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Postal News - September 2005

September 30, 2005 - PMG Potter Foresees 2007 Rate Increase -Each penny increase in the price of gasoline costs the Postal Service $8 million, and that will drive mailing costs higher, the postmaster general said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. The agency expects to need a rate increase in 2007, said Postmaster General John Potter. That would come just a year after a 2-cent rate jump ..The 2007 increase will be needed to cover higher expenses in the past five years, including employee raises, increases in the price of fuel for trucks, heat for buildings, electricity, transportation and other costs.  |

September 30, 2005 - New Postal Rates Give Big Break to Small Papers

-"When new postal rates go into effect next January, community newspapers that use the mail to deliver inside their home county will get a big break. Under the negotiated rate settlement, rates will increase 5.4% across the board -- except for the in-county rate that smaller circulation papers, especially weeklies, rely on for delivery. In-county will actually decrease by 5% to 6%." |

September 30, 2005 - Mail-Forwarding Service is Not to Liking of This Consumer

"Recently, the U.S. Postal Service instituted a new mail-forwarding service. With a $10 enrollment fee and $10 per week to receive mail while we are away could cost $200-plus, if we are gone for four months. Please call the Consumers Affairs Office to register a complaint to this ridiculous idea! Postage already has been paid on our mail! Suggest the post office hold the mail and send it once a week at no charge - not just first-class mail, but all mail." |

- USPS Premium Forwarding Service

September 30, 2005 - Postman Hailed For Effort to Save Boy Pit Bulls Attack
"The 50-year-old Charlotte postal worker has to live with the horrific vision of an 8-year-old boy being all but eaten by four pit bulls -- and with the knowledge that the boy later died anyway, despite (Michael) Redice jumping a fence, armed only with a stick and his postal bag to hold off the dogs... He even got a death threat, from the boy's drug-dealer father, of all people. |

September 30, 2005 - Postal Service Testing 'Hold-for-Pickup' Service
"The Postal Service is testing a new delivery option in which large or valuable items would be held at local post offices for pickup rather than left at people’s homes. The test involves Dell computers, but officials said the service will be made available to other shippers if it proves a success. Fruit shippers, concerned about having their holiday packages freeze in northern states, are especially interested, postal package manager Jim Cochran said." |
- Dell Switching from UPS to Postal Service

September 30, 2005 - Post Office Tightens Internal Security on Mailbox Keys

The Postal Service is clamping down on how it distributes keys to employees after the Portland theft of 22 mailbox collection keys from a mailbox mechanic's car went undetected for five months. Dallas Keck, USPS district manager for Oregon and Southwest Washington, said USPS is now requiring mailbox mechanics to sign keys in and out daily and no longer will allow them to carry a roll of keys at once. In the past, these controls were not in place for mailbox mechanics.|

September 28, 2005 - Mail halted for 6 days after carrier robbed -"Neither snow nor rain . . ." as the motto goes, can stop delivery of the U.S. mail, but a gun-toting street thug can shut it down fast. Mail delivery in an East Side Cleveland neighborhood was halted for six days earlier this month, following robbery of a mail carrier working a route along East Boulevard.

September 28, 2005 - Long-time postal worker takes a demotion -after nearly 28 years of calling the Piermont post office home, McNichol received a letter from the U.S. Postal Service earlier this month advising him that he would be "involuntarily reassigned within the craft" and offering him a clerk job at the New Rochelle post office. His alternative was to remain in Piermont as a "flexible clerk," but with no guarantee that he could work 40 hours a week or keep his paid holidays.

