PostalReporter.com Blog

With news that eligible employees will soon be receiving notice from the Postal Service about an offer of Voluntary Early Retirement (VER), APWU President William Burrus is advising union members to delay making a decision as long as possible.

“The decision about when to retire is a personal one that is influenced by family obligations and lifestyle,” Burrus said. “But the attractiveness of ending a career early should be weighed with consideration of factors that may not be readily apparent.”

In addition to life-long annuity reductions, he said, employees should realize that the Postal Service offer is being made because of the prospect of heavy financial losses in the current fiscal year and beyond. “The opportunity to retire early may be tempting, but it is not being offered for the employee’s benefit: It is intended to improve the financial condition of the Postal Service.”

“An employee who retires after 25 years of service can expect to receive an annuity of less than half of the average basic salary of the last three years,” Burrus said. He noted that this would exclude most of the time period covered by the 2008 upgrade and the September 2008 Cost-of-Living Adjustment, which is expected to be over $1,000 — one of the largest in postal history.

“Employees who can work for another 15 years before reaching their annuity maximums can expect pay hikes over that time equal to the nearly $18,000 in raises over the past 15 years,” Burrus said of the increase from $34,000 to September’s $52,000.

“The USPS would save about $1 million in salary, benefits, and retirement annuity for each such employee,” he said.

“Those who take the early-out offer will allow the Postal Service to avoid these future obligations, while receiving a significantly lower annuity for the balance of their lives — and lives of their survivors.” The annuity reduction would be “substantial,” he said, and cannot be justified unless the Postal Service offers an incentive.

“We have discussed incentives with the Postal Service,” Burrus said, “but, so far, management has refused to consider any kind of bonus in conjunction with the early-out offer.” The discussions with management are continuing, he said.

“We do not oppose Voluntary Early Retirement per se,” Burrus said, “but we believe incentives should be offered and all eligible employees should be included.”

“And we expect that if a sufficient number of employees do not accept the early-out, the Postal Service will still face a significant deficit, and will still be forced to find ways to reduce the workforce. We will be having continuing discussions with postal management,” he said, “and these discussions will be influenced by the number of employees who voluntarily retire without incentives.”

“In this uncertain economy, there is no reason to make a hasty decision,” Burrus said. “Energy and medical costs are escalating, which will make it extremely difficult to survive on a fixed income. One simply has to consider the financial disincentives to retire early, especially without an upfront monetary incentive.”

“As employees who meet the eligibility criteria think about their choices, I ask that they forgo making a quick decision. At this time, the union’s recommendation to eligible employees is that unless you have compelling personal reasons to retire early, DON’T GO.”

 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.  Job security still eludes some postal employees

Also see Beaumont postal center shut down

Priority Mail boxes and envelopes available at Post Offices and online

Washington, DC — Any weight, any state.

That’s the simple message and the simplicity of shipping holiday gifts with a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box.

Ship letters or packages in an average of two to three days with Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelopes and Boxes. For one low rate, ship as much as can be properly secured in a flat rate envelope or box to any U.S. destination. Saturday and residential deliveries at no extra cost.

“If it fits, it will ship,” said Nick Barranca, vice president, product development. “Flat Rate boxes and envelopes take all the guess work out of mailing this holiday season. Customers pay the same price no matter where they’re shipping.”

The Flat Rate Box must close securely and retain its shape when taped with adhesive. The shape of the box can’t be changed or enlarged to fit its contents.

Other shipping options include:

Priority Mail service delivers in two to three business days. The Postal Service also offers flat-rate priority boxes and envelopes. Customers pay one price regardless of weight or destination.

Express Mail service delivers overnight, guaranteed, 365 days a year to most U.S. cities. Express Mail delivery to most major American cities is scheduled for Christmas Day.

Global Priority Mail service is designed for delivery in four to six business days to more than 50 countries. Economical way to send packages weighing up to 4 pounds.

Global Express Mail service is guaranteed to be delivered in three to five days to nearly anywhere in the world. Now available to businesses in the Pacific Rim through an agreement with postal administrations for Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States and the Republic of South Korea.

Global Express Guaranteed is a date-certain service that delivers in one to three days to thousands of destinations in more than 190 countries.

