Postal News - November 2007

Kenneth Jones vs. US Postal Service, illustrates why postal employees should think twice before appealing their discipline to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

New Book: Beware of Cat: And Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier

Postal Worker Fired After Second Violation of USPS Zero Tolerance Policy

Bush Plan Would Cut Tax-Free Employer-Provided Health Insurance

MSPB Overturns Postal Worker’s Removal for $45,000 Stamp Stock Shortage

Postage Rate Hike in 2008?

Postal Service: ‘Intelligent Mail’ Fully Operational By 2009

Video: Signed, Sealed and Delivered- Labor Struggle in the Post Office

USPS: New Postal Law-The Financial Impact

Can Bush Open Mail Without Warrant?

Former Postal Worker Charged in FEHB Scheme to Defraud USPS and NALC

Un-Merry Christmas
Postal Service Terminates Disabled Iraq War Veteran for Unacceptable Attendance

Letter to the Editor - Mismanagement at Royal Oak Carrier Unit

FedEx and DOT at Stalemate in Dispute Over Disclosure of Postal Contract Data -

USPS, APWU Reach $5.3 Million Agreement in Anthrax Travel Grievance

Postal Worker Fired for Refusing to Work on DBCS Machine

Postal Nurse Charged With Defrauding USPS

Five-Year Postal Employees Stats At a Glance

Big Win For APWU in MS-47 Maintenance Case - "Custodial Jobs Protected"

Emery Agrees to Pay $10 Million for Submitting Fraudulent Billings to USPS -

USPS to Sell Segway Scooters to General Public

Former Postmaster jailed for stealing over $50k

Postal Worker Sues USPS – Denied Permission to Work Off-the-Clock?

USPS OIG Paper: Postal Officers Travel Expense Guidelines

USPS Mail Processing Facility Faces $44,250 in Fines for Safety Violations

USPS and GE Sign New Six-Year $100M Contract for Semi-Trailers

Man Pleads Guilty in Kickback Scheme to Pay Postal OWCP Specialist

APWU Initiates Dispute Over Changes to USPS Computer Security Rules

Postal Worker Injured in Iraq Wins Job Back Under USERRA

USPS to Conduct Search for Sex Offenders on Postal Payroll

Postal Supervisor Fired for Rewarding Employees With Non-Worked Overtime Pay

Reader Raises Concern Over USPS Revised Emergency Salary Authorization Policy

USPS OIG Audit Report: Pasadena P & DC Consolidation

MSPB Upholds Removal of Postal Worker Videotaped Abusing FMLA

USPS to remove stamp machines by 2010

Postal Service Plans for More Than $1 Billion in Cost Reductions

Carrier Fired for Gambling Signed Last Chance Agreement

Mystery Shopper Evaluations Should Not Be Used to Discipline Window Clerks -

National Dispute Initiated Over USPS’ Improper Use of Casuals

APWU: Olympia, Tacoma and Everett Mail May Move to Seattle

Postal Service Lists 139 Facilities As Potential Candidates for Consolidation

Postal Worker Fired for Violating USPS Zero Tolerance Policy

Court Backs USPS in Stamp Trademark Lawsuit

Letter - Postal Workers Injured on Duty Should Know Their Rights

USPS Migrating Personnel Info to PostalPEOPLE System

Driving Postal Vehicle Without Seatbelt May Get You Fired

USPS Dragnet Continues to Sweep Up Injured Workers

Supreme Court Revives Postal Worker's Discrimination Suit

Number of Active Postal Employees by Age, Years of Service (PDF)

Trenton APWU Excessing Update, Custodian Exam for Clerks

Federal Court Overturns Letter Carrier Removal for Breach of Last Chance Agreement

Postal Window Clerks Protect Your Jobs

USPS releases April 2006 Financial and Operating Statements

North Carolina Postmaster Reassigned After Assault Complaint

Postal Mail Handlers in Talks to Stay With AFL-CIO

NIOSH Reports on DBCS at Denver Postal Facility

USPS Proposing to Contract Out Postal Vehicle Service

Federal Court Affirms USPS FMLA Return-To-Work Policy

Whoa…An Interesting Supreme Court Case Involving USPS

November 30, 2007-

Postmaster Returns to Battle Creek Post Office

David Wyatt, who had been postmaster in Battle Creek at the time 28 letter carriers were suspended will return to work at the Post Office on Monday. Wyatt had been granted an unspecified leave after being reassigned to Kalamazoo postal operations for three months last spring, said Jim Mruk, USPS manager of public affairs and communications. PR reader has a different version of the events: Message |

Royal Oak postal employee robbed at gunpoint
Mail carriers adding stops for special deliveries

Two postal workers charged with not delivering the mail

Driver Who Killed Mail Carrier Sent Back To Jail
Postal vets earn Million Mile carrier award

Postal workers help Ronald McDonald House

November 29, 2007-

Customers like to hear music at post office

Posted: Paint mailbox or else

Postal Contract Driver Shot in New Mexico

Postal officials deny city's use of safety reports
No Toy Collection at Post Offices in Connecticut
DVD rentals costly to Postal Service