 September 28, 2005 - USPS, APWU and Mail Handlers Reach Agreement On Workers Displaced by Katrina -

The specific provisions in the union agreements differ, but the main intent of both MOU's is to minimize the effects of dislocation and inconvenience to employees while maintaining the efficiency of Postal Service operations in Katrina's aftermath  |

- APWU News Bulletin: Employees will retain seniority

- Displaced employees rebuilding their lives | more Hurricane Postal News  

September 27, 2005 -Postal Service Expects Nearly $2 Billion Deficit in '06 - Even with a planned postage rate increase, USPS CFO Richard J. Strasser told the agency’s board of governors on Tuesday that rising costs will result in a $1.8 billion deficiency in 2006.[ Note: National Bargaining Agreements for APWU, NALC, NPMHU and NRLCA expire 11/20/ 2006].  |

- BOG Approves "Strategic Transformation Plan 2006-2010" "

 - Strategic Transformation Plan 2006-2010.

- Strasser: USPS '06 Costs Higher Than Those in Rate Filing     

- USPS to rely on careerists, not contractors, for IT services

September 27, 2005 -USPS: Rita Recovery Continues

- The Postal Service is working to re-establish service throughout the areas Hurricane Rita hit hardest by reconnecting with our employees, assessing damage to facilities, deploying portable generators and identifying temporary or alternate retail locations for customers to conduct postal business. |

- Postal Service Working to Re-Establish Service in Golden Triangle Area

- ELM 519: Admin Leave | - Hurricane Rita Service Updates |  more Hurricane Katrina Postal New

September 27, 2005  - MTAC Meeting Highlights: Highlights from the Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee Meetings (MTAC) : Corporate Automation Plan Phase II Update- "PARS for flats is being explored and eventually may handle parcels."  The options for sequencing flats have been narrowed to one, the Flats Sequencing System (FSS). Developing an Interface to the AFSM 100 Automated Induction Process. "New work group will look at a new interface, the automated induction process to the AFSM 100. This automated induction will eliminate the need for labor (up to four individuals) and introduce an automatic feed process for the equipment."|

September 27, 2005 - Neither Rain Nor Evacuation - Last week, 100 of the 400 total employees at the Remote Encoding Center in Fort Wayne (Indiana) started processing mail from the Beaumont site. Local employees are helping to process parcels forwarded to customers that have moved to new addresses. The employees charged with processing mail images for new addresses are "all committed to working 12-14 hour days, seven days a week, whatever it takes to help out our fellow site in Beaumont," said Weston Worth. In addition to shouldering the load from Texas, the Fort Wayne REC also agreed to help process mail images for New Orleans postal sites that closed. |

- Backlogged mail from Houston, Dallas offices sorted at Bryan post facility

September 27, 2005 - Postal Worker Finds $800 in mail -There, among the 750,000 pieces of mail processed each day by the Missoula Post Office, it was. An envelope. No address written on it. No return address either. Just a few figures scratched on the outside. And it wasn't sealed. Postal employee Laura Smith peeked inside. It was filled with money. Eight crisp $100 bills. The $800 is back in the hands of its rightful owner, a Polson businesswoman, thanks to Smith, who immediately put the cash in a lock box the U.S. Postal Service provides for just such instances.

September 27, 2005 - Nation's Largest Uniform Supplier Turns Over Billing Records to Investigators
Seven months after the U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge to force Cintas Corp. to produce documents for an investigation of its billing practices, Cintas has delivered the requested records. The Postal Service opened its investigation in September 2002 to determine whether Cintas had defrauded it and two other agencies by padding bills with unspecified "environmental charges." Neither the Justice Department nor the Postal Service would discuss the extent of the alleged overcharges by Cintas. U.S. Reps. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and Tom Lantos, D-Calif., asked Postmaster General John Potter in March to rescind the agency's contract with Cintas.

September 25, 2005 - APWU: Working to Eliminate Lost Arbitration Dates
In a Memorandum of Understanding signed in June, the APWU and USPS updated procedures for reviewing grievances and scheduling arbitration hearings. The MOU requires management and the union to review all pending Step 3 grievances and appeals to arbitration, including cases that have been appealed directly from Step 2 to arbitration. The goal is one that the APWU has long pursued, to reduce the backlog of grievances. In the language of the memo, the goal is to “improve the grievance/arbitration process."

