The History of Female Leadership in the NALC
This podcast’s purpose is to give a history of women who have stepped into leadership roles within the National Association of Letter Carriers, and discuss the leaders of now and into the future.
The History of Female Leadership in the NALC
Linda Johnson
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This episode features Linda Johnson, Branch 114 Vice President in Duluth, Minnesota. She is also the Minnesota State Association Secretary.
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 super excited to have one of my sisters from Leadership. If you don't mind, go ahead and introduce yourself.
SPEAKER_01My name is Linda Johnson. I'm from Duluth, Minnesota. I'm a member of NALC Branch 114. And I started at the post office in December of 2020, which is just the best time of the year to start as a letter carrier. Um, pretty immediately uh signed up for the union and started going to meetings and went to my first national convention in 2022, and I've just been going back ever since.
SPEAKER_00Nice. Okay. Well, first off, you got double whammied there between December and COVID. That was wow, that was quite a time to start. Um what will what I want to ask you now is though, um prior to December of 2020, what brought you to the Postal Service in the first place?
SPEAKER_01So I um I'm 27. I was 21 when I started at the post office. Um, and I dropped out of high school in my junior year. I dealt with a lot of depression and anxiety, um, some addiction issues and bouncing around at a lot of fast food joints. Um, I knew I never wanted to go to college. Um I, you know, had prepared for it throughout high school, but it just wasn't something I was interested in afterwards, especially with all my issues. Um, so in May of 2020, I experienced a drug-induced seizure from laced party drugs. Um, I was inhabited and in a coma for three days, and that was kind of my turning point. Um, I woke up with a tube down my throat. And once I, you know, healed from that, it was a quick recovery. Um, my mental health just kind of took a giant turn. It was like the closest I'd ever gotten to um death. And once I hit that, my depression got a lot better. Um, I started taking my mental health a lot more seriously. I knew I needed a better paying job, but I didn't want to go to college. So I talked to my dad, who told me maybe you should uh get a job at the post office. And in I think October of 2020, I applied and here I am today.
SPEAKER_00That is quite a story. I'm so glad to hear that you are where you are now. That could have gone really, really bad. And so that is that says a lot about you to pull yourself out of that. That really is impressive. Um well, you've been with the post office since December of 2020. Um, and now here you are. Was there something that led you to pursue a role in the NALC?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um so like I said, I kind of started immediately going to union meetings. And as a new carrier, um, you know, I was presented with a bunch of opportunities to come to these monthly new carrier meetings that our president held. And I was oftentimes the only carrier there. And so I really took it upon myself to encourage my peers, my coworkers to start going to these meetings because it's it was such an opportunity to ask questions that you normally wouldn't get a chance to ask. Um, when I went to the Chicago convention in 2022, there was a workshop on what we now know as the NERP program. And I thought that is something we need in our office. Uh, we were really understaffed at the time. In 2022, I think we were at like 120 some carriers. And today we're still understaffed. We got 140. So um we were struggling pretty bad. And I wanted to get that NERM program in our office. So I started discussing it with um my peers, with the other carriers. Um I took over as a new hire coordinator and got some more people at our PTF meetings, our CCA meetings. Um, as a new hire coordinator, I started attending monthly labor management meetings. Um, so that got me on a better relationship with management. Um, I held some events with our new carriers, discussed the NERP program, which really just ended up being discussions until we got the new contract. Um, but I really just took the time to discuss things with my peers, uh, people that knew more than I did at the time, and asked my shop steward a lot of questions.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, that's that's that is amazing. I I I'm just I I'll be honest with you. You you really do amaze me because you talk and you have done so much and you're 27 years old. I mean, that is that is so awesome to me. Um you really are. I mean, I I think this is great because people that are younger that are starting out may think that they don't have even a a chance to do anything more, and then they see you that uh you're like an inspiration to people because of that, I'm sure. And uh and it's because of a lot of hard work that you've put in. Yeah, it's I'm I'm just sitting here in awe. I'll just be thanks. Um, so um what all positions have you held?
