Classes of Mail

Howard Komine came to Vegas to campaign with the CLC at my branch meeting. I was fortunate enough to meet up with him at his hotel for an in-person interview. This is Howard's first podcast interview, and he did GREAT! In this episode, he talks about his role as a trustee, how he runs his own branch, and why the oversight a trustee provides is so vital to our union.

Well, well, well... the shoe is on the other foot! Michael Rivera is a reformer from Branch 70 in San Diego who found himself in the national spotlight (at least among reform-minded podcasters) when he brought charges against NALC President Brian Renfroe; and then brought charges against the entire Executive Council. Michael recently ran for office in his own branch, and found what he believes to be significant deviations from the NALC's published election rules. He brought those issues to light with an election appeal, and published that appeal on social media, along with the appeals of two other members of his branch.

Now, the members of the branch's election committee have brought charges against Michael for that publication. In this episode, we talk about the charges, and how the charges mirror similar charges that Michael Brasaemle and I faced stemming from our own branch election.

James Henry visited my branch last week, and he brought the energy! I found his speech to be heartfelt, enthusiastic, and indicative of where his mindset is. If you've only heard James Henry on podcasts, you owe it to yourself to give this a listen. I have the audio from his speech, and I also talk a bit in the beginning and end about what it was like to have him there in person, along with Howard Komine and Corey Walton.

There were some articles in the December 2025 Postal Record that are relevant to issues important to Michael and me. We discuss them.

Sometimes when you fight, you lose. Michael and I discuss what happened with our appeal, and why it's important to fight, even if you sometimes lose.

My surgery is now behind me, and things appear to be going well. I have my first follow-up in a few days, so this is everything I know as of the date of recording.

This episode is by request, from our friends in New York City. Michael bring the hits with some of his favorite grievance wins. It's a fun list, and the last grievance is a banger.

Mike Caref joins me to talk about the enormous grievance settlements that featured in the Office of the Inspector General report that was released earlier this year. We discuss some of the specific grievances, and the specific payouts. More generally, we go over what it takes to get management to actually comply with the contract.

This one's a little dry. But it does contain some gems that shed light on the fact that Brian Renfroe has no intention of getting rid of the CCA classification.

We drop the educational portion of the podcast, to bring you this very special episode of Classes of Mail. We get to hear Michael Brasaemle's story: how he came to the United States from Korea, his time in the Air Force, and his path through the USPS. It's an amazing story.6