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.”

Informational Picket to Protest Reduction of Mail Service - Wednesday, 3/22/06 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
 
For Immediate Release 3/20/6                   

Contact Clint Burelson, President 360-970-2965
 
Statement by Clint Burelson, President
 
The United States Postal Service is reducing service to many communities by consolidating mail canceling and sorting operations into just a few large hubs. The proposal to discontinue canceling mail in Olympia, and to move many mail operations to Tacoma on April 3rd, is part of a larger national restructuring where as many as 250 mail processing facilities may be closed and consolidated. These consolidation plans will benefit the big mailers at the expense of citizens, non-profit organizations, small businesses, and businesses of any size that require fast mail service to and from their customers. 
 
Large advertising based mailers such as AOL Time Warner (People magazine, etc.) plan to benefit from the consolidations by obtaining huge discounts for taking more work away from the USPS.  At the same time, the big mailers want the average citizen and small mailers to receive less service or pay more for the same service. 
 
It is a common understanding that the Postal Service provides first class mail service at the same rates to citizens wherever they live and however far their mail has to travel.  The relatively low cost of mailing a letter to someone in the same town helps to balance the more expensive cost of mailing a letter to the other side of the country.  This type of system makes it affordable for everyone and insures that everyone can correspond equally throughout the United States via the Postal Service. 
 
However, out of public view, large mailers have lobbied and have been successful in securing discounts for their advertising based mailings through “worksharing,” which is what the USPS and large mailers call the process by which mailers perform the functions such as applying barcodes, sorting, and trucking that would otherwise be performed by the Postal Service.   Through “worksharing,” the large mailers pay less than the regular citizen for using the mail.  The “worksharing” discounts have been so large, in excess of the savings to the USPS, that it has caused the Postal Service to have continuous revenue problems and for rates for the small mailers and citizens to rise unnecessarily in order to pay for the discounts to the big mailers. 
 
The large mailers are pushing to pay even less of their fair share of the costs of universal postal service.  In documents submitted to the President’s Commission on the Postal Service, the large mailers indicate that regular citizens should have to pay more or receive reduced service because they are not as efficient as the large mailers in their mailings. 
 
Use Your Voice
The Postal Rate Commission is holding a pre-hearing on March 24th in a case that will determine if the Postal Service plans for a reduction violates the Postal Reorganization Act, which requires that the Postal Service provide prompt service to the public. 
 
Individuals can submit their views on the matter in letters to the Commission (901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20268), through the use of the “Contact Us” form on the Commission web site and by calling the Commission at 202-789-6800 for by faxing to 202-789-6866.  The docket number is N2006-1 and all the documents can be viewed and/or downloaded at the Postal Rate Commission web site at http://www.prc.gov/
 
Informational Picket
The Olympia Local of the American Postal Workers Union will be holding an informational picket on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Olympia Downtown Post Office located at 900 Jefferson Street in Olympia, Washington.  The informational picket is to protest the Postal Service plans to close and consolidate mail processing facilities across the country and reduce mail service as a result.  The community is invited to join us in our efforts.  Please note that the date is a change from the original date reported.  The date was changed so that union members could pay their respects to Art Anderson, a union brother and good friend whose funeral is on Tuesday.
 
Read Full Press Release
 
See more articles and information on USPS Network Realignment

According to the American Postal Workers Union

Service announcements of plans to consolidate “some operations” at mail processing facilities around the country have generated mostly unfavorable reactions from elected officials and consumers alarmed by the prospects of deteriorated customer service, the demise of historical postmarks, and the dislocation of citizens important to local economies.

As part of an effort to get the Postal Service to reconsider plans to relocate major functions of local facilities, these same displeased officials and consumers — aided by APWU members — have been seeking the support of state and federal officials.

In Waterbury, CT, Mayor Michael J. Jarjura is concerned on several levels. “Relocating the essential services that are provided in the Waterbury facility would translate into significant job losses for the city and an increase in the cost of mailings to all nonprofit businesses and corporations,” Jarjura said in a letter to two of Connecticut ’s U.S. Representatives.

James Conway, president of APWU’s Waterbury Area Local, had provided the information about the increase in costs for mailings that would have to go through Wallingford . One of the congressional representatives immediately asked USPS headquarters for verification of the savings the Postal Service is projecting.

Jobs Jeopardized

In Waco, TX, approximately 250 jobs could be affected by a USPS plan to relocate some of the city’s mail processing operations 85 to 100 miles away to Fort Worth and Austin. U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) sent a letter to USPS headquarters hoping to get clarification regarding the intent of the Area Mail Processing (AMP) study.“We serve a wide area,” said Ruby Harrison, vice president of APWU’s Waco Local in an interview with the Waco Tribune-Herald. “If you’re mailing a bill across town, that bill will have to be trucked to either Austin or Fort Worth to get postmarked and then be trucked back to Waco and delivered.”In Freeport, IL, Gregg Voiles, president of APWU’s Rockford Area Local, was puzzled by the plan to move processing to Palatine, about 90 miles away. “Everything would go to Palatine, even though our production numbers are better,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.”U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R) showed his concern about the move of the sorting operation from Freeport to Palatine and the closing of small, rural post offices by meeting with postal officials. “It wasn’t a very pleasant meeting,” said a spokesman for Manzullo. The congressman received a commitment to postpone action, the spokesman said, so that concerned citizens could gather evidence to support a proposition opposing USPS plans.

The APWU’s Voiles, who was invited to Washington by Manzullo, told the Journal-Standard newspaper that having the congressman on the side of consumers and workers was “exactly what we need to fight this.”

The Point of the Studies

Many consumers and workers find it incredible that the Postal Service continues to portray AMP surveys simply as studies, perhaps of no important onsequence.“There will be no job loss,” said a postal district manager asked about any possible adverse effects from an AMP study to shift mail processing away from Springfield, MA. “We look at Springfield as a hub for us, and, with long-term planning, we expect that it will continue.”“I don’t even think he knows what is going to happen,” said Frederick S. Lowney, president of the Springfield Area Local APWU in remarks to the Republican newspaper. “Our members are concerned,” Lowney said in reference to the 1,200 workers he represents. “They can be shifted to jobs anywhere in a 100-mile radius. Are they going to have to sell their homes? We are being kept in the dark.”The Iowa Senate on Jan. 18 passed a resolution to keep a P&DC in Sioux City, IA, rather than send processing, the postmark, and jobs nearly 90 miles north and west to Sioux Falls, SD. The resolution, which passed unanimously, noted that this is not just a “Siouxland” issue, but an all-Iowa issue.

That point was emphasized when the latest version of postal reform legislation moved through the Senate in February. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) successfully amended the bill (S.662) to block the Postal Service from implementing the results of any AMP study until the public has provided input and has been provided with a cost analysis.

A similar situation exists in La Crosse, WI, where public officials are considering going to battle over the plans to shift the city’s mail processing to Rochester, MN. In late December, the La Crosse Common Council’s Legislative Committee passed a resolution that demands that mail sorting be kept at the local post office. The council members’ concerns include not only that postal identity will be lost, but it will be lost to a neighboring state.

Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. - Two leaders of a postal workers’ union were arrested Friday and accused of embezzling more than $400,000 from their organization.

The two men took the money from 2000 to October 2002 from the payroll account of Local 190 of the American Postal Workers Union in Clifton and the union account used to pay routine monthly expenses, according to a federal indictment handed up in Newark on Tuesday and unsealed with their arrests.

Local 190’s president, Gary Weightman, and secretary-treasurer, John McGovern, were each released on $100,000 bond, said Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Grady O’Malley.

Weightman lawyer Stephen F. Pellino, said his client didn’t take any money from the union.
“There may have been some sloppiness in the way books were kept … but he didn’t steal any money,” Pellino said.

Efforts to reach McGovern, 50, of Hawthorne, were not successful. No phone listing could be found, and O’Malley said no lawyer had been named yet for McGovern.

McGovern and Weightman, 53, of Keansburg, also are accused of obstructing an investigation by the Department of Labor and the Postal Workers International Union by destroying union financial records.

Both are postal workers. Weightman was arrested at 6 a.m. Friday as he finished his shift at the Northern New Jersey Logistics and Distribution Center in Kearny; McGovern was arrested at his home, prosecutors said.

Each faces one count of conspiracy and two embezzlement counts, all of which carry up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
http://haloscan.com/comments/rehema/endfeb1706

The Postal Service outlined the long-awaited Evolutionary Network Development (END) program in a meeting with APWU officers Feb. 14, 2006, the same day it submitted the plan to the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) for evaluation. The USPS is required by law to seek an advisory opinion from the PRC when it proposes to make changes in service that are national in scope.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Postal Service is also required to notify the union when a major relocation of employees is planned “due to the implementation of national postal mail networks.”

The APWU filed a Notice of Intervention with the PRC Feb. 15, advising the agency of the union’s intent to participate in any proceedings that occur as a result of the USPS submission.

