Elise Foster

This episode features Elise Foster, President of Branch 11, Chicago, Illinois.

Transcript

unknown 0:00

And we're not gonna be a few.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Welcome to the History of Female Leadership in the NALC podcast. I'm Craig Schaefer. I'm a city carrier in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Branch 1015. Today I am so excited to have a sister from my home state of Illinois, but on the far other end, if you don't mind, go ahead and introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Hi, yes, good morning, Craig. Thank you for having me. My name is Elise Foster, and I am the president of Branch 11 Chicago. I've been a carrier going on my 32nd year, started my career in 1994 as a City Letter Carrier on the in the mid part of the South Side, right on the boundaries of 18th Street, at the now named Cesar Chavez Post Office after the farm working advocate that helped with the produce and the people working in the fields. They named that um building after him under the act of Congressman Louis Gutierrez. Now I've been there um, like I say, going on the 32 years, but I've been off my assignment for um 16 years, January 23rd, 2010, as an elected official. Um I ran with now um Assistant Secretary Treasurer Matt Julian. Um we came in together to to just make some changes that was that was needed as we came through the um postal service as the change. I think most so with the technology. I came in and um I started my union career as a shop steward. I just didn't like what was going on on the workroom floor. I know what I experienced when I came in, and it was just it was just like no help. Just get out there and figure it out, do it the best you can, and this is how the Postal Service does things, and I felt the need for a change because I didn't want the brothers and sisters that was coming in behind me to have to experience what I went through, and that there was some common sense practices that just needs to be displayed by management to um give these people the opportunity to become professional letter carriers, such as um myself. And with that being said, um I stepped up to become a shop steward and get familiar with the union contracts, handbooks, and manuals, and started going into training, conventions, local and state um conventions to give knowledge on how this thing called Postal Service worked. But I wanted to I I was the voice of those that had no voice as a station, and I have the voice now of 5,000 members here in branch 11.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

That's awesome. That is really, I mean, that's the epitome of a leader. You see a problem, you step up and you're gonna try to fix it. So thank you for that. I'm sure you've got 5,000 people in your branch that appreciate you doing it as well. Um well, if we back up just a tad bit, um kind of go back into your early life, where you you know, what how when you grew up, what what ended up getting you into the postal service in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Well, when I started, I I left high school and went into some college, and I didn't completely go away from college. Um I had a daughter, and I had to provide a life for her. And you know that saying is always work at the post office. So my uncle was a postal police at the time, and he came aboard and said, Hey, you all they hiring at the postal service and you want to want to come work for the post office. And it came about when they had that early out that we came in um with the grass enough came in in 1994, and that's how we were hired. That's how I was hired, but I took the initiative because my uncle came in and said, Hey, there's they're hiring, and you probably want to look into it. I needed a career, I needed some money, really. I was looking at it to come in and get some money because I wanted to take care of my daughter, so that's what I had to do, and didn't know that I was gonna be here for almost 32 years, and my career started with the union because I just didn't like how things was being done. But that's how I came into the Postal Service.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Well, um, you you know, you kind of went into what caused you to pursue a leadership role, but w what all positions, you've mentioned a couple, what all positions have you held in the NALC in branch 11?

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Well, I started off as a shop steward, then I became a formal a designee, then I became elected recording secretary, then I became elected vice president, then I became elected president, um, various positions such as the on the food dry committee, we had a breast cancer committee, we talked about um safety committee, it's a lot of other ones I can't really remember, but I I I participated in whatever the branch needed me to do. That's how I got familiar with the the interactions of the union, besides just on the workroom floor. But um, I had a lot of opportunities given to me, um, not but not given to me, shared the opportunities to learn. And when things came up, I was able to say I was interested, I wanted to learn more, and the opportunities came, and that's how I learned. And I I don't know everything now, but I have the um respect of my membership that they know that we would get the information to them, and by by by getting out to headquarters if we have any questions to get those questions answered so we get the information to the um workforce. But um that's pretty much, you know, my union career. I've just been helping and advocating for people, and with the change that's going on in this country, you know, it's always changes at the Postal Service. We just have to be prepared to be, you know, trained to go in there to do the necessary things that we have to do to represent the membership because it's always constant changes with so much of our contract and the work, the workplace rules and policies and the procedures of the postal service forever changing. And when they do that, they're violating our contract, and we have to make sure that our members are being represented, and that means training uh stewards, uh at formal A's at every level, DRT advocates, arbitration advocates to be well ready to fight and enforce our contract. And I was an arbitration advocate too.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yes, ma'am. You're preaching to the choir here, right? That is awesome. Uh what I will say is I do appreciate you, you know, going through your elected positions, but also throwing out all the committees that you've been a part of because I I I think that I've said it many times, I think that a lot of people just think that the only positions in the NALC are your elected of elected positions, and there are so many other things that we do that we need help with, and I I I appreciate you kind of highlighting those as well. Um this is one that I am excited to hear because I don't know. Um you may have to condense it a little bit because I think this list is gonna be very, very long. But in your current position as president of branch 11 out of Chicago, Illinois, what are your duties on the daily?