Premium Forwarding Service lets customers take their mail with them. Mail is forwarded weekly to a temporary address for up to a year.

The peak mailing day is expected to be Monday, Dec. 18, when an estimated 280 million cards and letters will be mailed, nearly three times that of an average day.

ADVO today announced that it has filed an answer and counterclaims in response to the complaint filed last week by Valassis Communications, Inc. in the Court of Chancery for New Castle County, Delaware. ADVO’s counterclaims seek, among other things:

– A court declaration that Valassis has no right to rescind or terminate or otherwise evade its obligations under the July 5, 2006, binding definitive merger agreement;

– A decree of specific performance requiring Valassis to consummate its acquisition of ADVO at $37 per share; and

– An order requiring Valassis to pay interest from September 15, 2006, on the $37 per share merger consideration due to ADVO stockholders.

Assuming ADVO stockholder approval of the merger agreement at the special stockholders meeting on September 13, 2006, all of the conditions to closing the merger will be satisfied as of that date, and the terms of the merger agreement require Valassis to consummate the merger within two business days thereafter, or by September 15, 2006.

ADVO expects that the answer and counterclaims, in a somewhat redacted format to protect non-public, competitively sensitive information regarding ADVO’s business, will be available shortly and will be posted to ADVO’s website.

See Full Press Release

 Valassis releases redacted version of lawsuit to public

Advo Inc., the largest direct mailer, shares fell sharply before Thursday’s market open, a day after Valassis Communications Inc., which agreed to acquire Advco for $1.3 billion in July, said it filed a lawsuit seeking to rescind its takeover proposal due to fraudulent behavior. Read fully story

Yesterday, Valassis Communications, Inc. sued ADVO, Inc. in the Delaware Chancery Court to rescind its $1.3 billion merger agreement based on fraud and material adverse changes. A redacted version of the complaint is now available at http://media.corporate- ir.net/media_files/irol/11/119431/vci083106.pdf. Valassis has asked ADVO to waive any arguable application of the confidentiality agreement related to the merger to allow the public to review all of the grounds to the lawsuit.

August 24, 2006 — For six decades, the US Postal Service and Highlights for Children, Inc. have delighted young readers in America by delivering 1 billion copies of Highlights for Children magazine to help children become their best selves.
 
This achievement was celebrated today as both organizations presented the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum with one of the very first copies of the magazine, printed in June 1946, and a copy from the 1 billionth print run of the August 2006 issue, printed in June. The magazines will be preserved at the museum where they will complement the museum’s existing anthology of significant postal history, publications and philatelic collections.
 
With more than 2 million subscribers, Highlights for Children (http://highlights.com) provides a monthly collection of fiction, nonfiction, crafts, puzzles and activities. The publication also includes a mix of letters, drawings, questions and poems submitted by its readers.  Each issue delivered by a US Postal Service letter carrier helps encourage children to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning.
 
“The US Postal Service is proud to join the Highlights for Children, Inc. team and the National Postal Museum to commemorate the billionth delivery in a continuing partnership that has promoted literacy and learning among American children for six decades,” said Postmaster General John E. Potter.
 
“Reaching this milestone has been a true partnership between Highlights for Children, Inc. and the US Postal Service. When I think about the number ‘1 billion,’ I think of the 1 billion times a US Postal Service letter carrier has placed a copy of Highlights for Children magazine into a family’s mailbox and the 60 years of work Highlights for Children, Inc. and the US Postal Service have accomplished together,” said Kent S. Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Highlights for Children, Inc.
 
Joining Potter and Johnson at the ceremony were Christine French Clark, editor of Highlights for Children magazine and Allen Kane, Director of the National Postal Museum.
 
Highlights for Children magazine has been providing “Fun with a Purpose” to children, families, schools, libraries and professional offices nationwide. Through the art of letter writing, children send the editors more than 30,000 letters, drawings, questions and poems each year. Highlights for Children editors respond to every letter received. The publication has been printed by Quebecor World, Inc., in Clarksville, TN, for the past 49 years.
 
Highlights for Children, Inc. (http://www.Highlights.com) has focused on helping children become their best selves for generations. Highlights magazine celebrated the printing of its one-billionth copy and its 60th anniversary in June 2006.
 
