February 29, 2012

Funding of Early Retirement Incentives

In yesterday’s post, I stated that “The Postal Service has been coy about whether it will offer retirement incentives partially because if Congress passes a bill that includes the incentives included in the S.1789, the Postal Service can offer larger incentives than it can under current law and the Postal Service needs the refund of FERS over-payments to cover early retirement incentives.”  This statement raised some questions from readers that are worth responding to in a full post.  See: Impact of USPS Consolidations on Employees  |

Sen. Brown Announces USPS Will Keep Cincinnati Mail Center Open

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that USPS Dalton Ave mail processing and distribution center will remain open. Brown has repeatedly lobbied the USPS to save jobs and maintain service in southwest Ohio. The processing center currently employs 2,000 workers. |

Department of Labor Sues Postal Service Over Seattle Whistleblower

An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed allegations that the Postal Service discriminated and retaliated against a Seattle employee who helped a co-worker file a safety complaint. The Department of Labor is now in the rare situation of suing the Postal Service for violating federal whistleblower protection laws.  |  

Nearly one-third of APWU Mail Processing Jobs Cut in Eastern Area; Over one-half of Maintenance Jobs Cut Nationwide - Update:  Looking at the APWU job cuts as a proportion of total APWU jobs by craft shows the extent of the impact on individual employees and provides some idea as to the impact on mail handlers, supervisors, managers and administrative personnel. and The projected job cuts that the Postal Service provided the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) shows that three Areas will see mail processing jobs cut by more than 20% with the Eastern Area seeing job cuts of nearly one-third.   Information on maintenance crafts suggests that the consolidation is expected to reduce maintenance employees  by nearly 20% nationwide..  |

Postmaster Organizations and USPS Agree to Continue Postmaster Pay Talks

USPS Reaches Out to Spanish- and Chinese-Speaking Consumers

Kansas Letter Carrier To Admit Hoarding Mail

Union lists GOP attacks on federal workers

Questions over decision to close Queens mail sorting facility
Suspect identified in Ohio post office robbery
Maine man sentenced in postal embezzlement

Going Anti-Postal: What kind of nation won't fund a Post Office?

Save the post office! Why the mail still matters

Editorial: Easier to battle rain, snow

Questions Over USPS Decision to Close Queens Plant

Merging Postal Service processing centers won't impact closing retail locations

Buffalo: Closing center would save $29 million, USPS says

February 28, 2012

Sen. Tester questions Postal executive salaries as USPS considers drastic cuts

Senator Jon Tester is taking the leaders of the U.S. Postal Service to task, demanding that executives be willing to cut their own salaries as they propose cuts to the nation’s mail service.  Cut perks, bonuses of top postal officials  |

The Clock Nears Twelve: The Approach of Postal Doomsday

Save The Post Office - If such a clock existed to represent the fate of the United States Postal Service, the second hand would be finishing its last few clicks before the clock chimed midnight and disaster struck.  The actions of Postmaster General Donahoe and the USPS Board of Governors have methodically ensured that we would be reaching this moment with an ever-increasing sense of eventuality.  |

Rep Issa Is Tone Deaf to the Need for Nonprofits

Big Fat Marketing Blog - It must be just sheer callousness or tone-deafness to the sufferings of the less fortunate that would drive anybody to even think of eliminating or raising lower postage rates for nonprofit mailers on the pretext that it might help cut the USPS’s deficit. But that’s exactly what Rep. Darryl Issa wants to do with his bill H.R. 2309. Originally, Issa wanted to raise nonprofit rates by 50% over six years. But he eventually compromised on hiking rates by only 2% a year until they reach 80% of commercial rates vs. the 60% they are now. |

Vermonters Tell It Like It Is On White River Processing Center Closing

New stamp upsets local tribe

Postal Service to Close 14 Mail Processing Centers in California

Forbes: $20 Billion Reduction Plan By USPS

February 27, 2012

APWU: Excessing Rules Dramatically Improved

The APWU also successfully negotiated several alternatives to excessing. Before employees are excessed outside the craft or installation, the Postal Service must review its operations to create more efficient duty assignments within the installation. The USPS must also look for scheduling opportunities to offer duty assignments that are consistent with local operational needs in order to reduce or eliminate the need to excess employees. |

MSPB Issues Decision In Postal Employees NRP Cases

"These appeals present the question of whether the agency’s own internal rules regarding the return to duty in modified assignments of compensably injured individuals are enforceable by the Board in a restoration appeal under 5 C.F.R. § 353.304(c). For the reasons set forth below, we answer in the affirmative." Out of the five postal employees: Two will get back pay and return to their assignments, one case was dismissed, and the remaining two appeals were remanded for further processing.  |

USPS Reports $1.3 Billion Loss for January 2012

The USPS had a net loss of $1.262 billion in January 2012 according to preliminary (unaudited) data released by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). USPS is attributing $1.017 billion of that amount to the Postal Service's Retiree Health Benefit pre-funding expense.|

PRC schedule for advisory opinion on USPS network and delivery standards proposals-  In December, the United States Postal Service requested a non-binding advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission on its proposal to consolidate its mail processing network and alter the delivery standards for First Class Mail and Periodicals. Under the law, an advisory opinion of this type  requires an on the record hearing.  |

Former California postmaster pleads guilty to embezzlement

Redding Record Searchlight - The former Bieber postmaster pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to embezzling money from the small Lassen County post office. The former postmaster stole about $23,554 from the post office between Oct. 1, 2010 and May 11, 2011....She took small amounts from the post offices cash and issued postal money orders for amounts greater than what she actually paid for them and used them to pay for her personal expenses...  |

Editorial: Postal Service silliness

Minot Daily News - As it announces the mail processing closures, the postal service also continues to press Congress for permission to drop Saturday delivery and raise the price of a stamp by 5 cents. We wonder if officials would miraculously change their minds on the closures if they got their way on dropping Saturday delivery, which they have been virtually demanding for years. Congress should not give in to such blackmail,  |

Quirky Photos of Post Offices in the United States

20 briefly quarantined after Auburn postal worker falls ill

Opinion: We’re all to blame for postal center demise

Labor auditors concerned about TSP computer security

Nine States Closing the Most Mail Centers

As post offices close, so goes a way of life
Magic in the Nearly Forgotten Mailbox
Everybody's got a price: What's yours?

