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Postal News- December 2007

Postal News

 
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Selected News from Postalblog


Postal Service’s Oldest Employee Still Going Strong At 93

 

OIG Recommends USPS Increase Postal Employee's Benefit Costs

 

Canadian Lottery Scheme Using Fake USPS Checks

 

APWU Questions and Answers on USPS Shared Services

 

Court To USPS: Retire Not Fire Postal Veteran With PTSD

 

Bogus USPS Early Out / Buyout Letter Making The Rounds

 

PMG Potter and USPS Executives Focus On 2008

 

USPS Threatening To Discipline Employees Over Failure to Pay Local Tax ??

 

Postal Worker Gets 2 Years for Stealing Over $400,000 In Money Orders

 

USPS Seeking Info On Automatic Vending Machine Manufacturing

 

Veterans Preference and the U.S. Postal Service

 

Supreme Court to Hear Postal Worker’s Retaliation Case

 

USPS Reports $5.4 Billion Deficit for FY 2007

 

Appeals Court Overturns Postal Worker’s Conviction for Theft

 

Fired Postal Worker Featured in Push to Expand Reservist Job Rights

 

USPS Workforce Size and Employment Categories, 1986-2006

 

Appeals Court Overturns Postal Worker’s Conviction for Theft

 

Fired Postal Worker Featured in Push to Expand Reservist Job Rights

 

USPS Responds to APWU Inquiry Regarding Absences of 3 Days or Less

 

Letter Carriers Ratify New 5-Year Contract

 

USPS Offering Cash Prizes in Automated Postal Center Sweepstakes

 

Postal Inspectors Sue USPS for Overtime Pay

 

APWU Questions USPS Medical Documentation Requirement for Absences of 3 Days or Less  

 

Arbitrator Awards $50,000 for Postal Inspectors Misconduct

 

USPS, Postmasters Reach Agreement on Pay Package

 

Notice: USPS Revised Rule for Conduct on Postal Property

 

Mail Handlers Awarded $13.8 Million for Casuals Violation

 

Company Tests Popcorn Vending Machine at NJ Postal Facility

 

"Kelly Girl" Arbitration Award to Cost USPS Nearly $20 Million

 

USPS BOG Chairman Gets Blue-Collar Name Tag

 

Postal Supervisor Fired For Rewarding Employees Non-Worked OT Loses Appeal

 

Court Excludes AMS Specialist Position From APWU Bargaining Unit

 

Flat Sequencing System (FSS) Strategy

 

USPS: Boston District's New Mystery Shopper Board Game

 

USPS Performance Scores at Record Levels

 

USPS Seeks Private Companies For New Priority Mail Care Package Program

 

Former USPS Contractor Nabbed in NJ Postmasters Scheme

 

Postal Employees Cry Foul Over Alleged USPS Privacy Violations

 

Photo: Semi-Automated Postal Robotic Delivery Vehicle

 

USPS Deployment of Automated Postal Centers Put On Hold

 

USPS Seeks Vendors for Postal Package Processing System

 

Video: USPS Infomercial

 

Postal Supervisor’s Retaliation Lawsuit Dismissed

 

Video: NALC Branch #709: Reno Picket Against Contracting Out

 

New CSRS, FERS Retirement System Goes Online in 2008

 

NALC, NRLCA Presidents Debunk PMG Letter Justifying Contracting Out Mail Delivery

 

PMG: USPS Strongly Opposes the 'Mail Delivery and Protection Act'

 

Photo: Postal Window Clerk and A Very Strange Mail Package

 

OSHA partnership helps reduce ergonomic injuries at USPS

 

USPS Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire Website Launched

 

Court Affirms Enforcement of Unfair Labor Charges Against USPS

 

Senator Collins Introduces Postal Resolution Reaffirming Protections of Sealed Mail

 

NAPUS: Is Mail Service at Risk?

 

USPS Awards Contract to Protect Employee Personnel Records

 

NALC Young: It’s time to stop the ‘run amok’ OIG

 

Postal Service Awards $874.6 Million Contract for Flat Sequencing System

 

Unofficial Transcript of NALC Rap Session

 

Recent EEOC Decisions Involving Postal Employees

 

Postal Employees Know Your Rights  

 

Postal Worker Fired After Second Violation of USPS Zero Tolerance Policy

 

Postal Employees Should Think Twice Before Appealing Case to MSPB

Kenneth Jones vs. US Postal Service, illustrates why postal employees should think twice before appealing their discipline to the Merit Systems Protection Board. 

 

New Book: Beware of Cat: And Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier

Postal Worker Fired After Second Violation of USPS Zero Tolerance Policy

Bush Plan Would Cut Tax-Free Employer-Provided Health Insurance

MSPB Overturns Postal Worker’s Removal for $45,000 Stamp Stock Shortage

Postage Rate Hike in 2008?

Postal Service: ‘Intelligent Mail’ Fully Operational By 2009

Video: Signed, Sealed and Delivered-  Labor Struggle in the Post Office

USPS: New Postal Law-The Financial Impact

Can Bush Open Mail Without Warrant?

 Former Postal Worker Charged in FEHB Scheme to Defraud USPS and NALC

Un-Merry Christmas
Postal Service Terminates Disabled Iraq War Veteran for Unacceptable Attendance

Letter to the Editor - Mismanagement at Royal Oak Carrier Unit

FedEx and DOT at Stalemate in Dispute Over Disclosure of Postal Contract Data -

USPS, APWU Reach $5.3 Million Agreement in Anthrax Travel Grievance

 Postal Worker Fired for Refusing to Work on DBCS Machine

Postal Nurse Charged With Defrauding USPS

Five-Year Postal Employees Stats At a Glance

Big Win For APWU in MS-47 Maintenance Case - "Custodial Jobs Protected"

Emery Agrees to Pay $10 Million for Submitting Fraudulent Billings to USPS -

USPS to Sell Segway Scooters to General Public

 Former Postmaster jailed for stealing over $50k

Postal Worker Sues USPS – Denied Permission to Work Off-the-Clock?

USPS OIG Paper: Postal Officers Travel Expense Guidelines

USPS Mail Processing Facility Faces $44,250 in Fines for Safety Violations

Man Pleads Guilty in Kickback Scheme to Pay Postal OWCP Specialist

APWU Initiates Dispute Over Changes to USPS Computer Security Rules

Postal Worker Injured in Iraq Wins Job Back Under USERRA

USPS to Conduct Search for Sex Offenders on Postal Payroll

Postal Supervisor Fired for Rewarding Employees With Non-Worked Overtime Pay

 Reader Raises Concern Over USPS Revised Emergency Salary Authorization Policy

 USPS OIG Audit Report: Pasadena P & DC Consolidation

MSPB Upholds Removal of Postal Worker Videotaped Abusing FMLA

USPS to remove stamp machines by 2010

Postal Service Plans for More Than $1 Billion in Cost Reductions  

 Carrier Fired for Gambling Signed Last Chance Agreement

Mystery Shopper Evaluations Should Not Be Used to Discipline Window Clerks -

 National Dispute Initiated Over USPS’ Improper Use of Casuals

Postal Service Lists 139 Facilities As Potential Candidates for Consolidation

Postal Worker Fired for Violating USPS Zero Tolerance Policy

Court Backs USPS in Stamp Trademark Lawsuit

 Letter - Postal Workers Injured on Duty Should Know Their Rights

 USPS Migrating Personnel Info to PostalPEOPLE System

Driving Postal Vehicle Without Seatbelt May Get You Fired

 USPS Dragnet Continues to Sweep Up Injured Workers

Supreme Court Revives Postal Worker's Discrimination Suit

Number of Active Postal Employees by Age, Years of Service (PDF)

Federal Court Overturns Letter Carrier Removal for Breach of Last Chance Agreement

Postal Window Clerks Protect Your Jobs

NIOSH Reports on DBCS at Denver Postal Facility

USPS Proposing to Contract Out Postal Vehicle Service

Federal Court Affirms USPS FMLA Return-To-Work Policy

 

Whoa…An Interesting Supreme Court Case Involving USPS

 

 

December 31, 2007

Postal Supervisor Uses Own Time to Deliver Packages On Christmas

Cliff DeLude, customer service supervisor, with the support of Officer in Charge Tim Gatz, worked on his own time Christmas Day so that he could receive packages from the Reno station and make express deliveries to people in Fallon. DeLude also took time out of his Sunday morning two days before Christmas to deliver packages around the community. Obviously caught up in the Christmas spirit, DeLude said with a big grin that he delivered packages on his own time "because it's Christmas."  |

Window Clerk Ghostwrites for Santa Claus

Deer tries to crash through post office doors


December 30, 2007

For Norfolk mail carrier, helping to save a life is part of the job

Neither snow nor rain, but grandkids? Sure!
Postal carrier retires after 33 years on his route

Fire Dept. donations returned by accident

December 29, 2007

Letter: Beware Giving Tips To U.S. Postal Workers
I am a former Delaware postal carrier who has viewed some unethical treatment to customers who do not give gifts such as cash to mail carriers at Christmas. The customers who tip graciously get special treatment. It is made known to other carriers who tipped well and that they should provide them with extra care, and vice versa for the customers who did not tip well. Tips are unethical and border on bribery of a government employee.   |

Neither Rain Nor Snow. But Impatient New Yorkers?
"In the course of their daily rounds, New York’s letter carriers face any number of unpleasant surprises. In May, the Postal Service rolled out National Dog Bite Prevention Week in response to the biting of 3,184 carriers in 2006. More recently, however, the agency added an unlikely item to the catalog of potential threats to postal workers: people who want to get their mail." Since October, the Postal Service’s New York district, which includes Manhattan and the Bronx, has been mailing apartment-dwelling customers postcards asking them to be patient when collecting their letters. |

NALC: Some Strains - Some Progress

As the old year wound down there were some signs of strain as well as some progress in the work of the special committees created under the 2006-2011 National Agreement to address critical workplace and job security issues. NALC was in the process of reconciling lists of installations covered by the “Memorandum of Understanding Re: Subcontracting.” When the new contract was settled, the Postal Service provided a provisional list of the 3,071 offices referenced in the MOU that bans contracting out in “offices with only city delivery. One consequence of combining the lists may be the discovery of covered installations where Contract Delivery Service (CDS) is being used. “In those cases, the Postal Service will have to cancel those contracts,” Young said. NALC Postal Record January 2008  |

 

Bullet Holes Investigated At Postal Annex Building

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene Thursday. A deputy noted in his report that in addition to shooting into the manager's office, someone had shot twice at the manager's parking sign, once at the "Reserved for Postmaster" parking sign and once over a side entrance to the building. Inside, the deputy saw holes going into the entrance area, a women's bathroom and the ceiling of the main warehouse. One projectile was recovered. |

 

DMA digs in for no-mail fight
Postman pulls a slow one on Santa’s helpers

Unionists brainstorm on international organizing

Postman Who Began Career When Stamp Cost Nickel Retires
Barnegat opposes postal move
Postal Inspectors Find Package of Pot