Calif. Supreme Court denies FedEx appeal on contract drivers

November 28, 2007-

APWU: PTFs in Large Offices Eliminated as of Dec. 1
New Limits on Numbers of Casuals Also Go Into Effect - “Dec. 1, 2007, will be a historic day for postal labor,” APWU President William Burrus declared this week. “It marks the elimination of part-time flexible employment for the Clerk Craft in large offices. “As the result of contract negotiations, Clerk Craft PTFs will disappear as a job category in every postal installation of 200 work-years or more,” Burrus noted. “This has been a long-standing objective of postal employees, and it has finally been achieved.” |

New USPS Website for Retired Postal Employees

"This new website (KeepingPosted.org) gives all postal retirees quick, easy access to industry news, current events, annuitant resources, the Postal Service’s position on the important issues of the day and special offers previously available only to current employees." |

USPS Seeks Vendors for Beverage and Food Service Inside Retail Facility

USPS is seeking information and interest for a company to provide non-alcoholic beverage and/or limited food service in an experimental retail arrangement within a newly designed, customer-friendly full-service postal retail outlet. The Postal Service wishes to create an environment that provides customers, including many small businesses, convenient access to a variety of business-related retail services co-located within the postal retail outlet. The USPS contemplates offering free third party wireless fidelity internet connection service (Wi-Fi Certified) for use by consumers during the test term. Reader: "I wonder how this solicitation complies with the Randolph-Sheppard Act, which gives preference to blind venders in federal and USPS facilities? The USPS is required to go through the state agencies for the blind." |

Temporary Mailman Accused Of Dumping Letters
Edmond's first post office ledger found

Rural Carrier gets fine, probation for dumping bulk mail

Postal workers ready to deliver
Post office experiences lull before Christmas crunch

November 27, 2007-

Burrus Issues Stinging Rebuke To USPS Inspector General

APWU President William Burrus slammed the Office of the Inspector General recently, charging that in a September audit report on employee benefit programs the office had inserted itself into the collective bargaining arena. In a Nov. 16 letter to Inspector General David Williams, Burrus said, “Simply put, your analysis of the cost of postal benefits compared to those of other federal agencies lacks relevance. |

New USPS Voice of the Employee Survey?

"The USPS wishes to pre-qualify suppliers who can develop, implement, manage, and analyze information for a national Employee Engagement survey. The purpose of the Employee Engagement survey is to measure employees’ attitudes about the workplace and their perception of drivers of their overall work experience. It will be a census survey of the entire employee population to gain insight into the issues and concerns of the workforce. The current survey (Voice of the Employee) measures perceptions of workplace environment, consists of 41core questions and is administered on a quarterly basis to one fourth of the employee population." The entire audience of the approximately 800,000 employee population will be sampled during each year |

Mail Trucks Vandalized at North Austin post office

(Texas) Vandals broke the windshields on about 50 postal vehicles at the Bluebonnet Station. Investigators don't know whether the vandalism was committed by someone who works at the post office or had worked there in the past. They're looking at surveillance tapes and checking employee records for possible motives. Vandals smash postal truck windows |

New sorting system may help alleviate postal issues
Mail hub move proposal by USPS being examined
Strategies for 'dead letters'

Gas Leak Closes Post Office

November 26, 2007-

Another Iowa Town Soldiers On Without Its Post Office

Randalia's post office was one of 12 closed in Iowa this year by USPS.
People in those communities send and receive mail through rural delivery, but they must drive to a larger town's post office to ship weighted mail. Richard Watkins, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, stresses that the residents of Randalia — and other cities that have lost their post offices — have not been forgotten." We provide universal service," he said. "... But if we're providing good service from five miles away, what would you do? If no one (bids) on this job, what would you do? It's a business decision. Our goal is to provide postal services, not to continue to operate post offices in small towns." |

Convenience & savings: USPS gets it mostly right

Managing a National Network in a Slowing Economy

Junk Mail Builds Revenue For USPS
Shhhh: Postal carrier plugs in rather than gassing up

Cooking up ideas that tip scale of gratitude
Postal carriers ready to wing it

November 25, 2007-

Editorial: Is USPS In Need of An Internal Affairs Office?

by NALC Branch #1111 Second VP: "What's that? You say that the Postal Service already has the Postal Inspectors and the Office of the Inspector General. Well that maybe true and I am sure that they are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. But, let me ask you a few questions. Have you ever seen an Investigative Memorandum or OIG'S Report that implicated any supervisor and or managers in the Bay Valley District for stealing pay from employee's, or falsifying Official Time Keeping records? I haven't yet. Given the fact that this issue is not isolated to the BVD, I haven't heard that from any USPS District in the Nation? Why is that? Maybe a "USPS Internal Affairs Department" needs to be established (similar to that of Police Departments) to deal with internal management Postal crimes?" Archive: Class Action Clock Rings Lawsuit |

Anderson Post Office Begins Defibrillator Program

(Indiana) The Anderson post office will implement an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) program, according to a press release. The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 2000 was passed by Congress to start the placement of AED’s (Automated External Defibrillators) in public facilities. The Anderson post office is the only one in the Great Lakes area that has been chosen to be the pilot post office for this program. Postal executives from Washington, D.C., and others through the chain of command were involved in making this pilot program happen. The on-the-clock training and recurrent training of the employees are being provided by the U.S. Postal Service. |

How does your mail get from here to there?