September 25, 2005- Katrina: 'No One Responded Better Than U.S. Postal Service' There is no one who responded better to restore services to the south in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina than the United States Postal Service." - USPS VP of Emergency Preparedness Henry Pankey  |

- Photos One, Two : Biloxi (Miss.) Postal carrier delivers mail with debris piled high

- Postal Service Prepares to Re-Establish Service

- USPS: Hurricane Rita Related Service Updates

- more Hurricane Katrina Postal News | ELM 519: Admin Leave for Acts of God

September 24, 2005 - Postal Service Prepares to Re-Establish Service -  Postal Employees Considered 'Essential Personnel' - The Postal Service is resuming delivery and retail operations to the extent possible in ZIP Code areas 770 and 772 (Houston), 773, 774, and 775. In Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, officials have included postal employees as "essential government personnel," clearing the way for them to reenter the area immediately. Special postal operations at the Astrodome and George R. Brown Convention Center will resume on September 28  |

- Photos One, Two : Biloxi (Miss.) Postal carrier delivers mail with debris piled high

- USPS: Hurricane Rita Related Service Updates

- more Hurricane Katrina Postal News | ELM 519: Admin Leave for Acts of Go

September 23, 2005 - Florida mail carrier threatened on job - "A Jacksonville postal worker can add robbery to things such as rain and dead of night that won't keep postal carriers from their rounds after a bizarre confrontation Wednesday. While the carrier worked along West 22nd Street, someone stuck a gun to his back and said "give me the checks," according to a Sheriff's Office report. The carrier told the robber he had no checks but offered his wallet instead. "No, you're OK," the robber replied. He then aimed the gun away from the postal worker and pulled the trigger several times to show the gun wasn't loaded, the report states. The robber walked away. The carrier finished his route, calling police when he was done for the day."|

- Teen threatens postal worker

September 23, 2005 - APWU: Union Wary About Pending Postal Reform Bills -APWU President William Burrus has expressed concern about postal reform legislation pending in Congress, telling key legislators that if the final legislation does not provide the USPS with “real flexibility and authority,” the Postal Service would be better off under current law. In a Sept. 20 letter to U.S. Senators and Representatives who have led the movement for postal reform legislation, Burrus reiterated the union’s long-standing opposition to granting excessive power to a Postal Regulatory Board. |

September 23, 2005 - Denver TV Station Investigates Postal Service Driving Fleet
"Because of the investigation, the Postal Service sent out a directive to the entire Colorado-Wyoming district to make sure all of its nearly 3,000 vehicles are weighed down only during the snow months -- not when its warm and dry, to save on fuel costs." |

September 22, 2005 - GOP Group Calls for Cuts in Federal Retirees' Benefits to Fund Katrina Relief -A group of Republican House members called Wednesday for cuts to some federal retirees' benefits to help offset the cost of Hurricane Katrina recovery. The House Republican Study Committee released a package of recommendations known as "Operation Offset" Wednesday that called for calculating retirement annuities for federal employees based on an average of their five highest-earning years of service instead of three. Adding two years of lower pay would tend to decrease the average, and thus reduce retirees' defined benefits.

see text of proposal [gif] |

September 22, 2005 - USPS Releases August Financial & Operating Statements (pdf) -'Year-to-date, Total Revenue is $1.4 billion or 2.2% over plan with the largest contributor being Permit Revenue at $1.6 billion or 5.9% more than plan. ... YTD, Total Revenue is $1.0 billion over SPLY.' 'Total Mail Volume for August, FY 2005 was 999 million pieces or 5.9% above SPLY. First-Class Mail volume increased by 256 million pieces or 3.3%. Standard Mail volumes, at 627 million pieces or 7.8% over SPLY, continue to be positive primarily because of the increasing strength of direct marketing channels.' Total Workhours for August 2005 YTD are 15.7 million hours or 1.2% above plan, and 10.8 million hours above SPLY. The most significant plan overruns lie in Delivery Services by 8.4 million hours, Mail Processing by 6.8 million hours, and Customer Services by 3.2 million hours. These overruns in workhours are a reflection of growth in mail volume above plan and continued growth in delivery points. YTD, major contributors to the workhours growth to SPLY are City Delivery and Rural Delivery workhours. Combined these operations workhours are 13.5 million hours above SPLY. |

September 22, 2005 - Postal Service to Pay Final Settlement to Missouri Mail Handlers -"Springfield's branch of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 297 previously received $170,000 for a total settlement worth half a million dollars. In August 2004, a federal arbitrator sided with the NPMHU and demanded that the postal service pay the union for all hours worked by casuals during a 17-month period. In December 2004, the postal service paid the union a first installment of $170,000, which worked out to a payment of about $1,400 per mail handler. The postal service promised that the rest of the money would come in early 2005. But it didn't come. In July, the union took its complaint to the next level and filed it with the National Labor Relations Board." |

September 22, 2005 - USPS: No Change to Mileage Rates Before January 2006

 According to John H. Dirzius, APWU President, Greater CT Area Local, via 21st Century Postal Worker "Postal management issued instructions on their 'travelhelp' page that the milage rate for privately owned vehicles will not change before January 1, 2006. Effective September 1, 2005 GSA has increased the mileage rate to 48.5 cents per mile. In accordance with Article 36 of the CBA management must put the change into effect within 60 days of the GSA change. I informed Phil Tabbita in Greg Bell's office today. He is looking into this issue. Hopefully we will have an answer soon." |

September 22, 2005 - USPS: Hurricane Rita Related Service Updates -"USPS employees are expected to follow all mandatory evacuation orders issued by local, state or federal officials within any locations that include their home or work assignment. Postal operations are suspended in any areas under mandatory evacuation orders and will remain suspended until the evacuation order has been lifted. Employees affected by a mandatory evacuation order are being asked to monitor the USPS National Emergency Notification Hotline to determine work reporting status and to learn if any special instructions have been issued. " The toll-free USPS National Emergency Notification Hotline for postal employees is: 1-888-363-7462 |

- All 6,052 Postal employees in Katrina-affected areas located

- NAPUS  Donates $15,000 to Postal Employees Relief Fund

- USPS: RITA! Category 4 storm heading for Gulf Coast of Texas

- more Hurricane Katrina Postal News | ELM 519: Admin Leave for Acts of God

 - CNN: Texans flee colossal Rita

- Katrina: And Now - Rebuild: Post offices, communities emerge from devastation

September 21, 2005 - Mutiny on the FedEx Truck -Suits may lead to an overhaul of its work force "FedEx thought they had found a smart way to compete with United Parcel Service in ground delivery. In lieu of hourly truck drivers, it would use independent contractors in its FedEx Ground division, paid for results but responsible for their own vehicles, fuel and overhead. Or maybe not so smart. After accepting FedEx contracts, contractor-drivers have filed 28 lawsuits in 22 states, most seeking class action status, covering as many as 7,000 current and former drivers, plaintiff lawyers say." |

September 21, 2005 - Post Office in Maximum-Security Prison Reopens

At prison's aging post office, mail's the only thing that routinely gets out- The post office dating to 1884 inside the Menard Correctional Center reopened Saturday after a two-month effort to replace its lone worker. It's a unique post office," said Larry Lankheit, a U.S. Postal Service manager of postal operations for Southern Illinois. Not accessible to people off the street, the post office is "basically a one-customer office, even though that one customer is large," he said. |

September 19, 2005 - USPS: Hurricane Rita Service Updates
Monroe County mandated an evacuation of all residents south of the 7 Mile Bridge at 9 a.m. today, Sept. 19, 2005. As a result, the South Florida District has closed all postal facilities in Monroe County — which covers the Florida Keys — and sent employees home. |