In Pre-moriam: Processing Plant Photos  |  More Photos

February 26, 2012

After Questions  of her travel, PRC Chairwoman heads to Switzerland
Federal Times - Barely two weeks after a prominent senator questioned her travel activities, Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Ruth Goldway is unapologetically heading overseas. As of earlier this month, Goldway had taken 34 trips at a total cost of almost $71,000, including 11 overseas destinations, records showed. During a slightly longer tenure as chairman, Blair took 25 trips worth about $59,000. PR note: The difference between Goldway and Blair tenure as of December, Goldway has served as Chairman for 2 yrs, 4 mos.  - Blair served 2 yrs, 8 mos.(4 months difference)  The difference in expenditures is $12,000. Of course, no one is accounting for price increases  or adjustment for inflation for these trips.  So recap, all of this hoopla over PRC Chairwoman's travel expenses (and Sen. Carper spending time investigating) is because she has  spent $12,000 more than the previous Chairman . wow!  |

Retired Postman Loved Beyond Letters

Mail Delivery Returning to Normal Since Sioux City Closure

How Reno's Mail Processing Center Was Saved

February 25, 2012

Maryland Senators Urge PMG To Halt AMP Study In Easton, Oppose Closure Of Cumberland Mail Center - U. S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski  (both D-MD) demanded Thursday a halt to a new study on moving Easton's mail processing facility to Wilmington, Del. The Senators also wrote the Postmaster General strongly opposing the closure of the Cumberland area mail processing and distribution center and moving operations out of state to Johnstown, PA. . |

Merchants Sound Off on Impact of USPS 5-Day Delivery

Sen. Collins: 'The Decision is Inconceivable

Neither snow, nor rain, nor golf cart can stop Folly Beach Post Office
Mail delivery woes in Chicago Heights

Standing Up to Defend Portland Post Office

Three Letter Carriers Earn Million Mile Award

February 24, 2012

Tһе Postal Service’s Plan; Worse Service, Higher Prices

The Daily Finance- So that's the USPS solution in a nutshell: Give the customers worse service, and charge them more for it. Where have we heard this before? (Hint: Delta Airlines. United Continental. and American Airlines). Lengthening the time it takes a letter to travel from Point A to Point B won't do anything to increase the popularity of patronizing the postal system. Snipping a day off the weekly deliveries calendar, likewise. And charging more for a service that seems to get less convenient by the day? It almost seems like the Post Office is trying to guarantee that its business will fall further into decline. |

Senator Levin to Postmaster General: Show Me the Data

In a letter to the postmaster general, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., today asked for additional information about the U.S. Postal Service’s plans for the potential consolidation of mail processing facilities in Gaylord, Iron Mountain, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Saginaw beginning this summer.“You have provided an estimate of the annual savings from each closure and consolidation but no data on how these figures were reached,” Levin wrote to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. Rep. Meehan Calls for OIG Review of USPS Decision to Consolidate SE Pennsylvania Mail Center | Sen. Brown Demands Answers On USPS Proposal To Close MA Plants |

CNN: 35,000 Postal Service Jobs on the Chopping Block

Donahoe said he would like to complete most of the consolidations, including job cuts and changes to 30,000 full-time positions and 5,000 non-career employees, by Oct. 1.Under the plan, nearly every state would lose a mail processing plant, according to the Postal Service list, which includes 14 in California, 12 in New York and 9 in Illinois. NALC Response to USPS mail-processing announcement | USPS Plans to Close the Doors on Service | APWU: Members Must Continue the Fight! | The Politics of Network Optimization|  Sen. Brown Calls On USPS To Halt Consolidations In Ohio |

Comments of Representative Dennis Ross on USPS Consolidation

Courier Express and Postal Observer - The following is a dialogue that I had with Congressman Dennis Ross via Twitter regarding the Postal Service’s plant consolidation announcements: CEP Observer: Do you have a statement on the change in USPS service standards and closing of plants? |

Ohio Elections Boss Has Concerns Over Postal Plan

Ohio's elections chief is asking the postmaster general to reconsider plans to close nine mail processing sites in the state, saying he's concerned about the security of early mail-in ballots that would be handled outside Ohio. CA: Postal Service cuts worry workers, elections officials| Washington state election office: Postal cuts pose no problem for vote-by-mail  | California’s elections chief: Postal center closures threaten integrity of upcoming election |

Businesses Concerned over Post Office's Future

February 23, 2012

USPS Statement on Consolidation List

The Postal Service continually assesses its infrastructure, network, logistics capabilities and mail processing operations and constantly makes changes designed to improve efficiencies by making better use of space, staffing, equipment and transportation to process the nation’s mail .

USPS Consolidation List | USPS Consolidation List – Excel Version | Sen. Sanders Calls Postal Service Plan ‘Deeply Flawed’  |

It hits the fan: The Postal Service can't wait to close the plant

Save The Post Office - The Postal Service is informing workers at 250 mail processing plants about its decision to close or not to close. The closings could begin as soon as May 15, when the moratorium ends. It’s going to be a very stressful week, to say the least, and the Postal Service is increasing security at the plants.  |

NAPS: USPS Decision on Guidelines For Proposed Early Retirement Incentives Not Yet Completed - There are still many unanswered questions that will be resolved shortly. One of the biggest questions from our membership is the possibility of an incentive that would accompany the closures and consolidations.  |

Will USPS Excess Postal Employees Beyond 50 Miles?

Burrus Journal - It appears that the Postal Service is determined to continue with plans to consolidate over 200 mail processing facilities and to comply with consultation requirements of the contract they have met with the union. This is bad news as over 35,000 jobs will be eliminated and employees will be required to either relocate or drive many miles to their place of employment every day. |

California’s elections chief: Postal center closures threaten integrity of upcoming election

February 22, 2012

PMG: State of the Postal Service – An All Employee Message

So assuming we are going forward with all these changes, we would begin with plant consolidations and closures sometime after the May 15 moratorium.  |

USPS Mandatory Stand-Up Talk On Consolidations

As we heard from the PMG in his video, if the Postal Service reduces the size of its network, it also will have to reduce the size of the workforce. In that regard, the Postal Service is continuing to work with the unions and management associations about possible incentives

Reno (NV) Facility  to Stay Open | Postal workers told 60 jobs could leave Duluth (MN) by June | Pocatello (ID) mail center will close | Easton MD mail processing could move to Wilmington DE

