Mail Handlers Branch 122 President & Combat Veteran, Scott Surette, Retires
On April 30, Scott Surette of Sabattus, the Branch 122 President of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) Local 301, stepped up to deliver his remarks before a roomful of reporters and union members. He was extremely nervous because he doesn’t particularly like public speaking, but he knew that it was important to speak out as a union leader and combat veteran about proposed cuts to the V.A. and mass layoffs of veterans in the federal sector.
“I don’t think the public really understands what veterans who serve in combat go through and see. You don’t unsee the things you’ve seen,” he said, growing visibly emotional. “They stay with you and sometimes they haunt you. That means that the transition back into civilian life can be challenging and that real support is needed.”
April 30 also happened to be the last day of his career before his retirement after 25 years at the USPS. Surrette grew up in Androscoggin County in the 1970s and 80s. When he graduated from high school he went straight to working at Maine Poly, a now-defunct flexible packaging factory in Greene. But he soon grew restless.
“I really didn’t know what to do with my life,” he recalled. “I didn’t want to work in a factory and one of my friends was joining the Marine Corps and he asked if I wanted to join and I said ‘sure.’”
He signed up for four years and served for two years as a submarine tender before being deployed to Operation Desert Shield and then Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi army. Surette served in a heavy machine gun platoon, which was involved in some of the fiercest fighting from the oil fields to Kuwait City.
When he returned to Maine, he went to work at Gates Formed Fiber in Auburn before moving a few years later to Long Island, NY to be closer to his kids. He was looking for a new Job and his friends and former in-laws had suggested he look into applying at the postal service. They told him it was a steady job with good benefits, thanks to the collective efforts of unionized workers there. Although the entrance exam wasn’t open to the broader civilian public, it was open to military veterans like Surette due to policies that gave preference in hiring to veterans for federal jobs. Within three months, he was hired as a “casual,” also known as non-career or non-bargaining unit employees.
Casuals are hired on a limited-term basis to fill supplemental workforce needs, particularly during peak seasons or when permanent employees are on leave. Although the job didn’t offer benefits and the pay was lower compared to full-time, permanent employees, the hours were steady and he had his foot in the door. Thirteen months later in 1998, Surette was hired as a part-time flexible (PTF) clerk, a career position with flexible hours and job duties.
“The people there were great and I got along with them. It was a good job,” he said. “I wish I had gone to work there right out of the Marine Corps.”
Before going into the USPS, Surette didn’t know much about unions and had never been a member, but he knew they fought for good wages and benefits and workplace protections. He immediately joined the union without hesitation. In 2003, Surette moved back to Maine and continued his work as a PTF clerk in Auburn, where he became a shop steward. He was later elected as president of his American Postal Workers Union (APWU) local.
“I never sought out a leadership position in the union at all,” said Surette. “I was always asked to step up and say hey, there’s a position open, nobody wants it, can you fill it?"
Serving as a steward can be difficult because there is a steep learning curve. That’s why Surette says it is important to read up on the contract and seek guidance from more senior members. Fortunately, he was surrounded by people willing to help and support him so he could be successful in his new role.
“It was stressful, but it builds your confidence in learning the contract and, if management is going against the contract, being able to call them on it,” he says. “It felt good to help members with grievances and when management was trying to do something they’re not supposed to do.”
Discipline and attendance issues can be challenging, especially when management is ordering an employee to be dismissed. As far as what makes a good steward, Surette said you can’t go wrong if you are honest and maintain your integrity.
“They may not like what you say, but as long as you go by the contract you can’t be wrong,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes it’s a bad thing because it’s not what the member wanted, but that’s what the contract is.”
In 2006, he met Shawn Holt, the former President of NPMHU Branch 122. When Surette said he had been working for seven years as a PTF, Holt convinced him to transfer to the mail handler craft at the Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Scarborough. He was hired in 2007 and eventually became a steward. When Holt stepped down as local president for personal reasons in 2012, Surette was appointed to finish the remaining six months of his term. He was then elected for a full term. In 2016, took a break for a term and was re-elected to the position in 2019.
One of the biggest challenges Surette has faced as president has been fighting back management’s attempts to cut staff and reduce the workforce without proper justification. That work has involved locating and analyzing reports and making good arguments as to why the positions are critical to the facility's mission. Surette says his proudest achievement as Branch 122 President is successfully protecting jobs at the facility.
“Keeping the workforce at its current level where they’re at without losing them was a big accomplishment,” he said.
From the Maine AFL-CIO and the full labor movement: thanks for your service to our country and the labor movement. We wish you the best in retirement!