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Postal News - February 2006

February 28, 2006 - USPS release January 2006 Financial & Operating Statements - For January, Total Revenue was $137 million or 2.2% over plan, and $596 million or 10.3% over same period last year (SPLY). In January, Total Commercial Revenue and Retail Revenue combined were $566 million more than SPLY. The bulk of the increase to SPLY for total revenue was reflected in Stamps and Stamped  (above chart: sick leave) Paper, Permit Revenue, Presort First and Package Services/Permit Imprint and Metered Postage. Contributing to this performance was the new postage rate structure implemented on January 8, 2006. This month's Total Expenses were above SPLY by $244 million or 4.3% primarily due to increases in deliveries, fuel prices, health benefits and COLA costs. |

February 28, 2006 - Eight Counterfeit Postal Keys Found in Man's Car

"Police investigators said they are trying to figure out how a man ended up with eight copies of mail carrier keys, which gave him access to people's private information. The postal inspector said a thief had counterfeit mail carrier keys used to get into locked community mailboxes, such as those found at apartment complexes."  |

February 28, 2006

APWU Members Win 5-Year Contract at Detroit MTESC

Interview with Honolulu USPS District Manager Daryl A. Ishizaki

Explosive Scare at Sunrise Post Office

PRC to host briefings on International Mail, Financial Reporting

Opinion: United States Postal Junk Mail Service
Court rules that IRS inappropriately outsourced mailroom work
Twenty countries lose USPS International Economy Mail
St. Paul post office waits on relocation to Eagan
USPS to conduct service audit on Siouxland mail processing operations
Massachusetts Letter Carrier Convicted of Workers' Comp Fraud
Postman retires mail bag

Australia Post aiming for stamp record
Satire: bin Laden to run U.S. Postal Service

February 27, 2006 - USPS, DOL Reach $6.5 Million Back Wage Agreement -The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that will result in payment of more than $6.5 million in back wages to almost 900 pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers. The employees worked on several USPS contracts and subcontracts to transport mail by air between January 1996 and August 2001. The USPS contractors and subcontractors affected by this settlement are Ryan International Airlines, Express One International Inc. and Evergreen International Airlines Inc. |

February 27, 2006 - USPS finds six ways to cut costs, not services
Robert Otto, USPS chief technology officer's strategy is to have USPS employees work alongside specialized contractors so they develop their own expertise. Otto plans to reduce travel expenses by using Web conferencing to hold virtual meetings instead of sending IT managers to places such as Las Vegas. “I cut our travel budget in half this year, and I plan to cut it in 2007 by another 25 percent,” Otto said. He wants to replace printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines with multipurpose equipment. He will ask managers in 38,000 post offices to replace broken printers or copiers with multifunctional machines that print, scan, copy and fax. |

February 27, 2006 - Plan to Relocate 200 Postal Workers Put on Hold

- A plan to reassign 200 postal workers to different branches out of town has been put on hold, according to the Postmaster of New Orleans. Eyewitness News had previously obtained a document detailing those plans, but the postal service said that no employee would be forced to leave or return to the city. However, the Postmaster added that the post office was in need of more mail carriers to handle the mail load for Orleans Parish. |

- Postal Workers Asked to Relocate Out of Town, say not enough time given

February 27, 2006

'Dilbert,' 'Cathy' Help Postal Service Talk With Customers

Mailers Look to Sidestep Sales Tax on Postage
Mailers Companion is Ten Years Old

Mailers Question Response If Flats Address Shifts

USPS Files for Realignment

Postmaster, wife known for stamps
Girl, 4, struck, killed by postal truck, ID'd
USPS opposes bill to restructure mail service

Mail won't be same without retiring postmaster

When not to be in that number - 701 ZIP codes spell annoyance

February 27, 2006 - USPS finds six ways to cut costs, not services
Robert Otto, USPS chief technology officer's strategy is to have USPS employees work alongside specialized contractors so they develop their own expertise. Otto plans to reduce travel expenses by using Web conferencing to hold virtual meetings instead of sending IT managers to places such as Las Vegas. “I cut our travel budget in half this year, and I plan to cut it in 2007 by another 25 percent,” Otto said. He wants to replace printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines with multipurpose equipment. He will ask managers in 38,000 post offices to replace broken printers or copiers with multifunctional machines that print, scan, copy and fax. |

February 27, 2006

Mailers Look to Sidestep Sales Tax on Postage
Mailers Companion is Ten Years Old

Mailers Question Response If Flats Address Shifts

USPS Files for Realignment

Postmaster, wife known for stamps
Girl, 4, struck, killed by postal truck, ID'd
USPS opposes bill to restructure mail service

February 26, 2006 - Sen. Collins: Preserving the U.S. Postal Service for the 21st Century

