Postal News

Statement of NALC President On Compliance with National Agreement - Let Let me make the following clear to one and all, including Postal Service management at headquarters and in the field, and all letter carriers, at every level in the union and in every post office: No one, at any level, has any authority to amend or violate the national contract, period. PMG Potter memo on honoring contract (PDF). It is up to each one of us to make sure that the changes we bring to the organization are changes for the better,” Potter recently wrote. Respecting and protecting the provisions of the collective-bargaining agreements will help us to do that |

NALC: There Are No Plans To Eliminate Six-Day Delivery

USPS: Declining Mail Volume Leads to Route Adjustments

Report: Employment of Veterans in the U.S. Postal Service - FY 2007

PRC Annual Report: Postal Execs Compensation

USPS Says It Needs To Eliminate 9,200 City Carrier Routes in FY 2009

Postmaster, Supervisor Groups Reject Pay Freeze (PDF)

Tight Times Strain Postmasters

USPS, APWU Reach Tentative Agreement On Four-Day Workweeks

USPS Wants Commercial Outdoor Advertising On Its Property

USPS to Implement Two Tour Initiative Nationwide

Re: Postal Employees Ordered to Stop Offering First-Class Mail

PMG Urges Leaders of Employee Organizations To Work With USPS

Flashback: Postal 1992 VER Cost $1.01 Billion

USPS To Launch Nationwide Program To Track Revenue Performance Of Window Clerks

Postmaster General Cautions of Perfect Economic Storm

Connecticut Congressman Presses Postal Service for Answers Regarding Meriden Route Changes

Appeals Court Upholds Firing Of Postal Carrier For Unsafe Driving

GAO: New Delivery Performance Measures Could Enhance Postal Managers’ Pay for Performance Program

Postal Manager Demoted Over Violation of NALC Contract?

Postal Worker's Self-Defense Claim Can't Save Job

NAPS Challenges USPS Network Plan, Questions USPS Outsourcing

USPS Posts $1.1 Billion Loss For Third Quarter

House Passes FERS Sick Leave Legislation

GAO: Data Needed to Assess the Effectiveness of USPS Outsourcing | Watchdogs question US Post Office outsourcing system

USPS Names Two Postal Execs To New VP Slots

USPS Releases Details Of Voluntary Early Retirement Offer

Burrus: Employees Would Be Best Served by Postponing Early-Out Decisions

NALC: Young Urges Congress to Reject Study for 5-Day Delivery

USPS Early Out Offer Excludes ETs - No Cash Incentives

PMG Potter Announces Reorganization At USPS Headquarters

House Committee Approves Study On Ending Saturday Mail Delivery

EEOC: Postal Worker Was Not Provided Smoke-Free Vehicle

ASFM-100 Work Awarded Back to Clerk Craft at Trenton P&DC

Court of Appeals Keeps Alive 14-Year-Old Lawsuit Against NALC

Postal Service Selects First-Ever Vice President of Sustainability

Video: Postal Workers Protest Terrorism On The Job

EEOC Rules USPS Must Process Class Action Complaint For Rehab Postal Employees

OPM Submits Proposal To Create Short-Term Disability Insurance Program

To Err Is Not Human for Demoted Postal Supervisor

USPS Resolves Dispute With Unions Over Computer Security Rules

USPS Selects Former Halliburton Executive As New CIO

Big Pay Increases Approved For Top Postal Service Officers

USPS Retail Cost Cutting (PDF)

click here to read the award (PDF) | A Short Comparison of USPS Contracts With APWU, NPMHU, NALC and NRLCA |