Sen. Collins: USPS consolidation plan in Maine 'makes no sense' | Sen. Casey requests independent review of USPS consolidation in PA | Eastern Maine plant employees told that staff will be cut from 183 to 13 | Postal Workers React to News of Springfield (MO) Mail Processing Closure |  Toledo (OH) mail center to close | Roanoke to close | Cincinnati  will not close | Tulsa (OK) postal center to close | Sen. Carper on USPS Decision to Keep Hares Corner Open|  Paducah, KY postal facility to shut down | Postal workers shocked by Roanoke & Lynchburg facility closures  |

USPS Set to Announce Consolidations APWU Continues to Oppose Plan To Slash Service, Jobs, Network - As the Postal Service prepares to announce which mail processing facilities will face consolidation beginning in mid-May, the APWU is fighting back. The union is continuing to oppose USPS plans to slash service, eliminate 35,000 jobs, and destroy the mail distribution network..  |

Greece Is the Word for USPS, Donahoe Says

Dead Tree Edition - The U.S. Postal Service’s financial situation is starting to “look like Greece,” the Postmaster General told mailers last week, because of resistance to changing the agency's obviously unsustainable cost structure. If Congress doesn’t allow USPS to change, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe told the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), by 2016 it will have $60 billion in annual revenue but $90 billion worth of debt  |

A Civil Action: The People of the United States vs. The U. S. Postal Service

Save The Post Office - The Postal Service juggernaut keeps rolling on with its downsizing plans, and it seems prepared to crush whatever stands in its way — postal workers, post offices, communities, history.  There doesn’t seem to be anyone or anything that can stop it — not Congress, not the unions, not the Postal Regulatory Commission.  Perhaps it’s time for the People of the United States to take the U.S. Postal Service to court.  The opportunity for a legal case presented itself just a few days ago when the Postal Service released its Environmental Assessment EA of the potential impacts of the Network Rationalization initiative, the plan to consolidate 250 processing plants. |

Obama signs payroll-tax holiday into law - New federal employees must now pay more for retirement benefits.

The Shrinking Service: Why Are Post Offices Closing?

Woman claims mailman stole her coupons

Kentucky Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Assaulting Mail Carrier

Video: Miami Postal worker robbed of master key

Rep Don Young talks bypass mail at Chamber luncheon

Feds ask judge to drop Calif. postal records suit

Assault rifle shipped by Richfield man lost by Akron post office

ePostage for an e-giant.

Subscribers are noticing that magazines are arriving later and later

February 21, 2012

PRC Chairwoman Goldway Responds To Sen. Carper On Travel Expenses

Pursuant to your letter of February 8,2012, please find attached a summary and related documents that are responsive to your questions regarding Commission travel. This information demonstrates that Commission travel is in support of statutory obligations, performed in a cost-efficient manner, and benefits the Commission, the Postal Service, and the mailing public.  |

Premium Mail Forwarding Service Debuts on USPS.com

The United States Postal Service has added it’s extremely popular Premium Forwarding Service to it’s suite of online products and services at usps.com. Previously only available at a Post Office, Premium Forwarding Service can now be accessed online using your USPS.com account.   |

Are You Using the Postal Service App?

USPS OIG - The U.S. Postal Service launched its first mobile application for the iPhone in October 2009. On several occasions, the app was listed as one of the top 10 free business applications for the iPhone. Using this application, customers can find post offices, look up zip codes, calculate postage prices, and track packages. Nearly 985,000 customers have downloaded this application and more than 50,400 use it at least once a week.  |

NALC: Payroll tax extension heads to president’s desk

H.R. 3813 Update: New Hires to Pay More, Current Workers Still Threatened

Video: Wisconsin Postal workers bowl to raise money for Children Hospitals

February 20, 2012

Postal Workers Call For OIG Investigation of Delayed Mail In Maryland

On November 19, 2011, the Frederick Processing and Distribution Facility in Frederick, Md. was closed. Employees were excessed to multiple facilities, including the Baltimore, Md. Processing and Distribution Plant and the Incoming Mail Facility in Linthicum, Md. The transfer of mail processing and distribution formerly performed in the Frederick P&DF has resulted in severely delayed mail and serious safety violations..   |

Postal Workers and Supporters Rally to Save the USPS in Maine

Postal workers and others are asking to save several smaller post offices and one distribution center in Maine from closing. Many people including United States Representative Michael Michaud rallied near the Bangor Post office. They want the United States Postal Service to cancel plans to close smaller post offices and to keep the Hampden distribution center open. North Carolina: Postal Proposal Protest  |

Gamefly Battles USPS and PRC In Court Over Remedies In Discrimination Case

PRC found that the Postal Service had failed to establish reasonable and legitimate reasons for providing GameFly less favorable treatment than Netflix, and that the Postal Service had unduly discriminated against GameFly. To remedy the discrimination PRC ordered USPS to make certain changes in the rates and surcharges imposed on DVD mailers. PRC, however, did not adopt the remedies sought by GameFly. GameFly now appeals, essentially contending that the remedies ordered by PRC do not adequately redress the Postal Service’s discriminatory conduct. |

USPS: New business plan charts path to financial stability

“The plan we have developed requires a combination of aggressive cost reduction, rethinking the way we manage our healthcare costs, and comprehensive legislation to reform the business model of the Postal Service,” said Postmaster General, Patrick Donahoe. “If provided the flexibility to quickly implement this plan, we can return to profitability and better serve the American public. If not, we risk becoming a significant burden to the American taxpayer.”   |

Sexual Harassment, battery charges against Oklahoma Postmaster dismissed

The Postmaster was charged with one count of assault and battery and one charge of harassment in March 2011. The Postmaster's  attorney  said the charges were dismissed because of a lack of evidence. According to court documents, Special District Judge Thomas Baldwin wrote, “Although probable cause exists to believe that the crime alleged was committed and that the defendant herein committed the crime, the evidence is insufficient to prove the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.”   |

Postal Service loses urn, woman's remains

New Greenwich post office to open March 12

PHOTOS: F7 Action at the University Post Office, Portland, Oregon

USPS, I love you
Search continues for secret stamp honoring John Glenn's historic spaceflight
Canada Post CEO sees growth for service in e-commerce

February 19, 2012

Updated: Postal Service again eyes buyouts, early retirements
Federal Times- OPM Director John Berry said Wednesday that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe alerted him a week earlier that USPS could offer both early retirement and buyout incentives to encourage employees to leave. USPS CFO Corbett told reporters in a conference call that early retirement incentives are under consideration, but he did not discuss the possibility of buyouts. |

Editorial: Trim overhead and match postal reforms to financial reality

Congress and the Postal Service know the path ahead for ending massive deficits. Stop expensive prepayments for employee health benefits and close facilities as postal use plunges.|