For the 88 people who sort your mail, a proposal to send some of that work out of town, out of their hands, was a slap in the face. The U.S. Postal Service realizes that. “Employees don’t like to be told they are inefficient,” said Victor Dubina, a postal service spokesman in Cleveland, who pointed out that moving first-class mail processing is a business decision that can save nearly $1 million a year. |

This Is My Very Lazy Mailman -Customer complains about letter carrier moving trash can with LLV. |

Reader: Letter Carrier Helps Thwart Robbery (PDF) |

Buying stamps elsewhere helps the post office, postmaster says

With no plans for new office, USPS teams up with private sector

November 24, 2007-

Edmond Postal Workers Give Back To Community

(Oklahoma) Edmond's 39 postal carriers and 50 rural route carriers not only carry the extra weight of holiday packages and letters this season. They also will help feed the hungry by picking up food donated to the HOPE Center among their 89 routes. Edmond postal workers began the food drive for HOPE Center in November 1987 to give thanks to the community for its support following the local post office massacre on Aug. 20, 1986. |

Clinton plant rolls out 11 billion stamps a year

Mail carrier turns to firefighting

Open Season Date Corrections
“PO Box Locator” Launched on USPS.com

November 23, 2007-

Light Duty Postal Workers Told Not To Report to Work

Claudia Marinkovich got a certified letter this week that shocked her. Her employer, The U.S. Postal Service, told her not to report to work on November 24th. Claudia is one of at least 20 workers in the Milwaukee Post Office who got the letters. All of them had requested light duty because of various disabilities. The letters say there is "no productive work available within your restrictions." |

NALC Leaders Charts 'The Road Ahead' (PDF)

Postal Service is shaping up

Alert mail carrier deserves praise
Nothing compares to good ol' greeting cards

Great Neck pans mail center site

November 22, 2007-

USPS Opens Third Training Center on NCED Campus

The U.S. Postal Service formally opened its third training center on the campus of the National Center for Employee Development in east Norman, OK this past week. It will accommodate massive flat-mail processing equipment that is too large for NCED’s existing training buildings. There are dozens of the machines placed around the country in mail processing centers and employees will come to Norman to train on operation and maintenance. The new building also will eventually contain the Postal Service’s planned Flats Sequencing System (FSS). |

Arbitrator Denies 'Fletters' Grievance

The NRLCA objected to the Postal Service’s insistence that “fletters” (Flats and Letters) be processed on flats automation equipment when they can just as easily be processed as letters. As a result, they said mail is being improperly presented to rural carriers for delivery. In a long-awaited decision, National Arbitrator Dana Eischen denied the Association's (NRLCA) class action grievance challenging the Postal Service's practice of commingling letter-sized mail with flats when mail sorted on flat-sorting machines is presented to rural carriers for casing. Arbitrator Eischen did not acknowledge and ignored altogether most of the arguments advanced by the Association in support of the grievance |

Postal Bulletin 11-22-07 Issue

GPS Letter Logger promises to keep tabs on mail

November 21, 2007-

Fired Postal Worker Awarded $258,000 After Suffering Verbal Abuse From Postmaster

Gayle Santoni and other postal service employees testified that Postmaster James Foucault was verbally abusive and that he singled out employees during meetings and would go through their personal belongings. Sixty witnesses testified that they too had experienced or witnessed abusive behavior. Foucault remains in his position as postmaster of the Medford office. Attorney Paul Breed said the hostilities at the Medford post office are indicative of problems across the country. "This is a concern with the culture of the post office, not just in Oregon," Breed said. "It is a closed system that is quasi-military in the way it is managed. "It is a ferocious top-down management style and has been like this for many years." Postal Service Loses Harassment Lawsuit - Notes: Santoni is a former supervisor. Many of the players in this saga are managers and supervisors (although a few letter carriers and one NALC union official testified on behalf of the postmaster) . In fact, some of the players involved supposedly contributed to this infamous 2003 report submitted to the Presidential Postal Commission. |

Donors say 'bah, humbug' to Operation Santa rules

Changes in the U.S. Postal Service's long-running Operation Santa charity, in which the mail workers and volunteers bought gifts to answer needy children's letters to Santa, have led to anger and disappointment among volunteers. 'Dear Santa' letters come with legal catch - Operation Santa lawyers up in Newark - Under the revised system, the post office will still hand out Santa letters to people who want to donate. However, people who want to give must come to the Post Office at Federal Plaza, present a photo ID and sign a contract holding the U.S. Postal Service blameless, "...against any and all causes of action, claims, liens, rights or interests of any kind or type whatsoever..." |

