March 28, 2009

NAPS President Keating called upon the Postal Service to strip away top levels of management and take other cost-cutting moves, during testimony before a House subcommittee on Wednesday. "It is time that the Postal Service apply the same rigorous cost-cutting scrutiny to the numbers of its upper ranks as it is applying to middle and lower-management." |

Postal Worker calling it quits at age 79

Postal Worker Retires After 47 Years

Postal Service adjusts routes, cuts jobs
March Madness on Capitol Hill – Postal Style (PDF)
Alaska: Bypass mail center, workers may move to Denver, officials say

March 27, 2009

 Videos: House Subcommittee Hearing on Postal Finances

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

USPS Releases VERA Info, Fails to Notify Union

“I am extremely disappointed that the Postal Service neglected to give official notice of this information to the APWU,” said President William Burrus. “This is a violation of management’s obligation under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. "  |

Postal Worker Seriously Injured in Parma Accident

Comics for troops program hurt by postal rates

Maine Soldier/Postal Worker Killed In Iraq Is Being Honored In Baghdad
Study: Wilkes-Barre Mail Processing consolidation would save millions
Junk Mail Ban Adds to Postal Woes
Postal Service offers $100,000 reward for Minnesota bomb threats

Postal penalties? Nobody knows.
Connecticut letter carrier pleads guilty to theft
Postal inspectors investigating parcel tracking notices

March 26, 2009

Oakland APWU Urges Congress To Investigate The Postal Service

The methodical decline of the Postal Service has been primarily caused by a conspiracy involving special interest groups, Postal Service Headquarters, and some members of Congress, with the objective of privatizing the Postal Service. We have watched as Postal Service Headquarters pandered to large mailers to the detriment of the public, small businesses, non profit organizations, Postal Service employees, and the Postal Service itself. For years, management has falsified figures regarding the volume of mail processed and delivered at the Oakland Post Office P&DC bid cluster ; understaffed postal operations based on falsified figures; and used inept managers to run these operations. note: According to Oakland APWU President Fred Jacobs no response has been received as yet.  |

Arbitrator Rescinds APWU, USPS 2006 MOU Regarding Limited Duty Postal Employees - Arbitrator Das, ruling in an NALC grievance in which the APWU intervened, ordered the Postal Service to rescind changes agreed to by the APWU and the USPS in a 2006 MOU "Re: Limited Duty and Rehabilitation Assignments Within APWU Crafts Involving Workers from Other Crafts."  |

Should Potter get a bonus?

Potter earned a $130,000 bonus last year, even though the Postal Service posted a $3 billion loss. Potter said it was because the Postal Service met other goals, like customer satisfaction and workplace safety. But the bonus prompted some congressional criticism. Postmaster defends compensation, wants help on deficits- Potter said other perks come to $77,347, including $66,000 in security costs that the he argued should not be a part of the package. Chaffetz questions postmaster general's sweet home deal |

Finding the Postal Service's Yellow Brick Road

For anyone who's been paying attention, it should be clear by now that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is among the many other businesses that are suffering a world of hurt as a result of the nation's economic doldrums. The Postal Service, in its own inimitable way, has always tried to reassure its lords and masters that despite what happens elsewhere steps have been and are being taken to insulate the nation from any postal fiscal woes. Until today, that is.  |

Video: Rep. Mark Souder Breaks Down OGR Postal Subcommittee Hearing

March 25, 2009

Call for Help: Postal chief says agency crashing
Postal Service May Be Broke By The End of The Year-."Postmaster General John Potter said Wednesday the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service will run out of money this year without help from Congress.The only lingering question, Potter told a House subcommittee, is which bills will get paid and which will not. He did say ensuring the payment of workers' salaries comes first. But Potter also said other bills may have to wait. " In Special Delivery to Lawmakers, U.S. Postmaster Signals SOS |