Returning military members allege job discrimination — by federal government

Washington Post -Every year, more than a thousand National Guard, reserve and active-duty troops coming back from Iraq, Afghanistan or other military duties complain of being denied jobs or otherwise being penalized by employers because of their military obligations. The biggest offender: the federal government. Other major offenders include the U.S. Postal Service. Federal government is top offender against veterans on holding jobs |

Editorial: Postal Service’s Future

The Missourian-  By cutting service and raising prices, we don’t see how the agency is going to maintain what business it has now. We would expect a loss of business as mailers seek alternative services to deliver their products. That’s not a business plan that will promote growth.  |

USPS Five-Year Plan mostly PR with a lot of groovy charts

Save the Post Office  The new Business Plan is basically a version of what the Postal Service floated this past summer in a couple of white papers on "workforce optimization" and the retiree benefit plans. There may be a more thorough business plan sitting somewhere in postal headquarters, but the document released to the public is basically a Powerpoint presentation with a lot of groovy graphs and charts. It's mostly PR, and the Postmaster General is doing the media circuit promoting the plan. The chart shows that in 2011, there were 557,000 career employees and 93,000 non-career. In 2016, the career employees would be reduced to 402,000 — a reduction of 155,000 — while the non-career workforce would actually increase from 93,000 to 101,000. That means basically that all of the positions that will be cut are full-time career jobs. The non-career positions would increase, from 14% to 20% of the total workforce. |

USPS NCED Training Center in Oklahoma open to the public

The Norman Transcript - A trend toward remote or distance learning through computer-aided classes along with a decrease in the amount of training USPS is doing these days has greatly reduced the number of postal students attending in residence at the Norman facility. That change has opened up the Center up to host a wide variety of conferences and other events.. |

Businesses upset with cutting Saturday mail delivery

Letter: Sen. Collins in Denial

Bill Downsizing U.S. Postal Service Far From Perfect

Postal Service versus UPS, Customer Service Wins – Forbes

Mystery postcard from 1957 turns up in Newton post office

February 18, 2012

The Postal Service Business Plan: the Result of Choosing a Government Business Model

Small-town newspapers face uncertain future with possible postal cutbacks

Post office closings may increase rural isolation, economic disparity

Appalachian Trail Hikers' NH Post Office to Close

Proposed pension contribution hike is latest foray into federal worker pockets

February 17, 2012

New Jersey letter carrier charged with drunk driving in mail truck
Ridgewood, NJ - Police allege a 26-year veteran of the USPS was driving drunk and had an open container of alcohol in the postal vehicle while on her delivery route Thursday afternoon. |

APWU: USPS Five-Year Plan Is Doomed to Fail

USPS Uses Wedding Stamps to Encourage Mail Invitations

100-Year-Old Photos of People Delivering Mail

February 16, 2012

USPS Plans to Eliminate 155,000 Full-time Employees - 283,000 Eligible For Retirement -USPS 5-year Business Plan Presentation sent to Congress - USPS may resort to buyouts, early retirements in aggressive downsizing - Federal Times - OPM Director John Berry said Wednesday that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe alerted him a week earlier that USPS could offer both early retirement and buyout incentives to encourage employees to leave. USPS CFO Corbett told reporters in a conference call that early retirement incentives are under consideration, but he did not discuss the possibility of buyouts. Video: USPS may resort to buyouts |

US Postal Service Proposes Operation Changes Under New Business Plan

Wall Street Journal - The U.S. Postal Service proposed drastic changes to its operations Thursday, including cutting more than 150,000 jobs from its payroll, raising the price of a first-class stamp to 50 cents and extending delivery time for long-distance mail, as part of a plan to save $22 billion annually. Without those changes and others--including likely ending Saturday delivery--the Postal Service projects to incur annual losses exceeding $18 billion by 2015, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told members of Congress in a letter urging them to take swift action on proposed reforms.  NALC reacts to USPS ‘business plan’ announcement  | Sen. Carper Statement  | Postal Service Warns It Could Lose $18 Billion a Year  |

The plant consolidation plan: 35,000 jobs lost, and "no significant impact"?

Save The Post Office - As part of the report, the Postal Service has provided more detailed numbers about the reduction in the workforce than it initially included in the Request for an Advisory Opinion to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). Nearly 35,000 positions would be affected. The breakdown is summarized in the following table.  |

30-Year NY letter carrier sentenced for stealing drugs and cash from mail

State Senator. says USPS is withholding study on closing Queens plant

Closing of postal centers could cause trouble with mail ballots

Helping USPS Help You

February 15, 2012

USPS Plans to Implement Consolidations As Soon As Moratorium Ends

 APWU News - In a meeting with the APWU on Feb. 13, postal officials notified the APWU that they plan to begin consolidating mail processing facilities as soon as the moratorium on consolidations ends. The moratorium is set to expire on May 15.Top-level postal managers were unable – or unwilling – to specify which mail processing centers would be closed immediately. Decisions will be made at the end of February, they said.   |

NAPUS: Senate to Vote on Public Service Pension Tax On Friday

Senate will take up a broad must-pass bill social security payroll tax bill, which includes a section to increase employee Federal Employees Retirement (FERS) and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) contributions by 1.5% over the next three years.  |

Update: Congress Refuses to Tax the Rich, But New Postal, Federal Workers Must Pay - Published reports indicate that the latest deal to extend the 2 percent payroll tax holiday would require only new postal workers and federal employees to pay more for their retirement benefits. The increase would be used to fund another portion of the bill, which extends unemployment benefits.

Congress Refuses to Tax the Rich But Postal, Federal Workers Must Pay -Budget negotiators insisted that postal workers and federal employees pay more for their retirement benefits to fund another portion of the bill – the one that extends unemployment benefits. The current proposal increases employee contributions by 1.5 percent over three years.“No one else is being asked to pay more – certainly not the banks or corporations,” said APWU Legislative Director Myke Reid. . NAPUS: Congressional Payroll Tax Agreement Hits New Hires, Not Current Employees |

Former Michigan Postal Worker convicted of taking cash, lap dances as bribes

A jury has convicted a U.S. Postal Service employee of corruption in an investigation of bribes and the repair of mail trucks in Detroit and Ann Arbor. |