Shots Fired Into Downtown Bowling Green Post Office

Mailman, Others Help Save Pittsburgh Woman From Burning Building

Pit bull owner charged with felony after dog attacked carrier |

Contractor admits to stealing from mail

Retired Postal Worker Could Lose the Home
Mail Box Controversy in New Neighborhood

Post office closes; $19,000 missing

Teamsters ratify 5-year United Parcel contract

November 20, 2007-

Postal Service Expects To Deliver 20 Billion Pieces Of Mail During Holidays

The Postal Service expects to deliver 20 billion pieces of mail between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, with the busiest mailing day set for Monday, Dec. 17. More than 275 million cards and letters should be mailed that day, more than three times the average daily volume of 82 million. Total mail volume (cards, letters, catalogs, packages, magazines) for the busiest day should approach 1 billion, up from an average daily volume of 703 million pieces. |

Post office hoped machines would make life easier in 1948
"Post office machines do not eliminate lines. Akron Postmaster C.B. Webb installed two coin-operated devices in 1948 that streamlined operations at the main post office. Never again would customers have to wait in long lines. The future of mailing depended on ''the self-service post office.'' Workers wheeled heavy cabinets into the lobby at 168 E. Market St. and placed them against the walls of the 1929 post office. Postmaster Webb discovered that the machines were a complement to existing services, not a substitution. |

Couple claims mailman tossed undelivered mail

(New Mexico) A couple fishing along the Rio Grande on Monday claims that they saw a US Postal Service employee throw undelivered mail into an irrigation ditch. |

Chicago mail delivery improves, study finds

An independent survey of Chicago mail-delivery performance has found that 94 percent of first-class mail sent from July through September was delivered on time. Postal Service officials attributed the improved rate to the hiring of 337 letter carriers since February and an overhaul of mail-sorting equipment at the processing and distribution center in downtown Chicago. Chicago worst again in mail service |

Nonprofit Postal Rates Capped at Inflation Rate

USPS proposes smaller facility in Aliso Viejo
Mailing costs pushing catalogs online

TSP to restrict interfund transfers

November 19, 2007-

Environmental Groups Cutting Catalog Stacks
Consumers who curse the growing stacks of holiday catalogs in their mailboxes have a new alternative: a coalition of environmental groups has introduced a free Web site, CatalogChoice.org, that allows people to remove themselves from more than 1,000 mailing lists. Since it opened for business on Oct. 9, Catalog Choice has helped more than 165,000 people opt out of almost 1.7 million catalogs, the groups say. |

Court: Postal Police Manager’s Transfer Was Not A Demotion

Ronald Calvin was transferred from his position of Manager, Postal Police Division, EAS-21 to that of General Analyst, EAS-21. Both positions carry the same grade and basic rate of pay. The Postal Service cited loss of confidence in Mr. Calvin’s managerial abilities as the reason for the transfer. He also argued that his transfer was, in effect, a constructive demotion, since he lost the retirement and other benefits and credentials of being a police officer. MSPB held that a transfer without a reduction in either grade or the basic rate of pay is not a personnel action that is appealable to the Board. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. |

Number of Active Postal Employees by Age (PP 19)

Some interesting stats: The average age of a postal employee= 47. Over 200 employees are 80 years-old and above. There are 29 employees under the age of 18. The fifty-year old category has the highest number of employees (34,017) |

Flat Sequencing System Photos, Deployment Schedule By Zip Code and More..

Postal Service to mark ‘Year of the Rat’

Mailman's instinct saves OC man's life

Identity thieves using postal service for scam

Spoof: USPS destroyed by four reckless teens in car
Driver insists he fell asleep before hitting postal carrier

November 18, 2007-

As holidays near, Postal Service pressed to deliver prompt service
Stuffed into a Metropolitan Ave. storefront, with just two clerks manning the windows, the Parkside postal station can hardly serve its steady flow of customers - let alone the annual rush that begins right after Thanksgiving. Long lines form around the city all too often, customers insist. Bob Trombley, the postal service spokesman for Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, said his department usually increases staffing during the holiday rush. "But in the long run, it's a very delicate balance between providing good service to our customers and remaining profitable," he said. " |

Mail is a big deal in remote area

November 17, 2007-

APWU-Backed Bill Would Require Bargaining Before Subcontracting

The APWU won a significant victory on Nov. 15, when Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) introduced legislation that would require the Postal Service to bargain with postal unions before making a commitment to significant subcontracting. H.R. 4236 would require the USPS to submit to arbitration if management and the affected unions were unable to reach agreement. The APWU has been strenuously advocating such legislation for several months. |

eNAPUS: USPS Adopts Inflation-Based Postage Adjustment for 2008 (PDF)

Mailman Accused of Attempted Kidnapping

Postal Worker charged with defrauding HUD

November 16, 2007-

Postal Service’s Oldest Employee Still Going Strong At 93

Mail handler Chester Reed is an inspiration in many ways. He began working at the San Bernardino, CA, P&DC in 1973, after retiring from the Air Force — and has never missed a day of work during 60 years of combined federal service. At 93, Reed is the oldest postal employee still working in the nation. |