Plessis Post Office closes

December 28, 2007

Former Postmaster Wins Hostile Workplace Lawsuit - But No Money

Postmaster claimed she was harassed by Postal Managers and Postal Inspector. A  jury found the Postal Service liable for creating a retaliatory hostile work environment, but awarded no compensatory damages. The Court also considered the issue of whether any equitable relief, such as back pay, should be awarded. The Court determined that former Nazareth, PA Postmaster did not prove any loss in wages or benefits resulting from the Postal Service’s unlawful actions to support or quantify an award of back pay. The Court did grant equitable relief in the form of enhanced training for certain Postal Managers and a requirement that USPS post notices of the verdict at Nazareth Post Office, Nazareth, Pennsylvania; Central Pennsylvania Performance Cluster District Offices, and the Philadelphia Metropolitan Performance Cluster District Office.  |

Letter carrier sports shorts during snowstorm

Rick Atkinson is used to getting odd looks on a day like today: the U.S. Mail letter carrier is wearing his usual shorts walking his route." It does look kind of silly, walking around all bundled up with shorts on,” said Atkinson as he delivered mail on the 500 block of Smith Street. “It’s not bad. Atkinson said he gets hot easily, especially when wearing a hat. He said his legs are usually warm, regardless of the weather.  |

 

USPS Wants To Automate Road Tests

The United States Postal Service (USPS) administers and maintains a number of pre-hire and post-training examinations for purposes of evaluating applicants and employees’ job-related qualifications and training. Included among those examinations are three that require examiners to observe examinees performing specific job-related activities and record observed behaviors:  the Initial Road Test (Examination 804), the End-of-Training Road Test (Examination 806), and the Automotive Bench Test (Examination 941).  The USPS is interested in automating the recording of examination behaviors, in order to further expedite data capture and scoring. |

 

Some Post Offices Closing Early New Year’s Eve

All Post Offices will be open Dec. 31, but some will shorten lobby hours New Year’s Eve. Regular mail delivery for Dec. 31 will be unaffected by the change.  |

 

APWU: House Mail Network Protection Act Gains Seven Co-Sponsors

Former Marine now a postal carrier in Santa Fe
Mail from Congress isn't cheap

The Future of the Post in Delivering Movies also Wal-Mart is getting out of the video download business

Mailman robbed in Youngstown

Former postal worker pleads guilty to embezzling pills


December 27, 2007

Holiday rush, understaffing mean long lines, safety woes at post office - Lower staffing levels also have postal workers concerned about their safety, especially in the plant. The post office may have fewer workers, but their combined workload hasn't changed much. That imbalance, according to Dan Van Assche, who runs a tray-sorting machine in the main postal facility, often leads to rushing and carelessness - a "nut house," as he put it. When Van Assche, who at 60 has 26 years of experience with the Postal Service, complains about the unsafe pace, management suggests he consider retiring. To make matters worse, workers routinely skip or delay breaks, according to grievances filed by the St. Paul APWU. Those grievances, McCann said, have resulted in "numerous monetary awards," but they have not convinced the Postal Service to change its ways. |

Postal Employee faced with embezzling charges

This Postman Always Rang With a Smile

Thieves steal holiday mail from gated community

Deal could open US postal markets to European companies

Addressing a problem

Kansas post office reopens after bomb threat

Wineries toast mail law
Postal Worker and family murdered |
Daughter Killed Her Family of Six in Washington
 

December 26, 2007

USPS To Revise PS Form 3971

According to a PR reader: "The Postal Service sent out  its proposed revision to the PS Form 3971 Request for or Notification of Absence. The major change will be to require the Employee Identification Number (EIN) rather than an employee's the Social Security Number. In addition,  the holiday/ annual leave exchange option will be added, and leave types and codes used to record them will be updated."  |

 

Postal Workers Busy On Christmas

Carriers share Santa's late hours | Postmaster delivers on Christmas so employees can have day off | Kentucky. Mail Carrier Delivers Christmas Cheer | Santa prefers a mail truck | Postal Worker Enjoys 'Best Day' For Delivery 'Just doing my job' on Christmas morning  |  Clermont postal workers play Santa on Christmas | Move over, Santa Claus  |

 

Surveillance Photos Of Postal Robbery Suspect Released - The Postal Service released surveillance photos Monday of a suspect in the robbery and abduction of a postal truck driver last week. The worker was handcuffed to the steering wheel and several bags of mail stolen from his mail truck on Thursday night.   |

Video: Postal Worker Credited With Saving Life of 79-Year-Old Woman

Manistee steams over orders to move mailboxes

Mailboxes a disappearing icon

$10,000 reward offered for tips in mailbag thefts

Soldier —now postmaster— gives glimpse of life in Iraq

Mail gets through, even to residents of remote Snake River region || Remote mail run lives up to post office credo

 

December 24, 2007

Online Purchases Overwhelm College Mailrooms

Post Office provides gifts after tragic letter to Santa

Cutting the Stack of Catalogs

Christmas has a ZIP Code

E-Greetings Gain Ground at Businesses This Season

Pasco postal workers help Santa return his letters

December 23, 2007

Letter: Postal Management Says "Do as I say not as I do."

"Every year around the holiday season, a spokesman for the USPS (Al DeSarro), makes a statement on radio and television in regard to giving letter carriers or clerks a gratuity. Parameters are given concerning what, if anything you should give your clerk or carrier. From the perspective of the USPS the public is not intelligent or informed enough to make their own decision as to whether or not to give a gift for the holidays. USPS upper management (supervisors) receives bonuses every year and the public has every right to know the amount of these bonuses. I feel it would be in the public interest to request a full disclosure of these bonuses. The public should have this information available when they make a decision to give (or not) a gift to their clerk or carrier."|

 

Postal Workers Out Of Network With Local Health Plan Coverage

(Ohio) Springfield and Clark County postal workers are among 1,500 county residents who have signed up for an insurance plan they will not be able to use in-network in Springfield. Helmer Simjonovs, union steward for the local chapter of the American Postal Workers Union, said members were not aware CIGNA Healthcare was terminating its contract next year with Community Mercy Health Partners and participating physicians until they read an article in the Springfield News-Sun this month. Both the APWU and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) are switching their insurance carrier to CIGNA in January.  |

 

Local man leads letter carriers union
Postal Workers Help Families in Need in Reading
Teamsters Applaud IRS Ruling Against FedEx Ground

Postal workers wrap up busiest week of the year

Main post office sees few lulls during holidays

Delivering for the holidays
Palm Beach postal worker Tom Jones retiring after 29 years

Letter carrier finds choice of career delivers every day
Flooded out: Tigard postal worker nearly loses his house

Royal Mail loses 2 million presents

Tractor-trailer carrying U.S. mail crashes in Goleta

December 22, 2007

Man pleads to scheme targeting post offices
Dog-loving mailman retires
Teens Rob Postal Worker

Woman sets fire to 4 Springfield collection boxes
eNAPUS: Congress Spreads Holiday Cheer - Leaves Town (PDF)

Mailman honored for safety record
Congressman halts plan to move postal jobs to Akron

Letter carrier released from hospital after pit bull attack

December 21, 2007

Postal Service Updates Its Transformation Plan

The Strategic Transformation Plan 2006-2010, the Postal Service roadmap for the future, has been updated to reflect changes from last year’s passage of the Postal Act of 2006. The law makes a number of changes to postal oversight and regulation, but does not alter the Postal Service’s mission – providing trusted, affordable and universal service. PostalReporter.com: A few highlights from the Transformation Plan: The Postal Service will focus on four critical human resources strategies — engaging employees, developing and managing talent, establishing and maintaining market-based compensation, and managing complement to assure flexibility.  Employee absences from work as a result of on- and off-the-job injuries and illnesses also represent a significant cost for the Postal Service. Employee absences from work will be managed by expanding the Resource Management system from a sick leave tracking system to a comprehensive tool to manage and increase employee availability. By the end of 2007, this comprehensive approach to resource management, which includes a national wellness program, will be measured by the percentage of employees available for duty.  |

 

EEOC: Postal Worker Has Claim For One-Time Incident of Discriminatory Harassment - A Postal Employee alleged that he was subjected to discrimination on the basis of national origin (Russian American) when his supervisor used abusive and forceful language regarding the employee’s inability to read English. The EEOC found that while single incidents often are not enough to state a claim of discriminatory harassment, in this case the incident was of sufficient severity to warrant further processing because the supervisor used forceful and abusive language in a manner designed to humiliate the employee and said it in the presence of a number of his coworkers. Therefore, the EEOC reversed the Postal Service’s decision to dismiss the complaint.  |

Postal Worker Fails to Convince Appeals Court to Overturn APWU-USPS Settlement - Eddie J. Walter argued before an arbitrator, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that he should not be bound by an APWU - USPS settlement agreement because he personally did not sign it.  They all disagreed.  |

Appeals Court: Evidence of Disability for Disability Retirement

Postal Reform Marks One Year Milestone

A postal worker's kindness

Postal worker sentenced
NJ Postal Worker Makes Life-Saving Stop

Postal truck hijacked, looted in Boston

Computer grinch strikes Adams Street post office

Postal employee faces child porn charges

Contract Mail Carrier Sentenced

Man pleads to scheme targeting post offices
Postal service shows a commitment to honesty
Delegate in touch with U.S. Postal Service about delays of mail to the islands

December 20, 2007

Senate Bill Would Delay Postal Service Consolidations
"A provision in a just-passed Senate appropriations bill would prevent the U.S. Postal Service from consolidating mail processing services until it meets certain requirements. In a news release, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said the provision would require the USPS to further review its decision to close Sioux City's mail processing center and consolidate it with Sioux Falls. The provision is nonbinding, but such recommendations are normally followed by federal agencies, Harkin said in the release."  |

Ask President Burrus

Question: I would like to know whether the APWU remembers NAFTA and GATT. Does the union consider issues such as these when deciding which presidential candidate to endorse?  |

 

APWU Seeks Support for ‘Mail Network Protection Act’

The APWU has written to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, asking them to co-sponsor and support the Mail Network Protection Act, which would require the Postal Service to bargain with unions before committing to significant subcontracting.  |

 

Revised Publication 164, Compensation, Relocation, and Reinstatement Policies for Career Employees

 

Tons of mail keep U.S. troops busy
Chicago: Aldermen Get First-Hand Look At Mail Delivery

A day in the life: US Postal Service carrier

Why Does Postal Management Allow Non-Compatible Disk Mailers To Claim Automated Rates?


December 19, 2007

NALC’S Young: Good Cop/Bad Cop - Right Here In The USPS

You can’t pick up a newspaper these days or turn on the news without finding another report of law enforcement abuse. Unauthorized surveillance, illegal searches, suspension of civil liberties, beatings—all the way from wiretaps to water-boarding. Call that the Bad Cop side. What has this got to do with the Postal Service, and letter carriers, and the NALC? Plenty. We have our own Good Cop/Bad Cop syndrome—and increasingly the Bad Cop is in the driver’s seat. And NALC is not going to sit still for it.  |

 

Postal Worker Arrested for Selling Prescription Drugs to Co-Workers - Massachusetts - A Woburn letter carrier was arrested last Friday for distributing prescription painkillers to his co-workers after federal and regional authorities wrapped up a 10-month investigation into the illicit activity. U.S. Postal Service investigators received an anonymous complaint about the letter carrier in early June, when a caller alleged that he was selling as many as 200 pills a month to postal employees at the Washington Street branch.  |

 

