Employee layoffs are not the only
solution to digging the agency out of debt, said Rep. Stephen
Lynch, D-Mass., chairman of the House Oversight and Government
Reform's federal workforce subcommittee. "It would be a
mistargeting of our problems to look at the backs of our
employees." But Lynch expressed disappointment over the agency's
consolidation and cost-savings efforts thus far, particularly
because recent buyout offers have not generated enough employee
interest to reduce the Postal Service workforce. At Hearing on Postal Service future, hope is in short supply
| statements
and streaming video of yesterday's hearing (11/6) |
GAO: USPS Needs To Continue Making Cuts In Its Workforce And
Network Costs -
USPS has
asked Congress to change the restrictions established by PAEA so
that it could offer new nonpostal products and services such as
banking and insurance. Allowing USPS to compete more broadly
with the private sector could lose money, and fair competition
issues would need to be considered. Thus, in addition to its
revenue-generation initiatives, USPS will need to continue
making significant reductions in its workforce and network
costs.
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing to Examine Postal Service
Revenue-Generation Initiatives- On Thursday,
November 5, 2009 at 10:00am the Subcommittee on Federal
Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia will
hold a hearing entitled, “More than Stamps: Adapting the Postal
Service to a Changing World.” The purpose of the hearing is
to examine revenue-generation initiatives recently undertaken by
the Postal Service in order to further address the agency’s
ongoing financial challenges. (11/4) |
In addition
to an overall price increase of 3.3 percent, on average, for
Priority Mail, there will be new prices for Express Mail, Global
Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail
International, Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service, also
effective Jan. 4. Prices for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail,
Parcel Post and other mailing services products will not change
in 2010, with the cost of a First-Class Mail stamp remaining at
44 cents.
Details of the new rates (PDF)(11/4) |
The union’s challenge to Postmaster
General Potter to set the wages of mail-processing employees at
an amount that is less than the worksharing discounts major
mailers enjoy has generated several flawed responses by mailing
industry officials, APWU President William Burrus reports in an
Update for union members. (11/4) |
It has been made quite clear by the
Board of Governors Chairman Carolyn Gallagher that Postmaster
General Jack Potter will not be leaving anytime soon. The
question is still exists - who could replace Potter? (11/4) |
Family: Post office job pressures led to threats
This is a case of a good man driven to obsession by the
treatment he received at work. He is really just a cool guy who
is very creative," Henry David said. "This difficulty and pain
at work has been going on for at least two years. He
disintegrated, and the obsession took control. The post office
system and management style, he just couldn't shake it off.
(11/2) |
In these challenging times,
reducing the cost of delivery operations — one of the Postal
Service’s largest expenses — could save millions. One option the
Postal Service is considering is to discontinue Saturday city
and rural delivery and collection services (11/2) |
Dealing with lines and the people
who are in them is the subject Manager, Customer Service
Operations, Alice VanGorder discusses in the latest segment of
“Talkin’ Retail.” VanGorder reminds retail associates that the
Postal Service wants to limit a customer’s time in line to no
more than 5 minutes. “That’s our standard, that’s our goal,” she
says, adding there are several ways retail locations can reduce
time in line. (11/1) |
Georgia Postmaster ordered to
leave office under criminal investigationAllegations involve
violating the Privacy Act - Jerry Schafer, who
was in charge of all postal operations in the city, since has
sought to retire voluntarily, but that retirement would not
preclude charges being brought against him later, said Sam Montalvo, a public information officer for the postal service’s
Office of Inspector General. Montalvo described the alleged
criminal matter as “misuse of postal government information,
which is a violation of the Privacy Act.” |
Many postal workers have jumped to
the defense of APWU president William Burrus as a result of my
article,
Mathematically Challenged: Burrus Proposal Doesn’t Add Up for
USPS. But if many of these defenders are correct, they
should be angry at Burrus for garbling the message and
distracting people from the real issue.
|
The main post office in Albany was
shut down Thursday afternoon when a retiring employee pulled a
gun on his boss. "We are locked down," said a Postal Service
employee. "We had an emergency and we are locked down." Just
after 12:30, a 52-year-old man, who's about to retire,
confronted postmaster Ron Bradley in the back parking lot of the
post office. Bradley was in his car and told police the mail
handler pulled a gun on him. Updated:
Postal worker pulls gun on Postmaster|
APWU:
Postal Service Relies on Incomplete Data, Discriminates Against
Underserved Communities-An analysis of the
postal stations and branches being considered for closure shows
that the USPS study process “discriminates against communities
with high percentages of low-income, minority and
transit-dependent residents,” according to recent testimony
submitted to the
Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) by the APWU. In addition,
the union asserts, the Postal Service uses incomplete data to
support its conclusions.|
President Obama signed legislation
Oct. 28 that will allow postal and federal workers who retire
under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to receive
credit for sick leave when they retire.
|
From PostalReporter
reader: "Two yrs. ago I wrote a rap song called I'm the mailman.
Well last year I finally recorded it and has performed at our
annual holiday party, our state convention, and at a
picnic/rally for Chicago's local #11 union this pass summer. It's a great song and I think everyone that visit this site will
like it."
|
Congress Must Fix Funding Requirement; USPS Must Expand Goals, Burrus Says- In a
follow-up to testimony before a Senate subcommittee, APWU
President William Burrus explored alternatives to
station-and-branch closures, facility consolidations, and
five-day mail delivery — which the Postal Service is proposing
in reaction to a severe financial crisis. Burrus urged lawmakers
to encourage the USPS to expand its goals. The Postal Service’s
financial difficulties are caused by three major factors, Burrus
wrote [PDF] Oct 23: the requirement to pre-fund retiree
healthcare costs; the nation’s economic crisis, and excessive
workshare discounts. |
Postmaster General Jack Potter has
announced the selection of Drew Aliperto as vice president, Area
Operations, for the Pacific Area. He replaces Michael Daley, who
will retire next month after a 37-year career with the Postal
Service. |
Postal Reporter.com is not affiliated
with the U.S. Postal Service or any other organization.
Opinions expressed in articles linked to and
from this page are those of the authors. Feature are those of the authors
and not PostalReporter.com. Postal Reporter provides postal news, postal resources
and other postal information for Postal Workers, Postal Employees and other
Postal related communities.
Postal Topics