Letter carrier alerts Holland woman and fire department to SUV blaze

Post Office contractor sentenced for hiding mail

Tales of U.P.S.'s Missing and Broken

February 14, 2012

Icrease to pension contributions part of tentative tax cut deal

Federal News Radio - House-Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut that delivers about $20 a week to the average worker yielded a tentative agreement Tuesday, with lawmakers planning to unveil the pact Wednesday and sending the measure to President Barack Obama as early as this week. Under the outlines of the emerging agreement, a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year, with the nearly $100 billion cost added to the deficit. Jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed would be renewed as well, with the $30 billion cost paid for in part through auctioning broadcast spectrum to wireless companies and requiring federal workers to contribute more toward their pensions.  |

27 Senators Support Saving the Postal Service

A group of 27 senators called today for "significant improvements" in a bill to modernize the U.S. Postal Service. In a letter to a Senate panel that oversees the Postal Service, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 26 other senators suggested specific measures to preserve first-class and Saturday mail delivery, stop wholesale closings of rural post offices and mail processing centers, and spare many of the 220,000 jobs that the Postal Service wants to cut. APWU Praises Senators Efforts To Resolve USPS Financial Crisis Without Hurting Workers  |  NAPS: Obama Budget Would Help the Postal Service, Hurt Postal Workers   |

Special Report: Towns go dark with post office closings
Some of America's poorest communities - many of them with spotty broadband Internet coverage - stand to suffer most if the struggling agency moves ahead with plans to shutter thousands of post offices later this year, a Reuters analysis found. Nearly 80 percent of the 3,830 post offices under consideration are in sparsely populated rural areas where poverty rates are higher than the national average, demographic data analyzed by Reuters shows. Moreover, about one-third of the offices slated for closure fall in areas with limited or no wired broadband Internet, Reuters found. |

USPS: Nation’s first Village Post Office Is Thriving with Business

This pioneering VPO, located in Red’s Hop N’ Market in Malone, WA, averages about 15 Forever Book stamp sales per month and plans to offer more mailing options.. |

NALC Contract Update: Mediator Appointed

USPS Dedicates Love Forever Stamp

USPS celebrates Arizona’s 100th Anniversary with issuance of new Forever Stamp

Letters by the thousands travel to tiny Texas town
New Hampshire letter carrier dies on the job
Plea change hearing set for ex-Post Office worker

February 13, 2012

Rep. Hinchey Leads 111 House Members Against Post Office Closures

“The data the U.S. Postal Service used to select which post offices it would consider for closure was incomplete, inaccurate and inappropriately targeted rural post offices,” said Hinchey. “I’m calling on the Postmaster General to halt all discontinuance studies. Unless they start operating with better information, they could do more harm than good.” House Members Seek Moratorium On USPS Plans to Close Post Offices  |

NALC: Obama’s Budget Proposal To End Saturday delivery is counter-productive -"Eliminating Saturday delivery is a counter-productive proposal that would degrade services to the public and to businesses, threaten the viability of the Postal Service itself, and begin to dismantle the universal network that has served the country well for 200 years," NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said. PMG Statement | NAPUS: White House FY 2013 Budget Proposes Temporary Relief and Cuts to Postal Service | Business Mailers Rankled by Obama Call to End Saturday Delivery  |

Senator Sanders and Congressman Cummings Call for Reform of USPS Pre-Funding Schedule  - In light of first quarter financial reports that the U.S. Postal Service would have generated $200 million in profits had it not been required to pre-fund its future retiree health benefits, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for the passage of legislation to reform this burdensome requirement, which no other federal agency or private sector company faces.   |

Obama Urges End to U.S. Postal Service Saturday Mail Delivery

Bloomberg - The U.S. Postal Service needs to cut one day of mail delivery each week and raise rates to return to solvency, President Barack Obama said in his budget proposal. Obama included in his budget released today a plan to save the Postal Service that he’d asked a congressional deficit- reducing supercommittee to enact last year. That panel failed to reach agreement. Obama Budget Proposes Refunding USPS $11B In FERS Retirees Benefits Payments | Obama’s Budget Proposal includes many of Sen. Carper’s Reforms To Save USPS  |

USPS paid out nearly $1 Billion In Overtime During FY 2012 First Quarter

According to reports filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission USPS paid out $964,756,219.13 in overtime during the first quarter of  2012 fiscal year . Last year during the same period USPS paid out over $980 million. USPS attributed the $980 million to reduction in personnel (VERA and attrition) , mail rerouting, and equipment deployment delays and updates. City Letter Carriers attributed to over 50% ($506,449,078.60) of the total amount. Almost $300 million of that amount was paid out in the month of December. USPS also paid out $28,376,044.47 in arbitration awards  |

Mail Handlers President calls for USPS to defer implementation of service standard  Changing the service standards before the Postal Service has this critical information puts the cart before the horse, and raises the possibility that the service standards will be downgraded and the distribution network permanently dismantled even though the redesigned network will be unable to accommodate workload as the Postal Service hopes and/or the savings realized will be insufficient to justify this significant degradation in service.  |

Regional Insurance Group Moves Customer Communications To Digital Postal Mail Powered by Zumbox

February 12, 2012

Mailers informed before employees on USPS Plans For the Future

PostalReporter.com reader suggests that mailers are informed about USPS plans for the future before employees. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe’s web presentation to mailers:. |

PMG Approves Postal Execs Alcohol Purchases With USPS Funds If…

During FY 2011, the Postal Service made changes to the Postal Service Officers’ Travel and Representation Expense Guidelines (Guidelines)3 for officers’ travel and representation expenses. A postmaster general (PMG) memorandum, dated July 29, 2011, notified officers that management revised the Guidelines, and included a copy of the revised document. Guidelines, dated April 13, 2009, page 5, Meals, item number 4, did not allow for purchase of hard liquor. Revised Guidelines, dated July 29, 2011, page 7, Representation, item 4, allow hard liquor only if there are international guests.   |

Editorial: McCaskill's Post Office Proposal

February 11, 2012

NAPUS: Senate Postal Bill Stalled for Now

Complicating prompt consideration of the Lieberman-Collins-Carper-Brown bill are concerns being raised within the Senate Democratic Caucus over a limited number of controversial provisions in the bill (e.g., changes to collective-bargaining and the federal workers’ compensation program). In addition, there is pressure to add provisions to the bill to strengthen Postal Regulatory Commission involvement in facility closure and consolidation decision-making, and deny the USPS the opportunity to reduce delivery service standards.  |

Court of Appeals Upholds Letter Carrier’s Firing for Disclosing ‘Mail Cover’ Investigation To Customer -  Holdsworth served as a letter carrier for the USPS for twenty-two years. In August or September 2008, I the U.S. Postal Inspection Service advised Holdsworth that USPIS would be conducting a “mail cover” in connection with a criminal mail fraud investigation.  Contrary to the inspectors’ expectations, the targets were not surprised by the inspection, but rather were already on notice of the investigation because, they said, their letter carrier had informed them that the authorities were watching their mail. USPS issued a notice of Holdsworth’s proposed removal based on the stated charge of “improper conduct/providing confidential information to a postal customer of a government matter/interference in a criminal investigation. The court of appeals upheld the removal.  (02/11/12) |

Native and Rural Communities Face Devastating Post Office Closures

February 10, 2012

USPS Awards Contract For Next Generation Retail System Software

In December 2010, USPS issued a solicitation for the Next Generation Retail System Software (Next Gen RSS). According to the solicitation: "This software will be utilized across all of the retail Point of Sale platforms. USPS is seeking Software, Software Maintenance, Software Support, and Help Desk Support across the continental United States."  |

Portland Postal Action Video

(Portland, Oregon: “At 2:30pm on Tuesday, Feb. 7, over a hundred activists from dozens of unions and community organizations, under the banner of JOBS with JUSTICE and the slogan of GOOD JOBS, NO CUTS swarmed out of two buses into University Station post office, which is slated for closure. This 13 min. video, which includes footage from a day-long bus tour of workers’ rights protests, includes this postal action. Photos: Portland Postal Action   |

The spin doctors examine Post Office financials for Q1: “The patient is a goner” Save The Post Office - This week the Postal Service released its financial report on the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 (Form 10-Q).  As you might have expected, it’s all bad news — that is, according to the Postal Service, the mainstream media, and Congressional postal experts.  The spin doctors tell us the patient is in critical condition and radical surgery is necessary.  Let them amputate a few limbs and remove some organs, and they’ll get the patient back on its foot in no time.   |

USPS 1st Quarter Volumes and Revenues Better than Forecast

With its filing of its 1st Quarter 2012 10-Q, the Postal Service reported another quarter of substantial losses.   While the report clearly indicated that the Postal Service’s financial position is unsustainable, the decline in volume and revenue is substantially less than projected in the Postal Service’s 2012 Integrated Financial Plan.  In the First quarter of fiscal year of 2012, the Postal Service has handled nearly 2 billion more pieces and generated $745 million more revenue than the forecast that the the Postal Service filed on January 20, 2012 with the Postal Regulatory Commission that the Postal Service more than likely used in its 2012 Integrated Financial Plan.  |

USPS fallout: Dems seek to treat bills as paid once they are postmarked

Eight House Democrats on Thursday proposed legislation that would require companies to consider bills as “paid” once they are postmarked, an idea meant to help consumers stay current on their bills given the likelihood of service cutbacks at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Congressman Cohen Introduces Postmark Payment Act Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today introduced the Postmark Payment Act of 2012, a bill that would require that any payment of a bill or invoice, if sent by U.S. mail, be considered sent on the date its envelope was postmarked. The bill would exempt any payment where another method, such as electronic payment, is required by regulation, contract, or law. |

NALC: Retiree Pre-Funding Costs USPS $3.1 Billion Of Its 2012 QTR 1 Financial Loss

Despite the headline on its press release, the U.S. Postal Service announced today a net operating profit of $200 million delivering the mail in the first quarter of FY 2012 – an impressive achievement given the current economy.  USPS Just Lost $3.3 Billion - Blame Congress  |

Video: Explain it to me, GOP

Federal employees ask GOP lawmakers to “explain it to me” how cutting federal pay and benefits helps put Americans back to work.  |

Postal trouble could harm FedEx - Analyst: Government may need to renegotiate lucrative contract

February 9, 2012

USPS Ends FY First Quarter 2012 With Net Loss Of $3.3 billion

The U.S. Postal Service ended the first three months of its 2012 fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2011) with a net loss of $3.3 billion. Management expects large losses to continue until the Postal Service has implemented its network re-design and down-sizing and has restructured its healthcare program.  Additionally, the return to financial stability requires legislation which gives the Postal Service typical commercial freedoms, including delivery flexibility, returns over $10 billion of amounts overpaid to the Federal Government and resolves the need to prefund retiree healthcare at rates not assessed any other entity in the United States .Senator Carper Statement on USPS Financial Losses |  USPS Needs New Math to explain November financial losses  |

House Republicans Approve Bill To Cut Postal, Federal Pensions

A House committee approved legislation on Feb. 7 that would cut pensions for postal and federal employees, while increasing the contributions the workers must make toward their retirement. The party-line vote was 22-16, with Republicans voting in favor of the retirement cuts and Democrats voting against.  |

Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ introduces legislation to reform USPS’s profit-exhausting mandates Rep. Waters introduced H.R. 3916, the Protecting Post Offices Act, which would reduce the operating costs of the US Postal Service to provide continued service in urban and rural communities and save 28,000 American jobs. She is joined by American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO in support of this much needed legislation to stabilize the US Postal Service.  |

Editorial: Why We Love The USPS

On Capitol Hill our elected officials got more bills about this… than a cash register. Problem is the gatekeepers of the USPS can’t come up with the combined change necessary to keep this national treasure viable for another 237 years. |

Former Virginia Postmaster Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Three NY Postal Employees Charged With Using Their Position to Steal Cash

Hundreds of post offices dropped from U.S. Postal Service closure list

Heart Health Forever Stamp Lands Featured Role on NBC’s ‘The Biggest Loser’

World’s postal market changing faster than ever expected

SC rural carrier honored for pulling woman to safety

February 8, 2012

The Ed Show: The Republicans War On Postal Workers

The Ed Show: MSNBC’s Ed Schultz discusses the Republicans War On Workers and the Postal Service.   |

House GOP Planning to Cut Feds Retirement Benefits to Fund Transportation Bill - The leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said today she is appalled that the House Republican leadership would break pension promises made to federal workers years ago to fund a transportation bill.  |

Lawmakers continue battle over federal retirement benefits

Federal News Radio - The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has reported out legislation that would make federal employees contribute 1.5 percent more of their salaries to their pensions and end the Federal Employees Retirement System annuity supplement for people who retire before age 62. .  |

OPM speeds up retirement claims processing, but backlog grows

Video: Post Offices: Rural, Rustic, Relics?

