July 31, 2006 - APWU: USPS Lists 139 Facilities As ‘Potential Candidates’ for Consolidation - "The Postal Service was forced to acknowledge in testimony to the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) in July that nearly a year ago it had compiled a list of 139 facilities that were being considered “potential candidates” for consolidation. The USPS provided the list to the PRC on July 25.David Williams, who coordinates the Area Mail Processing program at USPS headquarters, revealed the existence of the list during cross-examination on July 19. He testified that the list of facilities was part of the Evolutionary Network Development (END) initiative, and was generated in September 2005. It identified facilities that postal headquarters wanted regional managers to consider for possible inclusion in the program, he said .” |

July 31, 2006 - American Flat Sorter IDOL

"Sure, you always thought AFSM stood for Automated Flat Sorting Machine. But a new competition announced recently will help us find another kind of AFSM — American Flat Sorter Megastars! The contest is open to all AFSM 100 Ai / ATHS modified sites and awards will be given to the first site to reach AFSM “Idol” status. The highest Ai / ATHS performing site in each area becomes a national finalist. To earn a chance to compete, you’ll need a 16,500 piece average site throughput per hour. Your site also must average 200,000 pieces per machine day and has to sustain this level of performance for three weeks — without exceeding 70 hours average Operation 140 daily per machine. Look for posters explaining the contest and rules in a processing unit near you. Contest ends."  USPS News Link |

July 31, 2006 - Postal Clerk finds roots in father - For the past 50 years, John Hale has been coming through the back door of the Fort Morgan Post Office. Hale was honored July 13 for his 35 years of service with the U.S. Postal Service in Fort Morgan. While Hale has logged 35 years at the local post office, he has been part of the operation since his father, Raymond Hale, worked there as a carrier. Starting when he was about 8 years old, Hale said he would come in with his father, who worked as a rural carrier for 27 years, to the office whenever he could and watch him sort mail.

July 29, 2006  - Ex-Letter Carrier Sentenced for Postal Supervisor's Murder
"Grant Gallaher will spend at least the next 35 years of his life in prison for the April 4 murder of Lori Hayes-Kotter, his supervisor at the Baker City Post Office where he was employed as a letter carrier, and the attempted murder of the postmaster. Gallaher, 41, pleaded guilty Friday in Baker County Circuit Court before Judge Greg Baxter to murder and attempted aggravated murder. Gallaher admitted shooting Hayes-Kotter to death with a .357-caliber Magnum handgun and attempting to use the gun to kill Michael McGuire, Baker City postmaster." |

July 29, 2006 - Postal Service changes in Yakima (Wash.) put on hold - The U.S. Postal Service has delayed a decision on cutting back its Yakima operations in light of congressional skepticism about the purported savings and effect on mail service, postal officials said Friday. Last week, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., included language in an appropriations bill that directs the postal service not to move outgoing mail operations from Yakima to Pasco until an independent review is conducted. The bill has not yet passed the full Senate or House, but Ernie Swanson, a spokesman for the postal service in Seattle, said it's likely to. "So we're holding off," he said. A decision has been delayed indefinitely, he added

July 29, 2006

Trenton APWU Excessing Update
Postal worker forced to disrobe settles lawsuit

Maine post offices sell most cancer-research stamps, win contest

Dog Attacks Have Postal Carriers on Alert
Woman Held for Trial in Postal Worker Stabbing

Man Gets 22 Years In Post Office-Check Scandal
eNAPUS: UPS Vows to Kill Bill Over Single-Piece Parcels (PDF)

Ex-mailman is convicted in Torrance home invasion

July 28, 2006 - eNAPUS: UPS Vows to Kill Bill Over Single-Piece Parcels (PDF) -Ben Franklin would not have signed the U.S. Constitution had he known that it bestowed United Parcel Service with veto authority. Just to make sure such a power was not snuck in, NAPUS scoured the document and its 26 Amendments; we found no UPS veto power. Yet, this week UPS warned Congressional postal reform advocates that it would use its imagined authority to kill H.R. 22, unless a provision that protects rural and residential communities is stripped from the bill. USPS data reveals that residential and rural parcel customers would suffer a 40% rate increase if Congress kowtows to the UPS threat. |

July 28, 2006  - GAO Says USPS Delivery Standards, Reporting Need Improvement - "While the U.S. Postal Service has delivery standards for its major types of mail, some have not been updated in a number of years to reflect changes in how mail is prepared and delivered. For example, the report said USPS does not measure and disclose its delivery performance for most types of mail. Representative measures cover less than one-fifth of mail volume and do not include Standard Mail, bulk First-Class Mail, periodicals and most package services. "According to the deputy postmaster general, some Priority Mail delivery standards call for on-time delivery of Priority Mail in two days, but it is often physically impossible for U.S.P.S. to meet these standards when that requires moving the mail across the country," the report said ." Mail Delivery Standards Called Outdated | GAO 120-page report (PDF) |

July 28, 2006 - White House, Mailer and UPS Demands Threaten Postal Reform (doc) -  Postal reform’s fragile footing in the Congress edged perilously closer to failure this week, due to White House, mailer and UPS pressures that threaten the viability of a final postal overhaul bill.  Administration and mailer insistence on the inclusion of the Senate-passed ratemaking exigency language, along with UPS threats to oppose any bill that doesn’t open-up competition on single-piece parcels, have dramatically complicated the outlook for postal reform, with relatively little time remaining in the session.    

July 28, 2006 - Postal official forced to strip gets trial on lawsuit she filed - A trial began Thursday to decide a lawsuit brought by a female U.S. Postal Service manager who was forced by a male employee to walk naked, do jumping jacks and fondle herself in front of co-workers. The 45-year-old Akron woman has not returned to work since the incident more than three years ago, according to court documents. She claims Lonnie Wilson unlawfully imprisoned her, assaulted her and caused extreme emotional distress.

July 28, 2006 - USPS Awards Lockheed $17.4M Contract - U.S. Postal Systems parcels could get a speedier delivery as Owego's Lockheed Martin's Distribution Technologies unit installs optical character-recognition technology at 19 bulk mailing centers. The company was awarded a $17.4 million contract by the USPS to install the computerized address-reading systems in 38 secondary parcel- sorting systems. Optical character recognition will improve efficiency by eliminating an extra step in parcel processing, reduce manual mail handling and complement the current bar-code technology," said Brian Tanton, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Distribution Systems in Owego. "Our optical recognition systems will support the USPS in achieving its strategic goals through improved read rates and productivity in bulk mail centers. Previously, only barcode-embossed parcels could be automatically sorted

July 28, 2006 - Post offices get forwarded to new addresses - The United States Postal Service has made significant changes to its post offices in Lower Manhattan. Two locations have closed, one has opened and two are expected to open soon, a Postal Service spokesperson said.

July 28, 2006

July 27, 2006 - Clerk Charged with Masterminding Armed Robbery at Post Office

"The feds charged a postal clerk yesterday with masterminding a $65,000 armed heist at the Brooklyn post office where he worked. Clerk Derrek Pannell allegedly shot a videotape of the James E. Davis Post Office on Empire Blvd. before the robbery last November to show his accomplices the locations of the employee entrance and a safe containing the most cash. Pannell, 32, of Queens, and Darren Rucker, 26, of Long Island, bound six employees with plastic ties and forced the manager to open the safe at gunpoint, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court. Investigators suspected the robbery was an inside job because the masked bandits knew the security code needed to unlock the employee entrance and which one of the four safes held the daily receipts." |

July 27, 2006

July 26, 2006 - APWU Launches Ad Campaign To Combat Consolidation

 The APWU is taking its grassroots campaign against USPS “network realignment” to a new level by airing radio and television ads that warn of week-long delays in mail delivery. Broadcast advertising began July 26, with radio and television commercials running in Beaumont (TX), Bloomington (IN), Cumberland (MD), St. Petersburg (FL), and Yakima (WA), cities where APWU activists have already taken steps to inform citizens about the negative effect USPS network consolidation plans will have on mail service for individual postal customers and small businesses. |

July 26, 2006  - Update: Mail Carrier Loses Both Legs -Action News has learned that a postal worker injured by a suspected drunk driver has lost both of her legs.  Doctors had to amputate her legs yesterday She is in critical condition. Mail Carrier Identified. As Larry Pacentrilli tried to stop the bleeding from her legs, postal worker Maureen DePrince, 38, struggled to convey a request." She was saying, ‘Tell my husband and my mother I love them.' I guess she thought she was going to die,” Pacentrilli said.  |

July 25, 2006 - Azeezaly Jaffer Left USPS Under Allegations of Financial, Improper Conduct -"A Postal Inspection Service report dated June 19 includes accusations of Jaffer running up an excessive $8,252 hotel bill at a three-day event in Washington, of bypassing the Postal Service travel agency in order to obtain travel promotional benefits and spending extravagantly on meals and drinks. The report also included allegations of excessive drinking, using crass language in mixed company and commenting on the appearance of female co-workers."|

July 25, 2006 - Postal Boss Acknowledges Philadelphia Problems
District manager now says new processing plant has caused delays -Since the Daily News' July 5 story of political mailings mishandled at the new Southwest Philadelphia mail-processing center, bulk mailers and frustrated citizens have come forward with more horror stories of mail being delivered late or lost altogether. And postal workers say hundreds of job transfers due to automation at the new plant have created chaos there and at post offices throughout the region. But the biggest challenge - or calamity, depending on whom you listen to - has been the elimination and transfer of hundreds of postal jobs. The automated equipment resulted in elimination of more than 600 postal-clerk positions, offset partly by about 100 new mail-handler jobs.  Customers: Help is spotty |

July 25, 2006

July 24, 2006 - Mail Carrier Loses Leg In Hit-And-Run

Police said a mail carrier lost one of her legs Monday when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Ventnor. Tabasso said the mail carrier had delivered her mail a few minutes earlier." When I seen two legs going that way, I said, 'Oh my God.' I just started crying," Tabasso said. Police said that just before noon, the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta crashed into the postal service worker while she was unloading mail from her van. Ventnor crash severs postal worker's leg; man charged with DWI |

July 24, 2006 - Letter - Postal Workers Injured on Duty Should Know Their Rights - by Dean Albrecht - It is extremely important that any Injured on Duty (IOD) employee currently in the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program or is going to be thrust in to it know their rights. Do not be intimidated by the Claims Examiner nor the State contracted VR officer. The lack of information being explained to the IOD employee about the VR process by the Claims Examiner and the VR officer is disturbing. ....there is a lot more to inform the affected “Culled” employee. I have spent years in researching this program in anticipation of it being instituted as outlined in the Reorganization Act in which I obtained a copy of in 2003, during one of the many visit to L’Efant Plaza for the Glover settlement. |

July 24, 2006 - Engel demands regional postal service lift embargo on mail to Israel, Lebanon - Rep. Eliot Engel is demanding that regional postal officials lift what he called a ridiculous embargo on outgoing letters and packages headed to Israel and Lebanon.

July 24, 2006 - Post office reports progress - Officials with the U.S. Postal Service say that most problems with slow mail-delivery service in Las Cruces have been corrected since a December report was conducted by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General.

July 24, 2006 - Peerflix Teams with USPS to Provide Online DVD Tracking  - Peerflix, the leading peer-to-peer (P2P) network that allows members to legally trade DVDs online, today announced a relationship with the U.S. Postal Service allowing Peerflix members to track the shipping status of their DVDs online. Peerflix members, who trade DVDs directly with one another, will be notified each time a DVD is scanned at a U.S. Postal Service location as it travels to their home, in a pioneer application of U.S. Postal Service technology traditionally leveraged by large businesses.

July 23, 2006 - Postal Workers Back Verdict in Lawsuit

Postal workers from Bucks County and communities as far away as Texas and Florida expressed satisfaction after reading a Courier Times story about one of their peers who won a ($500,000) lawsuit in federal court against supervisors in the Langhorne Post Office. Several respondents took time to recount experiences with their bosses they said mirrored what Willingboro resident Willie Brown went through before he lost his job. Many described working conditions that raise questions about how the U.S. Postal Service oversees its managers. “My observation is that the postal service promotes a culture of intimidation and harassment. It appears that supervisors have financial incentives, which lead them to treat employees in a very hostile fashion,”   [Brown's attorney Marc] Weinstein said. Fired Postal Worker Wins Reinstatement, $500,000 |

July 22, 2006  - New Postal Guidelines Delaying Newspaper Deliveries
"Recent changes in the way the Postal Service handles magazines and newspapers have caused delivery delays statewide, particularly to rural areas. New guidelines implemented in early July call for periodicals to be sacked and sent to Denver for sorting before being returned to Steamboat for delivery. That process takes one or two days, which caused the delays. Before the new guidelines, periodicals delivered to post office boxes or via carrier were set aside and handled by local delivery drivers or dropped off at rural post offices. " |

 July 20, 2006 - APWU: Anti-Labor Provisions Threaten Postal Reform
"At a meeting last week attended by key congressional sponsors and White House officials, the administration made clear its demands for support of the legislation: The White House insists that the provisions allowing the unions to defer unresolved collective bargaining issues to binding arbitration be modified to require arbitrators to consider the economic health of the Postal Service in their final decision. An additional point of contention involves placing limits on the USPS' ability to adjust postage rates. At the urging of the large mailers, the administration is demanding that postage-rate increases - with very few exceptions - be limited by increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)." Summertime Blues for Postal Reform |