PMG Potter Says Reducing Delivery From Six to Five Days Could Save USPS $3.5 Billion Annually - Excerpts of Postmaster General John Potter’s testimony (PDF) to House Subcommittee examining the US Postal service. "Adjusting the number of delivery days from six to five would have the net effect of returning to an average daily volume of six pieces per delivery. With the same volume spread over a five-day service week, our fixed network costs could be reduced by almost 17 percent. This level of potential savings is not possible within today’s constraints." NAPS: USPS to Face Tough Questions from Congress | Prepared Statements From Today's House Hearing |

Video: PMG Dodges CNN Reporter on Million $$ relocation costs  |

NALC: Postal workers latest victims of economic crisis   |

Winston-Salem Postal Worker Receives Million Mile Club Award

Boulder County post offices adjust to declining volumes

March 24, 2009

Postal Early Out (VER) Timeline (effective July 31, 2009)

ALL EMPLOYEES except Electronic Technicians (ET); Maintenance Mechanics, Mail Processing Equipment (MPE); Part-time Postmasters. |

Senator Snowe Calls on PMG To Consider Small Businesses When Reviewing Six Day Delivery Options - U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, sent a letter to John E. Potter, the Postmaster General urging him to consider the impact on small businesses of reducing USPS delivery week from six days to five. Snowe cited the potential negative consequences such an action could have on America’s roughly 27.2 million small businesses.  |

Postmaster General to face Congress over compensation

With the U.S. Postal Service headed for its third year with a multibillion-dollar deficit, Postmaster General John Potter will face tough questioning on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to explain the red ink as well as his compensation package.As last week's outrage over the American International Group executive bonus fiasco remains fresh in members' minds, House Oversight and Government Reform Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia Subcommittee Chairman Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., promised to grill Potter, saying "the huge increase in pay for Mr. Potter is incongruent with the post office's recent performance." Postal Service Cuts, Chief's Compensation Getting Closer Look   |

Sikh family gets apology after post office refuses to take passport photo of boy in turban "A Frisco father says his family's trip to the post office turned into an emotional experience after a postal worker refused to take his son's passport picture while the boy was wearing a turban." |

Former Postal Employee Sentenced To Prison For Opening Mail

Donahoe Interview: USPS and the Economic Gloom

Will Proposed S.F. Anti-Junk Mail Measure be Death Knell of Post Office?

Higher postage hits mailing services

March 23, 2009

March 22, 2009

Website Displays Postal Employees Names, Salaries, Position, Date Hired And Work Facility   -  According to the website DataUniverse.com  is a "portal to public government data. ." |

City of Long Beach may oppose postal closure
More than a mailman to struggling customers

Armageddon for disgruntled postal workers

March 21, 2009

USPS Expects To Save More Than $100 Million Annually On Organizational Changes - The Postal Service is streamlining operations and improving efficiencies across the board in order to protect its ability to provide affordable, universal mail service. By modifying networks, consolidating functions and restructuring administrative and processing operations, the Postal Service is adapting to meet the evolving needs, demands and activities of its customers. |

Hands off Staten Island's Manor Road Post Office, Schumer tells USPS

Maine Postmaster pleads guilty, PMR Indicted For Theft Charges

Driver, 81, crashes into Plainfield Post Office

Postmaster General Gets Pay Bonus as Agency Falters

U.S. Postal Service plans retooling in face of downturn
Pepper spray prevents injury in dog attack on mail carrier

NAPS 2009 Legislative Issues Brief

Postmaster at the center of small-town life

APWU: Dispute Filed Over USPS Failure to Create Bargaining Unit Jobs at Greensboro HRSSC

March 19, 2009

USPS To ‘Outsource’ Change-of-Address Program?