"The Collins-Carper  [postal reform] bill is a culmination of years of work and has broad support among the mailing industry including the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service -- which represents hundreds of large and small mailers, the Financial Services Roundtable, United Parcel Service, FedEx, R.R. Donnelley, the city and rural letter carrier unions, the postmasters and postal supervisor associations, and numerous non-profit organizations such as AARP, the Disabled Veterans of America, and the American Institute for Cancer Research." |

February 26, 2006 - Senator: Post Office Better
Improvements are being made to speed up mail delivery service in Las Cruces, including the addition of new equipment and the hiring of as many as 19 additional personnel at the city's main post office. "There's progress from what I can tell," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who toured and was briefed on postal operations Thursday. "We've come a long way in recent weeks but there is still a long way to go." Pat Reyes, president of the Las Cruces chapter of the American Postal Workers Union, said she is beginning to see improvements in post office operations. |

February 26, 2006

Residents Deliver Postal Complaints

Postal Service Tracks Evacuees' Ebb and Flow
Stockton girl dies after being struck by mail truck

February 25, 2006 - USPS Detains Journalist, Keeps Videotape
"The U.S. Postal Service last week detained a Washington, D.C.-based journalist for a German television network, releasing him only after he agreed to turn over his videotape of news footage taken at a New Orleans mail pick-up center for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Stephan Bachenheimer, a reporter/videographer for Bonn-based Deutsche Welle television network, was interviewing and filming people standing in ZIP code-delineated lines to pick up their mail Feb. 16 when a law enforcement officer asked him to leave, he said."  |

February 25, 2006

Residents offer a love letter to mail carrier

Even child's scrawl proves no obstacle for USPS

February 24, 2006 - New Orleans Postal Workers Asked to Relocate Out of Town, say not enough time given - With fewer people living in the city, more than 200 Orleans Parish postal workers will soon be permanently relocated out of town, according to a document obtained by Eyewitness News. A notification letter to one employee, dated February 9, was actually delivered in the mail Wednesday [ 2/22], giving her less than two weeks to move to a new town and job. One worker, a single mother, who complained about unreasonable expectations to a postal service counselor, was told to leave her child with a friend while she relocated. The current reassignment date for those post office employees was March 4, but Dave Lewin, a post office spokesman, said that date was not written in stone. " |

February 24, 2006 - Union Victimizes Postal Victim's Kin
"The APWU postal union established a memorial fund for five employees killed in Goleta -- but gave a cold shoulder to the sixth worker slain there. To the American Postal Workers Union, Maleka Higgins is apparently a nonperson. Maleka's financially challenged family -- husband Pablo and her now-motherless child Emily -- stand to receive little if anything, other than from local donations. Why? Because according to Maleka's mother, Sherie Higgins, Maleka dropped out of the union after many years when she went on maternity leave."  |

February 24, 2006 - Another Postal Truck, Mail Go Up In Flames

(Apple Valley, Ca.) A Postal Service truck caught fire, fueled by bundles of correspondence that will never be delivered. Although the unnamed female mail carrier driving the truck had already made 418 deliveries by Wednesday afternoon, there were 182 bundles of mail left for residents when the truck suddenly caught fire according to USPS representative Mike Cannone. Cannone said that the fire will remain under investigation by private USPS investigators, but he believes it happened as a result of an engine malfunction. Last week, a LLV caught fire in New Jersey  which was reportedly caused by a mechanical problem.  |

February 24, 2006 - | on  news below

Probation, fine for ex-postal worker who open fake letter - Edward Cramer is unlikely to open other people's mail ever again. Especially if it's addressed to "Playboy Girl Next Door Contest" and marked "Photos, Do Not Bend."
6 Months After Katrina: A Postal Worker's Struggle to Rebuild

New NAPUS leader to take on short staffing

USPS Selects Company to Provide Gift Certificate Award

Postal Service completes Aberdeen study

PRC Files Order For Network Realignment Steps
For Black History Month, Postmaster Hosts Stamp Dedication
Postal Service Says Late Mail A Temporary Problem
DMA Allies With Postcom Against Do-Not-Mail Bills

February 23, 2006 - USPS Headed for $1.8 Billion Loss This Year

"The U.S. Postal Service expects to lose $1.8 billion by the end of its fourth quarter, in part because of surprisingly weak Standard mail volume. "We see very little growth in Standard mail volume [right now], [but] we are hoping to get it back up to the 3 percent growth level that it did last year," Richard J. Strasser Jr., USPS chief financial officer and executive vice president, said at yesterday's quarterly Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Fuel costs, up 20 percent to 30 percent, are becoming a big concern for postal officials. The costs affect the agency's cost-of-living expenses. "This year, we've had the largest increase in our COLA expenses," Strasser said. "Our costs this year were $800 million higher than they were last year."   |

February 23, 2006 - Survey: USPS Trusted on Privacy, But Not Government Overall

The U.S. Postal Service is the most trusted government agency when it comes to privacy protection, according to a recent Ponemon Institute LLC survey. Overall, however, government agencies fared worse in 2005 than the year before, suggesting that Americans are increasingly wary of breaches of their privacy.   |

February 23, 2006- | on  news below

Reform May Be Decided by Summer, Postal Official Says

USPS: We're Working on Fixing Service Problems

USPS OIG Internships
'Black Mail'
Poor Attendance Can Result in Removal - And Withstand Court Review

February 22, 2006- Justices Allow Personal-Injury Suits Against Postal Service - The Supreme Court has a message for the U.S. Postal Service: Be careful where letter carriers put their letters and packages, because if somebody slips on them and gets hurt, you might get taken to court. In a 7 to 1 decision the court said that the Postal Service is subject to personal-injury lawsuits by its customers, ruling that federal law does not immunize the service against claims by those who say they were hurt by negligent delivery of the mail. Supreme Court Rule Customers Can Sue USPS - A woman who tripped and fell over letters, packages and periodicals left on her front porch can sue the U.S. Postal Service for damages. The  ruling was a victory for Barbara Dolan, who said she suffered wrist and back injuries when she fell in 2001 in front of her Glenside, PA., home. She said postal employees acted negligently by leaving the mail on her porch. |

- Justices Curb Postal Service's Immunity From Lawsuits

February 22, 2006 - APWU: Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Update - The ninth Cost-Of-Living Adjustment will be $457 per year. The adjustment amounts to a 22 cents per hour increase, or $17.60 per pay period. The ninth COLA will take effect March 18, 2006 (pay period 07-2006, pay date April 7, 2006. the 1.6% pay raise — also effective March 18, 2006 — are being prepared for printing in The American Postal Worker magazine

February 22, 2006 - Post Office Outdoes Katrina - John and Linda Lee work for USPS. Their house was not badly damaged by the hurricanes. John, a mail handler and Linda, a clerk  "are among the many New Orleans postal workers who are being sent as far as 600 miles from home. At a time when New Orleanians desperately need stability and support from their employers, the postal service is offering little of either. It's doubly troubling when you consider the fact that the post office, a service of our government, seems to have little interest in helping these employees, our fellow New Orleanians, in this our most desperate hour." |

February 22, 2006 - Postal Workers Shouldn't Be Harassed
Quiles-Quiles v. Henderson, No. 05-1591, holds that PMG is not entitled to a judgment as a matter of law (and the Quiles was entitled to a statutorily-capped amount of $300,000, which the district court reduced jury award from $950,000) under the Rehabilitation Act because, the District Court found that Quiles had not shown that he was disabled. But, the First Circuit Court concludes that, “The evidence therefore ... sufficient for the jury to conclude that the Postal Service regarded Quiles as disabled because his superiors erroneously believed that he was unable to perform a broad class of jobs due to his mental impairment.” "The postmaster general also argues that he wasn’t really harassed because “that type” of people (that is, blue-collar-types) are always harassing each other" in the workplace. In sum, court concludes that the evidence was sufficient to show that he 1) was harassed; 2) because of his disability; and 3) he was retaliated against for complaining about it. |

February 22, 2006 - Postal Worker Jailed for Embezzling $2,000 To Get Co-Worker In Trouble - A federal court judge in Hawaii has sentenced a 27-year postal employee to three months in prison for embezzling $2,000 to get a co-worker in trouble. In November 2004, she admitted that she committed the offense to scare her co-worker whom she had been feuding with. Under postal regulation, the co-worker would have been responsible for the loss out of her own pocket." |

February 22, 2006 - USPS Steps Up to Improve delivery in Van Nuys District

The Valley Press newspaper in California recently reported in a front page story that shifting of the guard has taken place at the USPS Van Nuys District office and at the Lancaster and Palmdale stations. A spokesman for the service says that Virginia Tovar, the former Van Nuys District manager, is now plant manager. Kerry Wolny has been reassigned to the position vacated by Tovar. Postmaster Anita Plata is back in her official position as postmaster at Lancaster. Tony Plante, who had been serving as officer in charge at Lancaster, has returned as postmaster in Palmdale. |

February 22, 2006 - Postcard assuming a more commercial role- Once primarily a vehicle for personal communication, the postcard is now seen as a low-cost advertising and business communication vehicle (a single postcard stamp is 24 cents, versus the 39 cents it takes for a first-class letter; postcard rates can go as low as 17.9 cents apiece if the sender sorts down to the carrier delivery route).

February 22, 2006- Americans Say USPS Most Trusted Agency - "For the second year in a row, Americans have rated the U.S. Postal Service as the number one agency they trust to protect their privacy. Not only did the Postal Service retain the top spot, customer satisfaction and trust scores increased from the previous year, a national study shows. "No government agency touches the public in the way the United States Postal Service does. No other government agency has the one-to-one, personalized service with its customers, six days a week, 52 weeks a year," said Delores Killette, Vice President and Consumer Advocate."