Flat Sequencing System (FSS) Strategy




			September 30, 2009 Senate Approves Short-Term Relief for USPS The Senate approved an appropriations bill Sept. 30 that includes emergency financial relief for the Postal Service. The Fiscal Year 2010 funding measure (H.R. 2918) passed by a vote of 62-38. The postal provision gives the USPS one year of financial relief, allowing it to make a reduced payment to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund for future-retiree health benefits. Instead of making a scheduled $5.4 billion payment before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the Postal Service had to pay only $1.4 billion. Senate Passes Bill With Postal Financial Relief -The measure, approved by a 62-38 vote that sends it to President Obama's desk.. President Signs Postal Reprieve Bill, Health Care Mark-Up Continues \| APWU President William Burrus Announces Retirement President Burrus announced he will retire at the end of his term in 2010. \| USPS Lost $721 Million In August 2009–Over $6 Billion YTD The U.S. Postal Service filed its July 2009 (unaudited) preliminary financial report yesterday with the Postal Regulatory Commission. USPS reported a net income loss of $721 million (July 2009 was $865 million). The year-to-date deficit currently stands at approximately $6.3 billion. \| Mailman loses both legs after car slams into him during work He was sorting his mail, getting ready for the next drop and when the accident occurred, she hit him from behind," said Chambers.\| USPS Steps Up Mail-Processing Consolidation The U.S. Postal Service has announced the possible closing or downsizing of 15 processing and distribution centers in the past two weeks, part of a newly aggressive effort to rationalize its mail-processing network. \| Binghamton postal workers given little time to decide on filing for early retirement - Employees at the Binghamton mail processing plant got final word at 4 p.m. Friday that some operations would be consolidated and moved to Syracuse, a union official said." By the time the meeting was over, they had 15 minutes to submit their paperwork," he said.\| Mail set to take the long way home A Postal Service cost-cutting tactic will move the processing of some Las Vegas mail to Phoenix \| Feds as a Political Force Bakersfield: Rural Carrier Pleads Guilty To Mail Theft US Official Spent 6 Days in Cuba to Talk Postal Service, Ties USPS OIG Report: Denver Sunday Mail Processing Operations (PDF)
			September 29, 2009 OIG: Any USPS Silly Workplace Rules? What Postal Service workplace rules are hindering you from doing your job? Are there rules or processes in place that no longer apply or need to be changed to meet today’s business needs? \| Post office wrong target for conservatives Xerox and the Future of Mail Police Shoot, Kill Guard Dog That Cornered Mailman Rockford letter carrier delivers heroic effort Post office driver injured in Vineland crash Pols pushing to save seven Bronx branches
			September 28, 2009 Health premiums up 8.8% in 2010 Federal employees’ health insurance premiums will increase by 8.8 percent on average in January, according to the Office of Personnel Management. \| Woman who killed mail carrier released from prison Bronx Community Awaits Word on Post Office's Fate USPS branch closures unlikely to affect direct mailers Mail carrier delivers life-saving help Online services let cities bypass the mailbox
			September 27, 2009 Saturday Delivery Getting The Sack After 2010 Elections Postal officials see axing mail pickup and delivery and other postal services on Saturdays as being least disruptive to operations. Saturday mail volume is lower than that of other days -- around 11% of a typical week’s total. However, postal officials haven’t ruled out restoring full mail service on Saturdays during the year-end holiday season, which brings heavy volume. \| Editorial: Route Adjustments In Slow Times As the current round of route adjustments nears completion (the last adjustments were put in place by September 19), we have preliminary totals on the impact. In the Bay-Valley District, about 260 routes were abolished-including auxiliaries. Adding in the 140 routes abolished this spring, that's 400 routes altogether, close to 12% of the total for the District. Nationally, we were told almost 10,000 routes were eliminated, not counting the impact on T-6 assignments. This has had a major effect on our delivery units, not to mention the changes to individual routes. It is easy to feel the frustration of letter carriers who had changes of 50% or more to their route--or who lost their route altogether! (Some carriers lost routes during both adjustments). \| Mailman's ZZZZZIP code US Postal Service carrier Keith Goode enraged Upper East Side residents recently after he plopped down on a stoop in the middle of his route and fell asleep. \| Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions and The Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS and CSRS The Fight Over Flexible Spending Account