The USPS plans to replace the nine existing facility-types with five processing facility-types:

• Regional Distribution Centers (RDCs), which will process all classes of parcels and bundles and serve as Surface Transfer Centers
    

• Local Processing Centers (LPCs), which will process single-piece letters and flats and cancel mail
    

• Destination Processing Centers (DPC), which will process single-piece letters and flats;
    

• Airport Transfer Centers (ATCs), which will serve as transfer points only, and
    

• Remote Encoding Centers (RECs)

Over a period of years, these facilities are expected to replace Processsing & Distribution Centers, Customer Service Facilities, Bulk Mail Centers, Logistic and Distribution Centers, annexes, the Hub and Spoke Program, Air Mail Centers, Remote Encoding Centers, and International Service Centers.

The network must change, USPS representatives said, due to declining volumes of single-piece first-class mail, population shifts, the increase in drop shipments by advertising mailers at destinating postal facilities, advancements in equipment and technology, redundancies in the existing network, and the need for operational flexibility.

Tentative Agreements

In accordance with Article 12.4.B. of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, postal management must meet with the union at the national level “at least 90 days in advance of implementation” of a network realignment plan to fully advise the union.

The Feb. 14 presentation [USPS slideshow - PDF] will serve as official notice to the national union that management intends to restructure the national postal mail network. (It also satisfies the requirement of the 2003 contract extension to provide the union with notice of the USPS plan to “consolidate installations.”)

Article 12.4.B. also requires management to meet with regional union officials in advance of the reassignment of employees, by as much as six months, whenever possible. Tentative agreement was reached at the meeting that management would adhere to this requirement at the conclusion of the 90-day notice to the national union.

The union and management also agreed to establish a special dispute-resolution process dedicated to issues that arise out of the network redevelopment plan. The union and management at the national level will determine the specifics of the process.

Attending the briefing at the union’s national office were APWU President William Burrus, Industrial Relations Director Greg Bell, Clerk Craft Director Jim McCarthy, Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer, Motor Vehicle Services Craft Director Bob Pritchard, Northeast Regional Coordinator Liz Powell, Central Regional Coordinator Sharyn Stone, Legislative Director Myke Reid, and the union’s legal counsel. National Business Agent Eric Wilson attended on behalf of Eastern Regional Coordinator Jim Burke, who was unable to participate. http://www.haloscan.com/comments/rehema/endsfeb1506

APWU Web News , Feb. 14, 2006

The USPS has assigned craft jurisdiction for staffing on the Automated Flat Sorting Machine 100 (AFSM-100) with Automated Induction (AI) and Automatic Tray Handling (ATHS) system enhancements, awarding most of the positions to the Mail Handler Craft.

The APWU believes that the duties associated with AI and ATHS enhancements on the AFSM 100s are Clerk Craft duties, and has filed a national-level dispute claiming jurisdiction over this work.

In a letter dated Feb. 8, 2006, the USPS wrote that of the 534 AFSM-100s currently in operation, it is anticipated that 184 AFSM-100s will remain without either AI or ATHS enhancements; 144 will have ATHS but no AI, and 206 will have AI and ATHS enhancement.

For AFSM-100 machines without enhancement, staffing will remain at five Clerk Craft employees.

For those with AI and ATHS, management designated primary jurisdiction of the Feed Station to the Clerk Craft. The Mail Handler Craft was identified as the primary craft for employees working at the Load Station, Prep Station, and for operating the ATHS. The Feed Station and Load station will be occupied by a single employee; the Prep Station will be staffed by up to four employees.

On non-AI AFSM 100s with ATHS, staffing will be four Clerk Craft employees. Three clerks will manually induct mail and one clerk will operate the ATHS. This will allow for a rotation of clerks on the non-AI AFSM 100s, to accommodate ergonomic relief.

What Locals Should Do

The APWU contends that the duties associated with AI and ATHS are mail processing duties related to distribution of mail, and therefore properly belong to the Clerk Craft. Locals where AI and ATHS enhancements have been installed should take the following steps:

1. Locals should file a dispute with their Local Dispute Resolution Committee (LDRC) making the claim of jurisdiction.
2. Locals should meet with the LDRC and seek agreement in writing to hold the dispute at the LDRC level pending the outcome of the national dispute. Once the national-level dispute is settled, the LDRC will apply the national decision.
3. If the parties at the LDRC level cannot agree to hold the dispute at the LDRC level, the local union should appeal the dispute to the Regional Dispute Resolution Committee (RDRC). The RDRC will enter into an agreement either to hold the dispute at its level pending the outcome of the national dispute or remand the dispute to the LDRC level where it will be held pending the outcome of the national dispute.
4. Please direct any questions to your RDRC member listed below:

Open Comments