Message from the President

Robert J. McLennan

I’m very proud to be the President of Branch 3, one of only three charter members of the NALC, formed in 1889 with Milwaukee and Detroit. Branch 3 has a great tradition of strong leadership to uphold over the past 120 years. Since I’ve been a full-time Union Officer, the Post Office has gone through a tremendous amount of change that has drastically affected the working lives of our membership. My officers and I have dealt with many different controversial issues, from the introduction of DPS mail to the TE workforce, to numerous route adjustments, to scanners,to FSS to many other concerns that have changed the workplace.

We are currently under attack from the Postmaster General, who is trying to reduce service from six to five days a week. We know we will continue to have to deal with change in the Postal Service, but with the help of our friends in Congresses, we won't allow postal management to start on the path to the destruction of the Postal Service.

I started with the Postal Service in October of 1980 as a Letter Carrier at the Depew Post Office, which has since merged with Lancaster. I attended my first Union meeting as soon as I became a member of Branch 3 and attended meetings regularly. One of the reasons I became a Steward in the late ‘80s was that this proud career of being one of the nation’s Letter Carriers is too important to be left in the hands of management alone. As a very aggressive Steward, I held managements’ feet to the fire and also became very involved in Branch 3 and AFL-CIO activities. I was elected Branch 3’s first full time Vice President in April 1991 and President three years later in April 1994. I was just re-elected to my 6th term as President in April 2009.

Throughout my Union career, I’ve continued to learn and expand on my abilities as a Union leader and I’ve gained wide-ranging experience in many different areas, including dealing with various media coverage and forming relationships with Congressional representatives. I’ve attended classes at Cornell University and Branch Leadership Training at national headquarters. I’ve also served on several national committees, the Election Committee, the Route Evaluation committee and an International Safety and Health Committee, which met with Union leaders from Canada and Great Britain. Currently, I am also on the Executive Boards of both the Buffalo AFL-CIO Council and the Western New York Area Labor Federation and several other Labor Advisory boards.

I have three sons, Ian-38, Conor-33 and Corey-29. I also have four granddaughters, Cailyn-20, Kiley-11, Ivy-3 and Ginger who was born on May 9, 2011.  Ian is also a Federal employee. He has served in Iraq and is currently a quality control specialist for the Department of Defense. Conor received his doctorate in Psychology from the University of Buffalo and is a Professor at Cleveland State University. Corey graduated fromHilbert College and is currently working at Bank of America. I just turned 58 years old and I live in Getzville, with my wife Rose.

I’ve always believed in the power of Unions to transform the lives of working people, as my father and grandfather were both Union organizers and presidents. I believe that unless you are one of the lucky few that own large segments of this country, the most important things you have to protect yourself and your family is your vote and your Union. By sticking together and exercising our rights to fully utilize both avenues of freedom, we can continue to be a force for what is best about being an American.