PostalReporter.com Blog

In an article “Canton letters could get loopy - Mail might be routed through Akron” a Akron Beacon Journal staff writer reports:

Under a study put together by the Bush administration and the Government Accountability Office, Canton’s processing center at the main post office on Cleveland Avenue could be moved to the larger center in Akron, authorities said.

Hmmmm…I have read many articles on the Postal Service’s consolidation plans. But this is the first time I have read that Bush and GAO initiating the “Area Mail Processing (AMP) study to evaluate postal facilities as potential targets for consolidation.”  See GAO Report: U.S. Postal Service: The Service’s Strategy for Realigning Its Mail Processing Infrastructure Lacks Clarity, Criteria, and Accountability. (April, 2005)

Actually, in November 2005, USPS notified APWU about the AMP study being conducted in Canton, Ohio. In recent months, APWU  launched a grassroots campaign against USPS ‘network realignment’ by airing radio and television ads. Hopefully the TV ads currently running in Canton will will bring some success.

According to court records former letter carrier and union steward Stephen Millard was arrested May 2, 2006.

Also, several years ago Millard was awarded over $450,000 (back pay and benefits) in an EEO case against USPS. Stephen Millard v. United States Postal Service

The following is an inquiry from William Brawner, a former postal employee and currently a California attorney:

I am an attorney in Ventura, California.  I am representing a former USPS employee in an MSPB case. This person had previously been represented by Steven Millard. Here is where the story gets interesting.

Steven Millard is a former union steward.  While employed by the Postal Service he began representing postal employees in MSPB and EEOC cases. He continued doing this after he left the employ of the Postal Service.

Earlier this year, he was arrested for allegedly violating 18 USC 205 and 18 USC 1001. These statutes were designed to prevent the conflict of interest inherent in having an attorney employed by the government sue the government in federal court on behalf of a third party.

They were not designed to prevent union stewards from representing co-workers in MSPB and EEOC cases. In fact, federal law specifically provides for co-worker representation in those types of cases.

Nevertheless, Mr. Millard was arrested for representing postal employees in MSPB and EEOC cases. (more…)

USPS today announced the appointment of Victor Benavides as Albuquerque (New Mexico) District manager in the Southwest Area. Benavides, the former postmaster of Aurora, Colo has been Acting District Manager since May 2006.

According to USPS: “Benavides began his career in 1980 as a part-time clerk in Tucson, AZ, after serving eight years in the Air Force. He later served as a city carrier in Weslaco, TX, and was promoted to increasingly responsible positions in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. Benavides completed the Postal Service’s Advanced Leadership Program and management courses at Colorado State University, Boise State University and University of North Carolina. “My goal is to provide postal customers in New Mexico with the best service in the country. At the same time, to sustain and maintain a successful operation, I want to develop employees at all levels of the organization to ensure the Albuquerque District’s long-term success.”

A former 13-year Akron (Ohio) postal worker will spend the next six months on a work-release program after admitting to pouring urine in his co-workers’ coffee.

Thomas Shaheen, 50, was caught after the workers secretly videotaped him in the act.

Shaheen, also must pay $1,200 to his former colleagues to cover the cost of the camera that was installed to videotape Shaheen in the act. He has also been fired from his job. NewsNet 5 Full Story

Shaheen, was charged Aug. 5, 2005 with two misdemeanor counts of adulteration of food or placing harmful objects in food.  

House Committee on Government Reform Chairmen Request Pile of Records Linked to Jaffer Case.

According to the Washington Post: All summer, federal-dom has been abuzz over a steamy U.S. Postal Service Inspector General’s report accusing the agency’s former public affairs chief of heavy drinking, expense account chicanery and sexual harassment. But who knew that the subject of the report, Azeezaly S. Jaffer, has spent the season on vacation, courtesy of the Postal Service?

Late last week, the Postal Service issued new post-Jaffer expense guidelines. Dinners, they say, should not exceed $50 per person, more frugal than, for example, the $1,066.08 that the IG says Jaffer charged the Postal Service for dinner for three, including 16 drinks.

McKiernan wondered last week why anyone remains interested in this summer’s scandal. But Congress aims to keep Jaffer’s endless summer warm at least through autumn.

On Friday, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) who chairs the House Committee on Government Reform, and the committee’s ranking minority member, Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), sent a letter to Potter requesting a pile of records linked to Jaffer’s case. “The Inspector General’s report of clearly unacceptable conduct by a senior postal official is troubling to all of us,” the letter reads. The Postal Service has until Sept. 28 to respond.

Jaffer spent some of his summer vacation telling his side to Sidley Austin, which recently released a 42-page “white paper” denying the charges against him. Full Story 

 Excerpt from Jaffer’s White Paper

The Postal Service Vests Substanital Discretion with Mr. Jaffer to Carry Out His Official Duties

“The Postal Service and its policies give officers, like Mr. Jaffer, substantial discretion to carry out and accomplish the goals of the Postal Service. As the Acknowledgement of Accountability, which each officer of the Postal Service signs, recognizes, “[i]individual managers enjoy considerable latitude witrh regard to funds and utilization.” Officers have the discretion to authorize expenditures when they are reasonable and in the interest of the Postal Service. The reasonableness of an officer’s expenmditures is highly dependent on the officer’s job responsibilities, the reason for the expenditure, the interest of the Postal Service, and the facts and circumstances surrounding the expenditure.” - page 13

(USPS Press Release) Today in a ceremony at the Pentagon, Secretary of the Army, Frances J. Harvey, honored the U.S. Postal Service for being one of the nation’s largest employers of men and women who served in the Army, National Guard and Army Reserve. Secretary Harvey presented Postmaster General John E. Potter with a special “Freedom Team Salute” pin to recognize this achievement.The Freedom Team Salute program was designed to give people and organizations an opportunity to honor U.S. Army veterans. It also provides soldiers an opportunity to recognize their parents and spouses for the support and strength they provide, and, it gives Reserve and National Guard soldiers the ability to honor their employers.