Mail Carrier Recounts Getting Shot On Route

"He said if I keep talking like that and not answering any of his questions, I'll be the next mailman dead," said Robinson, who was shot in the leg minutes later. Denny Robinson said gun violence is a regular occurrence on his route. He said he heard through work that about 20 minutes before he was shot, there was gunfire coming from another carrier's route, about three blocks away. Robinson said his route covers 26 blocks, describing it as "overburdened." He said it often comes with an hour and a half of overtime (see video). |

Letter carriers rescue seniors trapped by fire
Pitney Bowes to Cut 1500 Jobs
Calabash, NC Post office set to shut down
USPS, Eagan near accord
The Smithsonian Envisions 20 More Years with the Postal Service

November 15, 2007-

USPS Instructs Managers to Comply With Bargaining Agreements
Letter Is Response to APWU Criticism of Executives’ Strategy Recommendations
In response to criticism by APWU President William Burrus, the Postal Service has officially notified its managers that efficiency-improvement strategies must be in full compliance with collective bargaining agreements. The Nov. 15 letter [PDF] was in response to Burrus’ criticisms of an October USPS News Link report on the outcome of a meeting of 700 USPS managers. When asked to identify the best opportunities for improving postal efficiency, participants at a National Executives Conference gave top-ranking to managing sick leave, managing overtime, and maximizing the use of non-career employees. |

US Postal Service revenue fell short in October

October revenue at the U.S. Postal Service fell $300 million short of expectations because of the credit crunch and housing slump, the service said on Thursday. The Postal Service posted a $5.1 billion net loss for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Postal: Rates Hikes Will Follow Reform Bill |

OIG Report: Potential Preferential Treatment Given to Netflix

"OIG says over the last two years the Postal Service has spent more than $40 million in additional costs processing the return portion of one company’s mail pieces. The reason for the increased processing costs is due to the non-machinable characteristics of their mail piece design. The OIG has projected over $60 million in additional processing costs over the next two years if changes are not made." |

Waterford Park neighbors say post office not delivering

November 14, 2007-

OIG Recommends USPS Increase Postal Employee's Benefit Costs

This report represents the results of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) self-initiated audit of the Postal Service’s FEGLI and FEHB programs . "The purpose of this review is to provide the Postal Service with information regarding its current employee benefit costs compared to most other federal and quasi-federal agencies in the same benefit programs. We also determined the Postal Service can change existing FEGLI and FEHB contribution rates through negotiations with its unions (for bargaining employees) and consultations with management associations (for non-bargaining employees). These changes could result in significant savings for the Postal Service Specifically, we estimate the present value of the Postal Service’s potential savings resulting from further reductions in benefit program contributions to be $1.073 billion over 10 years. This represent $1.073 billion in funds put to better use..." |

Bush Issues Executive Order For Improving Government Program Performance

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal Government and promote greater accountability of that Government to the American people, it is hereby ordered as follows: Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Government to spend taxpayer dollars effectively, and more effectively each year. Agencies (including the United States Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission) shall apply taxpayer resources efficiently in a manner that maximizes the effectiveness of Government programs in serving the American people. |

Job security still eludes some postal employees

When the U.S. Postal Service announced in April it would be closing its Beaumont Regional Encoding Facility, almost 1,000 workers knew their jobs were in jeopardy. Some went to the main Beaumont post office on Walden Road - and their jobs could be in peril again, along with those of regular employees, as the office tries to cut 15. Also see Beaumont postal center shut down |

Mail Service Slow To Catch Up With Relocated Family

Postal Service will work with city

Postmaster nabs propane tank as train bears down

APWU: Nonprofit Guide Rates APWU Health Plan at the Top

Postal Service chili champion delivers a winner

Postal worker injured in collision near Gainesville
Steelcloud completes October delivery to USPS
Noticing full mailbox, postal workers save a life

November 13, 2007-

Chicago Postal Worker Shot For Delivering Mail Too Late

A postal worker was shot in the leg Tuesday night reportedly after a neighbor became angry that he was delivering the mail too late. A Calumet District police captain said a witness heard a person yelling that the 31-year-old postal worker was delivering the mail too late and then heard a shot. "I think they wanted him to deliver the mail faster," the captain said. Police News Affairs Officer Tom Polick said the man was shot in the leg about 6:30 p.m. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in "stable" condition. |

Postal Service Responds To Overcharging On Passport Fee

Your editorial accusing the Postal Service of "gouging" and "overcharging" Americans for helping process their passport applications should have relied less on the rhetoric of others and more on the facts as laid out by the Government Accountability Office. The $30 fee we charge is set by the U.S. Department of State, and it is collected to cover our costs, which we are required to do by law. |