A Postal Paradise

Infectious goodwill at post office

DC Postmark Back, in Time for Holidays


December 18, 2007

USPS CFO Delivers Corporate Mentality

"...expense cutting is the short-term focus. Since 79 percent of the USPS's total cost base is labor, and the agency's union contracts prevent layoffs, Walker has pushed to reduce the use of overtime. Working with Deputy Postmaster General and COO Pat Donahoe, he is slicing the $5 billion annually spent on excess hours by conducting biweekly operating reviews and developing models to match expected mail volume with the assignment of postal carriers. Walker is also targeting misuse of sick leave. "A tenth of a point reduction in the percentage of employees taking sick leave is $50 million," he says."  |

 

Reader: Christmas Eve Holiday Scheduling

Management can probably close the retail windows and move the people to mail processing in back in a one-time situation like this. Retail hours are governed by POM 126.4 . However, no APWU-represented employee can be involuntarily reassigned to another station on a temporary basis unless management provides transportation there and back.  APWU: Christmas Eve ‘Holiday’ Update - When President Bush signed an Executive Order granting non-essential federal employees a day off on Dec. 24, 2007, I requested that the Postal Service follow the same spirit of holiday cheer and grant postal employees the day off as well. Postmaster General Potter has informed me verbally — and information published in the USPS Newsbreak confirms — that the Postal Service will operate on a reduced schedule on Dec. 24 [PDF]; but postal employees who desire to be off will be required to use leave All Post Offices Will Be Open Christmas Eve, But Many Will Shorten Lobby Hours - " Regular mail delivery for Dec. 24 will be unaffected by the change. “As many businesses close early Christmas Eve, the number of customers visiting our lobbies greatly diminishes”  |

 

FERS Sick Leave Plan Falls Short, Manager Groups Say

How much money is enough to persuade a federal employee not to abuse his sick leave benefit? Five thousand dollars? Ten thousand? That’s the question in play now as federal manager groups, congressional staffs and the administration try to fashion a bill aimed at preventing feds who are approaching retirement from taking unused sick leave when they are not sick. The legislation Moran proposed would compensate FERS employees 10 percent of the hourly rate of their high-three salary — the average of the employee’s highest salaries over three consecutive years — for accumulated sick leave in excess of 500 hours, with a $5,000 pay cap. As drafted, the benefit would not be retroactive. FERS Flu Part Deux   |

 

Rollout of PostalPEOPLE Initiative Completed

Completion of the nationwide rollout enables the Postal Service to introduce two significant new services to employees. First is a new self-service tool for managers, which provides managers, postmasters and supervisors with information and resources online to help manage the workforce, perform administrative tasks, and assist their employees with skill development. A second service has been launched on the organization’s intranet site, allowing employees to perform job bidding anywhere they have access to the Internet. This enhances ease of use for bargaining unit employees and provides them with a new way to access the job-bidding system. USPS consolidates HR systems   |

 

Bush Administration Union-Busting Exposed

Political operatives in the Department of Labor are using federal reporting requirements to undermine trade unions and conduct a "political misinformation campaign" against them, a report released yesterday charges. While the Bush administration has generally relaxed federal regulations, the department's Office of Labor-Management Standards has done the reverse, beefing up disclosure rules, staff and investigations of union leaders and members. |

 

Postal van and mail go up in flames |

Not even the flu can stop US mail, but it can slow it down  |

Congressman Blocks Bronx Postal Consolidation  |

Postal workers turn into holiday elves for harried customers
Photo Gallery: Holiday Shipping Keeps Postal Workers Busy

Probation for mail carrier who went AWOL


December 17, 2007

Customers Pack Christmas Post Office

Business data exposed on Canada Post website

Small-town postmaster starts holiday lights contest

It's all hustle and bustle for Green Bay Postal Service at Christmas

Mail Moves America Website

The claim is in the mail

Still Choosing the Mailbox Over the In-Box

Letter Carrier On The Job

Snail mail lines move slowly
Teen careens into Post Office


December 16, 2007

Thousands of Rural Carriers Not Paid
The United States Postal Service says 14,000 rural route mail carriers across the country did not get a paycheck this week because of a glitch in the payroll system. The USPS is working to fix the problem and is offering workers a 60 per cent reimbursement of their paycheck until the problem is fixed.  |

Two Staph Cases At Tennessee Post Office

 Shelbyville's post office is taking precautions to make sure the potentially deadly MRSA or "staph" infection isn't spread through the mail after two employees became infected with the bacteria. The T-G received a call Thursday from a concerned citizen who claimed that Shelbyville's postmaster Larry Ellis was allowing a postal employee with a staph infection to continue to work, possibly exposing the public to the bug. Ellis said that was simply not the case, but did confirm their facility had reported two cases of the disease.  |

 

Letter to Santa Inspires Mail Carriers' Search

There was something about that "Dear Santa" letter that made Paul Vogt stick it in his bills-to-be-paid box and keep it there for 17 years. Month after month, he looked at it and moved it, yet again, to the bottom of the stack. Unfinished business. Over time, the letter came to represent one of the most treasured episodes of Vogt's 30 years as a mail carrier. |

 

Homeless get mail with general delivery

'Tis the Season for Tipping

Post office seems to have a new motto

Students work to protect kids who write to Santa

Rural carrier indicted in keeping of mail

December 15, 2007

Postal Training Center Opens Doors to Families, Storm Crews
(Oklahoma) The Postal Service's National Center for Employee Development recently opened its doors to local families and electrical crews in need of a warm place to stay. "We don’t normally accommodate children under 18 in our postal housing facility," says Scott Morgan, NCED manager. "Our campus guest rooms are designed for adult postal employees attending courses, with one bed in each room and no connecting doors. But when local hotels were full and referred families without power to us, we were happy to provide a temporary place for people to stay.  |

Postal Customers Miffed Over Elimination of Vending Machines

(North Carolina) - "Protest!" cried J.B. Marr after paying for postage through the Automated Postal Center that stands down the hall and around the corner from the defunct vending machines. The Automated Postal Center takes only credit cards." Who wants to use their credit card to buy stamps?" said Chapel Hill resident Angela Burnett, leaving the post office without the stamps she came for. "It doesn't make sense."  |

