• Lawmakers begin drafting postal overhaul legislation -"Now that the House Government Reform Committee has wrapped up its postal overhaul hearings, and with only one more hearing planned in the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, lawmakers already have begun drafting legislation to change the nation's Postal Service. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, will introduce legislation with Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., at the end of April, a Senate source said Monday."  |

USPS' VERA Request For Excluded APWU Employees Approved - OPM has approved USPS’ request to offer voluntary early retirement to eligible APWU-represented employees in categories that management had excluded from last year’s early outs (maintenance, motor vehicle, IT).  If operational needs require, however, the retirement date for Retail Clerks may be delayed, but to no later than July 1, 2005 (3/05) |

-OPM Letter to USPS

Prep Work Prevents Mistaken Identity for OxiClean White Powder Sampler-Direct mail sampling campaigns by Orange Glo International for OxiClean, a white powder laundry cleaner, have moved smoothly through the mail stream -- thanks to plenty of advance notice and communication among the U.S. Postal Service, its workers and Orange Glo.(3/7)

 - Standup Talk on OXI-Clean (picture included)

• VER Timeline Set for Previously Excluded APWU Employees-On April 09, 2004, full-time employees who meet the eligibility requirements for this VER offer will be mailed a Statement of Interest package. On May 24, 2004, part-time employees who meet the eligibility requirements for this VER offer will be mailed a SOI package. The mailing will be sent to approximately 8,100 potentially VER eligible full-time and part-time employees. There will be several effective dates .  |

- VER Timeline Extended for Mail Handlers-The VER effective date has been changed to May 31, 2004.

• Inspector General David Williams ’s job: ‘Tell the truth and hunker down’-" Williams touts new cooperation between the OIG and the Postal Inspection Service, the main law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. Since the OIG was created in 1996, the two offices were at what Williams called an “internal war.” Postal inspectors used to conduct internal investigations before the Postal Service had an IG, and turf battles raged for seven years. But Williams said he and Chief Postal Inspector Lee Heath reached an agreement in Sept. to work together on internal matters

• USPS cites postal worker morale as reason for sponsoring Armstrong-USPS has sponsored his team since late 1996 and its contract expires this year. In that time the Postal Service has seen the team rise from mediocrity to one that has supported Armstrong in his victories in the last five Tours de France. But critics wonder why the United States Postal Service pays $6 million to $7 million a year for a team of nearly 40 riders, officials, doctors, mechanics and masseurs who spend most of the season at European races. Why not, instead, lower the cost of a stamp? In response, Postal Service officials in Washington cite worker morale — the identification that the average postal worker makes with Armstrong and his teammates as they sweep to victory, year after year, in the world's most publicized bicycle race. |

• Postal Worker Files Forward (Reverse) Discrimination Suit Against USPS over lost of Postmaster promotion-Robert Dunn a 30-year-veteran (and Irish Hungarian)  had applied for the position of Alger (MI) postmaster. But USPS placed someone else (Hispanic) in the job to settle a different discrimination suit . Dunn (representing himself) said he filed the suit because he feels he was wronged, and believes USPS abuses affirmative action policies in a way that discriminates against some employees. The answer to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of PMG Potter, denies that the post office "has in any way violated the rights of the plaintiff." USPS also says the lawsuit isn't timely and "fails to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted." |

• New York/New Jersey Carriers Begin Postal Reform Lobbying -Hundreds of letter carriers from New Jersey and New York fanned out over Capitol Hill during the past two weeks, launching face-to-face lobbying with House and Senate members of Congress on critical postal reform legislation that is on the front burner this year. Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said "I can not understand a country in which we are seeking to build a postal system in Iraq, but seek to destroy a postal system here in the United States," -NALC Bulletin

-NALC President Young Elected AFL-CIO Vice President

• Transforming Blue-The postal intranet is evolving to include new features- (Postal Reporter question: Who has access to the "blue" or postal intranet? With the postal service redirecting postal employees to the intranet to retrieve information-- why many employees do not have access to it? Is it restricted to the only management?)

• USPS to District Court: Anthrax Suit Should Be Dismissed (pdf) -In a Memorandum submitted to the District Court regarding Briscoe, et, al vs. Potter, USPS wrote: "the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not entitle public employees to a safe workplace, or even to information about known workplace risks. ....this Court should reject the plaintiffs' effort to transfer to the defendant Postal Service officials the liability that properly rests on the terrorist or terrorists who placed the letter containing anthrax in the mail stream. " USPS to District Court:  "The Plaintiffs' attorneys have undertaken extensive efforts to publicize their irresponsible accusations against the Defendants through statements about this case on Judicial Watch's website and in news conferences. These actions threaten morale and raise undue concerns within the Postal Service workforce, where it is logical to presume that the proceedings in this case are closely followed by many."  (note: like PostalReporter.com )

•  USPS, Treasury Debate Military Pension Responsibility

-White House Opposes Two Measures Many Lawmakers See as Vital -Congress and the White House bump chests over what needs to be done to revamp the troubled U.S. Postal Service, even before a single bill has been filed.

- GAO: Key Reasons for Postal Reform-"the Service’s transformation efforts and financial outlook continue to be on GAO’s High-Risk List."