July 20, 2006 - Pacific Area VP Iniguez to Head USPS Energy Management Strategies - Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donahoe has announced that Al Iniguez will take on the critical role of leading the Postal Service in developing and implementing national strategies to help manage our rapidly escalating energy costs. Northland District Manager Michael Daley will act as Pacific Area Vice President, overseeing postal operations for California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the trust territories. ” |

July 19, 2006 - Driving Postal Vehicle Without Seatbelt May Get You Fired
At least that is one of the events which lead up the removal of a Warren, Michigan letter carrier after getting injured on the job. David Aleck was removed from his position as letter carrier based on three charges: (1) “failure to perform duties in a safe manner.” He was driving the vehicle without wearing a seat belt and with the door open. Aleck fell from the postal vehicle he was operating, and the vehicle then struck a parked car. The second charge was (2) “failure to immediately report an accident.” The accident occurred at 11:00 a.m., but he did not report it until 12:45 p.m. The third charge was (3) “failure to follow instructions to report to clinic.” Aleck failed to obey the instructions of his supervisor that he report to a medical clinic for an evaluation. MSPB ruled removal was justified and the federal circuit court found no reason to overturn that decision.|

July 19, 2006 - Ask President Burrus : Bidding by Seniority is Outdated
I think people should be qualified for the jobs they are bidding into. I have been doing my job as a DCO for nine years. I have a live record, I am currently qualified, and I have been trained on every aspect of the job. What made my blood BOIL was seeing DCO vacancies awarded to people who are “pending qualification.” What kind of nonsense is this? Only in the Post Office can someone “qualify” for a job they’ve never done before because they have some sort of seniority. Try that in the real world; they wouldn’t even get an interview. This system is outmoded, outdated, and in need of an overhaul. |

July 19, 2006   - Letter Carriers Feeling the Heat
"Traveling their routes in trucks without air conditioning, most carriers have to develop their own ways to cope with weather extremes. They do, however, get advice from the U.S. Postal Service on how to deal with heat waves in the summer and blizzards in the winter, said Shannon LaBruyere, communications specialist for the U.S. Postal Service for the Southeast Michigan Performance Cluster. "The Postal Service tells letter carriers to drink lots of fluids or to take breaks," said Tim Smith, treasurer of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Local 3126, in Madison Heights. "It would be nice if it  provided bottled water on these extremely hot days," said Smith."

July 17, 2006  - Postal Reform Bill Talks Stall Over Labor Costs

Cooper, who also chairs the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, said the Postal Service offers better benefits packages than other unionized companies. Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce, also said White House advisers, headed by Deputy Chief of Staff Joel Kaplan, are pushing for a final bill to include Senate language that would require all labor negotiations to go through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Currently, contract agreements are negotiated among three representatives -- one from labor, one from the Postal Service and one neutral negotiator hired by both sides. Under the Senate measure, the arbitrators would have to take into account the Postal Service's financial status when considering bargaining agreements, which Del Polito said could weigh heavily against labor unions. Staff Members Hope to Settle Differences on Postal Reform - NPMHU President John F. Hegarty said his group opposes a White House-backed, and mailing industry-supported "hard cap" on postal rates. "The added cost, the mailers suggest, should come out of the hide of employees. " |

July 18, 2006 - Man Faces Charges After Shocking Postal Carrier With Snake - Snake-in-mailbox joke comes back to bite prankster- A man who tried to play a joke on his female postal carrier by placing a 6-foot boa constrictor in his mailbox is facing criminal charges and up to six months in prison. U.S. postal worker Nakeema Anderson was making her rounds when she opened Mell's mailbox and was confronted with the massive snake, according to court records." It was an incredibly stupid practical joke that wasn't funny," said James Rutherford Mell . |

July 18, 2006 - News Orleans Neighborhood Finally Gets Mail Delivery
Roosevelt Johnson opened the door to a big surprise Monday morning. The mailman. "Mail in the Lower 9th Ward — ain't that something," said Johnson, 46, who hasn't seen a mailman around the neighborhood since Hurricane Katrina deluged the city 11 months ago. "This means a lot," he said, shaking mail carrier Wayne Treaudo's hand . The Postal Service says it is now delivering mail along at least a portion of 350 of its 406 pre-Katrina routes. |

