 323 endeavors to aggressively enforce the contract when the rights of our Members are violated. This involves writing arguments and I’ve been writing a lot of arguments lately. Are the arguments I write overly aggressive? I don’t think so. It seems to me that they are appropriately suited to the circumstances. Some people (on the other side of the table) might disagree, but that doesn’t really concern me. I’m not a novelist, a journalist, or a reporter, I’m a Union guy who writes arguments. My problem is that after more than three decades of writing arguments, I find it difficult to shift the tone of my writing to something better suited to a web column. So, my objective in writing this month’s column is to restrain myself from writing anything that sounds like an argument. You can laugh now because I’m probably going to fail. But you get to be the judge of that.

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April Update - From the Local President

Is the implementation of the Postmaster General's 10-year plan causing the Postal Service to flounder? In many locations it appears so. The mainstream media, Postal news sources, and social media groups, are currently filled with stories detailing what can only be considered an abject failure.

Lines of trucks waiting for hours to be unloaded, delays in mail processing, and declining delivery scores, have become the order of the day in many locations. Places such as Atlanta, GA and Houston, TX come to mind as some of the most often mentioned locations. What do these locations have in common? The conversion of Network Distribution Centers to Regional Processing and Distribution Centers under the Postmaster General's 10-year Plan.

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March Update - From the Local President

What do you do when you see a violation of the contract? You ask your supervisor for a Steward. See a violation, ask for a Steward. See a violation, ask for a Steward. Repeatedly, over and over again. We need to make this an ingrained part of our culture.

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