Ernie Arranaga is the president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 193, leading more than 800 members and 500 retirees from post offices in Milpitas, San Jose, Saratoga, Gilroy, Campbell, Morgan Hill, and Los Gatos. He began his career as a letter carrier in 1985, became a shop steward in 2009 and worked as the union’s executive vice-president before being elected to his current position in 2015.

As one of two full-time union officers, Ernie visits worksites, oversees grievances, trains stewards and runs the day-to-day activities of Branch 193. While letter carriers are covered by a national contract with the U.S. Postal Service, he is responsible for negotiating memorandums of agreement that, while not conflicting with national conditions, can accommodate local issues.

In 2022, Ernie successfully concluded one of the largest grievances in the Postal Service’s history, winning an arbitration over improper pay calculations that netted more than $1 million for his members.

“Letter carriers are the eyes and ears of the community, and we lend calm and comfort during difficult times like COVID. We deserve to be respected by the postal service and compensated fairly,” says Ernie.

Like most federal government workers, letter carriers face challenges and threats from the anti-union administration in Washington. Branch 193, with support from the South Bay Labor Council, led the local effort last year around the union’s “Fight Like Hell” campaign that directed focus on potential efforts to privatize the postal service.

“No private company can do what we do,” says Ernie. “For 250 years we have provided dependable and efficient service and currently deliver to 161 million national delivery points, six days a week, at a reasonable cost to customers.”

Postal workers must also carry the weight of knowing that the union-busting Trump administration may one day try to strip them of their bargaining rights – a reality that has already impacted tens of thousands of federal government employees, Ernie says.

Ernie was recently elected to the South Bay Labor Council Executive Board and provides an important perspective as a federal government employee.

“The Labor Council has been a great ally to our union and in turn, we welcome opportunities to support other unions, as we recently did for striking Kaiser nurses. It’s that solidarity that makes our Council such an important organization for South Bay workers,” he says.