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- USPS
Employee Operational Analysis: Challenges and
Opportunities Submitted to Postal Commission By USPS
Manager -"The work environment has deteriorated and morale
within the USPS is at an all time low. Unless significant
changes are made in the immediate future, the USPS will
continue its downward spiral, losing market share and key
personnel. At risk is our universal service to the
American public. We need help now." The enclosed report
was produced by 20 current USPS Management employees. All
challenges and recommendations herein were unanimously
agreed upon." (NALC Branch 1414)
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Replace Existing Bargaining Unit
Agreement
2. Evaluated Route System for City
Carriers
3. Make Grievance Activity in a Non-Pay
Status
4. Authority to Hire from an Approved
Complement
5. Streamline Authority
6. Incentive Systems to Save Sick Leave
for FERS Employees
7. Increase Salary of Non Bargaining
Employees
8. National System for Budgets Based on
Workloads
9. Combine Plant and Customer Service
Authority
10. Reduce Report time to 20% Maximum
11. Eliminate Saturday Delivery
12. Own USPS Properties Instead of Leasing
13. Give Budget Hours for Making Parcel
Pickup Service
14. Eliminate ODIS, or Make it an “End to
End System”
| “I
am a postal employee with 29 years senority.
I along with many of my cohorts, would like to
see an early -out retirement plan. Many workers
are close to retiring and would probably leave
if they were offered an early out incentive
.This is all people near retirement talk about
at work. Thank you.” |
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|
“To whom it may concern, One of the items on
your agenda when reviewing the working
conditions as well as the make up of the USPS.
Is the ratio in which all Supervisors must be
responsible in managing large numbers of
employees. While being compared to the private
sector in terms of salary. Why aren't the postal
Supervisors also compared to those very same
managers in the private sector in terms of
number employees they directly supervise? The
current ratio of 20 or 30 something to 1 in the
USPS is an awesome task to control and is
directly responsible why it's so hard to
successfully manage our employees. I would
venture to say that managing ten employees at
once is a more reasonable task as opposed to 20
or 30 to 1. The USPS takes in account
Postmasters into the equation when it comes to
facility sizes, however anyone who knows
Postmaster knows they are not directly in
contact with the craft employees and rarely are
involved with the daily managing / confrontation
with craft employees. So they should not be
factored into the equation of an additional
manager supervising craft employees.”
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As a Letter carrier for 28 years, I have many
opinions on the Postal Service. First, and
foremost, I believe an early out should be given
to those letter carriers over 50 years old.
This job, with it's physical demands, is quite a
burden on an older person. From personal
experience, I can see the newer , younger people
working rings around us old timers. Plus the fact
that we are paid alot more, it just makes
financial sense to get people in who are able to
do the job quicker. Basically, the whole job is
tied to speed. I want to be faster, but age
related physical limitations make it impossible.
Also, the management is unresponsive to the
employees. We are just a warm body, not real
people. On what other job,
if you are sick and call off, does your
supervisor hang up on you?-(Not a pleasant
experience, but it has happened to me) The whole
system is flawed, it used to be about service,
but now it is just about numbers, the heck with
service. We no longer even have time for
customer contact, the time is of the essence, we
are scanning boxes every half hour and taking up
valuable time in doing so. Overtime is running
rampant, and at the pay we old timers make, that
is no small amount. I think we have contributed
well to the Post Office, but I also think it is
time to get a new breed of carriers, those with
the ability to keep up with the demands of the
job.” |
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| “I
am very interested in Commission and its
recommendations. I spent 34 years serving
our citizen's while in the Postal Service. Most
of the 34 years was in Regional and District
positions and at least 10 years as a Postal
Career Executive (PCES). One area of concern is
the many small Post Offices throughout the
country that have been allowed to remain Post
Offices. I know the efforts the Postal Service
has made in closing these facilities and I know
that it has been congressional pressure to keep
town identities alive. These small post offices
serving very few customers are expensive and not
as efficient as moving operations to larger post
offices. While the Postal Service does have a
mandate to provide ALL customers with service, I
feel it could do it much more effieciently by
eliminating many facilites across the country.
Less management personnel, less craft employees,
less facility costs - such as utilities, rent,
telephone, custodial, etc.” |
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| “Gentlemen:
As a postal employee of over 28 years,
I'd like to make a few suggestions to help save
money.#1. The postal employees that are under
csrs for retirement are the most expensive
employees and it should be expedited to offer
them an early retirement option. The USPS
could hire cheap replacement labor and contract
out their retail window services .The savings in
cost of pay and benefits would be tremendous.#2.
There are supervisor positions that have been
created in order to have slots for those
supervisors that had their original positions
excessed. These newly created positions are
un-necessary, unproductive, and very costly to
the USPS. In the office I work in, there is one
of these positions, and I've been told by mgmt.
that they are untouchable. Each of these
management jobs pays EAS 16 and that computes to
about $55000 per year. That must amount to alot
of wasted funds over the entire USPS.” |
| |
| “I
have been a Letter Carrier for almost 25 years.
It is my belief, after these many years, that
reform of the Postal Service is badly needed.
I have seen many years of wasteful spending on
many ideas that were ill concieved and ill
planned. I have seen many years of "management
incentives" ( i.e. bonuses) that were
un-believably excessive - even by private sector
standards. Now that your commission has been
organized - I now see many managers within the
system finally "sweating" that their jobs will
be eliminated. The problem is that the Postal
System is protecting the management staff while
eliminating those people whose job it is to move
the mails. Gentlemen, we are top heavy. While
the work force is shrinking - and the amount of
houses -business - and the like who require
delivery are growing - management stays the
same. I remind you that its the clerks,
carriers, and the other level employees that
move the mail. In fact - regardless of what
postal managers say most offices are dreadfully
short handed of clerks and carriers. How can we
serve the public properly when there aren't
enough of
us? I must
also mention the attitude of most postal
managers and the way that they treat the craft
employees has gotten
progressively worse. How do you expect a
workforce to serve the public when we are
treated so badly? I thought the days of
intimidation and threats were past us - I guess
not. I wish you all the best of luck in your
quest. The decisions you make will determine the
future of the Postal Service. Please firmly make
your decisions and whatever they may be stick
with them. |
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| “This
may seem like a rediculous idea and does not
solve the major issues of reorganization but
certainly would help defray future Postal
Increases. Currently the annual cost of a Post
Office Box is in the $40-$50 range. Home
delivery is free. What is wrong with this
picture? We charge someone $40 to pick up their
mail yet offer home delivery at no charge? The
same sortation is done whether home delivery or
PO Box. The difference is the labor and
equipment expense for delivering the sorted mail
to individual addresses. Why not charge extra
for this service, say $40 annually for the added
costs associated with home delivery and reduce
the charge on PO boxes to $10 annually to offset
building occupancy costs. While this idea most
likely will not go anywhere due to the political
ramifications it is an example of thinking
"outside the box". |
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| “With
the advent of automation technology so
entrenched within the Postal Service's mail
processing structure, it only need one mail
processing unit, one craft, not two. I suggest
consolidating the Postal Clerks and Postal
Mailhandlers into one craft thus fully utilizing
100% of employees. This will eliminate cross
crafts issues and streamline personnel assets.
Clerks no longer utilize schemes to sort mail
because of automation. Therefore, what's the
difference between a clerk and mailhandler?
Nothing. If this proposal is adopted, the Postal
Service can cut employees and streamline the
workforce.” |
| |
| “Considering
the low mail volume (I am a letter carrier) that
I have seen and the total waste of having mail
trucks on motorized routes running for 6 and 7
hours a day, I feel a buy out for the carriers
would be a needed move for the Post office.
With 5 day delivery, all of the swing carriers
could be eliminated. This buy out and 5 day
delivery would eliminate the older, slower
carriers, and keep the junior carriers. That
alone would be a savings in the salary
department. The use of transitional employees
for the first few days of the week would enable
the mail volume on those days to be dealt with.
And transitional employees are paid no benefits.
Having been a carrier for 28 years, I have seen
a lot of different tactics bring tried. For
once, some one should listen to the carriers and
not a bunch of people who have not seen the
operation first hand. Even if 5 days wasn't
eliminated, the use of buy outs for older
employees would still be a substantial savings.
Younger carriers are needed, this is a
physically demanding job, older carriers are
good, but understandably much slower. |
Comments from individuals
source:
treasury.gov
 BACK
TO TOP |
| “How
about early buyouts? That would lower the
labor costs.” |
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| “There
way too many chiefs ( that do nothing to
move the mail! ) and not enough Indians ( that
do move the mail!) Also there is too much time &
money wasted on these so called (TEAMS) that do
nothing to help the postal situation.” |
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“As a Postal Service line
supervisor, I believe the Postmaster
General’s "Transformation Plan" does not go far
enough to ensure the future of the Postal
Service. Indeed, the very Private Express
Statutes and Universal Postal Service that we
hold so dear in the Service should be
questioned. The entire Transformation Plan
hinges on the belief that a Universal Postal
Service is necessary for the security of the
country and that maintaining them is worth the
cost to the government. I am not so certain. I
see the mail that
arrives at my office for delivery every day. The
Postal Service is not much more than an
advertising outlet. Is it so important to
maintain the illusion that the Postal Service
delivers the warm, fuzzy missives of Grandma to
little Jamie, when this is not true anymore?
It’s very important to keep the business of
business moving by delivering advertising
material to the public and to other businesses,
but should the government be in the business of
providing this service? I believe not.
Every day, I see the results
of belt tightening in the Postal Service. I am
tasked with pushing unionized clerks and letter
carriers to work harder when there is no
incentive for them to do so. The Postal unions
are running the Postal Service. I believe real
reform cannot occur until the Postal Service is
released from the constraints of the unions,
including my own management association. I must
manage a unionized workforce that tells me how
much overtime they have and I must manage to
that number regardless of the mail volume before
me. They decide whether they will work this
overtime. My letter carriers are typical of the
letter carriers across the country: good people
who have become complacent in the mistaken
knowledge that they will be able to continue as
they have until retirement and there is nothing
I can do about it. They simply do not understand
the precipice on which we are standing and they
do nothing to improve our situation.
I am one Postal employee
who believes the only real future of the Postal
Service is either outright privatization or
something very similar to it. It will allow us
to get out from under the painful restrictions
imposed by outside arbitrators in favor of our
unions to the point where we can no longer
provide the service we are mandated to provide.
