Parcels of Knowledge

What can a podcast, a website, Facebook, Reddit, and Discord each offer letter carriers trying to understand their rights and do the work together? In the second episode of Footnotes, the Minion from the Old Dominion, Jamie Gregory, follows From A to Arbitration across all five spaces to see how they connect carriers and stewards with information, practical tools, and one another.We look at the podcast’s lessons, interviews, and arbitration series; the website’s grievance starters, file-building resources, and LMOU database; Facebook’s public page and member group; Reddit’s searchable rank-and-file reports; and Discord’s channels for questions, resources, and events. We also recognize the people who helped build and maintain this community, the members whose questions and contributions keep it going, and Corey Walton’s transition from podcast host and teacher to elected NALC Executive Vice President.This is the idea behind Footnotes: trust, but verify. These resources can help a carrier find the right question, follow it to the source, and bring what they learn back to their steward and branch. The knowledge grows when members can share it, check it, and build on it together.For the companion report, click here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1345lwGmwh2yO0K-jlnNq0ts_yICIp38xmSzNg0KkZPk/edit?usp=sharingHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode The Roseville Wreckingball gets together with Alan Gegax of Classes of Mail fame and talks about the avalanche of issues that are caused by undelivered mail.Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

This week on The Last Loop, Jamie covers October 10–16, 2026, beginning with an OIG audit of selected Michigan 1 District delivery units and the Detroit Processing and Distribution Center. We also look at NALC’s call for action after a Detroit letter carrier was attacked, USPS’s preparations for midterm election mail, and the continuing push for safer routes. From there, we turn to the rules that shape carriers’ working lives, including penalty overtime, Article 19, and why routine route maintenance belongs in the workday.The latest Postal Record and Postal Bulletin bring stories about union democracy, a letter carrier’s woodburning art, Open Season and family-member verification, annual-leave exchange, and the rural Christmas-period schedule. We also cover the NALC election deadline, the 2027 NALC health plan, the separate Seattle OIG review, and arbitration awards C-37960 through C-37963, including three sustained grievances and one denial. Along the way, podcast conversations from The Postal Stand-up, Hot House, Next Generation Carriers, Rural Route Realities, Mail on It, and Classes of Mail add context to the contract, route work, union elections, rural staffing, USPS history, and labor history.Plus, we check in on APWU and NRLCA news, postal developments in the United Kingdom, labor wins beyond USPS, and the new Diwali Forever stamp. This week’s postal history takes us from colonial postage rates to the fatal crash of an early airmail pilot, while the Local Loop visits Matagorda, Texas, as the community prepares to reopen its post office. In the week ahead, Building a Fighting NALC meets on October 18, followed by APWU Live, the Diwali stamp dedication, and the next Undelivered reading group. Running through the week is a question of accountability: how do postal workers and the communities they serve make sure the systems they depend on deliver?For this week’s companion report:Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Today we talk to the Branch President and the Steward of the famous Rutland Vermont undelivered mail case C-37900. Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Parcels of Knowledge: Light Blue Greenhorns — Episode 1: From CCA to PTF, and What Comes NextWelcome to the first episode of Light Blue Greenhorns, a new addition to the Parcels of Knowledge rotation!In our debut episode, Jamie Gregory and Just Jenn break down what happens when a City Carrier Assistant (CCA) converts to Part-Time Flexible (PTF) career status. Using Jamie's Branch 2819 guide, we discuss what changes, what stays the same, and what newly converted carriers need to know about scheduling, seniority, pay, benefits, hold-downs, and contractual protections. We also explain why becoming a PTF doesn't automatically mean becoming a full-time regular and what carriers should understand about their path forward.Jenn also shares our hopes for Light Blue Greenhorns and the kind of community we want to build. Whether you're a brand-new carrier, recently converted to career status, or simply looking to better understand your rights, we want this to be a place where questions are welcome, experiences are shared, and we can all learn from one another. You don't have to know everything to be part of the conversation; that's the whole point!If you have any topics you would like us to discuss, send them to [email protected] check out the report we read here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lV64-z9c1-x_Ig2TB-C_pssVu8LeJBcOOK-DVfr5_QU/edit?usp=sharingThe Reddit Post Jenn mentioned here: https://www.reddit.com/r/USPS/comments/1wiid2g/new_city_carrier_contract_questions_cca_ptf/?share_id=RVgVF8Jq6Xv3OUYGTdhBf&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&utm_source=share&utm_term=1Learning, Growing, Building, Together!Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

This week on The Last Loop, Jamie covers October 3–9, 2026, as USPS proposes a major revision to the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), raising important questions about how changes to postal policies could affect letter carriers and contractual protections. We also follow the final week for requesting replacement ballots in the NALC national election and examine what comes next as members prepare for the October 19 ballot count.We take a closer look at the latest Postal Record and Postal Bulletin, including union election procedures, financial accountability, retirement benefits, and election mail handling. An OIG report examines alternative retirement models, while this week's arbitration roundup includes two sustained grievances and a partially sustained decision, with recognition for the union advocates who successfully represented their fellow carriers. Plus, we check in on the other postal unions, rural carriers, labor developments outside USPS, new stamps, and our new International Postal Watch, where Royal Mail faces restructuring and Canada Post continues navigating labor disputes.The Postal Podcast Desk is especially busy this week, with conversations about scanner data, PS Form 3996, documenting your work, management observations, mental health, grievance preparation, and the NALC election. We also visit communities around the country for the Local Loop and look ahead to developments worth watching. Running through this week's coverage is a familiar question: when policies change, decisions are made, or management demands answers, are the people doing the work being heard?For this week's companion report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lky5ihVMHfGWt0xcQRB5GheAvV_w0Hok52V3iWPYKuc/edit?usp=sharingHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode we discuss many undelivered mail cases, both wins and losses, to see what some have done right, and what was lacking in others. Lets get some more wins guys!Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

This week on The Last Loop, Jamie covers September 26–October 2, 2026, as new Arrow Key accountability language moves into the M-41 and an OIG audit offers a timely reminder that what the scanner says does not always match what is happening on the workroom floor.We also look at NALC election replacement ballot deadlines, the Federal Retirement Fairness Act, the latest Postal Record and Postal Bulletin, OIG findings on delayed mail, rural delivery, USPS finances, and leased facilities, along with an administrative leave arbitration win and two delayed-mail cases worth another look. Plus, we check in on the rural craft, the other postal unions, labor activity outside USPS, new stamps, and another very crowded week in the postal podcast world.Then we look ahead to the October 5 NALC election checkpoint and other developments to watch before heading to Lansing, Michigan, for this week’s Local Loop, where letter carrier Jack Grossman was honored for an incredible sixty years of service. Underneath it all is one lesson that keeps showing up this week: keep the record, because whether it is an Arrow Key, delayed mail, a grievance, or a route, the paperwork needs to tell the same story as what actually happened.For this week’s companion report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XdKmY5KqS-NM9X4bDdwiRhJQyWDpIc8TCNHoxDDUADQ/edit?usp=sharingHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

What happens when somebody tells you, “The union has always taken this position,” or “That goes all the way back to the 1970 strike”? In the first episode of Footnotes, the Minion from the Old Dominion follows the trail to the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University, home of the official historical archives of the National Association of Letter Carriers.We look at how the Reuther became one of North America’s major labor archives, how archival research actually works, and what NALC members can find inside its collections; presidential papers, City Delivery records, grievance and arbitration material, convention records, photographs, historic artifacts, and much more. Along the way, we talk finding aids, boxes and folders, what can be researched from home, what requires a trip to Detroit, and why primary sources still need to be questioned instead of treated as gospel.This is the idea behind Footnotes: trust, but verify. A citation should not just be a number at the bottom of a page. It should be a trail somebody else can follow. Because the footnote is not where the boring stuff goes. It is where the receipts live.For the companion report click here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1keGvcJ6U5LTKMZU2SD0CoFfMnliOJkKlwYimmQlASso/edit?usp=sharingHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode we talk about mutual exchanges and transfers. If you want to join our wrecking crew check the following link: Parcels Of Knowledge — A podcast dedicated to delivering education to letter carriers | PatreonHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Vincent Sombrotto went from a rank-and-file letter carrier with no union office to president of the NALC in just eight years — but the road there was anything but simple.In this episode of The Backstamp, Jamie Gregory looks at Sombrotto’s rise from the Great Postal Strike of 1970 through Branch 36, the National Rank-and-File Movement, bitter internal fights, election losses, democratic reforms, and his eventual victory in 1978. Along the way, we ask what really counts as leadership experience, whether union elections were any less contentious then than they are today, and what Sombrotto’s story can teach us about our own messy union democracy.The episode closes with a personal reflection on fighting passionately for the candidates we believe in without forgetting that, when the election is over, we are still brothers and sisters who have to stand shoulder to shoulder — followed by a message submitted by Region 7 NBA candidate Elliot Simmons on accountability, competition, civility, and unity.For those interested in the companion research report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11liYKizQ4gOUeWVyBgIVeJkwzUsJEZOzIzRIB30Zzxs/edit?usp=sharingHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

