Part 1: The Meeting

In the words of Mr. Pratt, life has been life-ing. After a longer than expected break, we've finally got out a new episode. Tune in to see what the big news is!

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness month. September has also been a very hard month for everyone on our team, so we are releasing a long overdue episode focusing on mental heath. Please take care of yourself and those around you, and make sure hug your loved ones a little tighter next time.  If you are struggling or in crisis, reach out: Call or text 988 to get connected to someone free, 24/7, and confidential  988lifeline.org for chatting online if you can't text or call Veterans can text 838255 to be connected to someone through VA Call or text 1-833-TLC-MAMA (833-852-6262) for pregnancy or postpartum support    If you aren't sure where to get started, you can also go to findsupport.gov for more resources.

It's been awhile, but we are back. We've been taking some time to reflect on recent events, and now we are moving onward and upward. We discuss a recent win in congress with the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act reaching majority in the House, and we talk about some National awards our branch received. Make sure you stick around until the end to hear another update on what Cristal has been up to. Stay tuned!

On this episode, I take a break from Gencon to chat with the one and only Jon "Badmouth" Morris. He's a member of the standup slate, a group of movers and shakers running for AFL-CIO Delegate positons.

It's been awhile, but we're back...kinda. With Ken still mostly out of commission due to his recent knee surgery, we managed to squeeze in a quick recording to get a little bit of his response to what has been going on. 

Unfortunately, Ken was having some technical difficulties. We will be posting more parts to continue explaining what's going on. In the meantime, Cristal will speak to the events at the June branch meeting which, in our opinion, is where the first domino of all this got pushed over. 

We chat with Region 3 NBA candidate Ronny Morgan! We discuss his plans should he be elected, and we discuss his thoughts on some current legislative issues. Sidenote: The tech wiz is 100% to blame for the late posting. Maybe the next challenge should be her getting a video out on time..... ;) #nalc #usps #mail #mailman #postoffice #politics #podcast #union #beyondthesatchel #region3

We get a chance to chat with Mr. A to Arbitration himself, Corey Walton. Corey is running for NALC EVP on the Concerned Letter Carriers slate in the upcoming election. We discuss some of the current bills in congress, how we could improve the way the NALC handles politics, and whatever other topics pop up along the way. There's too much to discuss for just one episode, so we look forward to welcoming Corey back for round 2 in the future.  Sidenote: Don't forget to check out our Joliet Slammers event coming up July 23rd. We are raising money for IPALC, which is basically the Letter Carrier Political Fund for Illinois. Hope to see you there!

We managed to sneak in an interview with Mike Caref again, and we came prepared with more questions specifically about his plans for better organizing how the NALC fights for legislation benefitting letter carriers. Don't forget! You can also find information about his platform and more by searching Caref4prez on social media platforms, or you can check out his website caref4prez.org The Joliet Slammers game will be coming up before you know it! July 23rd is the big day, and proceeds will be going to IPAC. Tickets are only $15. We can't wait to see you there! #caref4prez #nalc #usps #beyondthesatchel #mail #mailman #podcast #union #politics

In this episode, we discuss some of the first steps on what to do when you are injured on the job. We also talk about the current legislative bill, HR 3170, that would allow federal workers to be seen by PAs and NPs to treat on the job injuries.