Loss of St. John Postal Workers Due to Overstaffing, Says USPS

DMA report predicts spending increases

Post office reports unruly customer

Postal Employee sentenced on mail theft charge

NLRB Further Victimizes the Victim

November 12, 2007-

New Health Plans Are Worth a Look

Postal carriers' plight more than a cliche

Stamping out counterfeit postage

November 11, 2007-

NALC Branch President Speaks Out On OIG Probe

Battle Creek Post Office mail scandal 'was just flawed' - A year after the Battle Creek Post Office was ripped with a mail-delivery scandal that led to the suspension of more than two dozen mail carriers, Mike Maddix, NALC president of Branch 262,a representative of some of the carriers is ripping back. "The whole operation was just flawed," Maddix, said of the probe by the USPS OIG. The union estimates the cost of temporarily replacing its workers, paying back wages and benefits and processing grievances at $1.3 million. |

NALC: Open Season Video Message

Homeowners look to lock up postal security
Scammers can't deliver Postal Service jobs
Sticker Shock: Health Insurance Premiums Rising Up to 25%

Dog bites cause economic pain

November 10, 2007-

APWU Challenges USPS' Inadequate Response to Union Concerns
re: Weingarten Wallet Card - In a recent letter to the Postal Service, the APWU challenged management's inadequate response to the union's concerns over a wallet card for supervisors that attempts to explain employee rights under the Supreme Court's Weingarten decision. The letter provides in detail the APWU position regarding this matter. The union encourages members to know your rights and not rely on management's explanation of your rights. Click here for a copy of the correspondence [pdf]. |

Postal Supervisor Faces Felony Charges For Falsifying Clock Rings

Leo J. Wheeler, a post office delivery supervisor, was charged Friday morning with six felony counts of second-degree falsifying business records. The allegations in this case involve a female employee. Wheeler allegedly made false entries in the time records for the woman on at least six occasions, causing her to be compensated for time she was not actually clocked in. |

New Employee Observation Work Practices Forms
(Postal Bulletin) Effective immediately, supervisors must begin using the new PS forms developed to document observations of employee work practices. Select the appropriate form based on the employee’s job classification. Use PS Form 4588, Observation of Work Practices — Delivery Services, for employees who work in delivery services and PS Form 4589, Observation of Work Practices — General, for other employees. When used correctly, these forms can help the supervisor and the employee to identify and eliminate work practices that could cause accidents and injuries. PR Reader: "No one observes contract carriers?" |

Congressman Introduces Bill to Create Veterans Healthcare Stamp

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess is proposing that the government raise money for veterans' healthcare by selling special postage stamps. The idea is to tack a few cents onto the cost of a first-class stamp to create what Burgess terms the Veterans Healthcare Stamp, As the nation prepares to observe Veterans Day on Sunday, there are about 25 million veterans in the United States and about 70 million people eligible for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill was introduced in the House on Thursday. |

Video: Postal Clerk Says Employees Personal Information Thrown In Dumpster

Among them: highly personal medical information, accident reports, performance reviews and countless grievances–including sexual harassment claims lodged by postal employees against the Postal Service. The Office of Inspector General said Postal Employees were not informed because this was “an isolated incident” and that “all the documents were retrieved safely secured and disposed of properly. |

Post Office Fire Causes Power Outage

Mix-up affects political mailings

Postal Service honors veterans

Post office officials request stricter dog laws

November 9, 2007-

Postmaster Blames Carrier Absences, Heavy Mail Volume For Late Deliveries

There have been some complaints from residents about late mail delivery from Reno, NV Post Office, and Postmaster Lisa Smith agrees that has been the case a few times. But Smith also attributes those instances to postal carriers being absent at times, causing others to fill their routes, and to this simply being a busy time of year. Smith explained when someone is unable to come to work, others fill in to cover that route (similar to other businesses, she said), often doing double duty, and that can create some later than usual deliveries. |

Postal Worker Convicted of Lying About Disability

A federal jury on Thursday convicted a Laurel (MD) woman accused of lying about a back problem to continue getting workers' compensation benefits from her job at the U.S. Postal Service. Prosecutors said Karis Anne Blank, 43, filed disability claims for a back injury even though she went dancing, threw darts and tossed candy from a parade float. In 20 hours of surveillance, the agents presented 42 minutes of "the best of" Blank, he said. OIG Agents dressed in Halloween costumes asked Blank to dance at a party and made her jump up |

Commentary: Privatize the U.S. Postal Service
According to James A. Montanye, a consulting economist in Falls Church, Virginia: "The United States Postal Service is an anachronism. Yale's law and economics scholar George Priest has characterized it as "the most significant example of socialism in the United States...[embracing] almost all the aspects of socialism rejected in Eastern Europe and in the privatized Western economies." It employs 30 percent of the nonmilitary federal workforce; pays wages and benefits 30 percent above competitive levels; and operates more than 60 percent of its offices at a loss." Montanye's article Going Postal: Regulatory Reform for the Digital Age |

CA: Vallejo post office evacuated after caller says bomb's inside

Postmaster by day, singer by night

Event salutes postal employees
Books for overseas projects hurt by post office fees
Postal Bulletin 11/08/07 Issue
Direct mail is still DM champion
Mail may be rerouted