September 19, 2005 - NALC, USPS Work to Fill Vacancies with Displaced Gulf Coast Carriers -(NALC News Bulletin) After a meeting with NALC President William H. Young September 15, the Postal Service agreed with the union to allow letter carriers displaced by Hurricane Katrina to temporarily work in the city where they now reside. While a formal Memorandum of Understanding on the situation is being developed, the NALC and USPS have agreed that any employee who wants to work where they are now situated should contact the local postmaster.  |

September 19, 2005 - NAPUS: 'Post Office Resource Optimization' Pilot Program  - NAPUS leaders met with USPS representatives from the Eastern Area, concerning the newly planned Post Office Resource Optimization (PRO) program. Eastern Area Vice President Al Lazaroff said that the new concept provides an opportunity to optimize service, maximize resources, and control costs and expenses. PRO will utilize a team concept, comprised of a small group of “satellite”post offices, which will include a contact office, which will be called a “capital office. NAPUS leaders have had little time to review the program which will be phased into locations in the Eastern Area on October 1, 2005”  |

September 17, 2005 - APWU Responds To USPS FMLA Return-To-Duty Procedures -"Following this appeals court decision, the Postal Service issued a memorandum on procedures for returning craft employees to work following FMLA-protected absences. The July 26th memo states in part that “the Postal Service will comply with the Harrell decision in those facilities located within the three states subject to the court’s jurisdiction; Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.” The APWU is pursuing actions in preparation for a challenge if the Postal Service refuses to apply the substance of the appeals court ruling to return to duty procedures for FMLA-covered conditions on a nationwide basis."|

September 16, 2005 - Rally Protests USPS Rejection of Park Plan - "The USPS has placed its prime 20-acre Marina Processing and Distribution Center near Playa Vista on the market, despite pleas from a collection of elected officials and residents trying to transform the land into public open space. The decision has irked environmentalists and a group called the Del Rey Park Task Force, which has been working since the spring to promote plans for a community park. They staged a rally Friday afternoon, drawing nearly 200 people with banners and bullhorns."

September 15, 2005 - Postal Worker Killed By Post Office Truck

- A postal worker in the South Loop was run down and killed Saturday morning by a post office truck. Police say Sabrina Young had finished her shift and was crossing the street to go home. She was struck by a post office semi-trailer. Police say the driver at first denied any involvement but later admitted that he felt a bump as he turned the corner. Police were questioning the driver. There’s no word of any charges being filed. |

September 15, 2005  -OPM Announces Smallest FEHB Premium Increase in Nine Years - Premiums will rise an average of 6.6% next year for federal employees.  An employee with the standard family coverage under Blue Cross and Blue Shield will pay $17.53 more in premiums every two weeks, bringing the biweekly cost to $135.59. Standard coverage for an individual will rise by $7.36, to $58.07 biweekly. Across all plans, a federal worker with family coverage will pay an average of $12.79 more in premiums every 2 weeks, for a total biweekly cost of $130.17. |

- Wash Post :Health Premiums Rise 6.6%

September 15, 2005 - Postal Service Board's Criticism of Bills Could Hamper Agency Overhaul - (WashPost) "The board of governors at the U.S. Postal Service muddled the outlook for a post office overhaul yesterday, saying House and Senate bills would give postal regulators too much power over the agency's internal operations. Letter to Lawmakers  "...we are grateful for your action in including workers' compensation reform provisions in S. 662. We believe it would be beneficial to continue moving in this direction by adding language that incorporates the recommendation of the President's Commission that Title 39 be amended to eliminate 1005 (f), which provides that no changes to benefits should result in benefits that are less than those in effect on July 1, 1971."  |