There are many other problems that are built
into the "system" of the Postal Service. In
order to abbreviate this letter, I have
focused on just one, the stranglehold our unions
hold over the Service.
In closing, let me tell
you a little about myself. I have worked for the
Postal Service for twenty years and hold a M. B.
A. I have been a clerk and a supervisor. I have
held many positions within the Postal Service
and have had several "careers" in private
industry. So, I have not spent my entire working
life as a Postal Service employee.
Please, do not let the
Postal Service languish until it is completely
unmanageable. Make the difficult decisions now,
while there is still time to salvage what could
be a vital service to our country. Whether that
service is provided by the government, by a
quasi-government agency as it is now, or by
private industry is up to you.” |
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|
I work for the postal service as an RCA
which means I have no benefits. Let me make a
suggestion: TURN THE HEAT DOWN IN ALL OF YOUR
OFFICES. For over two years I, and other
workers, sweat in the winter and freeze in the
summer. People are walking around in summer wear
in the winter and winter wear in the summer.
Does this make any sense? I have tried to get a
"directive" concerning the heat and I'm told the
"directive" is to keep the heat at 70 degrees or
above. GET WITH THE PROGRAM. ALLOW ME TO HAVE
INSURANCE BY SIMPLY TURNING DOWN YOUR THERMOSTAT
BY A COUPLE OF DEGREES!!! The money you save in
energy bills would more than pay for our health
costs. When it's winter we can dress for
winter...when it's summer we can dress for
summer. HOW IS THAT FOR A CONCEPT? PLEASE,
PLEASE, PLEASE...if the workers are unable to
get a manageable temperature to work in what
does that tell you? If you are really serious
about cutting cost I strongly suggest this
simple task of checking your "directive" on
temperatures!!! This tiny little act could save
you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
WE AS CITIZENS ARE ALWAYS BEING
TOLD TO "TURN DOWN OUR THERMOSTAT...WHY DON'T
YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH?” |
| |
| “Get
rid of Saturday delivery. The massive
savings would allow USPS to offer early outs to
all the CRS employees who are on the brink of
becoming a major medical headache after
destroying their bodies carrying mail for the
past 20 plus years. Move mailboxes to the street
to eliminate all the walking routes. There is no
way you can expect the average human body to
walk 6-12 miles a day for 30 years without
serious OWCP involvement. Charge for forwarding
service. Understand that PO management has
created make-work number- crunching,
bean-counting programs to insure their continued
employment. The ranks of management have swollen
more since we have implemented automation, this
needs to be rectified.” |
| |
| “will
the over population of do nothing middle
management ever be addressed? this bloated
bureaucracy only gets worse. it costs the postal
service more money than can probably be
calculated. few can take restructuring seriously
when this issue is never really looked at, let
alone acted upon. it is always cut service,
reduce hours, push the work force, intimidate
the work force, and generally create poor
morale. i sincerely hope you take this under
advisement.” |
| |
| “To
Whom this may concern, The President has asked
You Nine people to do a study on the USPS. First
of all, you people know nothing about the USPS.
You are all big BUSINESS. Has any of you ever
worked for the USPS? Our automation is usless.
We have what is called DPS MAIL.I'm sure YOU all
know what that is? Well it doesn' work. Our job
is done 95% better by hand.I know that you all
think that automation is the key ?" Well what do
we do about the millions of people WHO DO NOT
HAVE COMPUTERS? WE deliver their MAIL. The USPS
has problems, the biggest one is MANAGMENT. THEY
do not worry about things that need to be fixed.
MONEY<MONEY<MONEY. I hope you nine people tell
the PRESIDENT what is wrong with our company,
because i"m sure you all know better, than
someone who works for the company. I really hope
someone reads this.” |
| |
| “I
just read Goldways
report to the Postal commission and
think her ideas of privitization are totally
irresponsible. The Postal Service can improve effeciency and hopefully keep the rates down by
revamping their management procedures. I cannot
see punishing the citizens of this country by
privatizing the Postal Service and thereby
charging far more for it's service.” |
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|
To the Commission: I, as an employee of the
USPS, would like to know why the downsizing in
the USPS is ALL employees who actually MOVE THE
MAIL? There is ONE manager, supervisor, or
postmaster for every NINE employees across the
nation!!!! When are they going to cut back on
management? That's where the big bucks are
going---to pay them for sitting in front of
computers and looking out windows while the
workers are trying to do the work of 2 or 3
people because we are short handed!!! |
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| “Dear
Presidential Commission: I am a full-time
regular postal clerk in the southwest. I have
been a career employee for nearly 10 years. I am
a college graduate and registered republican.
