Local APWU President Richard “Ski” Kwiatkowski
has reported that
the Combination Carrier-Clerk duty assignment posted on July 27,
2010 has been cancelled. (7/30)
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From an operational standpoint a pilot
test conducted on a regional basis would increase some of our costs
in the short term. For example, we either would have to make manual
changes to mail processing sorting schemes and payroll or utilize
information technology to program such changes for a limited time
or geographic area. We believe that our information technology programming
changes, estimated to cost $10 million-$12 million for a national,
full-time implementation, would grow significantly to accommodate
a test, as would administrative costs if we decided to forego programming
changes in favor of performing manual processing for the defined
test period. (7/30)
|
Two
congressional panels voted on July 29 to approve spending bills
that would require the Postal Service to continue to provide
mail delivery six days per week. The two bills — one in the
Senate and one in the House — still have a long way to go before
they could become law, however. (7/30)
|
Rep. Chaffetz Introduces Bill Designating
12 Postal Holidays To Reduce USPS Operating Costs -
This bill would grant USPS Postmaster General the authority to implement
up to twelve “postal holidays” per year in order to reduce USPS
operating costs. The Postmaster General would select days in which
delivered mail volume is historically lower than normal. By reducing
the number of delivery days, USPS will be able to achieve savings
by reducing work hours. (7/29)
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USPS OIG
Audit Report – Flats Sequencing System: Program Status and
Projected Cash Flow
- Our analysis shows that using
current FSS performance data to calculate projected savings
results in a net present value (NPV) of $215 million (a rate of
return of 14.49 percent). If we remove the questionable TE
savings, the NPV decreases to a negative $311 million (a rate of
return of 5.18 percent). Assuming the FSS machines reach the
operational target metrics, we calculate gains from FSS to be
$441 million (rate of return of 19.26 percent). If we remove the
questionable TE savings, there is a projected NPV of a negative
$85 million (a rate of return of 8.54 percent). (7/30)
|
Arbitrator Das denied
the union’s grievance challenging the Postal Service’s two-tour
initiative. Das accepted the Postal Service’s argument that “Article
3 of the National Agreement grants the Postal Service the authority
to unilaterally adopt and implement the ... initiatives at issue,
without further bargaining with the Union.”
(7/29)
|
We are in receipt of a July 28, 2010,
letter from Postal HQ stating effective immediately, all hiring,
promotions and placement of non-bargaining employees at Headquarters,
Areas and Districts are suspended until further notice.
(7/29)
|
The mailers’ motion vividly exposes
the lack of respect they have for postal employees and the collective
bargaining process. A casual review of
the document [PDF - see pages 50-62] reveals their callous
desire to punish postal workers for the Postal Service’s financial
difficulties — difficulties the mailers inadvertently fostered by
promoting the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006.
The PAEA imposed crippling financial obligations on the USPS — obligations
that are responsible for the Postal Service’s current predicament.
To compensate for their colossal mistake, the major mailers wish
to penalize postal workers. (7/29)
|
USPS has notified a Local California
APWU President of its intent ( it appears that the assignment has
already been posted) to post a “combined full-time assignment” ,
consisting of six (6) hours of carrier duties and two (2) hours
of clerk duties. The Postal Service has proposed to post this
job as a City Carrier Craft assignment under the jurisdiction of
NALC. (7/28)
|
Sen. Jon Tester says the lawmakers
who oversee the budget of the post office will block a proposal
to reduce mail deliveries to five days a week. The Montana Democrat
said eliminating Saturday deliveries would be a hardship on people
living in rural areas without producing major savings for the Postal
Service. Some senators expected
to block Postal Service's proposal to limit mail delivery(7/28)
|
The U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration says worker complaints at the U.S.
Postal Service's processing center in White River Junction led to
an inspection in January that found employees were exposed to deadly
electrical hazards. OSHA says untrained or unqualified workers did
work on live electrical equipment without proper safety measures.
(7/29)
|
USPS agreed to pay $840,044
for 4,584 pre-complaint settlements, of which 433 were monetary
settlements averaging $1,940. USPS expended a total of $4,541,324
for 3,014 complaint investigations, for an average expenditure of
$1,507. USPS agreed to pay a total of $5,631,795 plus other benefits
for 598 complaint closures through settlement agreements, final
agency decisions, and final agency orders fully implementing AJ
decisions. The highest
number of complaint allegations was disability discrimination.