			September 26, 2009 PRC chairman seeks national conversation on "The Future Of Mail" Postal service to relocate mail processing to Syracuse from Binghamton Racine: USPS fights city assessment, owes county Mailman's tip leads to 3 arrests in Hartsdale home burglaries Forest Park postal worker charged in 5th sexual assault
			September 25, 2009 Postal Relief? How About No More Congressional Thievery? Postal carrier pleads guilty to stealing mail from customers The End of the Monopoly OWCP Recipients Cannot Keep Retirement Incentive NAPS Legislative & Regulatory Update September 24, 2009
			September 24, 2009 House-Senate Panel Approves Measure to Keep Financially Troubled USPS Afloat - The financially struggling Postal Service would be allowed to cover a budget shortfall by reducing its annual payment to a health care fund for retirees by $4 billion. Under current law, the Postal Service is required to transfer $5.4 billion to the Retiree Health Benefits Fund by Sept. 30, but Postal officials say they don't have enough money to make the payment." House Grants Postal Service 1-Year Reprieve – Senate to Act Next Week (PDF) \| Grassley proposal would end federal health benefits plan The provision, offered by ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would force civil servants to leave the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and purchase insurance through the state-based health exchanges that are a centerpiece of the health reform bill. Employees would move to the exchanges beginning in 2013. \| Locals say letter carrier is no cat thief New Jersey : Secretary to USPS district manager stole employee incentive gift cards Postal workers protest South Florida Post Office closings Congress Targets FSA Tax Break Pit bull bites mail carrier, causes 'pretty deep' wounds
			September 23, 2009 Postal route changes hit five valley cities Shifts ahead at suburban postal centers Jobs to change in Palatine, but details not final, USPS says Snail mail sings songs of America's past Man's body found by postal worker
			September 22, 2009 Union, Management Reach Settlement on Individual Retirement Counseling - The APWU and Postal Service reached a settlement on Sept. 21 reaffirming management’s responsibility to provide individual retirement counseling to APWU-represented employees. he settlement stipulates that local management must arrange reasonably private space for employees who wish to receive individual retirement counseling on the clock. Employees are permitted to have their spouse and/or advisor present during counseling. \| OIG : Should the Postal Service Eliminate Sunday Mail Processing Operations? - The reality of the current situation is that in many areas the Postal Service has an excess of equipment, staff, and facilities to process a declining volume of mail. With mail volume declining, should the Postal Service reduce mail processing operation to 6 days a week, rather than the traditional 7 days, and allow employees to have Sunday off? \| PMG Potter to Speak at National Press Club Postal worker helps track down hit-and-run suspect Catalogers: Postal Battle Not Just About Rates Junk mail delivers a sense of satisfaction Former postal worker admits to stealing more than $30,000 in Netflix DVDs USPS manuals available online - Postal Operations Manual (POM), Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines (IIPG), Administrative Support Manual (ASM)
			September 21, 2009 Can the Flats Sequencing System be Fixed? It may be time for the U.S. Postal Service to go back to the drawing board on the Flats Sequencing System, which faces trouble on two fronts. USPS is pressing ahead with installation of the football-field-sized FSS machines, even though the system recently fell short of standards for the second time in an acceptance test. But then there's the second problem with FSS: Not only is it not yet living up to its design, but the design may already be obsolete. Will FSS discounts fall flat? \| Postal Supervisor admits swiping Best Buy rewards, buying $200k in goods - A Postal supervisor has admitted taking nearly 16,000 Best Buy reward certificates and using them to buy almost $200,000 in merchandise. Best Buy staff noticed Parkes repeatedly bought popular items, including seven 37-inch LCD televisions, four 42-inch LCD televisions, six 42-inch plasma televisions, 11 PlayStation 3s and 37 iPods. \| USPS OIG: Boston Airport Mail Center Outsourcing Report (PDF)
			September 20, 2009 Letter: Problems at Post Office Start At The Top Does the post office need to go to a five-day delivery schedule to survive? Possibly, but before that, they should be looking at reorganizing from the top down. Big bonuses (even though they are not called “bonuses” anymore), sweetheart real estate deals and other perks for managers could be eliminated. Moving expenses, real estate commissions and time off to move are all paid for by the Postal Service for its managers who move on to higher- paying positions. Recently, a station manager position (in Fargo) was vacated due to a retirement. The current postmaster stated that there wasn’t even four hours of work for the position. However, he filled the $80,000/year position anyway. When pressed as to why, his reply was, “We just want to hang on to what we have.” And this is just locally, imagine nationally. \| Former contract mail carrier given 30 months probation for mail theft Post office could shift Salinas mail processing to San Jose
			September 18, 2009 USPS OIG: Audit Report – Flats Sequencing System: First Article Retest Results (PDF) Although FSS machine performance improved since the original FAT test, the system failed to meet key SOW performance parameters. Although the FSS did not meet some key performance parameters, management concluded that the system’s progress from the first FAT test warranted continuing with the next phase of installations and acceptance tests for production systems. However, until a system outside of the Dulles Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) demonstrates operational stability and achieves the minimum performance requirements under field acceptance test conditions, we believe deploying FSS machines to additional sites is premature. We recommend the Vice President, Engineering: 1. Install and test only one additional Flats Sequencing System until the system demonstrates operational stability and successfully passes the field acceptance test. \| PMG Potter: Six-Day Mail Delivery Doesn't Make Sense Potter also says he is considering shutting down more facilities - If nothing else, service should shift to five days per week. I've been out there advocating that. We can think about changing the rules about retail sales in our locations as well. There will probably be other changes, too. Remember, it wasn't until Abraham Lincoln that we had regular rural delivery. It wasn't until catalogs that we had free rural delivery. And it wasn't until the 1930s that the Postal Service regularly delivered packages over 4 pounds. \| $100,000 Reward Offered for Mail Bomb Arrest 35 Jackson Jobs Saved For Now Deja vu all over again for Industry (CA) mail processing center Minneapolis Postal Worker Admits to Stealing Mail More on Postal Work Stoppage Operation Graphic Hand 1970 PRC approves first class mail incentive program Insurance is no guarantee that a shipping service will pay a claim USPS add FFVs to its fleet US, Cuba Mull Direct Postal Service Former postmaster sentenced to 18 months in prison
			September 17, 2009 Mail Handlers Union Prevails in National RI-399 Arbitration APWU APPEAL DENIED IN ALL RESPECTS - In a national award rendered on September 7, 2009, National Arbitrator Joseph M. Sharnoff determined that certain assignments on the Small Parcel and Bundle Sorter (SPBS) machines were properly assigned by the USPS to the Mail Handler Craft. To read the pdf version of the award, click here \| Update: Ohio Letter Carrier dies of head wound A 53-year-old Cleveland postal carrier died Thursday night after being shot in the head earlier in the day as he delivered mail. Postal Worker Shot in Ohio -Eyewitnesses tell Fox 8 News that they noticed the gunman lurking behind the postal worker for some time before the shooting. The culprit, however, managed to successfully flee the scene. Slain mail carrier Daniel Kondas remembered as friendly, responsible \| Police: Robbery behind shooting of mail carrier \| NALC Outraged \| Postal employees paid to do nothing story is not going away Off camera, several employees of the Postal Service, who did not want to be identified, said they use most of the time to sleep. And they said that if they spend eight hours in the room, they only get to leave twice - once for lunch and one more time for a break. \| A Light at the end of the Tunnel There is now growing evidence that we have passed the bottom in two of the Postal Service's key businesses, delivering advertising and parcels. \| Saturday yard sale to benefit postal worker with cancer
			September 16, 2009 PMG Addresses Current Climate, Lays Foundation for Future Growth Potter cited three key areas in which the Postal Service is seeking legislation: (1) Changes to the accelerated payment schedule to pre-fund retiree health benefits statutorily mandated by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. (2) Ability to adjust the capacity of the Postal Service's network to bring it in line with reduced mail use. Eliminating Saturday delivery could save the Postal Service as much as $3.5 billion a year. (3) Flexibility to expand product offerings into new areas that leverage the Postal Service's unmatched scope, reach and presence of its distribution, transportation and retail networks to achieve their full revenue potential. \| Florida Carrier Charged with Mail Theft APWU: Obama Addresses Labor Federation Mailer gets 52 months for scamming USPS out of $350,000 Postal worker admits theft of more than $150,000 Post Office Picketer in Green Bay 82-Year-Old Slams SUV Into Post Office Tony Thornton, 49, 'Punching Postman' Postal Museum Rental Violated Policy Letter to US President and Congress in Support of USPS Postal Service cutbacks threaten Glade Park service