July 17, 2006  - USPS Migrating Personnel Info to PostalPEOPLE System - Postal Service transforms human resources to meet the demands of the information age - The Postal Service is replacing its existing outdated human resources technology with a fully-integrated system to streamline, standardize and automate HR processes. Once fully implemented, the new system—called PostalPEOPLE—will be the largest of its kind anywhere. One of the main benefits of PostalPEOPLE is that it allows employees to perform routine HR tasks when it is most convenient for them – either at personnel kiosks located at postal facilities around the country, or away from the workplace through a new online system with a personal computer at home, local library, or internet café. Employees can also call an interactive voice recognition (IVR) system from any location. This 24/7 availability is important because many postal employees work non-traditional hours and don’t have the opportunity to address HR issues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m  |

July 17, 2006  - Michigan: Saginaw man soon charged with hijacking mail truck - Police found the man about 35 minutes after the incident. They also recovered the mail truck at the home, and postal workers completed delivering the mail that day, Richmond said.

July 16, 2006 - Arizona: Sharing, stealing $3.2 million - (Louis) Holley was one of a dozen postal workers in Phoenix who chipped in $5 a week for an office lottery pool. In January 1987, they hit the jackpot in the Pick. But $3.2 million split among 12 people was only $270,000 apiece. Paid out over 20 years, as all jackpots were then, meant Holley and the other winners each got $13,000 a year. Fourteen years into the 20-year annuity, Holley was accused of taking a $3.2 million jackpot all on his own. In June 2001, someone stole millions from the Postal Service's General Mail Facility at 48th and Van Buren Streets, where the winners worked. It was an inside heist, from the facility's Red Room, an interim bank that was full of money orders, gold shipments and bags of cash.  |

- 2001: Postal Inspectors Offer Reward for Fugitive in $3.2 Million Theft

July 16, 2006 - Florida: Marrow drive set by postal workers - Postal employees are trying to find a cure for a 12-year-old suffering from Aplastic Anemia. More than 100 employees have registered for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry since July 13 in hopes of helping Kenny Conidaris, of San Carlos Park. This Friday, registered postal employees will wear “Delivering Life” shirts and blue wristbands to bring awareness to the community blood and marrow drive at Lani Kai Resort in Fort Myers Beach on July 22.

July 14, 2006  - NALC: Postal Reform in Jeopardy! (PDF)

(NALC News Bulletin) "NALC’s support for comprehensive postal reform legislation is now cast in doubt after key mailers walked away from an effort to find a reasonable compromise on the issue of price indexing that lies at the heart of the legislation languishing in Congress. The mailers abandoned negotiations with pro-reform employee groups, including NALC, and lined up behind the Bush Administration’s demand for the inflexible, “hard price cap” included in the Senate-passed version of the bill. The demand is just one of many damaging anti-labor proposals being pushed by the White House, including one to interfere with our collective bargaining by tilting the interest arbitration process in favor of postal management and another to saddle the USPS with military pension obligations." |

- NPMHU: Postal Reform Takes Dramatic Turn For The Worse

- eNAPUS Legislative Newsletter: Postal Reform Tripartite (PDF)

July 14, 2006  - APWU Joins Workers' Rights Demonstration at NLRB Headquarters - "The current administration's NLRB has been slashing workers' rights at every turn," said APWU President William Burrus, who attended the rally with union national officers and staff, along with the 17-member Constitution Committee, which has been meeting in Washington this week. "The Bush labor board has already ruled against the on-the-job rights of rights of disabled employees, temporary workers and graduate students," Burrus continued. "Now they are trying to undermine the entire labor movement by making millions of people ineligible for union representation - we must fight against this."  |

July 13, 2006 - Four Postal Workers Arrested On Drug Charges
"A couple of Boston area postal workers were allegedly delivering more than just the mail on their routes, authorities said on Wednesday. Four postal workers (3 letter carriers, 1 clerk) were arrested Wednesday and charged with a variety of drug violations, including two men who at times allegedly sold cocaine or marijuana while on duty, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said. Michael Sheehan, 42, of Revere; Stanley Giordano, 42, of Newburyport; Raymond Bell, 37, of Chelsea; and Michael Micciche, 38, of Revere, all pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in Chelsea District Court." |