NALC: Katrina and other stumbling blocks stand in way of Postal Reform

September 15, 2005 - Potter: Rates Will Rise Despite Positive Outlook

- USPS's profits will top $1 billion again this year, but it still needs to raise rates in 2006 to make a $3.1 billion escrow payment because of congressional changes to its retirement fund, PMG John E. Potter said yesterday during a satellite broadcast. Potter also said the USPS will release information about the second phase of its transformation plan at the end of the month. The plan serves as a blueprint through 2010, focusing the postal service on transforming itself into a more customer-focused, service-oriented and technologically advanced delivery service. Potter also reflected on the hurricane's effect on postal workers in the South. Five hundred postal employees have yet to check in, Potter said, "but I am optimistic that they are all OK." Watch PCC Day |

- Transformation Plan, Katrina Highlight PMG Broadcast

September 15, 2005 - USPS orders More  Wireless Vehicle Management Systems  - I.D. Systems, Inc., announced that it has received new orders from USPS to deploy the company's Wireless Asset Net powered industrial vehicle management system at five additional USPS facilities. The new orders follow initial system deployments at eight USPS facilities earlier this year, including one facility that performed a successful extensive field evaluation of system performance. Under the terms of the USPS' three-year national contract with I.D. Systems, up to 460 USPS facilities can order the Wireless Asset Net system.

September 14, 2005 - National PCC Day Set for September 14
"Postmaster General Jack Potter will join members of more than 200 Postal Customer Councils (PCCs) by satellite today, Sept. 14, as they meet for National PCC Day. Potter will discuss a range of topics, including the next phase of our Strategic Transformation Plan and other issues that the Postal Service will face in the coming years."  Watch PCC Day |

September 12, 2005 - Postal Reform: Doubtful; Rate Increase: Definitely -"One thing is certain: Postage rates will rise as expected next year — sooner rather than later — because of the damage and loss of revenue caused by Katrina. Though the USPS hasn’t announced a date, signs point toward Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Destroyed postal facilities, which in all likelihood will have to be paid for by the USPS, not the federal government, will need to be rebuilt. After all, it is an independent agency that the president and Congress want to be self-sufficient. ."  |

- Katrina Keeps Postal Rate Increase on Track for January

- Real Postal Reform May Be on the Way

September 12, 2005 - 911 Attacks Bring Security Changes to Nation's Postal Facilities

The postal service has responded to the terrorist threat by tightening security in buildings and on planes. “Prior to 9-11, we could bring in tours of school kids and Boy Scouts,” said Dan Pipkin, Pendleton’s postmaster. “Now we have to restrict access.” The postmaster said post offices are inspected annually by the Department of Homeland Security, which was created three years ago. Other changes include improvements in aviation security for planes that carry priority and express packages  |

September 10, 2005 - Mississippi District Manager's Decision Angers Postal Workers
Employees told to work day after Katrina - Hattiesburg Postal workers are calling for a congressional investigation into the actions of District Manager James Daily, who was responsible for updating a phone message that advises workers whether they should report to work. The message on Aug. 29 told all workers in the 394 area, except Picayune, to report as normal. It had not been updated at 7:45 a.m. although Katrina had made landfall shortly after 6 a.m. as a Category 4 hurricane and winds were rapidly increasing in the Pine Belt, Bennett said. |

September 10, 2005- Postal Workers Picket Fayetteville Post Office
"Members of two postal unions picketed outside the downtown post office Friday, saying managers need to hire more employees to improve customer service. |

September 09, 2005 - 87-Year-Old Postal Clerk Honored for 60- years with USPS - Wayne Lenz, 87, of Des Moines, Iowa  was honored recently for his years of service to USPS. Lenz, , a full-time clerk was given a 60-year diamond pin, which had to be specially made because there isn't a pin made for that many years.  Throughout his career, Lenz has accumulated 5,330 hours of sick leave - worth about $117,000, Lenz said. In 1995, Lenz stopped driving. However, that doesn't keep him from getting to work: He instead takes a taxi to the post office. |