			September 15, 2009 House Passes HR 22,Bill Now Moves to Senate The House of Representatives voted 388-32 on Sept. 15 to approve a measure that would provide the Postal Service relief for one year from a requirement to prefund retiree healthcare benefits from its operating budget. House (finally) approves H.R. 22 - The House voted Tuesday to let the struggling U.S. Postal Service cover a budget shortfall by reducing its annual payment to a health care fund for retirees by $4 billion \| NALC: Retirement counseling settlement allows counseling on the clock NALC and the Postal Service have reached a settlement of a national level dispute over management’s responsibility to provide retirement counseling to letter carriers. NALC had protested the discontinuance of the practice of providing in-person counseling to letter carriers on postal premises. \| Retiree COLA : A One-Shot, $150 Payment? USPS wins domain name dispute for USPS.mobi Shot Postal Worker Thrilled To Resume Route House may vote on postal relief bill Today Lynch Decides Not to run for Kennedy's Senate seat Postal Service plans to alter Montana mail sorting OIG Kicks Off Workers' Comp Fraud Campaign \| OIG's “Unable to Work . . .” Ex-W.Va. postmaster pleads guilty to theft charge APWU: Advocates of Postal ‘Reform’ Attempt to Misdirect the Public’s Attention USPS National Payroll Hours Summary Report (PDF) Jackson Delivery and Distribution Center Processing Operations Moving to Lansing Postal Service to probe Dexter dog spray case LETTER: A postal plea PHOTOS: Naples residents rally to save downtown post office September 14, 2009 USPS May Excess Over 300 Postal Clerks From San Francisco Performance Cluster - "This is to advise you of the intent of the San Francisco Performance Cluster to utilize the provisions of Article 12.5.C.5 to involuntarily reassign 150 full-time level 6 clerks from the craft and/or installation at the San Francisco bid cluster based on the AMC/ISC realignment. This impact is in addition to the impact from the tour realignment and manual decentralization and the impact. There are 136 full-time clerks who are still pending involuntary reassignment based on these earlier impacts." \| Time running Out To Pass Any Measure For 5-Day Delivery Postal Service officials have been pleading with Congress to approve five-day mail delivery to reduce operating expenses. The outlook is dismal. When many Americans are waiting anxiously for their Social Security or unemployment checks to arrive in the mail, cutting back mail service doesn’t seem like a popular idea to many lawmakers. No one has even introduced legislation to enact five-day delivery. In fact, one pending House resolution, HRes 173, expresses the sense of the House that the Postal Service should do everything possible to ensure six-day delivery. \| Maine: Dexter postal worker pepper-sprays dog, child a 5-pound Chihuahua, began to bark Saturday morning, and when 7-year-old Kelsey Wintle looked outside to see why, she saw a female postal worker pepper-spraying her puppy. The girl ran outside and grabbed her dog, but in the process was sprayed in the face by the 57-year-old letter carrier. \|
			September 13, 2009 'Lost' in the mail West Side uproar over 'canceled' carrier - Postal worker Hazel Garrow has been delivering mail on West 87th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue for almost four years, and has captured the hearts of the big-city block with irresistible small-town charm. But she may not be delivering it for a long.The Postal Service is planning to transfer the nine-year vet by the end of the week as part of cost-cutting measures to make routes “more efficient in response to the dramatic volume declines,” said spokeswoman Doreen Reid-DeMeo. \| Re-creating delivery of mail by balloon Plea deal likely to keep Loveland ex-postal worker in federal prison
			September 12, 2009 PRC Schedules Field Hearings On USPS Plans To Close Stations And Branches - This notice informs the public of the Commission’s intention to hold public field hearings to supplement the record in this proceeding. The first field hearing will take place on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at the Independence (Ohio) Civic Center. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and to conclude at 4 p.m. \| House Republican Conference Attacks USPS/HR22 NALC: On September 11, 2009, in anticipation of floor action on H.R. 22, leaders of the House Republican Conference (HRC) issued a one page brief entitled “What Every Member Needs to Know About the Postal Service Relief Act (H.R. 22)” that is filled with the same kind of inaccurate and misleading information about the Postal Service featured in a similar ‘One Page’ brief issued in August. \| Wisconsin post office outfits colleagues for free The idea behind the Postal Clothing Closet is that employees find their situations changing all the time. They retire, get promoted, change jobs and gain and lose weight...some postal employees have a difficult time affording new duds in USPS blue, especially considering full uniforms can cost more than $500 apiece and only certain full-time workers receive a clothing allowance. So an uniform exchange program was born. \| Maryland: Former post office clerk gets 3 years in prison for embezzlement Postal Inspectors Follow Leads in Visalia Mail Bomb Cyclist critically injured after collision with mail truck Postal carriers sentenced in prescription drug case Health care foes: Leave the USPS alone! Postal Service sticks employees in a closet - and pays them Postal Service delivers big business Lawmakers must help revive a mail service on life support Can the Postal Service Still Deliver? Former Loveland mailman agrees to plea deal in local case