Nine Postal Employees Accused of Conspiring To Steal Mail

(Louisiana) The indictment alleges the nine postal workers conspired to buy, receive and/or unlawfully possess stolen mail. |

General Dynamics Awarded $40 Million for Mail-Sorting System
And The Next President Is

Postal Price Pinch

Senate Approves Extension of Breast Cancer Research Stamp


December 14, 2007

Mail truck goes up in flames

Lubbock Postal Carrier Hit by Car

Letter carrier honored for a million safe miles

USPS Cradle to Cradle The Greening of America's Postal Supply Chain

Post Office visited by ghost of Christmas presents
Classmates mourn teen killed by mail truck

 

December 13, 2007-

FERS Flu In Your Future?
The issue: Sick leave use among many previously disgustingly healthy civil servants appears to jump dramatically in the 12 month period before they retire. Most of the suddenly-sick employees are under the newer Federal Employees Retirement System. FERS covers virtually everybody hired after December 31st, 1983. FERS was designed to replace the old Civil Service Retirement System. CSRS is the best retirement plan in the nation for people who spend a full career (30 or more years) with the same employer -- Uncle Sam. note: Mike Causey also confirms VER offer in the Los Angeles District  |

 

Mail Handler Fired After Threatening Behavior Towards Co-Workers

 USPS removed the preference-eligible PS-4 Regular Mail Handler based on a charge of Unacceptable Conduct/Violent and Threatening Behavior Towards Co-Workers. USPS based its charge on a November 5, 2006 incident in which the Mail Handler went to the attendance control office at Cardiss Collins Postal Facility in Chicago and allegedly shouted at Mail Processor Clerks , “Give me my [time] card before I blow your brains out.” MSPB in affirming the removal stated: "removal did not exceed the bounds of reasonableness in light of the seriousness of the offense and the Board’s precedent finding that removal is a reasonable penalty under similar circumstances. Recognizing that the Board must accord proper deference to the agency’s primary discretion in managing its workforce, we see no reason to disturb this finding."   |

 

APWU: Rep. Lynch Seeks Support for 'Mail Network Protection Act'

Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) has asked his congressional colleagues to co-sponsor legislation he introduced last month that would require the Postal Service to bargain with unions before engaging in significant subcontracting. Lynch's Dec. 11, 2007, letter (PDF) to fellow representatives outlines the importance of the legislation in maintaining the security of the mail network. While noting that contracting out core postal functions impacts "the allocation of work," he said "this alarming trend bears much broader implications in terms of compromising the security of the U.S. mail network."  |

APWU: Board of Governors Approves Proposal That PRC Says Could Cost USPS Millions - The USPS Board of Governors approved a Negotiated Service Agreement on Dec. 11 that had been sharply criticized by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The commission concluded in October that the Postal Service could lose more than $45 million if the agreement with Bank of America is implemented.   |

 

USPS: Postal Employees Are Not Entitled To Additional Military Paid Leave - The following letter  is USPS’ response to an inquiry by NALC  on Postal Employees entitlement to 22 days additional paid Military Leave in support of contingency operations.  |

 

Accused post office employee speaks out

Alabama: Ex-Contract Employee charged after alleged assault at Post Office

Florida Postal Center zips into high gear

Postal carrier is like Santa all year long

Contract Driver Gets Probation for Personal Use of USPS Gas Card
USPS gets grant to improve Fort Wayne REC

Through rain, sleet, or snow...

USPS Unveils Sinatra Stamp

Now-ex Fort Worth postal worker gets prison over $108,000 theft

December 12, 2007-

Mail Carrier Who Claimed School District's Cracked Sidewalks Caused Fall Loses Appeal - A former mail carrier who delivered to the Joseph Badger School District has lost her appeal claiming that injuries she suffered in a 2004 fall outside the school were caused by its cracked sidewalks. She said she was carrying mail and keys while looking ahead to the truck, rather than where she was walking, which court documents say was “pursuant to postal regulations.”|

 

 Postal employee accused of hiding, delaying 18, 000 pieces of mail

 A grand jury on Tuesday indicted a Rural Carrier Associate. Prosecutors accused him of  hiding, detaining or delaying nearly 18,400 pieces of standard mail, 37 pieces of first-class or certified first-class mail and five parcels.  |

 

Postal Workers Union Donates $1500

You’ve been pre-approved for more junk mail!

Probe opened into bag of stolen mail

Letter carrier provides free lawn mowing

Letters: Help mail carriers by leaving lights on late in day

 No video of heist try at post office

Boy, 14, struck by mail truck dies

USPS Takes 500,000 SF at New Commerce Center
Oklahoma postal workers brave the cold


December 11, 2007-

APWU Requests Day Off for Postal Workers on Dec. 24

Despite the exclusion of postal employees from President Bush’s order, I have officially asked [PDF] the postmaster general, in the spirit of the season, to grant postal employees a day off on Dec. 24, 2007. As I reminded the PMG, postal employees are no less deserving of recognition for their outstanding service than other federal workers.   |

Court Upholds Postal Supervisor’s Demotion For Altering Time-Keeping Records - A June 2005 review of timekeeping records revealed that Richard Davis was responsible for a high number of changes in letter carriers' clock ring entries. In each instance, it was determined, Davis had changed the return time from after 5:00 p.m. to exactly 5:00 p.m. or some time before that, in order to comply with the Postal Services target deadline. Davis made seventeen such clock ring alterations, substantially more than any other supervisor. As a result of its investigation, the Postal Service demoted Davis for unsatisfactory work performance for improperly altering letter carriers’ clock ring entries. The court determined that since Davis had abused his supervisory authority to manipulate important agency data the demotion was justified.  |