Having worked in the postal service for 10
years, I can tell you that the system needs some
work. However, I do believe strongly in the
postal service and want to see it continue for
many years into the future. The postal service
does need some adjustments. Some of the
adjustments might include universal seniority,
better advancement opportunties, and more and
better job training. One thing that needs to
happen is for the GAO or an independent
organization to establish standards for labor
and management. The postal service has too many
tails wagging the dog. I sincerely hope that you
will adjust the postal service rather than
abolish it.” |
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|
“It is sad that I have attempted comments to the
individual parties on the commission with no
response at all. I would assume that all
agree that any comment would only be from
disgruntled employees. Not true! It may
enlighten some to hear from those in the field
that have first hand knowledge of the abuses of
the Postal Service. Saving dollars would and
could be not that difficult. Suggestions could
be just that, Suggestions, not complaints. Being
at the end of my career I have nothing to gain
and nothing to lose but integrity.” |
Related Links:
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| “Thank
you for this opportunity to express my views on
postal transformation. I am a FT FSM Clerk,
50 years old with 25 years of creditable
service, and I am considering going out on early
retirement. However, my union official has
informed us that there will NOT be a retirement
incentive. How can you allow this? We will be
doing the Postal Service a favor by freeing up
jobs and cutting their expenses. We will be
taking a 2% a year reduction in CSR benefits by
helping them cut jobs. Is this fair to punish
loyal employees in this manner? All I'm asking
for is basic justice in this matter. Are we
members of the postal team or not? Then please
treat us fairly. Give us a sweetener, such as
$25,000 or more, in a retirement bonus |
| |
| “Hello
It's been my opinion for many years
now that one aspect of reducing expenses
within the postal service should be first to
completely discontinue the use of any funds for
sponsoring Mr. Armstrong or any other sport
or other venue. We are in the service industry
and don't have the money for sponsorships.
Second to discontinue expensive and all other
advertisements of the Post Office and our
products. Every last American knows what the
Post Office is and what we sell.
And Third and the most important and the very
hardest for any commission, congress and perhaps
even any President to stop would be the BONUS or
any other fancy name the Post Office wants to
put on it. We are in the service industry we are
not private industry and as such there is no
reason whatsoever that the postmaster general
and any of the other higher and lower management
level employees should be given any thing EXTRA
at the end of our year past what their salary
was suppose to be. They can argue all that like
about CEO's of big companys, they are not CEO's
just employees such as myself a mear rural
carrier, I do not get anything extra at the end
of the year, The BONUS needs to stop and should
have never been allowed in the first place.
These three things alone would bring back
millions (and I dare say might even get in the
Billion mark) into holding cost down. Because,
I'm really getting feed up with management
saying employees' salary and! benefits is the
reason why costs are up and stamp prices are
getting raised, I'm the one out on the streets
hearing the complaints from my customers.” |
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“When you have a org.
that has one and a half adminastion people to
every three workers you are in trouble. The
supervisors and admin people do not generate any
revenue. the postal system is so top heavy it is
not funny. This is from Washington D.C. to
regional offices, district offices to the local
post offices. I think these are the things that
should be looked at.” |
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This commission should do some very thorough
investigating of postal mismanagement. When
managers are allowed to leave months ahead of
time of their retirement on sick leave, when
their very employees they are responsible for
are called on the carpet for abusing sick leave,
Yet managers are allowed to abuse this same sick
leave for the purpose of leaving way before
their retirement dates. Also spending millions
of dollars on equipment to automate the way mail
get to the people that deliver it, and yet it
takes longer to do the work and then management
cuts the time the carriers have do their work
and for less pay. How do i know this , because i
am one of those carriers. Over the last three or
so my time and pay has been repeatedly cut and
yet the actual work load is more and not less.
Yet the only people getting ahead are the higher
ups and other management people. My manager at
the p.o. i work at is getting out almost a whole
year ahead of his actual retirement date because
he will leave early on sick leave (supposedly
high blood pressure) which he has had for quite
some time. So why does he need to leave on sick
leave, so he can go camping more and more,
what's wrong with this picture???? TOO MUCH
ABUSE BY MANAGEMENT!!!!! SOMEONE NEEDS TO LOOK
AT THE BIG PICTURE!!!! HOPE THIS PRESIDENTIAL
COMMISSION REALLY LOOKS HARD AT WHAT'S REALLY
GOING ON!!!!! TALK TO SOME POSTAL WORKERS AND
NOT JUST THE MANAGMENT SIDE. TALK TO THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE DOING THE ACTUAL WORK, THAT IS
DELIVERING THE MAIL!!!!!” |
| |
| “First,
any ideas to privatize the USPS should be
squelched immediately. The establishment of
the Post Office is one of the few
constitutionally authorized duties of Congress,
and as such it should be under their direct
supervision. All this crap about
"self-sufficiency", etc. should be shelved in
favor of returning the USPS to the status of a
government entity under the direction of the
Congress, with its supervisors and managers held
accountable for performance. Secondly, bust the
unions out of the USPS. These guys have nothing
but their own parochial interests at heart, and
getting the mail delivered in the most
effective, cost-efficient manner possible is the
least of their concerns. They believe that once
hired, the USPS owes them a job, overtime to do
the work they should have gotten done in 8
hours, 2 hour breaks, etc. And this business of
grieving every petty little gripe of theirs is
costing the USPS a ton of money. Thirdly, it's
about time to make the pay scales a little more
realistic. Nobody can stay profitable by paying
illiterate janitors $19.00 an hour. And paying
people who do nothing more than take mail out of
a box and watch it run through a machine over
$20.00 an hour is simply nuts. There's no
shortage of people on the outside that wouldn't
be happy to come in and do work that requires no
skill or education for $10.00 an hour. Fourth,
start hiring supervisors and managers based on
their intelligence and capabilities, not how
they fit this week's desired quota profile. That
in itself could help get us a long way.”