The Last Loop is back! Jamie runs through the biggest postal stories from Sept. 12–18, led by a major new GAO report finding that USPS cost-cutting initiatives have contributed to declining service performance, even as the Postal Service continues reshaping its processing and transportation network. We also look at reporting that Postmaster General David Steiner has told associates he wants to leave the job, USPS’s response that he is not preparing to resign, and where that story actually stands.On the union side, NALC election ballots are beginning to move, the Branch 1779 National Candidate Forum gave members several hours of unscripted questions and answers, and Region 7 NBA candidate Elliot Simmons issued a broader appeal for candidates and supporters to keep the election focused on records, representation, and policy rather than personal attacks.Back on the workroom floor, the September/October Postal Record gives us a useful refresher on temporary CCA assignments to other offices under M-01827. That discussion is especially timely as carriers in several parts of the country report Amazon Sunday operations being consolidated into fewer hub locations, raising questions about reporting locations, travel, mileage, relative standing, staffing, and overtime. We also dig into two new Key Cases episodes covering fundamental fairness, due process, and FMLA obligations in removal cases.Plenty more is in the satchel this week: the latest ballot-mail litigation, Postal Bulletin 22711, carrier safety news, developments from APWU and NRLCA, and a very busy Postal Podcast Desk. This week’s roundup includes From A to Arbitration, Hot House with Richie Ray, Classes of Mail, Carriers for a Better Union, Next Generation Carriers, 763 From the 573, Six Thirteen, The History of Female Leadership in the NALC, The Key Cases Podcast, and a proper introduction to The Table Two Ticket, with a little more about what each show actually discussed instead of just listing episode titles.Plus, a look at the week ahead and a Local Loop follow-up from Lahaina, Hawaii, where the fight over centralized delivery, rebuilding, and postal access has moved beyond a local service complaint and into a larger discussion about disaster recovery and universal service.Interested in submitting a local news story, have a question, or have a recommendation for something we should cover? Reach out to me at [email protected] the candidate dossiers;https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y8p4RbRLwOQEvGAZ9c6emRM7WdE7CYlRlvldSL1nhTY/edit?usp=drivesdkhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1IuiOLfIJUebaYSI8XXn5_2dazoC5jguaIs0ehI2H2KA/edit?usp=drivesdkhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1NHqI-L7cyh0_4p7XdWXxFYa9YGYn5yzBfQFnRAVRakU/edit?usp=drivesdkhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1f_Y354fu5kD5-3Z57NfuW6fb8VUJIdRn8p53He4xBj4/edit?usp=drivesdkAnd companion report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M0Z6BEsaNUmwLPHQj0zAIEuoyACkZF5HxCULbukncng/edit?usp=sharingHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode we talk about how to file a grievance for accountable item signing issues.If you want to be a member of our Patreon see the link below:www.patreon.com/ParcelsOfKnowledge2026 Election Informational Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y8p4RbRLwOQEvGAZ9c6emRM7WdE7CYlRlvldSL1nhTY/edit?usp=drivesdkHey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.