The United States Postal Service (“USPS”) is seeking information from parties interested in engaging in a long-term relationship as Supplier and/or alliance partner with the USPS to implement innovative solutions to enable USPS to efficiently and effectively manage its change-of-address (COA) program. |

USPS To Announce District , EAS Staffing Changes On March 20th-

NAPS Headquarters was advised today that the announcements that we have been anticipating for some time on District changes will be made formally at 12:00 noon on Friday (tomorrow). |  

USPS Notifies National Mail Handlers Union Of Upcoming Changes To BMC Network - The Bulk Mail Centers '(BMCs) will be changed to Network Distribution Centers (NDCs), with three tiers of NDCs. Some of these NDCs will perform work currently performed at nearby Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) and Surface Transfer Centers (STCs). |  

Is the Postmaster General Overpaid (PDF)?
Murray Comarow for the National Academy of Public Administration -....In this critical juncture in our national life, Congress should focus on keeping the Postal Service alive and healthy. The Board of Governors and former Comptroller General David Walker have testified that its basic business model is broken. Collapse or serious weakening of the Postal Service will result in further unemployment and bankruptcies of many postal-dependent businesses. Scoring political points on the back of a respected Postmaster General deflects the central issue that Congress has yet to confront. Just demanding a businesslike operation is empty rhetoric. Congress must give the Postal Service genuine and flexible authority to manage this vital national institution.” |

Flying through his route
Letter carrier has a few tricks to get through his daily eight-mile trek  |

Postal Supervisor charged with stealing $1,000 in fuel from USPS  "A maintenance supervisor at a U.S. Postal Service repair shop in Hicksville (NY)  coped with the high cost of gasoline by siphoning nearly $1,000 in fuel from post office delivery trucks, investigators said. |

Get Angry, Or Just Laugh

Losing Billions But Getting a Bonus (No, Not AIG)

Officials meet to save borough post office

Postal workers remember colleague struck by car

US Postal Service plans retooling in face of downturn

March 18, 2009

Woman Has Trouble Getting Insurance Money From USPS
Staten Island's postmark could become thing of past if mail is rerouted
Los Angeles: Neighborhood mailboxes being stamped out

Going Postal With the Economy

Users Paid to Receive Direct Mail Through Incentive-Based Social Network

March 17, 2009

Post office delays new stamps, cites economy

Economic woes are forcing the post office to delay release of several new postage stamps scheduled for this year. |

Postal carrier called a hero

NAPUS Action Guide for preventing the closing or consolidation of your PO (PDF)

Jury convicts former bulk mail technician  in postal fraud case

Alaskan Delegation Works With USPS on Bypass Mail

Reducing the Junk-Mail Footprint

Modernizing Mail

Proposed Rulemaking on Workshare Discount Rate Design Principles (PDF)

March 16, 2009

USPS Offering Another Early Out?

The APWU in Iowa is reporting that "USPS will be offering another Voluntary Early Out that will be effective July 31. Official notice of this VERA will be out next week." It is rumored that the notices will be sent out in April to bargaining and non-bargaining employees (with the exception of ETs and MPEs). Postmasters: Early Outs Again?  |

March 15, 2009

March 14, 2009

USPS OIG To Conduct Survey of Postal Retail Work Hours

March 13, 2009

March 11, 2009

APWU Detroit Local Sues Postal Service Over Improper Excessing, Involuntary Reassignment - Detroit APWU seeks to prevent the Postal Service from excessing and/or involuntarily re-assigning Clerk Craft employees without first returning the limited and light duty Letter Carriers to their own Craft. Even prior to the Postal Service’s actions, unsorted mail sometimes sat for a week or more in overflowing bins on plant floors. In some cases, such mail has been destroyed. The excessing and involuntary re-assignment of hundreds of Clerk Craft employees will exacerbate the problem with mail delays |

Mailers Council Defends PMG Potter's Pay
"Our members, who collectively represent more than 70% of all mail in this country, strongly support the compensation system created in 2006 for senior postal managers, including the individual who holds the office of Postmaster General of the United States. We want to state emphatically that Postmaster General Jack Potter has earned his salary and the incentive pay authorized by the Board of Governors."   |

Direct From Donahoe: Controlling Costs, Driving Revenue

In his latest video, DPMG and Chief Operating Officer Pat Donahoe reports the Postal Service is “moving in the right direction” in ongoing efforts to control costs and expand revenue. On the cost side, Donahoe focuses on progress in reducing overtime and the positive impact this is having on lowering costs.  |

Postal Service looks to cut jobs and hours

Mail delays likely as Postal Service cuts routes

Alleged post-office killer tried to cash stamps
Clerk: Postal changes will impact voting
Capitol Heights post office cuts hours
Through rain, sleet, snow — flood?

March 10, 2009

Confessions of a Former Station Manager Part 3 (PDF)
Guy Nohrenberg has written another article in his series of Confessions of a Former Station Manager. His latest article reports on the top ten things for letter carriers to do during these difficult times. Work with Integrity. "Yes. No cheating on anything. Management will be looking to cull out Letter Carriers like Cops in a Speedtrap. They actually get points for firing carriers and can be seen to be a more effective manager through the removal of carriers. This is my greatest Managerial Sin. I knew the contract and would spend more time disciplining carriers, moving them closer to the door, than motivating them and trying to understand their day".- Part 1 (PDF) | Part 2 (PDF)   |

Refinancing USPS Retiree Health Benefits( PDF) -
 National League of Postmasters - The battle to refinance retiree health benefits is in full swing on Capitol Hill. H.R. 22 has been introduced in the House and, to date, there is no Senate companion. There was some talk of trying to get this into the stimulus package, but that just didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. See H.R. 22 Cosponsors   |

Economic conditions also affect post offices  |

NALC: Brookfield Uniforms pledges to support EFCA  |

Post Office Betrays Tenderloin; Buys Mansions for Executives  |

Postal worker delivers fire warning to Plainwell residents

NALC Branch President  helps keep mail moving

Postage hike to hit direct mailers, publishers hard

March 9, 2009

Alarming cost of false alarms, anthrax hoaxes  |

Postal rate increase painful for Alaska  |

US Postal Service  and rising cost of stamps

Tiny Iowa Hill opens its mail just three days a week

March 8, 2009

Postal Hike to Favor Direct Mailers, Disadvantage Newspapers

An upcoming increase in postal rates could severely impact the delivery cost of newspaper Total Market Coverage products. The Newspaper Association of America warns that a May 11 United States Postal Service hike will favor direct mailers over newspapers.  |

Colorado Postal Carrier Faces Federal Investigation

A Loveland man accused of killing his former girlfriend’s cat also is the subject of a federal investigation in connection with his job as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. |

Calif.: Man Stabbed To Death At Clayton Post Office |
GA: Post office to cut jobs, move operations in Athens

Here's to mail carriers, in snow, sleet, hail...

Postal worker was first class for 29 years

PA: Portland post office scheduled to close

March 6, 2009

NY: USPS finds missing Social Security checks

March 5, 2009

Postal Service Draws Criticism For $1.2 million Home Buy -

"At a time when the U.S. Postal Service says it is experiencing a financial crisis, it purchased a $1.2 million home from an employee so he could relocate, a CNN investigation has found. The Postal Service bought this 8,400-square-foot South Carolina home so an employee could relocate. The Postal Service bought this 8,400-square-foot South Carolina home so an employee could relocate. Postal Service spokesman Greg Frey said the home will be resold, as others have been." Video: Postal Service Buys Mansion | Postal Service bought S.C. mansion so Postmaster could make a voluntary transfer |   photos and description of mansion |

NALC: Obama Budget Won’t Raise Postal Workers Benefit Contributions - President Young announced today that the Obama administration will not pursue a proposal to raise postal employees’ benefit contributions in the 2010 budget. Vice President Joseph Biden confirmed the action when he met with President Young at the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Miami on Thursday. National League of Postmasters |

USPS: Clean Up the Byrd Droppings!