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| “Good
Morning, While you folks are considering
restructuring the USPS, please look into the
delay in implementing new technology for
automated mail. I'm a Rural Carrier in
Sutherlin, Oregon. My co-workers and I have
often questioned why large mailers such as PP&L
, Avista , Qwest , Charter Cable , and even the
local city sewer and water bills are not
machined for speedier delivery. We know that our
main sorting center in Springfield has the
machinery. We wonder why our office is not
automated when the sorters have been online for
years. If the technology is cost effective,
should it not be in use for every office ?” |
| |
| “I
have been a Mail Receiving Agent for the US
Postal Service almost since they started the
program 25 years ago. I think that I am
qualified to make some sort of evaluation of the
POST OFFICE. I noticed that the post office has
signifcantly changed over the past 2 years and
their are problems. My solution wont make the
place run 100% better. But it will be more
profitable, busier, and more business does take
the heat off and keep everyone on more hours.
Post Office needs
to improve employee morale.
Post Office needs to improve credability.
Post Office needs to get small business back.
MY SOLUTION: I suggest that the post office
throw all the Priority Mail Envelopes (Not
Boxes) and guarantee them in two days. They can
be sent on the Express Mail Truck. Once the
public realized that it takes only two days to
get there. Watch sales build dramatically and
see a louder rize in consumer loyalty. Employees
can wear buttons: Priority in Two
Days. Guaranteed. You would start quite a
disturbance in the industry. Plus you could
introduce” |
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February 7, 2003
President's
Commission on the
United States Postal Service
1120 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite
971
Washington, D. C. 20005 Dear Members of the President's Commission on the United
States Postal Service,
We, the State Board of the Oregon
Rural Letter
Carriers Association, are working rural letter carriers employed by the US
Postal Service. We would like to share our thoughts and concerns in the
regard to the current state of affairs within the USPS. We would like to
thank each of you for your service in this are and ask that you keep an open
mind on all issues before you. Hundreds of thousands of postal employees
will be affected by the decisions that your commission will make.
The USPS has developed a Transformation Plan that contains strategies to
be more competitive with private business. The USPS has been unable to
implement all of these strategies due to regulatory and legislative
restraints They now have hopes of gaining additional powers such as:
the ability to negotiate rates with mailers; control more of the ratemaking
process; possibly eliminate Saturday deliveries; and gain mote power over
how much it pays its workers.
We believe that the Postal Service needs to be put back on budget,
ratemaking restrictions need to be removed, and allowances made for the
Postal Service to raise and lower rates to compete with private industry.
This would allow competition with private industry while at the same time
providing universal service and congressionally mandated non-profit and
handicapped services to the American public. The USPS cannot be privatized
without removing the Universal Service mandate, and we believe this would be
disastrous to rural America.
When considering the question of privatization for the Postal
Service please also consider that with all its' many problems, the US Postal
Service is still the best mail service in the world and is mandated to
provide universal service to all Americans. If the Postal Service were
privatized, unprofitable smaller rural offices would soon be closed. Private
mailers like Airborne Express only deliver packages that they can make a
profit on. They being their packages that go to rural areas (that they can't
make money on) to the USPS for delivery because we provide service to
everyone. Who would meet the needs of these people if all mail services were
for profit only? This is why the USPS must remain a nonprofit organization,
Mail service is something everyone wants and needs and the entire
country benefits from. The loss of universal quality service could eliminate
the ability of every American to be able to send or receive mail or from
anyone in the world. Everyone wants it, many still believe it is subsidized
and we believe few would be unwilling to support it with tax dollars rather
than what was needed to keep from loosing it.
Poor management practices and politics are the root cause for most of the
problems that now exist in the USPS. Uncaring and untrained managers daily
make decisions based on how the numbers look rather than on sound business
practices, with little or no regard for customer service or employees
morale. The USPS used its expertise to influence an arbitrator to gain an
advantageous decision over the rural carrier craft last year. The APWU has
recently seen its power base slip away as automation continues to decimate
the ranks of postal clerks. And city letter carriers have, for the first
time in recent years, seen their salaries slip in relation to benchmark
salaries. This is a serious issue for the Postal Workers of our country. We
see postal workers who care about doing a good job, who are seeing that
their employer is caring less and less about them and quality service and
more about cutting wages and scrimping on service to make it look like they
are running a successful business. We do not believe this is formula for
success.
The USPS is facing competition in every facet of its business and needs
to find a way to generate more revenue, while maintaining a quality level of
service to its customers, if it is to remain viable. Postal managers need to
use sound business practices, treat all employees with dignity, and respect
employees as fellow human beings as well as providing a fair and competitive
wage.
Thank You for your time and consideration on behalf of the Oregon Rural
Letter Carriers Association.
source: President's Commission on the United
States Postal Service-
download pdf 229k file
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Below is an unedited version of the
doc file submitted to the Postal Commission
Postalworkers for Management
Reform
1) Congress must temporarily step in and create a "management
model" through outside sources to include business psychiotrists and
successful businessmen and women. (Choosing to
do this affords managerial structure. We are not looking for
"perfect management" but a structured model. Presently the postal
service has no model and little to no structure.)
2) An extensive battery of tests must be developed by an outside
source to reflect and identify the "management model"
characteristics of current and future management personnel.