July 12, 2006  - Pay-for-Performance Plan Boosts Postal Managers’ Salaries

"Postmasters, executives, supervisors and administrative workers in many cases are seeing higher annual raises and bonuses under the U.S. Postal Service’s nearly 3-year-old pay-for-performance system than they did under the previous system. Increases are averaging 5 percent under the new system, compared with 4 percent previously. “Overall the league is pleased with it,” said Steve LeNoir, National League of Postmasters president. “The raises under [the new plan] are better than in the past. The average increase for league members now is about 5 percent per year, compared with 3 percent before, he said. The National Association of Postmasters of the United States, meanwhile, reported that the average salary increase for its postmasters in 2005 was 4.45 percent and the average bonus payment was 1.3 percent. “It is better than anything else before it,” NAPUS president Dale Goff said.  |

July 12, 2006  - Elyria post office to eliminate 8 routes
"The U.S. Postal Service will shake up its routes in Elyria this month, eliminating about eight routes and folding them in with other routes. "If you had afternoon delivery, you might have morning delivery, and if you had morning delivery, you might have afternoon delivery," Postal Service spokesman Dave Van Allen said. None of the 98 mail carriers assigned to Elyria will lose their jobs. Instead, Van Allen said, about eight carriers will be shifted to other post offices." |

Residents won’t be told if mail will be affected | Framingham: Route Changes Create Heavy Burden

July 12, 2006 - Postal Service Launches Huge Motivation Program

In its new iteration, the USPS' eAwards program, which tracks various metrics of postal performance and subsequent rewards, has partnered with "approved vendors.." Some of the performance metrics the USPS tracks include basic job functions and attendance records. But the program also uses more innovative metrics as well, like mystery shopping, in which managers go undercover as consumers and reward employees who display exemplary customer service. The USPS earmarks $200 million each year to reward its 78,000 managers and 779,000 employees. GiftCertificates.com Chosen by USPS   |

July 12, 2006 - Hurricane-displaced postal worker returns home
Orange Park postal workers said they will sorely miss an inspirational, soft-hearted supervisor.
Marguerite Jefferson, 60, is returning home to New Orleans after working about eight months at the Ridgewood branch office. It was her temporary assignment after Hurricane Katrina destroyed her post office and her home. "She brought sunshine to the building," said Cynthia Allen, sales associate. "She had a great attitude, a good heart and a good spirit. She was a mother figure to everybody here."

July 12, 2006 - Posters Going Back Up At Carmel Post Office - Posters by artist Bill Bates poking fun at Carmel will be going back up at the Carmel By The Sea post office. The posters were taken down two weeks ago as part of a renovation to create more space for retail within the post office. The move created an outcry from some of the people who use the post office, who said they felt the posters were an integral part of the place.

July 11, 2006 - OIG White Paper - USPS Cost Burdens (PDF)

"It is one thing to ask ratepayers to pay the extra costs of activities related to the Postal 's core functions--such as delivering mail to remote areas or operating post office in small towns where there are no alternate means of service - but another to ask them to pay for activities outside this mission. The paper focuses on five major cost burdens we considers significant, not all of which are easily quantifiable: (1) The Postal service may not be able to receive the rebate available to other employers who provide qualified prescription drug coverage to their annuitants (Medicare Part D). (2). The Postal Service must provide air bypass service in Alaska. (3) International Mail Air Transportation (4)  Civil Service Retirement system obligations in an escrow account. (5) The Postal Service must pay CSRS costs associated with retirees previous military service."|

July 10, 2006 - APWU: Burrus Condemns USPS Plans to Privatize AMCs

- "APWU President William Burrus has denounced Postal Service plans to subcontract work currently performed by bargaining unit employees at more than half of the nation's Air Mail Centers. "This ill-advised adventure would privatize an important and sensitive sector of the United States Postal Service, slashing the postal workforce and jeopardizing security and service to ordinary citizens," he said. "Once again, management is succumbing to the demands of the big advertising mailers." |

July 10, 2006 - Gaylord, Mich: Congressman Stupak won't minimize Postal Service - Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, will not allow the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to minimize service in his district under any circumstances, said John Marcotte, president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), Gaylord, following a meeting in Washington, D.C. June 30. Marcotte, a 12-year USPS employee, along with APWU Secretary/Treasurer Amy Owen of Gaylord, were invited to join Stupak in Washington, D.C. June 30. Lori Sheltrown, congressional aide to Stupak, and Tom Day, senior vice president of Government Relations, U.S. Postal Service, also attended the meeting to discuss the possible move. According to Marcotte, Day agreed to give the results of the AMP study to Stupak, though he asked them not to be released to the public. According to Stupak's Press Secretary Alex Haurek, as of Thursday they had not yet received the AMP study