SPEAKER_00 7:32

That's a good question. I think you know how things can go. Well, I set an agenda. I have the things that I need to do each and every day, but sometimes those things don't get done because the membership comes first. Here in Branch 11, you're running a big operation. We have our own union hall. I have to see about the the the interactions of this building, full-time officers, 13. We have 13 former lay reps. I have about I want to say 60-something union stewards. So at that given time, it's it's rough. It is rough, but it's a lot of teamwork. We got a lot of teamwork, delegate a lot of the duties. You know, I got a great vice president, um Ronald Morgan, that helps me out a lot with the grievance process. Um, we have a lot of grievances that we do here in branch 11. Um, we are a grievance branch, we have a lot of violations out there. You can imagine with over 48 units out there, you know, with the vast uh territory that we cover. We have about, I want to say about four, I will say 4,000 now with the mass hiring that they did, over 550 CCAs on boarding. I have about say about 4,000 active members on the workroom floor. So each and every day my phone goes off, social media, text, email, get to the office, have a ton of messages. So it's the nuts and bolts of what we do, representation, represent the membership. Anything happened on that workroom floor if they don't feel that they're being um properly represented or need to let us know something or give us a call, and that means we have to stop and take care of the membership. That that comes first. That's why we're here because of the members. And we do have shop stores on the workroom floor, and sometimes they even call because they need help at any given time. But um we at right now about 12 to 13 formal aids. I had looked at my last list, I had about over 300 grievances here at Formal A. And not knowing how many that's out there at the informal A level, but right now I'm managing about 300 grievances here in Chicago. I don't know what we closed out with last year, but I think well over 5,000 grievances appealed to the um Chicago Postmaster in 2025. So we were well on that in 2026 because of the numbers of violations, and we we just have a lot of violations out there, and that's that's that's the main thing, you know, the grievances that that we we have out there. Um the memberships on the workroom floor is is being violated, and a lot of changes that the Postal Service is doing in the grievance process, um, we need more protection with that to help enforce our contract. But on on the on the lighter side of things, before we get into the representation, we just had our, you know, we do rallies, like so we have different events to get our membership involved in our union. We have to educate them by having an education committee that brings ideas to me, and we set up a meeting and we just open up the doors to our union hall so that the members can come in and and and find out and get updated on the contract. We have our um scholarship committee that we're working on now to implement our scholarship. We just implemented that, so we're working on that. We just got that passed in our bylaws. Then we have our um MDA Recreation Committee along with our breast cancer committee. I mean, we we do a lot here. We have our unity, they haven't given themselves a name yet, but it's the unity with our younger members that came in at CCAs, and we're trying to get them involved and help them. So they well, pretty much they help us to help them to get to that other generation that we need to engage and get them into involved in the union to understand what the union is all about because in my household coming up, union was talked about. It was union, union jobs, union jobs, and it was very important. Nowadays, not so much is being talked about as I go to the orientation and I talk to um the new hires, and you know, we bring them on board and tell them about the union. Some of them have to step out the class and go ask their parents. And um, I remember Mac always saying, I guarantee if you go out that room and call your um parents, they're gonna tell you, yeah, you better hurry up and sign. Because they know the importance of belonging to a union where it's not being taught, and that's why we want to take it back so that we can have more education on the importance of a union and what's the purpose of the union and why we need the union. But that's that's that's the take that um some of the things that I do. I've gone to work on floor, I have meetings with the um postmaster, the station managers, the stewards, you name it. I'm on a um, I'm out