(This battery of tests must be administered in a
controlled environment by an outside source to all management and
supervisory personnel. The results of the testing will be evaluated
by the outside source which developed the testing material to
identify those which fit the model. This battery of tests must be
administered from top postal management down through the ranks
starting with the Postmaster General.)
3) Current postal handbooks and manuals must stay as they are and
be utilized, adhered to and enforced by all postal personnel as they
contain a wealth of information, structure and will keep personnel
on the same page with the same core postal goal in mind. Training
and instruction will be required to all postal personnel on postal
handbooks and manuals. Handbooks and manuals must be strictly
adhered to, however, some flexability may be necessary from time to
time. (Returns organization and function to
the postal service. Cuts postal cost through understanding of
handbooks and manuals. Keeps employees on the same page. Reduces
stress.)
4) Programs which do not contribute to the core function of the
postal service must be evaluated and eliminated. Programs such as;
Olympic sponsorship, EXFC, In office cost readings, RPW and ODIS
tests, Mystery shopper, Advertising materials for smaller office
lobbies, etc... tend to be wasteful. GAO official evaluations of the
above mentioned, automation, and postal e-commerse must be
recognized and action taken to eliminate waste.
(Saves postal service millions in postal positions eliminated and
contracts with organizations outside of the post office to perform a
job that should be entrusted to postal employees within the postal
service. Returns and builds a sense of belonging and trust to the
postal workforce.)
5) Smaller level offices which run costs higher than revnue
supports must be evaluated and possibly closed and consolidated into
other offices. (Saves postal service millions
nationwide in lease, utilities, employee pay and benifits as well as
postmaster relief.)
6) Level 18 and below offices must reduce workhours of
postmaster/supervisor positions to one office per day, 5 offices for
5 days per week positions. A lead clerk will be designated and
assume the former supervisors daily workload. Supervision must be
classified as an "area supervisor" to oversee 5 designated offices.
No supervisor need report on Saturday.
(Presently postmaster/supervisor work in level 18 and below consists
of approximately 15 minutes per day. The rest of their time is spent
performing craft work at a much higher payscale and against postal
handbooks, manuals and contracts. Eliminates 4 full time postmaster
positions. Pay's 1 postmaster at level 18 to cover 5 offices.
Eliminates management performing craft work grievances. Pay's clerk
at level 5. Saves postal service millions nationwide.)
7) 204B program must be transformed to a managerial training
course and utilized for only personnel which have aquired permanent
supervisory positions. All present and future managerial personnel
must be required to attend, pass and adhere to knowledge aquired
through this course. 204B and postmaster relief in smaller offices
must be eliminated. (Put's management on the
same page of management goals and functions. Creates stability.
Eliminates millions nationwide in 204b and postmaster relief pay.)
source:
treasury.gov
3/9/10
Postal 'Reform' Created the USPS’
Financial Plight
Bill’s
Author Can’t Change the Facts:
In a continuing effort to rewrite
history, the author of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement
Act (PAEA) has attempted to refute the Postal Service’s
contention that the 2006 law is responsible for the Postal
Service’s current financial difficulties. But the author of the
bill can’t change the facts: Postal ‘reform’ legislation has
forced the Postal Service to the brink of insolvency, APWU
President William Burrus noted in an Update for union
members. |
•
Opinion: USPS Bent On
Destroying Itself
•
Mailman robbed,
stabbed on route
3/8/10
Federal Times: Postal Rescue Plan Faces Impossible Odds
postal leaders last week pleaded
with stakeholders — unions, Congress and customers — to support
drastic reforms: a sharp rate hike next year; the end of
Saturday delivery; widespread post office closures; changes to
the Postal Service's formula for financing health care benefits
for retirees; and deep staffing cuts. But few of those measures
now appear likely to win approval — leaving the Postal Service
with no clear fallback plan for closing its mammoth deficits. The U.S. Postal Service is Officially in a Panic
(3/8) |
APWU Urges Members to Support Six-Day Mail Delivery
The APWU is asking union members to
contact their U.S. Representatives and encourage them to
co-sponsor House Resolution 173, which urges the Postal Service
to continue to provide mail delivery six days per week. |
OIG
Blog: Will Postal Service bosses go undercover in the future?
“Undercover Boss,” a CBS show that
began airing in February, follows Chief Executive Officers
(CEOs) as they go undercover to work primarily in lower-level
positions in their own companies. Beyond its entertainment
value, the episodes have exposed a significant disconnect
between senior management and employees. Postal employees often
say their managers fail to communicate various corporate
policies to them, fail to listen to their comments and
suggestions, and fail to understand how corporate policies
ultimately affect field operations. |
Post Office Worker's Request For Work AEDs
Denied
On June 9, 2009, Greg Danner
arrived to his job at the downtown Minneapolis post office and
noticed his co-worker Art Tilson was looking pale. Little did he
know it would be the last time he would see his friend alive.