September 09, 2005 - U.S. Postal Service ‘Outsourcing' Program  for Injured on Duty Employees Goes Nationwide - The Postal Service aggressively monitors limited-duty and rehabilitation assignments, and in May 2005 notified the APWU that the USPS would begin a reassessment of rehabilitation jobs and limited duty assignments. The “reassessments” will be implemented nationwide, by District. San Diego has become the initial site, and is set to begin late this summer. A pilot program was initiated in April 2004 in the Long Island (NY) District. The Postal Service contends that the program is necessary because there are a declining number of jobs available for injured employees who have substantial medical limitations. If there is no medically-suitable job available for such an employee, the Postal Service will refer the employee to OWCP for placement in OWCP’s vocational rehabilitation program and eventual re-employment in the private sector.  |

September 08, 2005 - USPS: Katrina Damage Could Surpass $100 Million -Thomas G. Day, senior VP of government relations, told reporters yesterday that the damage extends to buildings, vehicles, processing equipment in the buildings, retail equipment and vending equipment. The $100 million figure is an estimate, he said. The agency is doing an assessment and will have a more solid number for the Office of Management and Budget by the end of September. - 2,000 Postal Workers Missing | Map of affected Post Offices |

 Wrong turn turns into good move for New Orleans letter carrier |  NALC Donates $50,000  To Postal Employees' Relief Fund

 Hurricane Katrina  Resources ,Links  | ELM 519: Admin Leave for Acts of God

- Displaced and evacuated postal employees may pick up payroll checks at the Baton Rouge P&DC this Thursday and Friday

September 07, 2005 - USPS Returns to Some Flooded Areas

"When and where it is safe to do so, the Postal Service is re-entering storm-damaged areas to reopen Post Offices to restore mail delivery and service, and establish mobile retail centers to serve customer needs in damaged areas. USPS now has a policy in place to make sure employees are safe when re-entering facilities damaged by the storm surge and flood waters."  OPM reported yesterday that approximately  28,000 postal employees, worked in counties across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that were hit by Katrina. |

- Map of affected Post Offices  | Finding Employees, Delivering The Mail

September 06, 2005 - USPS Awards Siemens $560 million Contract to Expand PARS

 The PARS software and special mail processing equipment will be installed at 233 additional processing centers. The contract follows the PARS Phase 1 contract awarded in 2002. During the first phase, the complex program was deployed and proven at 50 mail processing centers, 180 forwarding centers and 16 remote mail encoding centers. "The PARS solution is already helping the USPS in their mission to improve service and reduce operating cost at 50 processing centers. The PARS program consists of seven major projects and requires modification of almost every letter mail processing machine in the USPS fleet  |

September 05, 2005 - Finding employees, delivering the mail
 More than 2,800 employees in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area have contacted the Postal Service to let us know they are safe and to give us their contact information so we can make sure they get their paychecks and know how to reach them with work-related information. The national media has helped us get the word out to employees by publicizing our toll-free number, 1-877-477-3273, as have employees with information about displaced employees. Many of our employees who lived in the storm's path are now scattered across the country, living temporarily with relatives and friends or in hotels.  |

- Map of affected Post Offices in MS, LA, & AL | Hurricane Katrina  News ,Links

- USPS Photos of Hurricane Damage | PMG Potter: Helping Our Postal Family

- Postal services set up at shelters | USPS Moves to Reconnect With Customers
- USPS Struggles Delivering to Disaster Area | ELM 519: Admin Leave for Acts of God

September 04, 2005 - Why the Internet Isn't the Death of the Post Office - Every day, some two million Netflix envelopes come and go as first-class mail. They are joined by millions of other shipments from online pharmacies, eBay vendors, Amazon.com and other businesses that did not exist before the Internet. The eclipse of "snail mail" in the age of instant electronic communication has been predicted at least as often as the coming of the paperless office. But the consumption of paper keeps rising. (It has roughly doubled since 1980, with less use of newsprint and much more of ordinary office paper.) The Internet and allied technologies, meanwhile, are increasing the volume of old-fashioned mail in three ways ( the increasing sophistication of the Postal Service's own technology is listed as one of the reasons |

- Paper or Online? Many Bank Customers Still Pick the Old Way

September 03, 2005 - UPS pilots halt strike moves in wake of Katrina's devastation  - The union representing UPS pilots said yesterday it would delay a request to edge closer to a potential strike, citing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. The union had said it would request to be released from federal mediation if pilots agreed in their most recent vote to authorize a strike. The union said 99 percent of the pilots taking part in a vote over the last month had agreed to give its leadership the authority to call a strike once mediated talks end.