SPEAKER_01So following the new higher coordinator, I became the trustee of my branch. Um that was pretty, you know, easy, low-level stuff to get into as someone who's working a lot as a part-time person. Um, and in early 2023, I became regular. Uh, I immediately jumped into being an on-the-job trainer, a mentor. Um steward asked if I would be willing to step up as a steward, and I was just not ready for that. I would not have described myself as an individual who liked conflict or as someone who put my needs, you know, my rights above others. In reality, I was really good at fighting for the rights of other people. Um, I just didn't really know that that's what I was doing. Uh, as an on-the-job instructor, we had a lot of new carriers coming in that just needed a day off. And I'd have that conversation with management and they'd get it. And so being able to fix those problems over time as an on-the-job instruct instructor, um, by the end of 2023, I said, okay, yeah, I'll I'll be a steward, I'll try it out. If I don't like it, just know I'm I'm not gonna be able to stick with it. Um so I became a shop steward and I started filing at informal in 2024 more regularly. And following that in 2025, I stepped into our vice president role for our branch. Um so today I am a shop steward, the branch vice president, and I was just recently appointed the Minnesota State Secretary.
SPEAKER_00That's quite a resume. Um now I'm gonna ask you this, and you can pick which one, or you can go over both of them in your current position positions or position, whichever one you want to go over, or both. Uh, what are your duties?
SPEAKER_01So as a shop steward, I I'm mostly meeting it informal, though I I am considered a formal A representative. Um I mostly do article eight, article 10, 15. Um, as vice president, I'm the go-to guru for OWCP. So I had to pick up on some of that stuff pretty immediately, which was something I was not familiar with at all and just had to go to trainings for and try to learn on my own. And I still don't know nearly enough about it, but it's just one of those things you just keep learning. Um and that's part of my vice president duty, is to be the OWCP representative. Um I also do trainings, although those are pretty informal at this point. We haven't set up anything formally in our branch. Um, I help our health benefits rep sign up people during open season. Uh, I discuss all sorts of benefits with our members, our local contract. And a lot of this overlaps with being a shop steward. Um, I meet at labor management monthly. I've served on our LMOU negotiation team. I've served on our bylaw committee. Um and I there's some parts of being the Minnesota State Secretary that I'm just not sure of yet, but I mean mostly it's a lot of minutes, let's be real.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yep. I I'm right there with you on that. Um my next questions, a couple questions are a little bit a little rougher, not as much fun, but they are very important. Um, you know, a lot of times people, especially newer in in your earlier years, and it could go longer, but earlier years, you d face a lot of harassment or possible discrimination, whatever it might be. Have you dealt with anything like that? And if so, uh, how did you deal with it? And do you feel like the situations were resolved?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, when I first started, um, there was a senior carrier who really helped me out a lot. Um, and over time I've dealt with a lot of other carriers that have become overly friendly and stepped over the bounds a little bit. But in my branch, I'm surrounded by people who really want to help you out. And if that's a harassment situation or just a situation that needs a tough conversation, we are surrounded with people in my branch that are willing to be there for you when you have that conversation. Um, when we've had to involve management, management's been really good about resolving it. And so, like I said, I'm surrounded by a lot of people that just really care for me and respect me. And I've never really had an issue with that. With customers, it has been a little bit of an issue. You know, I've been asked out on the route. Um, I've been catcalled a few times, which always gets uh pretty frustrating when it's a business that you deliver to. Uh, it's one of those things where now there's an awkward tension anytime you bring them their mail. And it's I I've gotten back to them my truck and screamed a couple of times because it's just so frustrating. But for the most part, people are really respectful. I come from a really good area of town. Um, I've never really had to deal with um, you know, the pressure of feeling uncomfortable or discriminated against or harassed for the most part. Um to be honest, I've probably felt more wronged or disrespected as the steward more than I have as a woman. So um again, my mentor has really been there for me the most. Uh, I had a situation with a carrier I was training who made some mildly uncomfortable comments that was just a little bit too friendly. And when I told my mentor about it, he said that if that were to were to ever happen again, he would be there and all I have to do is call him and he'd take him for the day. And so just knowing that I have people to turn to has helped immensely. And again, I've never had to really deal with it in the first place. So I'm I consider myself really lucky for that.
