The New Jersey State Association's Biennial Training Seminar was held at the Tropicana Casino / Resort in Atlantic City on June 12 & 13, 2006. Over 200 delegates attended the session all day Monday as well as the Tuesday morning workshops. We were fortunate to have the NALC National Director of City Delivery, Fred Rolando, on hand. Fred gave a very informative class on the future of the Postal Service and then conducted a rap session consisting of questions and answers from the delegates on a variety of topics.

National Business Agents Bill Lucini, Region 12, and George Mignosi, Region 15, conducted a class on COLCPE and the new "Gimme 5 for COLCPE" campaign. They stressed the importance of everyone’s involvement in this endeavor. Both Business Agents addressed the delegation during the general session on Monday, and held a Region wide session on Tuesday morning aimed at keeping the delegates informed on several pertinent issues. RAA Larry Cirelli, Region 15, held a workshop on the grievance procedure which was very well received. He provided the delegates with additional tools for grievance handling including a checklist of documentation needed depending on the issue being grieved.

MDA plaques were given out to participating branches and a whopping $1,010.00 was raised for this worthy cause. This was the largest amount ever raised at the Biennial Seminar. I'd like to thank those of you who participated in purchasing raffle tickets, as well as Jeannie Mongiello and Marie Fox for taking the time to promote the raffle and sell tickets.

The NALC has embarked on a program of getting every state in the country involved in the political action process. We should be proud the National is modeling this program after the one we've had in place for the many years. In addition to recruiting legislative liaisons for each congressional district, every branch with at least 50 members is being asked to select a COLCPE Coordinator to organize and guide the membership in making their donations. It's a known throughout the country that the New Jersey State Association is at the forefront of the legislative movement within the NALC. On behalf of our entire executive board and our legislative liaisons, I'd like to thank you for your continued efforts and support. Without you, we wouldn't be successful.

Below are the current COLCPE coordinators for each branch in the state that has provided the information to us. If you have any questions about the "Gimme 5 for COLCPE” campaign, these coordinators have all the materials and information to answer your questions. Feel free to contact your branch COLCPE coordinator listed below. For those branches with less than 50 members, feel free to contact any of the officers of the NJ State Association, or simply log on to our web site for more details (www.njsalc.com)

COLCPE Coordinators, Region 15: Branch 38, Mark McGrady; Branch 42, Barbara Reeves; Branch 65, Nick Astipilatis; Branch 67, Carol Ann Rasmus; Branch 120, Ed Falato; Branch 272, Kathy Muzeni; Branch 396, Kareem Ross, Carol Phillips; Branch 425, Marco Ortiz; Branch 444, Ray Walsh; Branch 457, Chuck Jiminez; Branch 754, Dave Brinkerhoff; Branch 768, Tim Mason; Branch 924, Jeff Harness; Branch 1492, Russ Vidal; Branch 2138, Conrad Gugliotta; Branch 2876, Michelle Cioni; Branch 3540, Bob Morton; Branch 4102, Tony Perconte

COLCPE Coordinators, Region 12: Branch 268, Rich Folmer; Branch 370, Ramona Reese; Branch 380, Marty D'Autrechy; Branch 534, Susan Foster; Branch 540, Chuck Goushian; Branch 903, Dan Hickey; Branch 908, Norm Task; Branch 1089, Robert Brewer; Branch 2128, Alan Kloza; Branch 2682, Kathleen Cohen; Branch 4623, R. Keith Waters; Branch 5420, Phil Cornell; Branch 5801, Mike Birnbaum; Branch 6311, John Miller.

If you haven't done so already, please be sure to contact your coordinator and sign up to donate to COLCPE. I'd like to close by saying thank you again for your support and confidence in the NJ State Association. I hope you have a safe, happy, and enjoyable summer.