Approximately 30 minutes after he started the work day he
collapsed of a heart attack," said Danner. Danner's efforts to
get Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) into the post
office have been denied, even after fellow employees made the
requests in December and an organization offered to donate them
for free. |
Former USPS BOG chairman is named to head DHL Global Mail
board
S. David Fineman, a former chairman
of the U.S. Postal Service board of governors, has been
appointed chairman of the Americas region for DHL Global Mail,
the small-package courier service unit of Germany-based Deutsche
Post DHL. |
FedEx Is
Again USPS’s Largest Supplier For Seventh Straight Year
For the seventh straight year,
FedEx is the Postal Service’s top supplier. FedEx transports
Express, Priority, and First Class Mail, and earned postal
revenues of $1.4 billion in fiscal 2009 – more than triple the
amount of the next largest supplier. While at the top of the
list, FedEx’s postal revenues declined from a high point of over
$1.6 billion. Another postal competitor, United Parcel Service,
is also one of the Postal Service’s top suppliers, netting $83
million in revenue and holding the 18th spot. |
Editorial: Reinventing
The Post Office
What would be lost, for example, by
delivering first-class mail perhaps three times a week, and
advertising and magazines only on, say, Mondays? Could post
offices better serve their customers as communications centers,
providing public Internet service? How can the government make
better use of the unparalleled contacts that letter carriers
have with every resident and business in the nation?
|
•
USPS and U.S. Postal Inspection
Service To Mark National Consumer Protection Week March 7-13
•
USA Today: 'Something has to give'
•
At the post office: Town welcomes permanent postmaster
•
Mailboxes removed for lack of use
•
'Waste' mail is part of the rising cost of the 2010 Census
•
Millvale Post Office will remain open with service cuts
•
3rd Pueblo postal carrier admits theft
•
Postal Service letter
carrier indicted for workers’ comp fraud
3/7/10
USPS
Presentation On Proposed 5-Day Delivery Operations
Reasons for moving to five-day
delivery: Decreasing mail volumes; Increasing
delivery points; Mail mix now yielding larger volumes with lower
contribution margins; Existing cost cutting programs not enough .
|
USPS Update
On Flats Sequencing System
Installation
schedule of machines 51 – 75 in development; 50 FSS installations
complete by end of July;20 FSS locations.
|
Congresswoman Emerson: Five-Day Postal Delivery Hurts Rural
Areas
U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08)
responded to an announcement that the U.S. Postal Service will
seek to drop one day of home delivery in an effort to offset
budget shortfalls. Emerson, who represents the mostly-rural
Eighth Congressional District in Southern Missouri, says the
reduction of delivery days would adversely affect residents of
her part of the state.
|
•
Postal Service worker injured in collision in
Fall River
•
Residents hoping to save their threatened post office
3/6/10
Poll: Most Americans think a mail-free Saturday
sounds fine
a new Rasmussen Reports poll this week
indicates that while an overwhelming majority of Americans (70%)
have a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, a substantial majority
(58%) are good with not getting 15 to 20 pizza flyers and pre-approved
credit card offers on Saturday. In fact, some folks suggested that
to save even more money, the Postal Service eliminate mail delivery
Monday through Friday and just bring it all by on Saturday, so it
can be thrown out at once.
|
•
Economy Can Handle Fewer Postal Workers
•
PRC Examination of Post Office Suspension Abuse Drawing to Close
•
Failure in Postal Commentary
•
USPS Communications Issues Continue - 8125 Checklist
•
End Saturday mail: U.S. Postal Service can save billions, join the 21st
century
•
Postal carrier helps injured Swannanoa resident
•
Help the U.S. Postal Service: Only Congress can ease postal service expenses
•
Postal Service Urged to Weigh Three-Days-a-Week Mail
•
Bats bring postal service to screeching halt
•
Why the Mail Should Come Every Other Day
3/5/10
Is the Postal
Service Destined to Fail?
The Minyanville column suggests that
the Postal Service will Fail because the legislative and regulatory
process will not move fast enough to allow the Postal Service to
handle a wave of change that is similar to what has already devastated
newspapers and magazines. This viewpoint is not without merit
as the Postal Service's proposal is similar to other proposed policy
changes designed to transform an industry in that the benefits are
diffuse (i.e. all businesses and households that would use a universal
mail delivery network in 2020), and the costs are concentrated (i.e.
job cuts, higher postage rates, changed retail presence).
|
California
Community Concerned By Sex Offender Mail Carrier
54-year old mail carrier's is pictured
on the Megan’s Law website. It says the mail carrier committed a
lewd or lascivious act with a child under 14 years old. He also,
according to the website, lives near Morning Creek Elementary school.
Holly says she met with a postal service investigator in December.
“The investigator told me that if they tried to change his route
that they could be sued by the postal workers union..."
USPS Plans To Root Out Sex Offenders |
•
Will end of USPS Saturday delivery kill Netflix?
•
Postal Service Urged to Weigh Delivering Mail Three Days a Week
•
Mail Delivery Times Changing in Cedar Rapids
•
Will Difficult Decisions Wait Until 2010?
•
Postal workers accused of drinking in lot near post office
•
Post Office fund-raising ban slows down soldier support
3/4/10
Post Office
Teams With Target To Save Money
Facing a projected $7 billion loss
this year, the United States Postal Service is hoping to shut down
some locations and reopen in drug stores and grocery chains to save
money. In North Texas, Target has already launched a joint venture
with USPS designed to give its customers more in-store convenience.
