Member benefits

Since 1905, NALCA has helped fight battles in Congress and other areas for the betterment of letter carrier families and the United States Postal Service. Our continued success is enhanced by the hard work and growing membership of Auxiliary locals throughout the country.

Mission statement

The NALC Auxiliary’s mission is to support and promote the objectives, the political activities and the charities of the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO.

Vision statement

• First, actively influence legislation that will be friendly to letter carrier issues.
• Second, endorse charitable support.
• Third, promote the image of the letter carrier.

Objectives of the Auxiliary

1. To unite fraternally the members of the NALC Auxiliary
2. To assist the NALC in its objective of bettering the conditions of letter carriers and their image, as well as the image of the United States Postal Service
3. To become politically active in elections and encourage the political activity of letter carriers
4. To unite NALC members, their families, friends and auxiliary members and encourage support for one another

Cynthia Martinez, president

Cynthia Martinez has been a member of Phoenix, AZ Auxiliary 377 since 1989. From the late '90s, she has served as president of Auxiliary 337 and the Arizona State Auxiliary. Martinez was elected vice president of the national board at the 2014 Philadelphia Convention. She is politically active,campaigning for candidates who support letter carriers and working families. Her husband, Steven, was a trustee and former director of retirees for Phoenix Branch 576. They have two children and two grandchildren.

3532 Mauna Loa Lane | Phoenix, AZ 85053 | 602-505-2215 | camslm@yahoo.com

 

Crystal Bragg, secretary

Crystal Bragg was elected NALCA secretary at the 2018 NALCA Convention in Detroit. She has been a member of NALCA for 20 years. She is the president of Decatur, IL Auxiliary 153 and has also served as state president. She is married to Christopher Bragg, an active carrier and a member of Decatur, IL Branch 317. They have two children and three grandchildren.

835 Westland Dr. | Mt. Zion, IL 62549 | 217-864-4684 | cbragg5414@comcast.net

 

Samantha Yerg, treasurer

4553 County Road 137 | Gibsonburg, OH 43431 | 863-853-2113 | samanthayerg@yahoo.com

NALCA Registration Form

Fill out this form and send it to the address listed on the form.

Request for a National Auxiliary officer to attend a state convention

You can formally request a National Auxiliary officer to attend your state convention by filling out this form and returning it to National Auxiliary President Cythensis Lang.

Auxiliary conventions are held in conjunction with the biennial conventions of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

During daily sessions, delegates deliberate on the business of the organization, hear updates from national officers on current programs and future plans, listen to congressional speakers on legislation and political issues, and find out about current developments in Muscular Dystrophy research from MDA representatives, including the MDA goodwill ambassador. Member-delegates decide on future support of charitable works and new directions and activities to promote the welfare of letter carriers and their families.

Throughout the week, the Auxiliary seeks to broaden camaraderie and fellowship between its members, thereby strengthening the organization to carry on its work in support of the NALC.

Women organized the Auxiliary

Interested in letter carrier issues, female relatives sought to assist carriers and their families

The National Ladies’ Auxiliary—forerunner of today's NALC Auxiliary—was established by a group of women interested in letter carrier issues because of their relationships as the wives, daughters, mothers and sisters of letter carriers. Women in carrier families had already formed local associations in various parts of the country, but the difficult years of 1902-1905 inspired a more unified national effort.

The effort took concrete shape in 1905. The NALC’s fifth national convention, to be held in Portland, OR, was imminent. A group of women from the Ladies’ Auxiliary of Branch 82 in Portland decided to use this opportunity to invite letter carriers' wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters to meet for the purpose of organizing a national Auxiliary.

Seventy-two women from 52 cities in 26 states responded to the organizing call and, paying their own expenses to the convention, founded the National Ladies’ Auxiliary on Sept. 5, 1905. Nellie Heffelfinger, a member of Branch 24’s Auxiliary in Los Angeles, CA, was unanimously elected the first president. Four days later, the NALC formally recognized its new partner.

In her first official report to the membership, president Heffelfinger stated the objects of the new organization as:

• First, to bring together in a social way the wives, daughters, mothers and sisters of carriers.
• Second, to aid wherever possible the carriers, both socially and financially.
• Third, to minister to the sick and in case of death lend a helping hand to the bereaved.
• Fourth, in future to be able to carry insurance in the Mutual Benefit Association at a reasonable rate.

She ended her statement with this command: “Then let us be up and doing!”

And they were, in fact, “up and doing.” During the early part of the 20th century, letter carriers were bound by a “gag rule” imposed by President Theodore Roosevelt, which jeopardized a carrier's job for even speaking to a congressman.

Even though women would not gain the right to vote for 20 years after the Letter Carriers Auxiliary was born, the old saying, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” proved to have clout. The collective voice of the women of the Auxiliary was heard in Washington. Together, the National Association of Letter Carriers and its Auxiliary have, throughout the years, brought about much needed change.

During the 1940s, the Auxiliary membership numbered more than 26,000, and one of the Auxiliary’s main goals was getting substitutes enough hours of work to make a living. Toward this end, Auxiliary members wrote letters to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, explaining the plight of these carriers, who would show up at the post office each day without any guarantee of work, hoping to have enough hours available to feed their families. Mrs. Roosevelt summoned the president of the Auxiliary to her office for discussion about these conditions.

Today, with letter carriers gaining benefits through contract negotiation and arbitration, some think that Auxiliary membership is not necessary. On the contrary, many benefits must be achieved through the action of Congress. The Auxiliary is instrumental in this process, as well as in helping repel the ever-present specter of privatization, which some members of Congress mistakenly think would be beneficial.

The Auxiliary also works together with the NALC in its endeavor to generate and collect funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The Auxiliary consists of Auxiliary locals affiliated with NALC local branches. Any letter carrier family member or significant other over the age of 16, or any retired NALC member, can become a member of the NALC Auxiliary.