July 10, 2006 - Threads of Dignity: Uniforms Have Changed Over the Years - Through years of fashion updates, civilian uniforms have been a source of pride and sometimes prejudice. As symbols of social values, uniforms inspire debates over gender roles, worker rights, fashion and outsourcing. Last year, Customs and Border Protection employees complained about the "Made in Mexico" tags in their shirts. Some U.S. Postal Service employees buy their uniforms only from pro-union workplaces. Postal Service employees, who have delivered and sorted mail in blue-gray uniforms for more than 100 years, now enjoy the recent additions of polo shirts and letter carrier trousers enhanced with nanotechnology that helps water evaporate quickly. In May, El-beco began making "tagless" polo shirts that feature silk-screened information on the inside instead of itchy paper or cloth tags. Besides those small changes, Laurie Hayden, manager of labor relations systems, says: "We have a classic look that has not changed in many years." The Postal Service gives employees annual allowances of about $300 to buy clothing from the approved list of 600 vendors. In 2005, it spent $86.5 million on uniforms, which included administrative costs.

July 09, 2006

Man held in robbery of letter carrier

July 07, 2006 - APWU VP Guffey : Our Action Plan to Fight Consolidation - "It is important that every rank and file member understand the APWU strategy to thwart the USPS plan to consolidate mail services. As President Burrus pointed out in a recent letter to local and state presidents, appropriate legal challenges will not be enough: "We must recognize that our traditional forms of struggle - grievances, NLRB charges, lawsuits - are not likely to be the most effective methods in this effort. This is a battle that must be waged in the court of public opinion." - USPS Update on Plan for Regional Distribution Centers  |

July 07, 2006 - Postal Clerk Sliced Up by Power Saw - Wielding Attacker on New York Subway - "A maniacal ex-con randomly carved up a 64-year-old man with two power saws in a Manhattan subway station early yesterday - moments after stealing the tools from a construction crew, police and witnesses said. "He stabbed me in the heart! Help me!" postal worker Michael Steinberg screamed as his 6-foot-tall attacker stood over him, madly revving the black-and-yellow cordless saws.  Steinberg gasped before the silent, blood-splattered psycho stole $200 and several credit cards from his pockets and fled."  

Steinberg:  Longtime NY Metro APWU steward |

July 07, 2006  - USPS Financials: Mail Volume, Revenue Up for May (PDF)

Total Mail Volume for May, FY 2006 was 1.3 billion pieces or 8.0% above SPLY. With the exception of Periodical Mail and International Mail, all of the major mail categories posted volumes above their May 2005 levels. These two categories combined were 17 million pieces below SPLY. Year-to-date, Total Mail Volume is 0.9% or 1.2 billion pieces above SPLY. A significant mail volume increase over SPLY for YTD is in the lower revenue-per-piece Standard Mail category, which increased 1.4 billion pieces or 2.1%. YTD, First-Class Mail volume is 0.6% less than SPLY generating only $470 million more revenue than SPLY. Total Workhours decreased for SPLY :  YTD are 15.2 million hours or 1.6% above plan and 2.1 million hours or 0.2% below SPLY.  |

July 07, 2006 - NALC President Young: Tide may be turning in USPS power struggle
NALC and the Postal Service will begin negotiations on August 28 for a new National Agreement to replace the one that expires in November. NALC will do everything in its power to reach a negotiated settlement that is fair to letter carriers, fair to postal customers and fair to the public we serve . Meanwhile, work on the many issues involving the use of DOIS appears to be on a fast track. I had hoped that I would be able to announce significant progress had been made, but that would be premature. Still, I am encouraged that a breakthrough is possible. The same can be said of our third bundle dispute. Last month I described the improper creation of Part Time Regular assignments for some business routes in Texas. I have been informed that those business routes have been converted to regular eight-hour assignments, as the National Agreement requires.    |

July 06, 2006 - Mail Handlers President Hegarty Blasts USPS on Contract Initiative - USPS Announces Possible Subcontracting  at 43 Airport Mail Facilities - In an ill-advised move, on the eve of collective bargaining, the USPS has notified the NPMHU National Office of its plans to consider the outsourcing of the tender and receipt of mail at 43 air mail centers.  Attached to this memorandum is a copy of the July 3, 2006 notification, which lists the facilities that may be affected. [Read July 3rd notice]  This anti-labor plan couldn’t come at a worse time.  We are about to enter into bargaining over the terms of a new National Agreement, productivity is at an all-time high, career mail handlers are performing their duties in an efficient and productive manner, and management comes up with this ill-conceived “brainstorm.”  What a wonderful way to kick off bargaining, by telling the career mail handlers that they are not wanted or needed in one of the most critical areas of the Postal Service. |

