With Mayor Dennis Elwell out of town, the job of greeting African American postal workers from around the nation during their national convention on May 17 fell to Deputy Mayor John Reilly.
His was a daunting task, not because he was a white elected leader and not because he also had to greet United States Postmaster General Jack Potter, but because for 30 years, Reilly had worked for the Post Office’s stiffest competition, United Parcel Service.
No one in the huge hall at the Crowne Plaza knew this fact when he stood up before the microphone to greet the assembly of people who had come from as far away as California.
“I thought it was incredibly ironic that I should be the one that welcomed them,” he said.
But Reilly did not view his job over the years as adversarial.
“I’ve always had a deep respect for those people who went out everyday and helped move our nation’s mail,” he said.
In his speech, he told them how much he thought about their role in lives of everyday Americans, and how brave he thought post office workers were to keep America going after the series of anthrax attacks last September.
“I said, isn’t America great that we can share this moment together and that a man like me – who had worked 30 years for their competition, United Parcel Service – could stand before them and welcome them to Secaucus,” Reilly said.
A long moment of silence greeted this revelation, then thunderous applause.
“After that, a lot of the executives came up to me and started to talk,” he said.
This was the 15th annual convention of the African American Postal League United for Success, an organization within the postal service geared towards having workers help each other advance, through educational incentives and networking. Postal workers came from nearly every state to meet with the leadership of the organization and talk about issues related to their employment.
The two-day event provided several general assemblies and then a series of workshops that included subjects like the “Internet & Web Design,” “Your Health, Your life” “Wills, Trust & Estate Planning,” and “Private Finance.”
While the Postmaster General’s arrival provided the event with additional fanfare, the event featured numerous experts and motivational speakers that included keynote speaker Wendy L. Oldham, program director for the National Black United Fund, an organization with a significant impact on revitalizing black communities throughout the nation.
“This is about people helping people,” Reilly said. “It is about self-respect and working together.”
Al Forster, the Secaucus postmaster, joined Reilly in greeting the Postmaster General of the United States. While Forster said this was a great honor, he also said he was very pleased to have Secaucus as the host community for the convention.
“This is a great honor for us,” Forster said. “And I am very proud to have the convention here in my community.” While Mayor Elwell was out of town, Reilly brought to the convention a mayor’s proclamation recognizing and saluting the organization’s efforts.