USPS Needs Reliable Facilities Database, Study Reveals

Continued financial challenges and increased competition call for the U.S. Postal Service to manage its 34,000 facilities as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. GAO and others have identified key facility management challenges, including the need to (1) capture and maintain accurate facility data, (2) adequately maintain facilities, and (3) align retail access with customer needs. This report assesses Postal Service efforts to overcome these challenges and implement leading federal practices. If the Postal Service begins collecting data that reflects criteria based on leading federal practices, it may be able to close facilities and adjust access to retail services according to customer needs. GAO Report: U.S. Postal Service Facilities: Improvements in Data Would Strengthen Maintenance and Alignment of Access to Retail Services,"  |

 

Dealing With Postal Problems In Northeast Houston
Neither rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night can keep the postal service workers from doing their jobs -- except, it seems, in one Houston neighborhood. For Jessie Phillips, the final straw came a week and a half ago when the mail carrier didn't deliver any mail. A spokesman with the post office in that northeast Houston neighborhood admitted there have been problems in the ZIP code area. He said the problem stems from short staffing. |

Post office pilfering: Who's hiding campaign mailings?

Political Mailings keep vanishing from Manchester's main post office, only to reappear after the elections they were intended to influence. One might suspect the legendary competence of the U.S. Postal Service. Funny thing is, the magical vanishing mailings all have one thing in common: they support candidates who oppose the Ray Buckley Democratic political machine in Manchester city elections.  |

 

Mail Delivery On Ice

U.S. Postal Service carrier Julie Alsberge put on spike-soled shoes Monday and loaded her truck with sandbags to deliver mail in midtown Columbia. Alsberge looked ready to conquer Mount Everest, not her daily route through the city. She said the route might take her more than 10 hours to complete Monday, with icy sidewalks making the job slippery and dangerous. She even packed a rubber mallet to crack ice off frozen mailboxes.  |

 

USPS BOG Approves B of A Negotiated Service Agreement

Rent increase forces Postal Service to close Columbus City PO
APWU: Union Action Averts Safety Hazard

Ex-postal worker sentenced to jail for ID thefts

Las Vegas: Thieves Hit Jackpot - In Your Mailbox

Opened mail pops up along North Bend streets

Nintendo Wii stolen while with USPS

eNAPUS: Congress in 2007 Home Stretch (PDF)

Netflix envelopes anger Postmaster, Postal Service balks


December 10, 2007-

Former Texas Postal Employees Charged With Stealing Mail

 A federal grand jury in Dallas has charged James R. Hamilton, a former lead sales and service associate with the U.S. Postal Service, with stealing mail matter. In a similar, but unrelated case, Salvador Gonzalez, a former letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, pled guilty on December 4, 2007, to a one-count Information charging theft of mail matter |

 

Pink-haired Postmaster

Health Plan No Brainer!

Special Holiday Deliveries

USPS seeking comments on proposed service standards
Postal Carriers Gather Donated Bounty

Amid complaints, Broomfield to expand postal service

Post office closing still controversial

APWU: Electronic Delivery of Employee Net-to-Bank Earning Statements

December 09, 2007-

APWU: Casual Issues Disputed At National Level (PDF)
With the ink barely dry on the new contract, APWU an USPS are disputing the use of casuals on Tour 2 in mail processing operations; the training and testing of casuals, and the use of casuals versus Overtime Desired List  on penalty overtime.  |

 

Mailman Grinch's Brooklyn home decorated with Christmas cheer

He may be a Grinch of a mailman, but he's not short on holiday cheer. The Brooklyn postal worker suspected of swiping hundreds of greetings cards and the money inside them lives in a Queens home with letter-perfect Christmas decorations.  |

 

NALC’s Young Urges Support For Harkin Amendment to Labor-HHS Bill

Contract mail driver killed in wreck

Postal Service delivers 'no mail' notices in high crime area

December 08, 2007-

USPS Los Angeles District Gets Approval From OPM to Offer Early Outs

The Los Angeles District has received approval from OPM to offer Early Out opportunities to “CLERKS ONLY” beginning early 2008. This is a result of planned excessing of over 250 clerks from the Los Angeles District. The following is text of the letter sent out by Yolanda Elders, President,  Los Angeles APWU Local #64 to eligible members advising them of this opportunity.  |

 

Postal Service sacks Santa's elves

USPS: NYC greeting cards vanish, and sting points to mailman

Paper: U.S. overseas mail delivery to increase by 200%

Postal Service buys Henrico site for center

Norton wants D.C. Postmark

Postal Worker Convicted of Raping 86 Year old Woman

OAKLAND: Arrest in robbery attempt of postal worker


December 07, 2007-

Letter: USPS should take 'service' out of its name

Long lines, no stamp vending machines, fewer window clerks, they want you to buy your stamps at your local supermarket or online. Perhaps it is time for the United States Postal Service to change its name to the United States Postal Company.  |

 

Dec. 24 Executive Order Excludes USPS

The Executive Order President Bush issued yesterday excusing executive branch employees from duty Monday, Dec. 24, does not include postal employees. The day is to be treated as a normal business day for USPS. |

 

Dallas ex-postal worker admits he stole mail

Postal Worker Accused of Attempted Kidnapping Indicted on More Charges
Post office looking for owner of pictures
Postal Bulletin 12/06/07 Issue
Wyoming residents: Postal services haven't improved

Kodak and Indros Group bring Personalized urls to Direct Mail

 

December 06, 2007-

Frank Sinatra Stamp Scheduled for Spring

Junk mail spurs growth for top printer makers
Postal vehicle rolls; worker, mail OK

Over 1,000 Social Security checks late; USPS investigating
'Return to sender' won't work with junk mail, but flow can be slowed
ADVO name will become Valassis in 2008
Calif. Earlimart post office robbed