Online brokerage TD Ameritrade will pay $1.5 million for breaking postal mailing rules
The Post Office Is Not Broke
Only Congress can rescue USPS, says PRC commissioner Acton
Relevance of PRC Decision In Network Optimization Review
Sanders leads push to change Senate postal bill

Postal Worker Awarded for Saving Life

Postal Service proposes rule change on electronic subscriptions

‎The postal service is slipping away
Bell tolls for the U.S. Mail, as we know it

Former Warm Springs Postmaster Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

Misdelivered urn will be returned to rightful owner

14 Ohio mail processing workers to be reassigned
Trump to turn Old Post Office into luxury hotel

February 7, 2012

 Save The Post Office - There’s a lot at stake in the battle over postal reform — billions of dollars of corporate profits, the power of unions, the very existence of post offices — so one can’t be surprised that the politics got a little rough this week.  The Washington Post has just run a piece attacking Ruth Goldway, Chairman of the Postal Regulator Commission, accusing her of spending too much time and money on travel.  The hatchet job by Ed O’Keefe makes a mountain out of a molehill...The Post might have asked Issa — the richest man in Congress — how he’s  been curbing his own expenses these days.  Back in 2006, issa was described as “the best-traveled member of San Diego County's congressional delegation.”  Issa ranked 24th among all House members on a list of taxpayer-paid travel.  |

Postal worker dies after falling into storm drain at Miami P&DC

One coworker, who didn't want to be identified, said the man drowned trying to recover his cellphone."I just think he fell in the manhole trying to get his phone and he drowned," said the coworker. |

Where’s that tub? USPS’s flat tub shortage continues

Video: Woman gets her entire block’s mail for the 4th time

US Postal inspectors investigating The Second Mile, Sandusky

Video: Residents Fight To Save New England's Smallest Post Office

USPS Closes Yantic Post Office, Citing Safety and Security Concerns

USPS OIG: Why Saturday?

February 6, 2012

Senator Leahy: Postal Service divorced from reality

The postal market may be shrinking for first class mail, but don’t let anyone tell you that there is no room for growth. UPS was number 48 on the Fortune 100 list last year, and FedEx was 73. There’s plenty of revenue to be made in the premium package delivery market. This is a growing market, fueled by the growth of Internet commerce. USPS just needs to have a strategy about how to become more competitive.  |

Sanders: USPS OIG Says Postal Retirement Reserves Already Are ‘Astonishingly High’-At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is considering deep cuts in services and jobs, an internal watchdog today told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that a big funding cushion already has been built into the mail service’s retirement and health benefit funds.  |

3 Senators Want Blue Ribbon Commission To Help USPS Increase Revenue

“Let’s be clear: these short-term accounting efforts will not solve the long-term financial problems facing the U.S. Postal Service. In order to do that, the Postal Service needs to adopt an entirely new business model which makes it much more entrepreneurial, pro-business, and pro-consumer compared to where it is today,” Sanders said. Sen. Mary Landrieu urges post office rescue |

Letter Carriers mobilize to oppose FERS bill

On Jan. 24, Rep. Dennis Ross, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and Labor Policy, introduced H.R. 3813, the Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act. But it probably comes as little surprise that Ross’ measure, were it to become law, would in fact threaten the retirement benefits of federal workers—including postal workers.  |

APWU Members Urged to Take Action As Senate Reviews Postal Reform

Postal reform is a hot topic in Congress as the Senate prepares to vote on the 21st Century Postal Service Act,  and APWU President Cliff Guffey is urging union members to contact their senators and let them know: Senate bill 1789 is unacceptable in its current form. |

Detroit: Trial getting under way in mail truck corruption

Post Office locations opening in retailers, run by retailers

February 5, 2012

PRC Chairwoman Ruth Goldway defends travel schedule

PR note: Is it concerns or politics as usual - From the Washington Post  - “I know that travel is an easy mark for people, but I really think that what we do is well within the bonds of responsibility and I make a special effort to make sure that any travel I take is extremely frugal. I’m a small person, I can get on a plane easily, but I think it’s important to travel. The benefit really does outweigh any of the costs that are invested in it. PRC Chairwoman's $70,000 in travel comes under scrutiny -Washington Post - Days before the U.S. Postal Service announced record-setting losses in September, the nation’s top postal regulator traveled to Scotland for meetings with European envelope manufacturers. A few weeks later, Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway visited Portugal, Switzerland and China to meet with international postal regulators.  Postal regulator's travel raises concerns - Also calling for a closer look is Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce who questioned whether all of Goldway's travel was necessary. " |

Senate Democrats divided over deep cuts to U.S. Postal Services
The Hill - The postal reform bill crafted by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) was expected to reach the Senate floor as soon as next week. Now Senate Democratic aides say it is not likely to come up until after the Presidents Day recess, as senators engage in last-minute shuttle diplomacy to avert a nasty and potentially embarrassing floor fight. CBO score could blunt momentum for Senate Postal Service reform bill  - the full House has yet to consider the GOP postal reform bill. A House Republican aide said the chamber expected to act on the legislation before August  |

FSS Is Increasing USPS's Costs, Expert Says
Dead Tree Edition - So far, the Flats Sequencing System seems to be increasing rather than decreasing the Postal Service’s sorting and delivery costs, according to a postal expert. |

Postal Workers: Frederick mail piling up

Fredrick News Post - Baltimore facility burdened after local plant's closure, transferred employees say - Since Frederick's Tilco Drive mail processing plant was shuttered Nov. 18, the U.S Postal Service has said customers can expect the same level of service as before, even though local mail now travels to Baltimore to be sorted before being delivered. But employees who were moved from Tilco Drive to the Baltimore plant say consolidating the operations was a mistake and has come at the price of timely, efficient service.  |

Sen. Claire McCaskill to discuss postal proposals

Shock: Post Office delivers veteran’s ashes to wrong family

Going Postal: A Second Look: From the USPS Closure Files

EquaShip The ‘New 4th Parcel Carrier’ Temporarily Suspending Customer Operations

February 4, 2012

HOAX: Robot Detonates Suspicious Package at Five Points Post Office

USPS Mailmen Are Tree-Hating, Clutter-Loving Polluters

Notable Authors Give Snail Mail a Boost

USPS Hiring in Kentucky and Evansville

Carper, Coons, Carney & Markell Write to PMG Urging Review of Hare’s Corner Proposal

OFF BEAT: Investigators get an eyeful in workers comp fraud case

Operators Lukewarm On USPS '2nd Ounce Free' Offer

3 people freed from car wedged beneath a USPS trailer

Stamps are miniature works of art

February 3, 2012

What’s to hide? The Postal Service turns over some closing lists

Save The Post Office - Getting closing lists out of the Postal Service is like, well, pulling teeth.  Over the past several months, hundreds of post offices have closed, gone into emergency suspension, or received a Final Determination notice indicating they’ll close in 60 days.  But try to find a list of all of these post offices on the USPS website.  One gets the impression that the Postal Service would prefer that the public not have access to this data.  |