USPS Says Winning Share Amid Shipping Decline

Letter : Questions About Involuntary Reassignment   |

Ask President Burrus - Re: MVS Memo that has everyone outraged   |

Postal Service Mechanic Dies in Accident  |

J.P. Morgan and U.S. Postal Service Expand Cash Management Relationship
Congressman Jerry McNearney (D-Calif.) becomes 76th Co-Sponsor of H.R. 22

APWU: Ohio Members Lead Protests of Postal Service Consolidation Plans

Readers Digest Considering Restructuring or Bankruptcy

MS: Mail plan may cost Hattiesburg jobs

March 4, 2009

Commentary: There Are More Important Things To Worry About Than PMG's Pay - Gene Del Polito for Postcom - These are tough times. The economy has fallen off the ledge. And, to make matters worse, the Postal Service is facing the worst crisis it has ever faced since its founding by the new American republic. There have been staffing freezes, pay freezes, and employees have been told that even harder changes may still lie ahead. So, as humans often do when they get such unpleasant news, the search is on for someone to blame. Within postal circles, the one walking around with a target on his back is the person who is called Postmaster General.  |

OIC Pleads Guilty To Stealing Money Via Mail From Local Ministry |

USPS Preliminary Financial, Mail Volume Results For January 2009 (PDF)  |

Man sentenced to 13 years for assaulting postal worker

One last mail call for Duluth postal workers

Postcards looking like notice left forms popping up in mailboxes   |

Massive fire engulfs Ohio post office

Make it art, or at least comply with postal regulations

Temp letter carrier admits dumping mail, stealing medications
Direct Mail Spending Down in 2008 and Still Falling

APWU: Dispute Over VER and Severance Pay Appealed to Arbitration | Appeal (PDF)

March 3, 2009

Obama Blueprint Proposes Postal Employee Benefit Cuts

(eNAPUS Legislative Bulletin) President Obama released the outline of his Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. On page 126 of the 134-page document is a reference to the Postal Service that reads, “Realign USPS employee/employer benefit contributions.” The proposal projects a 5-year cost savings to the Federal government of approximately $4.2 billion, and a 10-year savings of about $9.5 billion. .. we are pushing for President Obama to revisit the Postal proposal in the interim. NAPUS and other postal employee groups have already communicated our displeasure to the White House and to Capitol Hill. Nevertheless, as it stands now, the proposal calls for USPS benefit contributions, on behalf of its employees, to be less than called for in existing union contracts and managerial consultative agreements. Obama Budget Would Cut Postal Worker Benefits for $9.4 Billion Savings | Tight Budget May Strain Obama, Union Friendship | NALC's Response |

PMG Potter Responds To Inquiry Sent By Lawmaker Regarding DBCS Machines  Copy of letters sent by Congressman Danny Davis and PMG John Potter's response..."With regard to existing DBCS equipment, we have taken necessary steps to ensure that the equipment is operated in a safe and hazard-free manner .We have established appropriate operational work methods including operator rotational guidelines, along with safety instructions and training material for all operators. We are also in the process of reviewing existing DBCS training material to identify any enhancements that could improve its effectiveness. Ensuring a safe and healthy work environment for our employees is a top priority for the Postal Service. |

March 2, 2009

March 1, 2009

Postmaster Setting Unrealistic Expectations May Serve As Grounds To File EEO Complaint -Much of the claimed harassment was the Hennessey, OK postmaster setting unrealistic expectations for the amount of time letter carrier had to prepare and complete delivery of her route, and repeated close monitoring and observation of her at the post office and on her route. The letter carrier claimed these unrealistic expectations forced her to walk at an uncomfortable pace, and skip lunch and breaks. When she did not meet the postmaster's expectations or engaged in allegedly time wasting activity, the postmaster allegedly kept up his intensive monitoring, pressured the letter carrier with comments, threatened her with corrective and disciplinary actions, and gave her a negative route evaluation.  |