USPS surcharge could slash Netflix profit || USPS to Netflix: You're killing us on labor

December 05, 2007-

Arbitrator Issues Award in Rural Carriers Contract Case

A three-member arbitration panel led by neutral chairman Herbert Fishgold issued its award today, establishing the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement between the Postal Service and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA). The award establishes a four-year contract (from Nov. 20, 2006 to Nov. 20, 2010), affecting approximately 68,000 career employees and 55,000 non-career employees who deliver mail to residences and businesses on rural delivery routes. click here to read the award (PDF)   | A Short Comparison of USPS Contracts With APWU, NPMHU, NALC and NRLCA  |

 

Causey: Union Contract is Why Postal Workers Pay Less for Health Insurance

 When it comes to paying health premiums, postal workers pay less than other federal workers. They get the same coverage as employees with the IRS, DARPA, Interior or Agriculture. The USPS is the most heavily-unionized federal agency.  APWU: Mike Causey Applauds Postal Healthcare Coverage |

 

D.C.'s Identity Lost in the Mail

The Washington, D.C., postmark is fading into oblivion, a casualty of the anthrax attacks of 2001. After two postal workers died at a Northeast facility, the Postal Service began farming mail to the suburbs. Now the only way to guarantee a D.C. postmark is to take it in person to a post office and ask a clerk to cancel it by hand. Otherwise, it's a spin of the roulette wheel.  |

 

New Mexico: Mail service will be faster this year, Las Cruces PM says
Family loses home mail service

PRC takes Mark Acton for new vice chairman

Retailers join movement to curb the cascade of catalogs


December 04, 2007-

Postmaster Indicted in Plot to Kill Ex-wife
Ex-wife is a rural carrier - Worried about his retirement income because of his divorce, Cornelius (North Carolina) Postmaster David Willis considered poisoning his ex-wife with anti-freeze and talked of hiring someone to kill her, court documents state. According to court documents, the FBI began investigating Willis after receiving information from a another Postal Service employee after Willis asked him to participate in the killing of Willis’ ex-wife, a Charlotte postal carrier.   |

Opening Santa's Mail (and Answering It)
Santa Claus has set up shop in the 10001 ZIP Code, though addressing an envelope to "Santa Claus New York," "Santa's Workshop, North Pole" or just plain "Santa" is enough to land a letter in the hands of Santa's helpers. Today, the New York district of the United States Postal Service began its annual Operation Santa Claus, which connects members of the public with hundreds of thousands of letters addressed to Santa Claus at the James A. Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street. The New York operation gets about 500,000 letters a year, up from 18,000 letters in 1989 as the program has steadily gained in publicity.  |

Postal Truck Goes Into Frigid Creek
A tractor trailer driver survived more than an hour in icy waters after his rig crashed overnight. |

USPS rate structure still unpredictable

December 03, 2007-

Candidate's mailing shows up two weeks late
Voting by mail: The idea polls well

New dimensions to mailing packages

Vindication at Valassis?  Advo purchase, first panned, now panning out

December 02, 2007-

PRC Requests Help In Developing Report on Universal Postal Service And Postal Monopoly

From PR Reader: "The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from organizations and individuals to assist the Commission staff in developing a Report on Universal Service and the Postal Monopoly to be submitted to the President and Congress in late 2008. Section 702 of the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act (PAEA) requires the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC or the Commission) to submit a report to the President and Congress including the monopoly on the delivery of mail and on access to mail boxes" (note: item was inadvertently left off front page).   |

 Bring Back New York's Pneumatic Mail Tube System

Every year around this time, as the catalogs and holiday greetings flood my mailbox, I am reminded of New York City’s defunct 27-mile pneumatic tube system. This underground network fueled by pressurized air carried first-class mail in two-foot-long canisters from Manhattan’s General Post Office to postal branches around the city. At its peak of operation, this system’s side-by-side pipes, each about eight inches in diameter, carried more than 10 million letters a day along a route that ran from the main post office. The system, which had its own work force of about 140 men, carried mail at a steady speed of 30 miles per hour Pneumatic Mail  |

City wants to oust post office

Illinois: Mail Carrier Cleared in 'Hatch Act' Probe

Where do you find a mailbox in this town?

Bristol's first mailbag resides today in a local collection

GF mail carriers hang up bags, boots after long careers

Port Salerno Post Office is speedy on delivery, but wishes it could do more

Retired postmaster delivered joy to residents of New Washington

December 01, 2007-

USPS Earning Statements Available Online

But Only to PCES and EAS Employees - Executive and management employees who use Payroll Net To Bank — the system that sends their pay directly to their bank accounts — can now view and print their earnings statements online. The new service is available on LiteBlue, where ePayroll will begin storing earnings statements for the latest 13 months, or 29 pay periods, online.   |

 

Netflix Envelopes 'Jamming' Postal System?

The mailers the customers use to return DVDs to the companies often jam in the Postal Service's automatic mail sorters. So instead, 70 percent or so of the DVDs need to be sorted by hand, costing the Postal Service roughly $21 million in extra labor costs each year. The report by the Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General said that over the next two years those added labor costs are expected to rise to $61.5 million. Post Office gives Netflix negative review  |

 

Post office still confused over 'Toys for Tots'  |

Police: Unarmed man in Port Chester post office said he had gun

Resident: El Paso Post Offices Incompetent

E-cards are cheap and easy, but taboo for many
USPS Rejects American Locker's Clusterboxes Application

Kansas: Lawrence Mail Boxes Blown Up

Messy letters make Santa's crew less jolly
Editorial: Raleigh Postal Center is No relation to Cliff from 'Cheers'

In Digital Age, Real Mail Delivers

RETURN TO SENDER: mail center complaints surface

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