- Deliver Us From The Postal Service Monopoly-from Sam Ryan, Lexington Institute: "Some 1,300 U.S. postmasters will rally on Capitol Hill today to urge Congress to protect the Postal Service's monopoly on letter-mail delivery"..."Another proposal on the table - recently urged before Congress by Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express - is to allow a private carrier to transmit a letter, provided the carrier charges at least six times the basic stamp price. Yet the Postal Service is fighting tooth and nail to stop this from happening. Again, why is USPS so opposed to letting a private company deliver an ordinary envelope for $2.22?" |

- MCHUGH: Postal Reform Urgently Needed (3/23)

- USPS Financial Outlook is Bleak and Getting Bleaker-(3/22)

- Treasury secretary: Postal Service should pay military retirees (3/24)

- Testimony from Joint House/Senate Postal Reform Hearing

• OPM to Survey Employees who take Early Outs/Buyouts -"In an effort to ensure that federal managers are pursuing the Bush administration's management and anti-discrimination goals, the Office of Personnel Management will begin to collect information from employees who are accepting buyouts or early retirement options." -OPM March 12, 2004 memo|

Postal Service is the most businesslike of federal operations but.. Few federal organizations take the hoary old chestnut that "government should run like a business" more seriously than USPS. But a recent U.S. Supreme Court case shows that even with the Postal Service, the line between a federal function and a business operation can get fuzzy (3/07)|

Name Change-Lu's News & Views is now PostalReporter.com. All of the links on this website can be reached with both URLs. More changes and features will be added in the upcoming months. So please bear with PostalReporter.com during the transformation period. And thank you for making LuNewsViews.com one of theTop Postal Employee websites on the internet over the previous 3 years.  (3/7)

Taxpayers to Congress: Cut Postal Waste and Excess-The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released  letter by CCAGW President Tom Schatz to members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee relating to scheduled hearings on reforming the United States Postal Service:  The letter is allegedly supported by over 1 million taxpayers urging reform of the postal service (3/8) |

 Group of Small Mailers Urges ‘Meaningful’ Postal Reform, Including Strong Regulatory Oversight-A new coalition representing small mailers in America applauded today’s opening of Senate committee hearings on postal reform, saying help is needed for a postal system that is in “financial and systemic distress.” (3/9)

Editorial: Postal service causes unnecessary angst -Terrorism and the threat of terrorism have caused the U.S. Postal Service to rethink how it does business. But postal officials still should make decisions with an eye toward profitability, and events that unfolded last week on Lady's Island make one think that might not be the case. (3/9)

More News By Date

March 31, 2004-

• USPS & Access Indiana Offer Electronic Postmark for Indiana Driver Record Certification  

• Postal carrier's murder case advanced after man talked

• Postal Service transfers carriers

• New York Postal Worker Killed in Accident

• UPS Debuts Global Advisor Today

• PRC to Hear Periodicals Rate Complaint-

March 30, 2004-

• USPS Return-to-Duty Policy Ruled Subject to "ReHab Act"-An EEOC Administrative judge ruled that the Postal Service violated the Rehabilitation Act by Requiring an Employee with an FMLA-certificated depression/anxiety condition to provide additional medical documentation before being allowed to return to work. The decision reinforces employees protection under the Rehabilitation Act, which imposes significant restrictions on the inquiries and examinations that federal employers may try to make. It also reinforces that the restrictions "apply to all employees," and not to just those with disabilities. (excerpt from Greg Bell, Director Industrial Relations in The American postal Worker mar/apr issue  pg. 13.

 - Miller v. Potter  - EEOC Decision Requiring Med. Cert. Violated Rehab. Act

• FedEx's China sales up 40% -But package transportation firm says it still seeks level playing field amid Chinese heavyweights

• Posting a profit by minimizing postage expenses
• Postal reform Website recent articles
• A Week in My Mailbox
• Postal Transformation, Italian Style
• Giving and Taking Away in Washington

• Reader: "St Paul Branch of NPMHU Local 323 was sustained in a casual in lieu of arbitration. Arbitrator Gordon advised the parties March 29 of his ruling. The amounts of the monetary remedy have yet to be calculated, a process which will take weeks, but the remedy has the potential to be in the millions, a range of three to five million would not unrealistic. The potential award has the possibility of being amongst the largest ever obtained by one Local of the NPMHU."

March 29, 2004-  

• Man charged with exposing himself to his mail carrier

• Postal relocation causes stir in Michigan

• University of Penn Finalizes Purchase of USPS Property

• Illinois Postal Workers deliver compassion-

• NALC Temporarily suspends Southwest 'Customer Connect' |
• House, Senate leaders urged to make Postal Reform a priority - "leaders in the House and Senate are "unenthusiastic" about moving a bill. "They're saying, 'Yeah, if the committee reports out a bill, we'll try to take it up,'" -House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va. told a meeting of the National Association of Postal Supervisors 3/29/04 . He suggested the congressional leadership's lack of interest stems from "heavy lobbying efforts" by groups that oppose full-scale changes, such as private-sector competitors of the Postal Service."

- A 21st century stamp-political choices must be made soon about postal reform.

Judge Delays Lawsuit To Help Anthrax Probe -A federal judge said yesterday that confidential information recently provided to him by the Justice Department shows that the investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks is now at a "critical" and "sensitive" stage and could unearth significant leads by early July.