USPS
planning to add kiosks to retail stores and consumer sites
|
•
'The Path Forward' of the Postal Service
•
Technology Could Deliver USPS From Debt
•
Confessions of a Former Station Manager 2010 (PDF)
•
Body of missing Postal Worker found
•
USPS to test a repurposed electric vehicle fleet
•
Supreme Court Upholds Order to Remove
Religious Materials From Contract PO
•
Bill calls for feds who owe taxes to be fired
•
TSP: Getting Bigger & Better
•
Postal Service Preparing Double Whammy
for Publishers
•
Direct Marketers, Catalog Companies:
We Can Adjust to Five-Day Postal Week
3/3/10
APWU Rejects USPS Call For Five-Day Delivery,
New Business Model
Calls For OIG Investigation
into USPS expanding role of subcontracting
-
APWU President William
Burrus condemned USPS proposals to reduce mail delivery to five
days per week, saying, “It would be the beginning of the demise
of the Postal Service. “Postal management has intensified its financial
problems by offering excessive worksharing discounts to major mailers
and by subcontracting work at exorbitant costs,” Burrus said. “We
call for a thorough investigation by the Office of the Inspector
General into the expanding role of subcontracting and the inflated
costs associated with them,” he said.
|
Postal Service Plans to Use More Part-Time
Employees
Dead Tree Edition: The U.S. Postal
Service plans to rely more on part-time employees as it adjusts
its operations for declining mail volume.“ Annually, approximately
5 percent of employees are eligible and expected to retire. It would
not make sense to replace them with full-time employees if demand
is moving in a direction better suited to a part-time workforce,”
the USPS says in its “Action Plan for the Future” “Over the next
10 years, over 300,000 employees — more than half the current workforce
— will be eligible to retire. This will provide an opportunity to
make the workforce even more efficient by increasing use of flexible
and part-time employees.”
|
•
Linda Welch Named VP, Southeast Area
•
Confessions of a Former Station Manager 2010 (PDF)
•
PRC Initiates Review of USPS Pension Liability
•
Audit Report - Highway Contract Route Transportation - Greater Chicago
(PDF)
•
Postal Service Requests PRC Review of CSRS Liabilities (PDF)
3/2/10
NALC opposes cutback in mail service; urges
Congress to give USPS ‘financial breathing room’
-
“I do not believe that weakening
our commitment of six-day service to the public will enhance the
long-term position of the Postal Service as a critical element
in our nation’s economic infrastructure,” Rolando said. “In view
of the January report released by the postal Inspector General
that showed that the USPS was overcharged by $75 billion for
postal pension costs, Congress instead should take immediate
steps to correct the error.”
|
Postal Service
Outlines 10-Year Plan to Address Declining Revenue, Volume
Facing unprecedented volume declines and a projected, cumulative
$238 billion shortfall during the next decade, Postmaster General
John E. Potter today outlined an aggressive plan of cost cutting,
increased productivity, and an array of legislative and regulatory
changes necessary to maintain a viable United States Postal Service.
Establish a more flexible workforce that is better positioned to
respond to changing demand patterns, as more than 300,000 employees
become eligible to retire in the coming decade.
Postal
Service to shed another 30000 jobs
|
•
Postal myths- is Potter right?
•
OH: Bomb threat
prompts search of post office
•
USPS Confirm EMD
Gets Another Stay of Execution
3/1/10
Postal
Service Expected To Announce 'Significant Changes'
The U.S. Postal Service will release
projections Tuesday that confirm for the first time the suspicion
that mail volume will never return to pre-recession levels. In response,
the agency is pushing anew for a dramatic reshaping of how Americans
get and send their letters and packages. In an effort to offset
some of the losses, Potter seeks more flexibility in the coming
year to set delivery schedules, prices and labor costs. The changes
could mean an end to Saturday deliveries, longer delivery times
for letters and packages, higher postage-stamp prices that exceed
the rate of inflation, and the potential for future layoffs. Officials
will also seek greater flexibility in forthcoming union negotiations,
including addressing ballooning health-care costs, Potter said.
A
Message From PMG Jack Potter: Envisioning America’s Future Postal
Service
|
Previewing the Postal Service's Proposal |
USPS is pushing for a radical reshaping |
Could Longer
Lines Be Coming to Your Local Post Office…Lottery Lines?
USPS OIG: According to a representative
on the Postal Regulatory Commission’s staff, a Postal Service-run
lottery “could offer the potential for substantial profits for the
Postal Service and utilize its current retail infrastructure with
its 36,000 retail outlets.” Popular lottery formats in many states
include drawings and instant lottery tickets. The claim is that
running a national lottery could help the U.S. Postal Service close
its multibillion-dollar budget gap. It could also build foot traffic
to post offices, increasing retail sales of postal products. A lottery
might bring in a lot of revenue, but would it also bring more problems.
|
Postal Service
to Add Self-Service Retirement Feature to LiteBlue
The Postal Service will add a new feature
(eRetire) to LiteBlue which will provide employees the option of
using self-service to begin the retirement process.
|
Tree Crushes
Mail Truck
A Westport postal worker is injured
but lucky after a tree crushed a mail truck on Monday. Postal
Worker : "I Lucked Out" )
|
•
TSP Funds Flourish
In February
•
Coca-Cola PepsiCo
and the USPS
•
Crews search forest for missing mail
bags
•
Going green, Postal Service expands
recycling
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