{"id":39118,"date":"2026-03-11T11:26:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=39118"},"modified":"2026-03-11T11:26:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:26:46","slug":"open-letter-from-upma-president-tony-leonardi-to-national-association-of-postal-supervisors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2026\/03\/11\/open-letter-from-upma-president-tony-leonardi-to-national-association-of-postal-supervisors\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Letter from UPMA President Tony Leonardi to National Association of Postal Supervisors"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 7, 2026
\nMr. Ivan Butts
\nNational President
\nUPMA
\nUnited Postmasters and Managers of America
\nNational Association of Postal Supervisors
\n1727 King Street, Suite 400
\nAlexandria, VA 22314<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. Butts,
\nI am writing to express my profound disappointment regarding the characterization of our
\norganization contained in your March 5th public statement. In that statement you asserted,
\n“It appears that the reason the Postal Service would prefer to deal with UPMA is that
\nUPMA has been far less vigorous in advocating for its own members.”That statement is
\nnot only inaccurate, it is deeply disrespectful to the thousands of our dedicated members
\nacross this country who work every day to represent their fellow employees through the
\nUnited Postmasters and Managers of America. Our members take tremendous pride in
\ntheir service and dismissing their advocacy in such a careless and public manner is both
\ntroubling and unnecessary. Advocating for members should never be confused with
\nconstant opposition. UPMA firmly believes that constructive dialogue, mutual respect, and
\ncollaborative problem-solving are the most effective ways to advance the interests of the
\nemployees we represent. Responsible leadership requires more than confrontation, it
\nrequires the ability to work through complex issues, build trust, and pursue solutions that
\nproduce real and lasting results.<\/p>\n

Open communication and a commitment to sustainable solutions should never be
\nmistaken for weakness. On the contrary, they represent disciplined and responsible
\nadvocacy. The Postal Service’s decision to voluntarily recognize UPMA as the
\nrepresentative of non-supervisory and non-managerial EAS employees did not occur by
\naccident. It reflects confidence in our organization’s professionalism, credibility, and
\nwillingness to engage in productive dialogue on behalf of our members. UPMA’s approach
\nhas always been to build bridges where possible, not burn them. Our goal remains to work
\nwith the Postal Service to address operational challenges, improve working conditions,
\nand build a professional environment that benefits both employees and the institution they
\nserve. That philosophy has served our members well, and we will not apologize for
\npursuing progress through cooperation rather than constant conflict.
\nWhat makes your statement particularly disappointing is that UPMA has made repeated
\nefforts to build a constructive working relationship with NAPS. As you are aware, January 2,
\n2025, marked my first official working day as UPMA National President. On that very day, I<\/p>\n

\n

\nUnited Postmasters and Managers of America
\n8 Herbert Street, Alexandria, VA 22305-2600
\n(703) 683-9027
\nUnitedpma.org<\/p>\n

came to NAPS Headquarters to meet with you and Mr. Jimmy Warden with the sincere goal
\nof improving the relationship between our organizations. During that meeting I asked that
\nthe cycle of negative public statements and articles directed toward UPMA come to an
\nend. I made a commitment that UPMA would refrain from engaging in similar rhetoric, and I
\nhave honored that commitment. Furthermore, whenever any member of your leadership
\nteam has brought to my attention concerns regarding information that was misleading,
\ninaccurate, or disrespectful, I have addressed those concerns immediately and directly.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, in January, I once again reached out in the spirit of cooperation. I met with
\nMr. Chuck Mulidore and Mr. Jimmy Warden, and together we discussed working jointly to
\nadvance legislation on Capitol Hill. At that time, we agreed that collaboration between our
\norganizations could strengthen our collective voice and potentially deliver meaningful
\nresults for the employees we both represent. I believed that we were beginning to establish
\na productive and professional working relationship. Unfortunately, your recent statement
\nsuggests otherwise. Rather than seeking clarification, engaging in direct dialogue, or
\nattempting to resolve disagreements privately, your leadership chose instead to publicly
\nquestion the integrity and effectiveness of an organization that represents many of the very
\nsame people you serve. That approach does nothing to strengthen representation for
\npostal leadership. It simply creates unnecessary division.<\/p>\n

The most unfortunate consequence of this situation is that the real impact will be felt by
\nthe thousands of dual members who belong to both of our organizations. Those individuals
\ndeserve professionalism, maturity, and leadership, not public disputes between
\nassociations that should be focused on advancing their interests. UPMA will continue to
\nadvocate strongly, responsibly, and effectively for the members we represent. We will
\ncontinue to pursue solutions that improve the workplace and strengthen postal leadership.
\nWe will do so through credibility, professionalism, and results. While I remain disappointed
\nby the direction your organization has chosen and now realize that our era of cooperation
\nand goodwill has officially ended, UPMA will remain focused on the work that truly matters,
\nserving our members and improving the Postal Service.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,
\nAntuy Leonaal
\nAnthony D. Leonardi
\nNational President
\nUnited Postmasters and Managers of America<\/p>\n

\n

United Postmasters and Managers of America
\n8 Herbert Street, Alexandria, VA 22305-2600
\n(703) 683-9027
\nUnitedpma.org<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 7, 2026 Mr. Ivan Butts National President UPMA United Postmasters and Managers of America National Association of Postal Supervisors 1727 King Street, Suite 400 Alexandria, VA 22314 Dear Mr. Butts, I am writing to express my profound disappointment regarding the characterization of our organization contained in your March 5th public statement. In that statement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39118"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39120,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39118\/revisions\/39120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}