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Retiree report from the 2020 Legislative Summit

     LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT RETIREE MEETING:  notes from Linda Carter
National President UPMA Retired Rodney Boland led an informal retiree meeting on Sunday afternoon. Highlights included:
- No issues affecting Retirees at the Active Executive Board meeting.
- Membership: Overall membership in Actives remains stable, however worth noting is that Supervisors membership is growing; Postmasters membership is decreasing.
- Retiree membership is declining. 8992 in February 2020, down from 9559 in February 2019.
- Recently retired list helpful in Gold. Will request from Frank Augustosky at UPMA.
- Request assistance from Chapter Presidents about who is getting ready to retire; contact prospective retiree before he/she leaves office.
- Proposed Bylaw changes should be sent to Louise Nix.
- Discussed entertainment at Retiree luncheon at National Convention.
- Scholarship application is on website. 145 applications in 2019; gave only 9 based on funds raised. Need to initiate ways to raise more funds.
- Invitation to SOC in October. Registration goes up March 1.
- Brainstormed ideas to consider, ie: Health Benefits booklet before open season, Medicare training, Travel Planner for retirees,

 UPMA RETIRED DUES INCREASE: from UPMA RetiredPresident Rodney Boland

 UPMA membership dues are determined by the National Bylaws, UPMA. The National Bylaws, Article 1, Section 2 addresses dues for Active members; Article 1 Section 3 addresses dues for Retired, Postmaster Relief and Associate Members. It reads: "The annual membership dues for UPMA Retired, Postmaster Relief and Associate Members shall be sixty dollars ($60). These dues will increase by the same percentage as the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) increases equal to the amount of annuity adjustments as issued by OPM. The UPMA Retired and Associate members are eligible to vote on changes to this section." (Bylaws are posted on website at www.unitedpma.org. )

The COLA increase issued by OPM for 2020 is 1.6 percent; therefore, Retired/Postmaster Relief/Associate member dues will increase 1.6% of current dues, $60 annually. This equates to an increase of 96 cents annually, or 8 cents per month, effective January 2020. This will be the first dues increase since UPMA began in 2016.

At the national convention two years ago retirees voted to have a dues increase every time that our cost of living adjustment went up.  That way we would never have to vote on this issue again. Although there was a COLA increase the last two years, the dues increase was not implemented because the national executive board voted not to do it.  It turns out that the national executive board can't suspend the increase since it is called for in the by-laws.  Therefore, the required increase will take place in 2020.                                                                           12/20/19

From incoming UPMA Retired President Rodney Boland            11/1/2019

Greetings to my friends of UPMA Retired! 
     As the old year comes to an end, a New Year begins.  The questions that we all wonder about are what does the New Year hold in store and where do we go from here?  I think that we are doing quite well to only be three years old.  However, we still have lots of room for improvement.
     My priorities are to always keep the membership informed, really push membership to a new level and always keep an eye open for issues that would adversely affect our organization and its members.  Communication is essential so that members will be informed, will feel like a valuable part of the organization and hopefully want to be involved.  Membership is the life blood of any organization.  The executive board, along with the membership committee, will always be implementing new ideas to increase the retention of retiring postmasters and managers.  And hopefully, through constant communication, members will be motivated to take an active part in the political process to protect the benefits that we often take for granted.  All of this you will hear more about as the New Year gets underway
       I have never been content to sit on the sidelines and watch so I guess it was only natural that I would get involved in the postmaster organizations.  I hope to be involved for a long time to come and that we can all work together so that UPMA Retired will grow and prosper.
   I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving and a very blessed Christmas.
Sincerely,
Rodney T. Boland

From Outgoing President Jack:
I sincerely appreciate all the Area Reps, Committee Chairs and Committee Members, and Appointees for specific positions that have served during my term of office as President.  Each of you accepted the positions with a willingness to serve and continually improve our great organization. We have had challenges and will continue to have, and that encourages new ideas and better ways of getting our business done.  Please continue to provide input.
          I have thoroughly enjoyed serving as your President.  I am very proud of our accomplishments and of the opportunity to make new friendships all over the country.  I am so very thankful that our organization has allowed us to make lasting memories in seeing places we may not have seen, to make friends we may not have known, to change things that may have needed changing and to improve those things that needed to be improved.  I will forever remember the Lap Blanket Project that was done to honor our Veterans and the bind that tied us all together in making an unbelievable 519 Blankets.  I am forever grateful.  
As I have previously stated "Bless His Heart, He Did His Best". Thank you to each and every one.
Jack D. Wilkins 
National President, UPMA Retired

We were honored to have Jack Wilkins,

UPMA National Retiree President,

in attendance at our 2019 Ohio Chapter Convention

and spoke on his concerns for the retiree 

organization.