September 03, 2005- NAPUS Elects Louisiana Postmaster As New President

More than 1,500 attendees were on hand at the 101st NAPUS National Convention in Long Beach California, as President Wally Olihovik gave his final speech to conclude an unprecedented 4 consecutive years in office (2002-2005.)  He pledged his full support and the promise for a “seamless transition” with President-Elect Dale Goff, who will take office on January 1, 2006.  Goff said that too many Postmasters were not treated with dignity and respect and cited examples of abusive behavior towards postmasters by their managers.  He pledged to take these and other issues to the highest levels to get them resolved. | 

September 02, 2005 - Postal Workers Protest Mail Processing Operations Move

Union workers picketed outside the Mack Robinson Postal Facility in Pasadena (Calif.)  on Thursday, alerting motorists of USPS' plan to consolidate its mail-processing operation at its Santa Clarita facility. A portion of the outgoing mail now processed in Pasadena would be sent to Industry. No jobs will be lost due to the move, but some workers may have to accept a transfer, said Stacia Crane, a USPS spokeswoman. Union leaders see any move that lessens the importance of the facility as making it an easier target for future cuts. |

September 02, 2005 - APWU Private-Sector Mail Drivers Turn Back Decertification Effort
 By a vote of 60-25, APWU-represented motor vehicle operators at a private-sector mail-haul operation in Kansas City have rejected a union decertification effort. "Management tried to split and divide us," said Tony Olson, an APWU steward and driver for Mail Contractors of America, the employer. "They even resorted to personal attacks on union activists." | 

September 02, 2005 - NAPUS Elects Louisiana Postmaster As New President. - More than 1,500 attendees were on hand at the 101st NAPUS National Convention in Long Beach California, as President Wally Olihovik gave his final speech to conclude an unprecedented 4 consecutive years in office (2002-2005.)  Olihovik spoke of the many accomplishments during the past 4 years, but cautioned that there were “extremely challenging” times ahead for both NAPUS and the U S Postal Service.  He pledged his full support and the promise for a “seamless transition” with President-Elect Dale Goff, who will take office on January 1, 2006.  Goff said that too many Postmasters were not treated with dignity and respect and cited examples of abusive behavior towards postmasters by their managers.  He pledged to take these and other issues to the highest levels to get them resolved.| 

 September 02, 2005- Effects of S. 662 on the Long-Term Financial Outlook of the USPS (pdf) - ..the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds that the overall effect of the bill on USPS’s total costs would be small—a reduction of roughly 1 percent over the next 25 years. Whether or not S. 662 is enacted into law, the Postal Service will face challenges in the years ahead in collecting enough revenues to cover its costs. The agency’s costs are on a trend to increase in real terms (in part because of rising costs for health care...For USPS to continue paying its bills, any such gap would have to be closed through some combination of improvements in productivity, reductions in service, increases in postage rates (which in turn could result in further reductions in mail volume), and federal support. |

September 01, 2005 - USPS Recalls 70 million 'Lets Dance' Stamps ...because of incorrect Spanish accent marks in the text on the back of the sheets on which the stamps are mounted. Reprinting the 37-cent stamps, which celebrate Latin dances, will cost $172,000, according to Mark Saunders, a Postal Service spokesman. Also recalled were 974,000 picture postcards that bear the offending text on one side and images of the four dances -- salsa, mambo, cha-cha and merengue -- on the other.  

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