USPS OIG Investigation on Discarded Mail at Houston Post Office
The following is press release from the USPS Office of Inspector General:
For Immediate Release (PDF)
November 14, 2006
Discarded Mail at Houston Post Office Leads to Investigation by Office of Inspector General
Houston, TX - