A changing of the guard at National Association of Letter Carriers

Kevin Card and Jim Cook — two longtime local leaders in the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) — have left office.

Card started in mid-November as a special assistant to the union’s national president, working on workers’ compensation. Card was secretary-treasurer of Portland-based NALC Branch 82, as well as president of NALC’s state association. He will remain in the area part-time, however: Card’s new schedule consists of two weeks at NALC’s regional office in Vancouver, followed by three weeks at the union’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. In his new job, Card helps members appeal denied workers’ comp claims. The U.S. Postal Service has one of the highest injury rates in federal government, so workers’ comp is a big issue for NALC’s 260,000 members.

Ricky Horton of NALC Branch 916 in Eugene takes Card’s place at the NALC state association, which coordinates the union’s legislative and political work.

And Matt Pierce, a steward and letter carrier at Multnomah station, succeeds Card as Branch 82 secretary-treasurer.

Cook, meanwhile, opted not to run for re-election after coming out of retirement to serve four years as Branch 82 president. Branch 82, with 1,200 members, is NALC’s largest local in Oregon. It was Cook’s third stretch as Branch 82 president, having served in that role from 1988 to 1993, and from 1996 to 2001.

Cook is known locally as an active member of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association and the Labor History Committee of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, and as a member of the labor ballad troupe General Strike, which performs on picket lines and at rallies. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 2007. Cook said he plans to continue as a delegate to the Labor Council. He will also serve as Branch 82’s legislative liaison.

Longtime chief steward Jim Falvey, just-retired as a letter carrier at Rose City station, succeeds Cook as Branch 82 president. Falvey, a Navy veteran and native of Philadelphia, moved to Portland in 1977, got a job at the U.S. Post Office as a mail handler, and served as vice president of the National Postal Mailhandlers Local 315. He then became a letter carrier in 1988, and has served NALC on the Executive Board of Branch 82 and the state association.