SPEAKER_00Good, good. I I hear these stories and you know, from the ladies on the podcast, and then plus, you know, we've dealt with some issues here locally at my branch where uh some of the ladies are out on their route and you have these gross dudes that do things and say things and everything. And I just I don't understand it. It it I cannot imagine just the the letter carrier walking up to my door and me saying something just so wildly inappropriate. It just blows my mind that these guys I does that ever work? I mean, has that ever worked for them? I I I don't know, but yeah, uh it it stinks because that's what I told these ladies in our branch. I had a little sidebar with them one day after our stand-up, and I told them that, you know, including the rule carriers, I brought them all over, and I was just like, listen, because we had just had an issue with a carrier that had been getting pretty heavily harassed on the route, and we were dealing with that. And I was just like, listen, you guys, just like us, just like the guys, you have to deal with angry customers, you have to deal with the the dogs and things like that. That's all you should deal with. You shouldn't have to worry about you know, idiot guys treating you differently because you're a female, and I was like, there's no excuse for it. And unfortunately, I think some of these ladies I was talking to, and it was like they there's like this level where with me, if someone came up and said something like, you know, even mildly inappropriate, it would ring, it would like alarm bells would go off. But a lot of ladies just in general life, it seems like have dealt with a certain level of it all the time that it doesn't even register anymore. It has to go over that line to get to where you even notice it. And I'm like, I told him, I was like, please, please, don't let it get to that line even. If you have anything, you're here to work. That's it. What that's all you're here for. Not none of that other stuff. So yeah, I it just it really irritates me because you know, you guys are just there to do your job just like we are. Just leave you alone, let you do your job, you know.
SPEAKER_01So and I think there's a level of of disrespect that would have been considered uncalled for in the past. And now, you know, you go online and you see people making these comments like, oh, they're a snowflake or whatever you want to say, you know, they're a baby, they're just complaining. And that leads to like this sense of, well, like I guess I just have to deal with it, and that's not fair for anybody, it's not just women at that point. Um, but you know, like you were saying, there's there's a level of what we consider acceptable. Um, and it's hard to differentiate between, well, that's not acceptable when really nothing should be. So I hear you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um another question I have is, you know, with all of your thousands of positions that you have covered, um, and all the time that you have to spend doing steward work, working, doing the VP job, doing the state stuff, um, shoot, you were just at leadership with me. Um, has that caused you any issues in your personal life with family or friends with your time away that you're having to spend doing that stuff?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, it's it's definitely caused some issued issues. Um right now I haven't gotten well, I can't say I haven't. It's been difficult for me to get paid grievance handling time at work. So I'm doing a lot of stuff off the off the clock. So that is easily at least another 20 hours a week on top of all the other stuff I'm doing, and that's been the past two months. Um so my partner also works in the post office in the union, and so he understands very well. But when it comes to my family, um they're asking when I'm gonna get time off and why I have a three-day week in some weeks and why I have a Wednesday off a couple of weeks from then. So yeah, I've missed a couple of family get-togethers, um, not just for for work, but also for like pre-planned union events. Um, my family has a really hard time with the way annual leave works at the post office in the first place. Um, I see my family around the holidays and for birthdays, and you know, when they're in town, we get together. Um when I start talking about work in the union, I do see their eyes glaze over a little bit. Um, so I try to keep it short and sweet in the first place. Uh, but for the most part, they're just really happy to see me where I want to be. Uh, I've met a lot of friends at the post office, and so that makes it a lot easier to hang out with them. Um, but considering my past with all my mental health, I've made a pretty insane turnaround from where I thought I would be at this stage in my life. Um, so it can be a little jarring to think of how far I've come as not only a person, but as a union member. Um, and so I think my family just really appreciates that.
SPEAKER_00Um I can't imagine, you know, your family seeing you now as opposed to back when you were in the throes of your addiction and all your struggles. I mean, yeah, that I I I guarantee you they are super proud of you. That it it I'm so proud of you. It's just amazing. Um, so when you do finally close the laptop, turn off the phone for a little bit, or at least set it down. Um, what do you like to do? What do you like to do to unwind, relax? Do you have hobbies?
SPEAKER_01No, I mostly just read the contract. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I uh I like to crochet and knit. Um, I have probably finished five projects and they're all little stuffed animals out of a half a million of different projects that I've started and haven't finished. Uh, but it keeps my hands busy, keeps my mind busy. I love going out in nature. Um, we have two dogs and three cats, so I love animals also. My plan is to, when I retire, I'm gonna open a disabled cat sanctuary, and that's just gonna be my plan. Um, I love to play video games. I spend a lot of time playing word games, which uh my partner hates because he is not very good at word games and I always ask him questions. Um, I like to sing karaoke that for my birthday every year. Um, yeah, it's I love music. I knit and crochet. I love to read when I get a chance.