July 06, 2006 - Supreme Court Revives Postal Worker's Discrimination Suit

Mike Thomas, an Illinois custodian filed a complaint alleging that the Postal Service discriminated against him by altering his shift while allowing female employees with less seniority to keep their day shifts. Thomas also claimed that his shift change was in retaliation for filing the complaint with the EEOC that resulted in a 1994 settlement. The district and circuit courts ruled in favor of the Postal Service, determining that “a decision to change an employee’s work shift, without a change in the employee’s title, pay or responsibilities, does not rise to the level of an adverse employment action.” The Supreme Court disagreed with both courts. On June 30, 2006, the Supreme Court granted the custodian's petition from an unpublished Seventh Circuit decision involving the scope of Title VII'S Anti-Retaliation provision, and vacated the judgment and remanded the case for further consideration.|

July 06, 2006 - Valassis Buys Advo for $1.2 Billion
Marketing company Valassis Communications Inc. said Thursday it is buying Advo Inc., the nation's largest direct-mail marketer, for $1.2 billion. The combined company is expected to serve about 20,000 advertisers, including 94 of the top 100 in the United States, with direct-mail, newspaper inserts, e-mail marketing and other programs. Advo was founded in Hartford in 1929. It sends about 27 billion pieces of mail annually and is the largest private customer of the U.S. Postal Service.|

July 06, 2006 - Rules of Taking Unpaid Leave - As a tool of last resort when sick and annual leave run dry, federal employees can take time off without pay under certain circumstances, such as to complete military duty or to recover from a prolonged illness. But the rules surrounding leave without pay (LWOP) are complex and can result in a loss of benefits if not followed closely
 

July 05, 2006 - Delivery Failure - Postal Service's new sorting facility plagued by problems - "Kennedy and his business partner, Mel Nasielski, say the story (lost, late mailings) has become all too common for the Postal Service, which recently completed the transfer of its mail-sorting operations to a new $300 million high-tech center in Southwest Philadelphia... Harmon Elliott, president of the American Postal Workers Philadelphia local, said about 600 fewer clerks work in the more highly automated center than at 30th and Market streets, and operations are strained. "I've been telling them for the last couple of months they need more people there," Elliott said. Union Vice President Edward Oliver, who used to work in bulk mail, said hundreds of workers have new jobs in the new facility, and many aren't properly trained."  New postal center opens to support |

July 05, 2006 - South Dakota Postmaster Pleads Guilty to Misappropriation of Postal Funds - United States Attorney Steven K. Mullins announced that Ila Ann Crain, age 36 pled guilty to a federal Information charging her with Misappropriation of Postal Funds in the amount of $4,886.92. The charge relates to the conversion of United States Postal Service funds and money to her own use between October 1, 2005, and January 18, 2006.

July 04, 2006  - Letter Carrier Walked Through Life in Shorts
Brad Fuelle who died last month at 49, held an unusual record, one not recorded by Guinness. Fuelle, who spent 21 years working for the U.S. Postal Service out of the Madison (Wisconsin) west side branch, delivered the mail for 34 consecutive months - wearing shorts. When Fuelle's streak ended, it wasn't because Brad had succumbed to frigid January temperatures. He ran into something much more formidable - a humorless bureaucrat. In November 1999, a new postal station manager took Fuelle aside and said he didn't think the shorts - though they were postal service uniform shorts - were a good idea. "He said there were two issues," Brad told me. "My health, and the image of the post office. I asked whom Fuelle was bothering by wearing shorts, and the manager explained : "I got a call from a guy who said, 'It's 22 below zero and you have a guy gassing up his truck wearing shorts! What kind of people do you hire?'" On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000, Fuelle wore the long postal uniform pants and his streak came to an end. He told me the manager actually drove out to the route to make sure Brad wasn't wearing shorts. |

July 02, 2006 - USPS Communications VP Azeezaly Jaffer Resigns - Postcom, "Mailers Council executive director Robert McLean has reported that "Azeez Jaffer, the USPS' vice president for Public Affairs and Communications has left the Postal Service. The reasons for his unexpected and sudden departure are unclear. Jon Leonard, who recently became the PMG's leading speech writer, was named acting vice president for Public Affairs and Communications."  |