there, you know, before I come into the office and start my day at 3850 Wallbash. I'm at a particular station in Chicago, in the suburbs. As you say, we have all of Chicago. Let me just give you a picture of what I my representative territory is. All of Chicago. I have Maywood, Westchester Lombard to my west. Then I have Harvey to the south that's in the Chicago district. Then I have Evanston, Winneka, Glenview office that I represent all these carriers. So at any given time, I can start off at 5 o'clock in the morning if I have to go far north. Or I start off a little bit at 8 o'clock this morning. I was on the station at 8 o'clock this morning before I came into the office. So my day can be taken in a different turn, it all depends on what happened on the workroom floor. And my main goal is to get on the workroom floor to help those carriers out to put that fire out is before it starts. So that's what we pretty much do. I'm on the floor.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Well, I I will say I am uh follow your branch 11 Facebook page, and you guys are extremely active. You guys are always in an office uh honoring a carrier, you know, for years of service, whatever it might be. Um I it it's amazing to me that the size of your branch and you're able to connect with so many carriers still yet. It it you would think that in a branch that large that a lot of people would kind of fall through the cracks, but it seems to me that you guys take care of everybody and it's it's really awesome to watch. I I'm a little envious of some of the parties you guys have for your different uh charities and things like that. I I'm like, wow, now that is pretty awesome, but yeah, you we just had a we just came off our women's day program.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Um I um implemented that honoring the women of branch 11 on International Women's Day, which happened to fall this year on March the 8th. Um we had our National Secretary of Treasurer, Nicole Ryan, come out and and she joined us and um honored women um that she worked with at at headquarters. So it was an honor to have her and we honored on some of you know, each year we honor a different group of people acknowledging the work that they've done and what they contribute to the union and and what the significance of what women do. So we we get involved with our members. Um we they're like they're our family, you know, and and that's what it's about. You know, I have that personal touch with members because I understand I've been there, I've been on the workroom floor, I know what they're going through, I know the life situations that happen, and we're trying to maintain a job, not having the support that women need, you know, when we're taking care of our children and trying to balance that work life with the kids and not having that support if something happens and we get it, we understand. And that's why we fight so hard for them, you know, to help, because a lot of the resources that we had, there's no longer available for them as they try to maintain. So we do a lot of stuff here at this union branch 11. You know, I'm I just told the secretary that we finna get ready to get back on the floor, and I gotta get out there and get some pens because they're calling me and they like that to get out there, acknowledge um what we do, and I know we um take pride in giving those pins out. And it gives the younger membership something to inspire to look to. Because I remember being on the workroom floor coming in and um just day week one or two on the job, and now I got 30, going on 32 years, and people don't think that. They say, you look like you're 32, but yeah, I guess 30-something years. And that's a lot of us. We started in the 1994 when they bought when they had that early out, and it a lot of people left, and the postal service was struggling with staffing, and then that's how I came aboard. So a lot of members are asking me, I got a text this morning asking me, hey Elise, have you heard anything about it early out? I said, No, I haven't heard anything. So they're waiting on that to be incentivized to go. But um, here at Branch 11, we do um aggressors representation for our members. They come first, they know they come first, then everything else is secondary. I do have timelines that I have to meet. Sometimes I work in an office all day and night. Sometimes I don't get home till nine o'clock, central time. But I'm here working on behalf of the members of um branch 11 because it's it has to be done. It's what needs to be done, and um, I just do what I can do.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

