During the National Executive Board meeting in November 2018, National Secretary-Treasurer Timothy Dwyer announced his decision to retire effective February 1, 2019.  Brother Dwyer has served this organization in a variety of roles at the Local and National levels, including as both Treasurer and President of Local 301, National Trainer, Article 12 Task Force Representative, National CAD Representative, and finally National Secretary-Treasurer.  Brother Dwyer has been an incredible asset to the Mail Handlers Union, and he will be deeply missed. Please join us in wishing Tim the very best in his well-deserved retirement.

By memorandum dated December 6, 2018, President Hogrogian announced that, by a unanimous vote of the National Executive Board, Mail Handler Benefit Plan Executive Director and Assistant to the National Secretary-Treasurer Michael Hora has been selected to fill the forthcoming vacancy as National Secretary-Treasurer, effective February 2, 2019.

Brother Hora has been a Mail Handler for more than thirty-three years and has served the members of the NPMHU in a wide variety of positions and assignments.  Before transitioning to the National Office in 2011, Brother Hora served as shop steward, arbitration advocate, and both Vice President and President of Local 321 in Denver, Colorado for more than four terms of office.  Before accepting a full-time assignment at NPMHU National Headquarters, Hora served as a member of the Committee on the Future, on the Resolutions and Constitution Committees at several NPMHU National Conventions, and on the 2006 and 2011 Field Negotiating Committees in preparation for those rounds of national negotiations.

Upon his initial appointment to Washington, DC, Brother Hora served as a National Representative in the Contract Administration Department, as Executive Director of the NPMHU-sponsored health plan known as the Mail Handlers Benefit Plan, and finally as Assistant to the past two National Secretary-Treasurers.

To fill the vacant position caused by Mike Hora’s new position, President Hogrogian next appointed Nina Gallauresi as the new Executive Director of the MHBP.  Nina has over 15 years of experience in healthcare operations and quality and compliance standards.  She has designed and managed quality improvement programs to meet the needs of the Medicare, Medicaid and commercial markets.  She has evaluated and documented compliance with Federal and State regulatory bodies as well as URAC and NCQA.  She is extremely knowledgeable about the standards that need to be met to achieve and maintain required accreditation through these and other entities.  And this expertise has been proven over the past several years, while Nina has worked as Assistant Director of the MHBP.

Finally, in conjunction with Brother Dwyer’s retirement and the subsequent appointments, President Hogrogian has appointed Melissa Shea to the new position, Manager, Health Plan Operations for the MHBP.  Melissa has a wealth of experience in healthcare operations and management, and a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Maryland.