SPEAKER_00Nice. That's I I've heard these uh hobbies a few different times. And I didn't realize that, you know, a lot of times uh I've I've made fun of my oldest daughter who is just a couple years younger than you, um, because she has been knitting, crocheting, whatever. I I she always gets mad at me because I don't know the exact terminology, but yarn and doing you know the hands together thing. I don't like I said, I don't know exactly which one it is. But anyway, um I always joked around and I was like, you're like a you know, like a little old lady there just going at it because my grandma did it. And yeah, now I keep talking to all these younger ladies that are doing it, and they they just love it. And uh actually Michelle Paulson from Iowa, um, I was that had her on here and she was talking about it, and I've seen her little uh creations and it's amazing. And and same with you. I'm like, this is awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's coming back, and I always told myself, you know, fabric arts are kind of what I want to get into because my name is Linda, anyways, so the closer I am to a 60-year-old lady, the better.
SPEAKER_00Hey, okay, we'll go with I'm not gonna call you a 60-year-old lady, I'll let you say that. Um, so um, you know, even though there's people that have been around a few more years than you, but I don't know that many people have packed so much stuff into six years, seven years, where you're wherever you're at here, somewhere around in there, um you've done so much stuff and you've seen so much stuff, I think that you would be able to give someone some advice. And frankly, once again, it can even be something outside of the Postal Service. You can because you've also lived quite a life. If you had a piece of advice for someone starting out, or just a piece of advice in general, what would that be?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, my biggest piece of advice is to take it slow. Um, something I was terrified of, and kind of why I also wanted to take up more positions is that the people around me are retiring, and I want our union to exist and I want it to be well run. And so I felt like I needed to know everything and do everything, uh, and be the one person that knows how to do that. And that's just not how it works. Um, that's not. Solidarity, it's not unity. Um, it's so you will not be alone if that's the way you feel. Um it's you won't you won't be alone. You will find the strength uh to feel a little lonely while you find the people that are gonna stand next to you, but people will stand next to you as long as you slow down, you do a good job so that when you're ready to move on, they can take over for you and and be a better steward or a better vice president than you were. And that's really just all we're looking for, anyways. People to be better than us in the positions we held. Um, and don't be afraid to ask questions. It's okay to look like the stupidest person in the room. You're not.
SPEAKER_00I I don't know if that's for me. Sometimes I might I might be uh going back to leadership when I walked in there that first night on Sunday night, and I looked around the room and I'm going, I do not belong here. These people are so far above me.
SPEAKER_01I was glad you were there. I saw a familiar face. That was very nice to see you.
SPEAKER_00Well, it was uh I'm I'm glad I was there for uh moral support because I I wasn't bringing a lot to the table. But the great thing is all of all of the folks in class 32 made me feel like I belonged. And so I they they did a great job of that. So it was awesome. It was a great experience, and I yeah, I I can't say enough great stuff about it. Um so that's all I have. So now I'm just going to ask you, is there anything I forgot, anything I missed, anything you want to add? The floor is yours.
SPEAKER_01I do want to do a shout out to all of my region seven people. Um, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today if people didn't believe in me. And I want to instill that on the people that come after me. And a shout out to leadership class 32. Uh, those people made me feel like I got what I needed from leadership, and that's to feel more confident and feel a little bit braver. Um shout out to Kelsey and Casey, Marta, Lamanda, James, Veronica, those DeAndre, some very important people that I met through various committees and leadership and that kind of thing, that I feel braver when I'm standing next to.
SPEAKER_00You listed off a bunch of amazing people. I I know most of them, and they are all some of them been on the podcast even, and they're they're awesome people. That's that's the greatest thing about the union, in my opinion. Beyond my job, my protections at work, you know, my benefits that I know that the union fights to get me. It's the people, the the union siblings that you you meet along the way. Uh, it's like I've met a whole new family. I I have this awesome, awesome family, and it's you know, I'm just so fortunate.
SPEAKER_01The more union events I'm able to attend, the more opportunities provided to me to to meet more union people, the more fired up I get about it. And it's just an incredible feeling, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Well, um, Linda, I I know we've been working on getting together for a while. Everybody is so busy, and I I it it's trying to find time. I try to work around everyone's schedule, but but everybody is so busy. Obviously, you list it off, you do so much stuff for your branch and for the union in general. Um, but thank you so much for doing this for me. I really appreciated you coming on here and uh sharing your story. I think it's gonna I think it's gonna hit with some people. I really do. And I think I thank you for sharing your story and being totally transparent and honest with it because it is super important and you should be very proud of where you're at. And everybody that I talk to is super proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself.
SPEAKER_01So thanks, Craig. I appreciate it, and thanks for letting me come on and ramble for a little bit and gab at you for the 45 minutes beforehand.
SPEAKER_00No, we it was a good time. I enjoyed it. So, all right. Well, you have a good night, and uh thanks you to everyone for listening and be safe and be kind of.