Clerk and Supervisor positions have the highest number of women,
the letter carriers had the lowest amount of women in its craft.
(7/28)
|
The search is on this morning for a
suspect who shot a postal worker at the main post office on Woodward
Ave. in Shreveport. Police say this happened around midnight as
the victim was leaving work exiting through the back of the building
when the suspect shot the victim twice in the arm. (7/28)
|
Arbitrator: USPS
Failed To Give Full Consideration to Employee's Request For Voluntary
Transfer
-An
arbitration decision sent out by Gary Kloepfer to APWU Union
officers and members. The arbitrator sustained the Union’s
grievance; he ruled the Postal Service violated grievant's right
to request a transfer under the National Agreement and the
MOU Regarding Transfers by virtue of its failure fully and fairly
to consider his work, safety, and attendance records. note: the
title of this summary was created by PostalReporter as Mr.
Kloepfer had a different title in his email.|
As part of a nationwide campaign, local
union members across the country have ramped up the fight to Save
Saturday Service, taking action to alert the public to the dangers
of the Postal Service’s plans to eliminate Saturday delivery.
|
A veteran rural letter carrier
for the Wayne City post office was killed Tuesday morning when his
mail vehicle was struck by a train at a rural crossing. |
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit,
issued a startling decision on June 16, 2010, in Jeunes v. Potter.
The Court upheld the removal of a postal employee who “admits that
he used profanity during a verbal altercation with a co-worker on
October 26, 2007. The US District Court of Connecticut has dismissed
the suit filed against NRLCA
Word to the wise:
Disputes With Co-Workers Is Not Worth Losing
Your Job
|
Brenda Powell feels she's been violated
not once, but twice. First, by the US Postal worker who sexually
assaulted her on the job. And then, by the US Postal service that
failed to protect her from an employee with a history of inappropriate
sexual behavior.
|
Atlanta police say a supervisor
at a bulk mail center was stabbed and a co-worker is under arrest.
Atlanta police Maj. John Dalton said the supervisor was taken to
Grady Memorial Hospital after being cut on the face and ear, and
stabbed seven times in the back.Postal Supervisor stabbed
multiple times at Atlanta BMC
|
Should APWU Reverse Its Decision To Boycott
USPS Voice of the Employee Surveys?Ask President Burrus: I would like
the National Executive Board to reconsider its stance on participation
in Voice of Employee surveys. Here is my reasoning: Management releases
their “findings” and states something to effect that 63 percent
of those participating gave a favorable response. That may be true,
but it is very misleading because the good members of the APWU have
boycotted and not voiced our opinions. The
union decided to boycott the surveys because postal management
used selective responses to justify regressive contract proposals|
Several weeks ago
two postal employees got into a verbal and physical altercation.
"According to reports, at one point one of the females pushed the
other, causing her to trip on a rug. Reports said that the female
braced herself before she fell to the ground. The female then tried
to call 911, at which time the other female disconnected the call
by hanging up the phone. The victim is eight weeks pregnant, reports
said." Don't make it easy
for the Postal service to downsize its workforce by getting into
verbal and/or physical disputes with co-workers.
|
US Postal
Inspector in Maine has perfect record In Criminal Cases
U.S. Postal Inspector
Michael Desrosiers has investigated numerous criminal cases leading
to hundreds of convictions over his 14 years on the job in Maine.
Virtually all of them resulted in guilty pleas. In one case, a judge
found the defendant guilty. His first case to go to a jury trial
ended the same way last week – with a conviction.
|
USPS incurred operating
losses in 2007, 2008, and 2009, prompting some observers to declare
the agency in a fight for its survival.1 There is no question that
the USPS faces long-term challenges that it must overcome in order
to remain financially self-sustaining in the 21st century. First
among these challenges is Americans’ increasing use of the Internet
for digital, rather than physical, mail delivery. But these long-term
challenges are not the principal cause of the USPS’s recent losses.
A 2006 Congressional mandate that the USPS pre-fund its retiree
health benefits—a requirement imposed on no other government entity
or private-sector company—accounted for all of the operating losses
in 2007 and 2008 and a significant portion of the operating loss
in 2009. In 2009, the recession accounted for the rest of the loss,
as it sent USPS revenues plunging by over 9%.
|
The Postal Service
reported both volume and revenue increases resulting from the FY
2009 Summer Sale.1 However, the processes used to calculate the
reported increases may result in misleading reported revenue and
volume impacts.
|
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