Postal Service Makes Schedule Changes

November 8, 2007-

Former Postal Worker gets 14 months for stealing $128,000

A judge sentenced a former U.S. Postal Service employee to 14 months in federal prison for stealing more than $128,000 from a post office cash drawer, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced Thursday. Raul Castillo pleaded guilty in June to one count of misappropriation of postal funds. He admitted that he took the money over five years starting in June 1999 by underreporting sales at a post office at Lackland Air Force Base, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Postmaster Pleads Guilty To Misappropriating $112,000 |

Burrus Outlines Ambitious Agenda at All-Craft Conference
Union Must Embrace Change, APWU President Declares -APWU President William Burrus outlined an ambitious agenda for the union’s future in a speech to the All-Craft Conference on Nov. 7. Urging conference participants to embrace change in a time of challenge, Burrus announced plans to hire five grass-roots organizers to help implement the union’s legislative program, and unveiled plans to better communicate with far-flung union members via the Internet. |

Slain deputy had left postal service at 55 to begin second career

When Paul Rein was 55, he left his job as a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service to begin a second career - as a Broward County sheriff's deputy. Rein, 76, then put in 20-plus years with the sheriff's office before he was gunned down Wednesday morning as he transported a convicted robber to court. See NALC Press Release |

Available PO Boxes Go Online Friday

Starting Friday, Nov. 9, customers no longer have to visit or call around to different Post Offices to find an available PO Box. They can find them online at usps.com. Information includes availability by box size and associated six-month box fees, as well as standard address, phone and fax numbers for each listed office. |

PRC’s ruling to change pricing for mailers
Rillito Postal Worker Wins Benjamin Award

FedEx pays $253K to settle dispute
Editorial: U.S. shouldn't be overcharging citizens for their passports

Barrington postmaster goes pink for breast cancer

Postal worker busted for stealing veteran's meds

November 7, 2007-

USPS Board of Governors to Meet November 14-15, 2007

Mail truck crash sends driver to hospital

Postal service sends consumers a holiday greeting

November 6, 2007-

Bill Clinton Tells APWU: 2008 Election Belongs to You

Don’t you dare let them take this election away from you,” Bill Clinton told more than 3,000 APWU members in a spirited, wide-ranging speech to the union’s All-Craft Conference Nov. 5 in Las Vegas. The former president urged postal workers to help choose leaders who will tackle our biggest problems at home and abroad, and told them we will solve the problems of the 21st Century only when we recognize that “our common humanity is more important than our differences.” |

Is A Direct Mail Crackdown Looming?
"The announcement last week that New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had expanded his investigation of predatory college loan providers into deceptive, possibly illegal direct marketing practices came at a time when the Direct Marketing Association is focusing on the issue of responsibility. Indeed, with investigations into direct marketing practices of mortgage lenders underway in Ohio and New York and Do Not Mail bills under consideration in at least 10 states, the industry might appear to be under siege.". |

El Paso Residents Complain About Opened Mail
Most people feel a sense of security when they receive mail. That sense is gone for Sandra De Leon and her husband from Northeast El Paso. KFOX has been reporting on problems with the mail for two years. On Monday De Leon spoke to KFOX about her complaints. |

Return to sender, address unknown

Postal service to honor 25 workers

Convergys' Work with USPS Pays Off

Post office issues plea after 2 carriers injured in dog bite attacks

November 5, 2007-

Letters extinct in digital age

Canada Post Founds Virtual City On Second Life

With Costa Rica's Mail, It's Address Unknown
New Netflix Plan: Nothing But Net
Marshall Islands: Return to Domestic Mail Services a "Great Victory"

Opt-out services challenge catalogers

Creative solutions to USPS hikes

November 4, 2007-

Canadian Lottery Scheme Using Fake USPS Checks

Postal Inspectors want to alert employees to a new scheme — letters are being mailed from Canada to U.S. residents announcing that the addressee has won a foreign lottery. A counterfeit United States Postal Service check is enclosed in each letter, with instructions to wire a portion of the money outside the country after depositing the check. If a customer presents a USPS check to be cashed at a Post Office, station, branch or other retail outlet, it’s imperative that the retail associate ask the presenter how the check was received and for what purpose. The employee must require two forms of ID. If the person is a Postal Service employee, contractor or vendor, request a USPS ID. |

Bill would ban delivery of cigarettes through mail

Rep. Anthony Weiner wants to snuff out illegal on-line cigarette sales by making them a felony and by banning the delivery of cigarettes through the mail. Under current law, illegal cigarette sales are considered a misdemeanor. Private carriers now voluntarily refuse to deliver online cigarette orders, but Weiner's bill would also ban the U.S. Postal Service from making the deliveries. |

Rural mail success was spelled RFD

Postal workers use caution on routes
'Oh man, now it's serious'

