I would like to thank the outgoing MISALC officers for their hard work and the time they put in over the years. The 2023 MISALC state convention was an immense success and would not have been without all the current and former officers' efforts.

 

I would also like to thank the Michigan delegates who elected me as your Vice President of the MISALC for the 2023-2025 term. I look forward to working with all the MISALC officers to continue the progress that has been made in edu-cating our members on the legislative initiatives affecting us as letter carriers.

 

MDA: Congratulations to the branches in Michigan that made the 2022 MDA Honor Roll for their branches’ category size which was published in the April 2023 Postal Record.

 

Category 4 (700-999 members) 2nd Place Royal Oak, MI Br. 3126 $16,801.68

 

Category 5 (500-699 members) 2nd Mid-Michigan, Br. 256 $9,864.00 and 3rd Place Grand Rapids, MI Br. 56 $7,000.00

 

Category 7 (200-349 members) 2nd Place Saginaw Br. 74 $8,749.00

 

Category 9 (50-99 members) 2nd Place Midland, MI Br. 2317 $4,590.00

 

With your continued participation and dedication in raising money for MDA, hopefully, one day, a cure will be found.

 

OWCP and ECOMP updates:

 

For anyone who has ever had an OWCP claim, they know the frustrations that can come with claims approval and being able to communicate with a claims representative. Recently there have been updates to both 20 CFR 10.121 and ECOMP that make it a little more claimant friendly with an extended timeframe for submission of additional evidence to OWCP and a new process to submit inquiries in ECOMP.

 

Under Public Law 117-263, Congress directed OWCP to update 20 CFR 10.121. which addresses situations when evidence submitted by the claimant is deemed insufficient to meet their burden of proof and OWCP needs additional information. Previously, it required OWCP to give the claimant at least 30 days to submit the evidence needed. At Congress' direction, OWCP changed this 30-day period to 60 days.

 

Also, on April 19, 2023, FECA Circular No. 23-06, ECOMP Inquiry Escalation Process was issued. This new ECOMP change allows claimants to submit queries on certain specific issues through their ECOMP account by using the following new process:

 

•  In the claimants’ case dashboard under the case escalation tab claimants are currently able to select and

   inquire about the following issues:

 

• Payment for wage loss compensation
• Payment of a medical bill
• Authorization of medical treatment/process
• Authorization of medication
• Health benefits of life insurance issues
• Overpayment issues

 

•  Once an inquiry is initiated, the request is directed to an appropriate staff member depending  on the issue

   chosen and is then made part of the case file.

 

•  A standard response time of two business days is allowed for a response.

 

•  If no response is received within the allotted timeframe or the claimant is not satisfied with  the response, the

   claimant may then escalate that issue to a manager for review.

 

The new public law and the ECOMP enhancement would not have been enacted if we did not currently have a labor and letter carrier friendly administration and Congress directing the Department of Labor (DOL). Having friends in the administration and Congress was able to be achieved in due part with your contributions to the Letter Carrier Political Fund (LCPF). To continue to see the results of letter carrier initiatives being proposed and enacted in Congress we must continue to grow our PAC. Currently, 90% of our members do not contribute to LCPF, not because they do not want to but rather because they have never been asked. With such a small percentage of letter carriers contributing to LCPF this gives an enormous opportunity to grow our PAC; however, we must seek out and engage these members with the benefits of contributing to LCPF and ask them to contribute.

 

If any branch would like help through training or an event to get the word out to our fellow members about the benefits of contributing to LCPF please contact our MISALC officers or our Regional LPO, for assistance.

 

-- Erik Venzke

Vice President