I guarantee you, like I said before, your membership appreciates all you do. I know it's a a a huge task, but uh you're getting it done up there for sure. Um over the course of your over 30 years in the Postal Service, um, I'm sure, you know, I I've talked to a lot of ladies, and you know, this is one thing that seems to happen to a lot, and that is a little bit of uh discrimination because of being a female, you know, maybe not getting the respect that you deserve for the position you're in or uh your knowledge. Have you dealt with anything like that? And if so, uh do you feel like you were able to get it resolved?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Ooh, absolutely. Women in the workplace, we had to fight twice as hard. Especially us in leadership roles, you know, and the respect. You look at it, and I'm just not talking from um on the sidelines, I'm talking about experience because I live it every day. When we in certain rooms, we don't get the respect as men do. And sometimes women have to act a little strange just to get attention so they can see that we're here and that we mean business. Well, that means elevating your voice, and that you when you shouldn't have to, but you have to let them know that you your presence is in the room and that we mean business, and we're advocating for the membership and the discrimination, it does happen with women. And today, as I'm saying, as I started much more in '94 to now, we have more women in leadership in the Postal Service versus the men. So that clashes. That clashes, and we have to take the personal out of supervision as I take the personal out of unionism. But enforcing a contract, we have to work together and we have to understand that we need to treat everybody with dignity and respect. You have a position, I have a position, but we have that don't give us uh carte blanche to treat people um disrespectful. All we just asking that we get our fair shake, to treat everybody the right way, and we move on. We can agree to disagree, but it's a way to do it. But women have a hard time respecting other women in the Postal Service. I'm gonna put it like that. And sometimes in other organizations that you in, or maybe a seat at the table or a meeting, we have to do things differently to make our presence known that we in this room and we at the table. And and that's what I do. Sometimes I have to um I ain't gonna say throw nothing, but sometimes I have to, you know, raise my voice, be a little bit passionate about some things that's um that I want to get across to the table. Otherwise, I would not be recognized if I just tried to interject myself as talking over a group of men. And I tried to say something, I can't get it in, and you know, you have to raise your hand and stand up just to be recognized, and and that's not good. And one time I remember coming in as the protection for pregnant women, and I use myself as an example that I only have one child because there was no protection for us women when we wanted to have a family, and the the the ups and downs that we had to go through with the Postal Service just to even carry a route and knowing that we are nine or eight months pregnant or whatever it is, things are gonna be different for us. But we don't, it's like no slack, no resid, no respect or anything that we have to fight to belong in the workplace to be work safe. And if anybody had a female had a child, they know the risk that we stand to take if we out there on the street working in the icy conditions and things of that nature. But you'd think that you would get more understanding from a female supervisor than you do with a male. But that don't happen. We have to fight. Then once we have the children, I think we just got that implemented. The um when the women want to breastfeed, we're not afforded that opportunity. That's something that I saw was signed off on, and they have to provide the rooms for us because it's a part of the law, and that's something that we don't want to go into these bathrooms that's dirty and filthy and don't have these accommodations for us so that we can, you know, do the things that we need to do as parents and we're having our children. So it's a lot of things going on. When I started in the postal service, we was in the bathroom where it was just men because there was no women. So the postal service didn't change the bathrooms over to uh accommodate women when we came into the workforce. I remember holding a grievance uh meeting at one of the stations, Lincoln Park Station, and you have to turn the name placket over to let them know that it's a woman in the bathroom or if it's a man because they don't have a uh male bath a female bathroom upstairs. So a lot of those things still exist in some post offices, and we have to make just do because. you know, we don't we we didn't we not respect it enough and we got to continue to fight for these uh working conditions in the workplace.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Well and you know one thing that you didn't mention that I didn't even realize until I heard at the women's round table at our rap session for Region Five a couple weeks ago I never thought about it, but ladies don't even have like there's no maternity uniforms. They don't make anything to for ladies that are pregnant. And I'm thinking that just seems so basic that you could do that, you know, just to try to make ladies feel like they're at least a little more part of the especially when a lady is pregnant, make them feel still like they're part of the team, but you're saying eh, you know, it's not that important to us. It's not going to make enough money for the uniform companies or whatever. I don't know what the deal is. But I just thought something just as simple as that for you know to to take that worry off of your shoulder and they don't even bother with that. So I I'm I'm glad that things are starting to change a little bit but it it's still there's still a long ways to go and definitely still a long ways to go.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Yeah. And would you think that we still have to fight yeah for the just the basic yeah basic rights.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Well and my next question goes into something you were just talking about about the hours that you put in leaving so early in the morning and a lot of times getting home who knows when whenever your day is over which could be any time um you you've mentioned that you have a son um or daughter I'm sorry a a child I I'm sorry a d a daughter I have daughters too I'm I'm um with all of the work that you do with for your union for your branch has it caused any issues with missing events for your daughter um you know family issues or um even with friends like not being able to spend time with just family friends anybody the people in your personal life has it has it caused you any issues I will say that it caused me issues and that's a great question going back to what I said about support my family supports me and they understand when I took this journey and that it was going to be a lot of time away from home um with my daughter fortunately Jaleese is a little older now she's in her 30s so she understands you have a 30 year old daughter with me yes yes she'd be 35 this year she reminds me every day about this big party she won't have so she needs some money I'm just throwing it out there I would have first off the 30 years you've been at the post office blows me away because you do not look like you could be working at the post office for 30 years. Second it amazes me that you're saying you have a 35 year old daughter that's I'm I'm sorry you just threw me off there I will I'm I didn't mean to interrupt you you just it wow okay you they they my family they joins me they they come to the union events to be to spend time with me and if there's a family event that we have they check with me first they check with me and say Lisa what's your calendar look like we want to do this we want you here and I respect that and then I give them a date and guess what something happens and I then I get the other officers to step in to help me but I just sometimes make sure that I'm there but I never neglect my family they know I never neglect them when it's time I gotta go I'm gone but they share this journey with me okay if that makes sense because this comes first and they know that um when I with with with with my members they know they come they come first absolutely first and foremost but they know my union job and the responsibilities I have is important as well but when it's time for me to to take off and take away then I I I will do that and they know that.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