Postal worker retires, then returns to work as rural carrier

Fall Circ, Post-Postal Rate Hike

Postal Service swamped by political mail

Students get a taste of the working world through mock post off

Driver, 92, crashes through post office

Nigerian jailed for forging US money orders

Canada: Nearly a third of rural mailboxes are unsafe

New Deal post office art is a portrait of American life

November 3, 2007-

Postal clerk calls it quits after 40 years
Postal clerk never let disabilities stop him - He lost his hearing to spinal meningitis when he was 2 years old and lost a leg in a 1968 motorcycle accident. He walks with a prosthetic device and used hearing aids to detect vibration until 2001, when he received cochlear implants that allowed him to hear some sound. In the pre-automation post office of the 1960s, Henning succeeded in a demanding job despite his disabilities." Everyone here accepted my handicaps," Henning said. "I was always just like any normal person here." |

Postal worker charged with theft of credit card

Panama City post office investigation under way
Postal Service Says Killing Small Periodicals is a "Win-Win"
Career ends for million mile mailman

November 2, 2007-

Senators: USPS Gouges Travelers Over $97 Passport Fees
Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the State Department and Postal Service quietly gouged U.S. citizens over the government's $97 passport fees even as new anti-terrorism laws require more travelers to carry passports. They are asking the Bush administration for an accounting of where the passport profits go. |

Postal carrier retires after 50 years on the route

Vern Moss been delivering Wichita's mail since 1957.Moss walked more than 76,700 miles on his routes -- the equivalent of three times around the equator -- before a bad knee forced him onto a motorized route 10 years ago. And despite battling prostate cancer in 2002, he'll donate 250 days of unused sick leave to the government when he leaves. He's kept every pay stub he's ever earned, including his first, when he earned $1.86 per hour, taking home $116.87 for 78 hours of work. |

APWU Questions and Answers on USPS Shared Services

The following is the APWU version of Question and Answers (Q & A) regarding the change-over to posting and bidding by Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC). The Q & A represents APWU's position on various conflicts, especially when the change has resulted in a violation of Local Memorandum of Understanding (LMOU). |

USPS Board of Governor Member Bilbray Hits Campaign Trail for Hillary Clinton

- Bilbray sat down with Laughlin, Nevada residents at the special community action meeting to discuss the New York senator's positions on the issues most important to Nevadans. Prior to being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1987, he was a Nevada State Senator. The Clinton campaign announced in August the endorsement of Bilbray. Bilbray said, "America is at crossroads and Senator Hillary Clinton is the only presidential candidate with the experience, intellect, and vision to lead our country in the right direction." |

OIG Audits Determine Turnover, Vacancies, and Lack of Training Contributed to Chicago Mail Delivery Woes -The Chicago District has been plagued with numerous customer complaints, negative media coverage, and the lowest service scores in the nation. The cause of most of this unwanted publicity resulted from missed, late or inconsistent mail deliveries. As a result, Congress and the Postmaster General asked the OIG to examine the underlying issues. We conducted four separate audits over a 9-month period, and uncovered several contributing factors to the mail delivery problems including: Supervisors did not have the skills and training needed to manage day-to-day operations. |

Postal Service halts vehicle buys

The Postal Service won’t be purchasing any vehicles — gasoline-powered or otherwise - until 2015 at the earliest, said Walt O’Tormey, the agency’s vice president of engineering. |

USPS Building Self-Service Post Office In Indiana -

To increase convenience and access to postal services, ground was recently broken for a new self-service postal facility in Fishers. Located in a free-standing building, the totally self-serve facility will offer 24-hour access to customers, two Automated Postal Centers (APCs) and more than 200 post office boxes. This unique facility will be one of a few of its kind in the country and the very first in Indiana. |

NAPUS to Submit Testimony at Senate GPO/WEP Hearing

Charges are pending against postal contractor caught mishandling mail

Postal Worker Named to 2008 Olympic Boxing Coaching Staff

Rutgers to host conference on Universal Service
Opt-out services challenge catalogers
OIG: MODS data not reliable

November 1, 2007-

Police arrest postal carrier on indecent exposure accusations

George E. Harvin, 40, of Charleston Row in Aiken, is charged with two counts of indecent exposure. The Aiken man was arrested Monday after the two victims, both in their early 20s, contacted police about a number of alleged incidents, according to police reports. They said that on different occasions the mail carrier came into the Laurens Street business and exposed himself to them, police reported. During an interview with police, both women said the man's alleged behavior was unwanted. |

Postal Contract Carrier, brother stage fake robbery |

Decatur Postal Worker Gets Into the Halloween Spirit

How to escape jail in a mailbag

Pit bull attacks mail carrier

Marshall Howard Honored By US Postal Service

GAO Report: Agencies Distribute Fund-raising Stamp Proceeds and Improve Reporting - What GAO Found: As of June 2007, more than $68 million has been raised through semipostal sales. Of the three semipostals, the Breast Cancer Research stamp had proceeds totaling approximately $54.6 million, the Heroes of 2001 stamp had proceeds totaling about $10.6 million, and the Stop Family Violence stamp had proceeds totaling about $3.2 million.