WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 is benefiting from an influx of young Trustees who now sit on its Executive Board.  WNYLaborToday.com recently sat down with Branch 3 Officials and those young Trustees to learn how this new blood is benefiting the Western New York Letter Carriers Union.  Pictured above from left to right: Trustee Jessica McGinnis; Trustee Colleen Kreuzer; Executive Vice President Mike Levering; Vice President Renee Boguhn; President David Grosskopf, Jr.; Trustee Andrew Harrison; and Trustee Mike Miskell. (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – With so many perplexed Labor Leaders across the country trying to find a way to greater involve their younger Members in their Unions, it would seem National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 in Buffalo has cracked the code, so to speak.

Four Branch 3 Members, all in their early 30s, now serve on the Union’s 14-Member Executive Board, which pleases both President David Grosskopf, Jr. and Executive Vice President Mike Levering, who both spoke to WNYLaborToday.com about what that means for their Union.

Grosskopf, 51, whose Branch represents around 2,000 Members across Western New York, including 1,400 who are active Letter Carriers, said: “It’s ‘exciting, but pretty unique to us.’  ‘We want them (young Members) to be involved (in the Union) and they want us to teach them how to do this.’  The ‘old leadership did not believe in investing the energy and effort’ (in terms of offering their years of experience to benefit and educate the Branch’s younger Members).  ‘This is so important.’  ‘We’ve embraced all of this.’  ‘We needed to accept them and make them as comfortable as we can because it all pays dividends’ (in the future of the Union).  ‘Some of them are juggling their home life (with their Union Life), but they’re getting the job done.’  And ‘they all sit at the table and express their thoughts - without any fear,’ ‘There is no fear (with Union Leadership) here because (younger Members) are our biggest asset.’  ‘That’s what makes us a very strong’ Branch.”

Levering - who is 47 and has almost 17 years working for the U.S. Postal Service and has been Executive VP for the past five years, said on a daily average each Branch 3 Letter Carrier makes as many as 600 to 700 stops and delivers as many as 200 to 300 packages.  He said: “I’m a ‘little bit surprised’ (about having so many young Members on the Union’s Executive Board), ‘but they’ve got (what it takes) and we’ve told them we will teach you.’  ‘I am super-proud of them.’  ‘I came up young, but I came on quick’ (in terms of involving himself in his Union).  ‘Now, I see that in them’ (the young Trustees).  ‘They’ve got it and we will teach them.’”

WNYLaborToday.com recently attended a Branch 3 Executive Board (Pictured Above/WNYLaborToday.com Photo) meeting and individually spoke with the Young Four on a variety of topics, including why they wanted to get involved in helping guide their Union and the changes they hope to bring about in the years to come.

Here’s what they had to say:

Mike Miskell, 34, a nine-year Member/West Side Buffalo Letter Carrier who became a Trustee in 2021 after serving as a Steward for three years, said: “After seeing some of our Members ‘being taken advantage of’ (by management), ‘I started to come to our monthly (Member) meetings.’  ‘You have to know your rights (in the workplace) because you will get taken advantage of’ (by management).  ‘I made sure to come to be an example’ (to his fellow Union Members).  ‘I wanted to be more involved.’  ‘Now, I am.’  ‘There’s really a lot to be learned.’  Dave (Grosskopf, Jr.) and Mike (Levering) at our helm ‘has been a godsend - as has’ Renee (Boguhn, NALC Branch 3 Vice President), ‘who’s been a pillar.’  ‘I wanted others - through osmosis, to get involved, because it’s (always) the more you know (that helps you).’  (The older Trustees) ‘want new people to get involved.’  ‘It’s great to be a Trustee, an honor.’  ‘And it’s a great mix’ (with the range of ages of the current Trustees).  ‘You realize your strengths and that if you don’t agree (with what is being said at a meeting), you can have a discussion.’  ‘They don’t want complete yes’ men.  ‘It’s cool to see what you can learn.’  We have a ‘really involved Staff that you can learn from.’  ‘It’s like an onion, you just keep peeling back the layers.’  ‘And, it’s nice to see those other younger Members’ (who’ve become Trustees).”

Andrew Harrison, 31, is a Niagara Falls Letter Carrier who’s been a NALC Member for a little more than seven years.  Harrison, who served as Steward before serving as a Trustee for a little more than a month now, said: “This is ‘significant’ because I ‘love helping people and it’s the new generation that needs help.’  ‘Now I’m learning more and standing up for them, against bullies’ (in management).  ‘Our rights are being messed with and I couldn’t be quiet.’  ‘Now I’m fighting for our Carriers.’  ‘I’m helping to bridge the gap’ (between younger and older Membership).  ‘We’re here telling them (young Members) they have to get involved’ (in their Union).  ‘I learned how to fight and I do have that fight in me.’  I ‘connect with our new generation of Carriers in the Falls.’  And, I ‘do like’ being a Trustee.  Like being a Steward, ‘it’s a first line of defense.’  ‘Now I’m learning more about how I got here in the first place.’  Mike (Levering) is from the Falls and he’s ‘always there for me’ when I have a question.  I ‘believe I have to earn it - every day, and I will always take on more work.’  Our Union ‘has something for everyone’ - from fellowship to our annual (Stamp Out Hunger) food drive.  ‘I want to continue to help our Carriers and I don’t want to stop.’  ‘I tell them don’t be afraid to get involved.’  ‘You have to be involved.’  ‘We have to lead - and fight.’  ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re (30) or (80), you have to fight.’  I’m on Social Media a lot ‘to see what other NALC Branches are doing (across the country) and it’s nothing like anything that’s happened before (an influx of younger Members serving as Trustees).’  (The old guard) is ‘giving us (young Members) the chance and now we’re showing we deserve it.’”

Colleen Kreuzer, 30, has been a Branch 3 Member and Suburban Buffalo (Amherst) Letter Carrier since 2018 and a Steward since 2021.  Kreuzer, who’s been a Trustee since 2022, said: “I ‘believe in helping our fellow Carriers, particularly from management and what happens on the job.’  ‘If there is an injustice, it needs to be reported.’  ‘Sometimes it’s the easiest thing to do, but it’s always difficult.’  ‘You have to have the knowledge’ (of what to do).  ‘In the past, I felt lost - but now, no one will ever do that to me or anyone else.’  As a Trustee, I look at the older generation as ‘mentors.’  The people (in the Union) I go to ‘have more than twenty years of experience.’  Renee (Boguhn) ‘is the first person I go to.’  I’ve ‘learned a lot from her.’  Ours is a Board ‘where you get to understand both sides.’  While our ‘Millennial mindset is different (than the old guard), they are benefitting from our youthful’ experience.  A lot of Members ‘don’t understand where their dues goes’ - filing grievances, being involved in their Union.  ‘Someone has to do that job.’  ‘We can’t get our message out the old school way.’  ‘We have to modernize.’  We ‘have to keep our younger Members up to date’ (on what is happening in their Union) through a variety of Social Media.  (Young Members) ‘understand how young Members work and we have to keep showing them if they are mistreated, we are here to fight for them.’”

Jessica McGinnis, 33, is a nine-plus-year NALC Member who is a Letter Carrier in the Buffalo Suburb of Cheektowaga.  She has two children - age four and seven, and lives with fellow Trustee Jamie Jablonski, who has three children from a previous relationship.  Said McGinnis: “My ‘plate is so full.’  I also serve as Editor of the NALC Buzz (Branch 3’s newspaper).  ‘My goal is to help people.’  ‘I want our Members to come in realizing they have value here.’  They are an ‘asset’ to the Branch ‘that you cannot replicate.’  I find there is ‘so much experience here in this office.’  ‘But I think I bring a softer, more compassionate perspective’ (as a Trustee).  I’ve ‘experienced more (in her life) that’s it’s made me empathetic.’  When I hear a ‘sad story I want to help.’  ‘You have to ask questions to get more’ information.  ‘If you don’t know that you have rights (on the job), you don’t have any.’  ‘I’m hoping for more’ (use) Social Media ‘to reach the younger generation’ (of Members).  ‘What I most like about our Union is the sense of family and brotherhood.’  ‘It’s important that we look out for one another, that we stand up for one another.’  ‘If we do, then we will make a difference.’”