But they join me and celebrate me here at this union and I make sure I make every effort to not cancel any events that family events that they have and I'm there. Awesome. I wouldn't miss it.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Good deal well and that leads into my next question when you do shut your phone off you know uh close your computer for the day or a week or whatever what do you like to do to unwind, relax? Do you have hobbies? What do you like to do in your off time?

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Oh my off time I spend the time with my family my daughter we go shopping my number one thing is bingo B-I-N-G-O. I will play bingo so there's no more bingo it's something that my mom took us to as little kids we used to go bingo with her because kids was allowed at that time and we just had to be quiet which we wasn't but I said as soon as I turned 18 I wanted to play bingo and I've been playing ever since and that gives me my space that gives me my relaxation away from the job I fellowship with my friends at the bingo hall. I help some of my seniors that's there that can't see the balls. I'm like the caller to the caller and that's why I get my relaxation phone once a week and if I can make it I make it I just don't make it in December lot because I have all the Christmas parties to go to but um my bingo hall um I'll go to a VFW and support that and they have a special seat for me because I'm a dedicated member um player that comes every I'm not a member of the VFW let me change that a member of the bingo world so they have a special seat for me and that's why I said every week when I come and they know me I know them and we're there to have fun and I'll take nothing about the postal service about the union in the post office. Good deal for those two or two and a half hours.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Well I I think with the all of the duties you have in your position you have to have that reset at times to just kind of chill for a minute and then back to reality you know so that's that's awesome. I I like that I'm trying to do that. It's hard I'm trying to I'm trying to I don't turn off my phone I haven't gotten there yet but it's it's getting there but I haven't turned the phone off yeah that well I'm on a much much smaller scale and I struggle with that as well and I that's what I'm thinking is uh you know in a branch that we have is our we have 1250 members active and retired and uh we we field a lot of calls all the officers are busy a lot and so I can't even imagine 5,000 members that's that's wild. But like once again you're apparently pulling it off because I see the comments on the Facebook pages and everybody loves you. You you're doing a great job.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

So with being in the Postal Service and in your different uh roles in the union if you don't mind if you could think of something to give a piece of advice to someone that maybe just you know maybe listening to this thinking you know what I I think I might want to do something in the NALC what what would the piece of advice you would give someone just starting out the advice that I would give someone is to get involved don't be scared to speak up for what's right in the workplace you'd be surprised how far that would take you but get involved with your union nothing beats a failure but a try I always say that nothing beats a failure but a try there's something for everybody in the NLC is just finding that niche and just getting it excelling it and support the union and look I just started off as a shop steward I never knew this journey would take me to be an elected first female president of the of this large branch and I'm very honored to come behind all these men that's been in place but don't give up nothing beats a failure but a try and keep moving but always support your union and I tell people especially the women listeners that a woman's place is definitely in her union.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Thank you that is perfect. I'm out of questions all I have left is to ask you if there's anything else you would like to add I if I missed anything it's all yours.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

No I think you covered everything that you know with your um podcast I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to um speak and share on some of my um expertise or my my knowledge on the the NLC and how I got started and and like I would tell any and everybody that I'm very proud. I'm proud of what I do. I thank the members of Branch 11 the officers and members of branch 11 for giving me that opportunity and I thank those mentors that mentor me or Mac Julian to help me get to this place I am right now and it sometimes it can get um emotional because you think about everything that you work for and never knew that you would be here but I just thank you for for doing what you do.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

So now you're being able to share information about a lot of women in leadership and that if we can do it they can too you just don't give up thank you so much for happy thank you so much for uh joining me I know like I said you're extremely busy I uh we've been trying to schedule this for a minute and I you were one of the first ladies I thought of when I started doing this podcast. Um I I like I said I follow you guys on social media and I just am super impressed with the way you run that branch it it's it's a tight ship and you do a great job. So thank you for all you do for your membership and everybody honestly and uh thank you for listening to my podcast be safe and be kind of