			September 11, 2009 What To Do About Proposed Closures Of Richmond (CA) Post Offices From PR Reader- Letter To PMG: As a resident of the City of Richmond, California, I write to you in protest of the Bay Valley District’s plans to consolidate and/or close the Mira Vista, Richmond Station A and Point Richmond Post Office stations in Richmond, California. The impact would be significant within the community as it would cause increased traffic and longer lines at existing offices, as well as create a financial hardship to the employees, residents and local businesses. Where many people now walk to their local post offices, they will in the future have to make that trip by automobile. Further, figures have been provided to this office that indicates that although the projection of profits in fiscal year 2009 is down, the impacted stations are clearly profitable. \| APWU: House to Vote Soon on Postal Relief Bill The House of Representatives is expected to vote soon - perhaps as early as Tuesday, Sept. 15 - on legislation that would provide the USPS with short-term relief from severe financial difficulties. The measure is a substitute for H.R. 22, which would have allowed the USPS to pay for the benefits from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) for three years. While the substitute bill provides less relief than the original version of H.R. 22, its enactment would help the USPS survive the most devastating economic downturn since the Great Depression. \| Consolidation Study Ends on Lexington Post Office Branch Postal worker killed in Juarez served with National Guard
			September 10, 2009 USPS: Legislative Relief or Bust? The USPS fiscal year closes Sept. 30, which is when a $5.4 billion health-care retiree payment comes due. If the pending legislation is not passed, USPS probably can’t make this payment. What happends then? “We don’t know of any repercussions,” says Joseph Corbett, executive vice president and chief financial offer for the USPS. “We’re still very hopeful with working with Congress and the administration to not reach that point. With no legislation, he notes, “we would literally run out of cash” if required to pay the $5.4 billion health-care retiree benefits on Sept. 30. “We continue to work feverishly with the administration and with Congress and are making all efforts with the goal of passing something before the end of the fiscal year. \| APWU: Retirement, Separation Incentive Interpretations Document Updated - The union has updated a document that offers explanations of the Aug. 24, 2009, Memorandum of Understanding offering incentives to USPS employees who retire or separate in the coming months. The union's "Interpretations - Incentive Memorandum" [PDF] now offers additional information about eligibility, deadlines, and more. \| OIG Recommends Outsourcing Custodial Maintenance In Larger Post Offices Nationwide - If management reduced cleaning frequencies and eliminated the duplication of cleaning and policing activities, these sites could save $848 million over 10 years, while maintaining an acceptable standard of cleanliness and safety. By continuing to restrict contracted custodial services to small facilities, the Postal Service will incur an additional $148 million in costs over the next 10 years for cleaning services. We previously reported that the Postal Service has an opportunity to negotiate removal of this restriction in the new collective bargaining agreement. Savings would be realized as positions become available through attrition. We acknowledge that the Postal Service needs the cooperation and agreement of the APWU to achieve these savings. Hourly rates for full-time Postal Service custodial employees nationwide are $21 higher than current contractual custodian rates. \| USPS considering closing Green Bay P&DC FedEx to Use USPS Parcel Return Service End of local postmark would also mean loss of jobs Postal Worker indicted on OWCP fraud charges Federal Employee Unions Could Help Lynch in Contest for Kennedy's Senate Seat Q&A on Postmasters Change in Status From Exempt to Non-exempt Under FLSA (PDF) Two arrested in Orlando for postal fraud
			September 9, 2009 Post Office in Boston University's GSU set to close Racine: Postal employees, area residents picket Downtown post office Postal Service delivered mail bomb that injured Visalia office worker USPS OIG: Nationwide Wage Uniformity Part 2 Moving to Cleveland: More Part-Time Workers Needed in USPS Contract Postal Employee Convicted For Stealing Mail Man admits selling stolen stamps CSC Wins $46 Million USPS Contract to Manage and Operate Detroit Service Pickets protest plan to close Ohio post offices Moving Flats in Alabama
			September 8, 2009 USPS: 63% of mail is advertising Save the Postal Service U.S. Postal Service Could Deliver America the Electric Car Postal vehicle seen bearing Obama health-care signs at Louisville parade