February 22, 2006-  | on  news below

Former Postal Worker, Infected with Anthrax in 2001, Still Feels Effects

Jaffer: Study focuses on volume levels of first-class single-piece mail
Postmaster: Mail changes won't hurt Nashville service

Neither War Nor Bombs Stay These Iraq Couriers

Mail Carrier Helps Police Track Down Fugitive Couple

Mailbox invention catches eye of television show

Arizona:  300 Data-entry jobs open at post office

Clerk likes job's variety, working with the public

Part-time postal worker keeps mail delivery rolling along

Cary Customers Seek Solutions For Post Office Crowding
Postal employee indicted for taking money from mail
Stamp hike puts squeeze on some organizations
New Orleans' main post office reopens

Official: Mail is hot property for thieves

Japan to stop mail delivery at 1,000 rural post offices - Japan Post is explaining to employees and labor unions that its "objective is to efficiently redeploy collection and delivery bases, and that there will be no adverse impact on services for the public such as mail delivery."

February 21, 2006 - USPS Aims to Improve Arizona Mail Delivery in April, Late Mail Irks Residents - USPS officials acknowledge mail delivery problems and promised to address them before summer. “There’s no rhyme or reason and it’s very erratic — the mail may come at 3, 4 or 7:45 p.m.,” Ms. Stuck said. “We’ve lived here for 13 years and we had a carrier who wouldn’t listen and we accepted the fact that the mail service would be bad. We got a new carrier and he is really trying his best, but it’s not unusual to get the mail after dark. |

February 21, 2006

Postal Service Request for Advisory Opinion from PRC

Some Holiday Postal Workers Aren't Getting Paid

Report Cards sent in student's name to PO Boxes returned as undeliverable (link corrected)

New Orleans main post office to reopen today
Council resolution targets White Rock post office services
USPS Unveils Commemorative Stamp at CMSU

February 20, 2006 - Debate Heats Up Over Mail Processing Study
From pickets to public meetings, members of Sioux City's postal workers union have gone to great lengths to tell people what's at stake.  It's not the tenor of the campaign that bothers the U.S. Postal Service, it's the tactics. "It has to do with some of the scare tactics being used by members of the American Postal Workers Union locally in Sioux City," said Richard Watkins, USPS Spokesman. "They should know better. In fact, they do know better."|

February 20, 2006 - Demand Tipped for Cardboard Mail Scales

A few weeks ago, in a story about the U.S. Postal Service, we briefly mentioned the tiny cardboard scales the post office was offering so customers could easily weigh their letters. It turns out the Postal Service didn't distribute the nifty little scales in all post offices. But after a limited giveaway last fall, it will distribute 200,000 "in early summer" to 18,000 post offices nationwide, according to Gerald J. McKiernan, a Postal Service spokesman. The post office will sell them for a "modest cost," McKiernan said. They shouldn't cost much, because the post office is paying the manufacturer "much less than the cost of a first-class stamp" for each one, according to the Dutch co-inventor of the scale, which is given away by many major postal services, including Royal Mail and Deutsche Post, he said." |

February 20, 2006 - Postal Service says bill to fix finances is unworkable

"The Senate on Feb. 8 unanimously approved a bill that would turn the independent Postal Rate Commission into a new regulatory board and limit rate hikes to the inflation rate. The bill, which passed the House last summer on a 410-20 vote, is now in a conference committee to work out differences between the two versions. Postal Service officials say the new board overseeing many internal business practices is unworkable. "We have no control over the decisions that are being made, and yet we're supposed to implement them," said Jerry McKiernan, spokesman for the Postal Service.  |

February 20, 2006

Substitute mail carrier saves day

Native son reflects on 20 years as Dravosburg postmaster
Floyd County residents fight to reopen Post Office

Postal worker suspended for Playboy mag theft retires with full benefits
Change in the air for bypass mail
Relief in sight for erratic mail
Niagara Falls postal carriers aid shut-ins
Postal Service to fill eight mail carrier jobs in Great Falls
Mail carriers deliver in a crisis

February 18, 2006 - Postal Service a no-show as Mayor, reps meet to discuss Waterbury pullout  -

As part of its ongoing efforts to regionalize postal services, the quasi-public agency decided in October 2005 to stop using the city's main post office as a regional processing facility based on conclusions of efficiency studies. Legislators and a representative of the postal union argue that the move doesn't make economic sense given the cost of transporting mail to the new regional processing center in Wallingford and back each day, saying that it leads to a reduction in service and a loss of business traffic downtown. APWU local President James Conway, who lobbied for the meeting, was the sole postal employee at the session.  |