On the Web, http://www.HighlightsKids.com offers interactive content related to each issue of the magazine, as well as independent activities such as “Click-and-Play Hidden Pictures(R),” e-cards, games, craft activities, “Mystery Messages,” jokes, and riddles.
 
Devoted to “Fun with a Purpose(R),” Highlights for Children also offers children, parents, grandparents, and educators a broad range of products including the Highlights for Children Book Clubs (Puzzlemania(R), Mathmania(R), Which Way USA?(R), Top Secret Adventures(TM), and Hidden Pictures Playground(R)). Highlights Catalog (http://www.Highlights.com) selects quality toys, games, craft activities, puzzles, and other products for children. Corporate offices are in Columbus, Ohio, and the editorial offices are in Honesdale, Pa.
 
The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing the largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world. The museum is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit the museum’s Web site at: http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu.
 

by Dan Sullivan

July 6 - The Postal Service’s Ergonomic Risk Reduction Program (ERRP)is premised on a simple lie. As it says on page 2 of the slickly produced booklet promoting ERRP, “The Postal Service has a long history of attention to ergonomics.”

Forget about the letter sorting machines that destroyed a generation of postal clerks’ wrists and hands.

Pay no attention to the current automated letter and flat sorting machines that are destroying another generation of workers shoulders and backs.

“The Postal Service has a long history of attention to ergonomics.”

Which is like saying George Bush has a long history of attention to the U.S. Constitution and civil liberties.

Unfortunately for Barbara Brzozowski, this long history of attention to ergonomics hasn’t made the Postal Service a very safe or secure place to work.

Last month the Buffalo, New York postal clerk was thrown out of work under the Postal Service’s Reassessment Program, a scheme to dump injured workers on the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) rolls.

Her only crime appears to be getting hurt while working on one of the ergonomically unsafe flat sorting machines at the General Mail Facility in Buffalo that the USPS pays so much attention to. (more…)

WIRELESS AMBER ALERT PROGRAM LAUNCHES
Cell phone text alerts now available

If you’re a wireless subscriber, you now can help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children search for abducted children. A new initiative created jointly by the Center and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association allows you to receive Wireless AMBER Alert text messages.

AMBER stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response,” and the alerts have been highly successful. By rapidly broadcasting descriptions of abducted children and suspected abductors to millions of Americans, the program increases the chances of finding missing children. More than 240 children have been safely recovered since AMBER Alerts began in 1997.

With nearly 200 million wireless phone users in the country — more than 60% of all Americans — Wireless AMBER Alerts have the potential to dramatically increase the number of people on the lookout for an abducted child.

It’s easy to sign up to receive Wireless Amber Alerts as cell phone text messages. If your wireless phone is activated for text messaging, visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org, or your wireless carrier’s website. Enter your 10-digit wireless phone number and up to five ZIP Codes for which you wish to receive alerts. You will receive only alerts for your specified areas, targeted geographically by the law enforcement agency issuing the particular alert.

 The service is voluntary. There is no charge to sign up and, in most cases, no charge to receive the text message alerts. Check your wireless carrier’s website or customer service office for details of your coverage.

The Postal Service has long been a supporter of AMBER Alert and other child protection programs. With thousands of concerned employees acting as the eyes and ears of their communities nationwide, it’s a natural fit for USPS to partner in this effort. Wireless AMBER Alerts offer another way to assist.

For more information, go to www.wirelessamberalerts.org.

source: U.S. Postal Service - www.usps.com

From National Postal Museum: The National Postal Museum is reaching out to an international, online audience of philatelists, historians, educators, students, and the public in a bold way. Arago™, the Museum’s new educational and research Web site, will present the collections in a context-rich setting with full color images and zoom-in capability. The Web site will go live May 28, 2006.

Named after French scientist Francois Arago (a friend of Smithsonian benefactor, James Smithson), the Web site - like Arago the man - advocates using modern technology to disseminate information to the public. In fact, Arago™ goes even further. It supplements existing collections information with collected knowledge from registered volunteer subject specialists willing to help research or review the museum’s sundry objects. The museum offers an open invitation to specialists to continue making Arago a critical online resource. For information on this exciting volunteer opportunity, please visit: Arago™ Research Participant Program.