			September 7, 2009 Postal Service deems Louisville parade political signs a mistake The two vehicles, driven by postal service and RTD employees, bore posters that read “health care can't wait” and “no more business as usual.” Both also had banners supporting the FL-CIO — and the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would create a new system for organizing unions. Al Desarro said the employee driving the truck saw other vehicles with similar signs at the parade and didn't realize it wasn't allowed by the U.S. Postal Service, which is self-funded. He said the employee will be “counseled” about the infraction. \| USPS, Charlotte APWU Reach $1.7 Million Settlement Agreement For Casual Grievances -The Postal Service agrees to pay the affected employees of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Area Local APWU a total of $1,700,000.00. The affected employees named by the Union will split the monetary remedy in equal proportions. \| Paid to do nothing 11,000-plus postal workers idle at any given time - The U.S. Postal Service spends more than a million dollars each week to pay thousands of employees to sit in empty rooms and do nothing. It’s a practice called “standby time,” and it has existed for years — but postal employees say it was rarely used until this year. Now, postal officials say, the agency is averaging about 45,000 hours of standby time every week — the equivalent of having 1,125 full-time employees sitting idle, at a cost of more than $50 million per year. \| As 99th Birthday Approaches, Postal Worker Reflects on Life of Work, Faith -What's remarkable about Mazerine Wingate isn't that he will turn 99 this month. It's that he still drives his 1989 Buick to his job at the Lexington Park Post Office six days a week. Wingate is a custodian and typically works from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Saturday. He's always on time. He cleans windows and takes out trash; when it snows, he shovels. \| Postal carrier honored for 30 years of accident-free service Who'd miss Saturday mail? What's the hurry? Businesses learning to live without expedited deliveries
			September 5, 2009 USPS May Excess Up To 323 Letter Carriers In Los Angeles Performance Cluster - the Pacific Area will withhold up to 315 full-time residual vacancies and 8 part-time flexible opportunities in the clerk, carrier, mail handler and custodial craft in offices and plants within a 500 mile radius of the impacted sites. The impacts have been adjusted for the recent VER. Additional adjustments will be made for attrition at the time of placement if appropriate. \| The Unofficial Guide to Flats Sequencing The U.S. Postal Service is a bit schizophrenic when it comes to talking about the Flats Sequencing System. It has provided lots of information about the new technology but not answered some basic questions that have been kicking around for a couple of years. \| USPS: Early Out Incentive Offer Won't Affect Customer Service
			September 4, 2009 APWU: Effective Dates of Retirement, Separation Limited The USPS and APWU have agreed that employees who as of Aug. 24 had a scheduled retirement date of Sept. 30 or earlier will be permitted to retire or separate on the date they selected, and will be eligible to receive the $15,000 incentive negotiated by the union and management. All other employees not identified above who elect to retire or separate in order to receive the incentive will be assigned a retirement or separation date of Oct. 31 or Nov. 30. Questions and Answers On Incentive Program \| USPS Sacramento District To Excess 107 Letter Carriers The impacted employees will be notified by separate letter of their involuntary reassignments. The final reassignment date would normally be no earlier than February 15, 2009. However, given the continuing loss of workload and the current financial condition of the Postal Service, it may be necessary to reassign some or all of the impacted carriers in advance of that date. . \| Letter Harriers: Post office transfers workers to seven hour commutes Five New York City letter slingers face crazy commutes of up to seven hours a day after being transferred in July to remote Long Island outposts like Montauk and Shelter Island. They just want to make it impossible for these poor people to get to work so they'll quit," said a co-worker. The Distance One Will Go to Keep a Job \| How USPS Could Bypass Congress on Saturday Delivery ... maybe it’s time for postal officials to send Congress a veiled ultimatum: If you don’t end the silly retiree-benefits shell game, USPS will go “off budget” and eliminate Saturday delivery. The threat of having a truly independent Postal Service that could make unpopular changes in their districts would definitely get the politicians’ attention. \| GSA Delivers Federal Shipping Contract to UPS The U.S. General Services Administration announced it has awarded a contract for express and ground domestic delivery services to United Parcel Service. The contract aims to save taxpayers more than a billion dollars over the next five years. \| APWU: Union Develops Action Plan to Oppose Closures APWU Vice President Cliff Guffey and Assistant Clerk Craft Director Mike Morris have developed an action plan to assist locals fighting the closure of stations and branches. The action plan includes sample letters to legislators, an itemization of information locals should request from management, a guide for challenging improper Contract Postal Units, and other material. \| Contract Mail Carrier Doing More than Just Delivering Packages Investigators say a mail carrier was stealing prescription drugs from the mail, snorting drugs while on the job and carrying a gun. \| New Direct Mail to Web API Integrates Social Media Features Postal service workers to picket Tuesday Post office closings would disrupt lives, Nashville customers say