Over 185,000 — or nearly a quarter of the Postal Service’s 700,000 employees — come from a military background, and the majority served in the Army. Nearly 1,900 employees are currently serving in the National Guard, nearly 4,800 are currently in the Army Reserve and more than 4,000 current postal employees are retired Army veterans. (more…)

APWU Web News

Analyzing the Postal Service’s own data, APWU testimony before the Postal Rate Commission has demonstrated that proposed increases in the price of postage would expand a controversial USPS policy – shifting costs from large corporate mailers to small businesses and individual citizens.

Testimony submitted on Sept. 6 shows that new rates requested by the Postal Service would increase excessive discounts to major mailers who presort their mail, and, as a result, force small businesses and individual customers who do not presort their mail to pay more.

The report, prepared by economist Kathryn Kobe, (click here) the director of Price, Wage and Productivity Analysis for Economic Consulting Services, found that the suggested presort discounts are considerably larger than the costs the Postal Service would avoid as a result of worksharing. The testimony was submitted in response to the postage rate proposal filed by the USPS on May 3.

If discounts were properly set, Kobe asserts, postage for patrons who do not presort their mail could be increased to only 41 cents per first-class letter instead of 42 cents, as the USPS has proposed. (more…)

According to KYW News Radio 1060:
Union Says USPS Is Cutting Security Short by Cutting Officers

“The union representing Postal Police accuses the Postal Service of turning a blind eye to security.  While many businesses have increased security since the 911 and  anthrax attacks, the Postal Service has been cutting back.  So says John Dukes, President of the Fraternal Order of Police, Labor Council #2. “Well, we had over 14 hundred postal police positions before 911. And we just went down to 700 throughout the country.”  In Philadelpiha, the number of postal  police officers has fallen from more than 70 in 1999 to 39. Dukes says another round of firings will reduce the local force to 15 as of October first.   Why? “What they tell us is the postal police positions, through technology and all now, that they actually don’t need the positions.” But Dukes believes the Postal Service is merely cutting corners, with little regard for safety.”

Related links:

Despite Risk, Postal Service to Eliminate Police in Six Cities (2003)

Fraternal Order of Police - NLC #2 website

Lane named Vice President, Area Operations, Capital Metro Area

PMG cites commitment to employees, customers

                (USPS Newslink Extra) Postmaster General Jack Potter today announced the appointment of Jerry Lane as Vice President, Area Operations, Capital Metro Area. Lane has served as Manager, Capital Metro Operations, since July 2002.

With the expansion of Capital Metro from four to seven Performance Clusters in April 2006, managing all aspects of operations across a territory that includes Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina and the District of Columbia requires the resources and focus that can most effectively be provided through our Area structure. Capital Metro is our ninth field administrative area.

“Jerry’s commitment to our employees, our customers and the Postal Service is reflected in the outstanding service performance throughout Capital Metro,” said Postmaster General Jack Potter. “Capital Metro Area employees have established themselves as leaders in service, consistently finishing at or above the national average in overnight External First-Class measurement scores.”

Lane, who began his career in 1978 as a New York City letter carrier, has developed a strong background in both mail processing and customer service operations. He was plant manager at both the Queens, NY, and Baltimore Processing and Distribution Centers. He later served as District Manager for the Baltimore and Capital Districts. As Capital District Manager, Lane’s leadership and concern for our employees was an important element of our recovery from the tragic anthrax attacks of 2001.

Lane was the recipient of the Postmaster General Award in 2002 and the Vice President’s Award in 2000. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from John Jay College

State Department said all U.S. passports issued after October 2006 will have embedded radio frequency identification chips that carry the holder’s personal data and digital photo

According to CBS 5 News: A passport will soon become necessary in order to enter America from other nations in the Western Hemisphere, and a postal official Tuesday said there were more people applying for the travel document. “I can say from personal experience there are more people applying for passports,” said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Augustine Ruiz, who was referring to a ramp up of passport-related activity at the Post Office in San Jose. “Part of that are people just becoming aware of the new requirements.”

On Jan. 8, 2007, a passport will be required for American citizens traveling by land or sea back into America from Mexico or Canada, from Central and South America nations, and from the Caribbean and Bermuda. On Jan. 1, 2008, that requirement will extend further to include crossings at all land borders. Post Office Expects New Travel Laws Will Boost Passport Applications

RFID Chips To Be Installed in New Passports

The October 26, 2006 deadline is looming for people concerned about protecting their privacy when mandatory radio frequency identification (RFID) chips will be installed in new US passports. Many people are applying for new passports to beat the rush when passports become required documents for all travelers entering or re-entering the United States by air and sea at the end of 2006.

US Customs and Border Protection says the deadline for land entry without a passport is extended until the end of 2007. Some people are applying for passports now to avoid the RFID chip that will be embedded in their passports if they wait until October this year.

A January 13, 2006 Department of Homeland Security press release stated that new passports issued in the fall will be enabled with Basic Access Control (BAC), which will help prevent hacking of information from passport chips. The State Department says the chip antenna can only be read from up to four inches away.

RFID Chips To Travel in U.S. Passports