US mailers urge swift postal reforms from US Senate

Art Sackler, the lobby group’s co-ordinator, said: “There is no time to waste. Eight million private sector jobs hinge on the future of the Postal Service, and the economy as a whole continues to rely to a great deal on paper communications and package delivery, so it’s critical that Congress enact postal reform immediately.   |

USPS Pension Fund Surpluses Growing; Retiree Health Benefit Unfunded Liability Declines Even Without PAEA Payments -Courier Express and Postal Observer-The shrinking Postal Service workforce is currently having some welcome impacts on the Postal Service’s balance sheet.  Surpluses have formed in the Postal Service’s Civl Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) Accounts.   The unfunded liability associated with the Postal Service’s retiree health benefit plan has declined even with the Postal Service not making $11 billion in payments required by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.   |

For Ninth Straight Year FedEx Is USPS’s Largest Supplier

First-place FedEx transports Express Mail, Priority Mail and First Class Mail, and earned postal revenues of $1.495 billion in fiscal 2011 – an increase of $122 million from last year. Higher fuel prices may account for the increase. Another postal competitor, United Parcel Service, is the Postal Service's 11th largest postal supplier, earning $102 million in revenue – a $7 million increase from last year. Six of the top 10 postal contractors are in the transportation field.  |

Alabama community finally gets mail service

Scammers Use USPS Online Change of Address To Steal Woman’s Identity

Reports: charges dropped in Lance Armstrong/USPS doping investigation.

Free Valentine’s Day Ca rd Offer at Cardstore.com

The GOP's plan to target federal workers

Postal system's financial woes spark debate in Maine

St. Paul artist using homemade postcards to help save Postal Service

All Thrift Savings Plan funds post positive returns in January

February 2, 2012

Where’s the emergency? Suspended post offices in 2011 & a list of leases ending soon

Save The Post Office-  There’s a moratorium on closing post offices until May 15, but it doesn’t apply to “emergency suspensions,” as we learned at a meeting of the Postal Regulatory Commission earlier this week. That means any post office with a lease expiring soon is in danger, and there are 1,400 of them with leases that end during the moratorium.  An emergency suspension occurs when the Postal Service temporarily closes a post office — often with little or no notice to the community — for emergencies like the postmaster gets sick and there’s no replacement available, or the building is unsafe due to heavy snowfall or a tornado.   |

At 1st MPA Postal Summit, Industry Tackles Distribution Issues

Folio - The postmaster said the $20 billion plan includes resolving worker healthcare costs and reallocating some of those resources for operating costs; eliminate pre-funding retiree benefits; eliminating Saturday delivery of service; consolidating the USPS network and reducing the number of career USPS employees. “These things will allow us to maintain price, that’s why you don’t hear me walking around saying we need an exigent price change—that will push you, bill presenters and standard mailers out of the mail,” he said. Publishers Seek Solutions as USPS Nears Brink  |

Legislative and Regulatory Delays Will Affect Introduction of Incentives for Early Retirement -Early retirement incentives at the Postal Service requires both the funds to offer those incentives and an urgent need to reduce the workforce quickly.    In the past week, actions of two different government bodies had the effect of delaying any possible introduction of early retirement incentives. S. 1789, the 21st Century Act, had a provision that would provide the funds to allow the Postal Servcie to offer early retirement incentives.   However, the publication of the Congressional Budget Office’s cost estimate on S. 1789, the 21st Century Act, appears likely to at best delay and at worst scuttle any chances for passing a postal reform bill in the Senate.  |

OPM hopes to solve retirement claims backlog with more staff

The government’s human resources chief acknowledged Wednesday his agency does not yet have an information technology plan to successfully tackle the major backlog of federal retirement claims. Senators take OPM to task over long wait for pensions  |

Portland mail carrier returns to duty after relieving himself in yard

Some neighbors in Southeast Portland are upset that a postal carrier caught relieving himself in a backyard was returning to his old route.  |

USPS Love Ribbons Forever Stamps Goes on Sale Before Feb 14th

Fans huddle up at USPS’s Championship Station In Superbowl Village

Postal carrier reports attack by drunk

Latest postal reform bill would lose money

Texas Letter Carrier Sentenced To 18 Months in Prison for workers comp fraud

CA Postal Clerk Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison For Embezzlement, Passing Counterfeit Bills

Postal Worker Charged After Allegedly Dumping Mail in Dumpster

Postal Service cutting hours at Jekyll Island and Sea Island post offices

Posts Maintenance Manuals

February 1, 2012

CRS: USPS Financial Condition: Overview and Issues for Congress

A number of ideas have been advanced that would attempt to improve the USPS’s financial condition in the short term so that it might continue as a self-funding government agency. All of these reforms would require Congress to amend current postal law. The ideas include (2) reducing the USPS’s expenses by a number of means, such as recalculating the USPS’s retiree health care and pension obligations and payments, closing postal facilities, and reducing mail delivery to less than six days per week.  |

APWU: Movement on Maintenance Craft Jobs Memo

Under the terms of the Q-and-A document, the Postal Service must return custodial duties to stations, branches and other facilities of an independent installation no later than May 23, 2012. |

Mail Handlers Contract Update: Impasse Declared, Dispute Resolution Procedures Forthcoming - The Postal Service also has been working in Congress to undermine the bargaining process, seeking legislative changes in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, as well as changes in the binding arbitration provisions that ultimately control collective bargaining. |

Video: Senator Sanders: Modernize the Postal Service

USPS: ‘Black Women in American Culture and History’

Postal Inspection Service renews violence-prevention efforts

USPS finding success pursuing sales leads at trade shows

Is private postal center ripping off customers?

Cape Cottage postmaster looks back on 66 years on the job

USPS finding success pursuing sales leads at trade shows

 US regulators refuse to speed up review of USPS network cutbacks

You're not going to love this: the USPS screws up Valentine's Day

Oscar Ballots Are in the Mail -- For the Last Time?

USPS Tries To Scare Boomers Away From Online Banking

Post Office Opens Inside Nutrition Warehouse

Maine postal worker gets 3 months for stealing veterans’ pain medicine
New York Rural Carrier Arrested over Alleged theft of mail
Plan to sell La Jolla post office upsets locals
Paperless Post Offers E-Valentines for Stationery Lovers