			September 3, 2009 Retirement, Separation Incentives: Unanswered Questions, Excluded Employees - Burrus: I have been informed that employees who have contacted Shared Services for information about the incentives beings offered to employees who retire or separate have received information that conflicts with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the APWU and the USPS on Aug. 24. \| Post Office’s Trimmed Hit List Shows Cost-Cut Roadblocks The agency, which already raised postal rates this year, doesn’t know how much it would save from reducing the number of facilities and hasn’t determined how many it will close, Frey said. The agency said yesterday it has saved more than $6 billion this year through such steps as trimming more than 100 million work-hours and almost 12,000 carrier routes, closing six administrative offices and freezing hiring and executive salaries. \| Largest Health Care Fraud Case in History Case Impacted 10,000 Postal Employees on Workers' Compensation - "Health care fraud has a significant financial impact on the Postal Service. This case alone impacted more than 10,000 postal employees on workers' compensation who were treated with these drugs," said Joseph Finn, Special Agent in Charge for the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General. "Last year the Postal Service paid more than $1 billion in workers' compensation benefits to postal employees injured on the job." Letter Carrier Selected as ‘National Hero’ for Rescuing Elderly Man in House Fire Managing the Workforce Jury indicts 2 Postal Service workers FERS Flu Cure a Dead Duck? Mailbox on Wrong Side of Road Poses Danger University takes junk out of dorm room mail What They Think: USPS 'Summer Sale' Effect Minimal So Far Mental evaluation ordered for postal worker Getting a bill in the mail will now cost you Sen. Lieberman: I’ll Try To Save Post Offices
			September 2, 2009 USPS Reports Loss Of $865 Million In July 2009 The U.S. Postal Service filed its July 2009 (unaudited) preliminary financial report yesterday with the Postal Regulatory Commission. USPS reported a net income loss of $865 million (Junel 2009 was $1.3 billion). The year-to-date deficit currently stands at approximately $5.6 billion. Mail volume was down across all classes with an overall total decrease of 13.7%. The Postal Service continues to reduce its workhours with Mail Processing and Customer Services/Retail showing the highest reduction of 14.4% and 12.2% respectively. The U.S. Postal Service said it “expects to lose more than $7 billion by the end of the fiscal year. \| USPS Cuts Closure List Of Stations And Branches From 677 to 413 Yesterday USPS filed papers with PRC which stated that the updated list will reflect that over 750 stations and branches were identified by the pre-screening process as discontinuance study candidates. Today USPS announced that only that 413 retail stations and branches remain under consideration for possible consolidation. In addition, the list released today differs from the list given to Unions last week. What's Going On? Results of Prescreening of Postal Facilities Under Examination for Closure \| 3617 Facilities Under Review by Finance Number \| USPS closing some offices early this weekend Postal employees picket in Toledo Trucker gets probation for stealing 35G from USPS USPS OIG Report: Federal Budget Treatment of the Postal Service (PDF) USPS OIG Report: Electrification of Delivery Vehicles (PDF) Delaware: Frederica postal worker credited with saving customer's life The Singing Postman remembers his route fondly
			September 1, 2009 Deputy PMG Outlines USPS Early Out Incentive Option In this week’s Field Updates, DPMG and COO Pat Donahoe outlines the 2009 Early Out Incentive Option and discusses the issues employees should consider before accepting the offer. Interested employees must take action to let USPS know they want to be part of this incentive. Most employees must opt in by Sept. 25, 2009. \|Comments (92) USPS NATIONAL PAYROLL HOURS SUMMARY REPORT Postal Worker pushed into retirement is narrator of 'Stock Shock' movie Letter Carrier Hospitalized After Dog Attack Latest USPS Facility Closures Attention USPS: Why not deliver mail three days a week?

A Postal Service cost-cutting tactic will move the processing of some Las Vegas mail to Phoenix | postCount('mailsep3009');

September 17, 2009

Mail Handlers Union Prevails in National RI-399 Arbitration

A Postal Service cost-cutting tactic will move the processing of some Las Vegas mail to Phoenix |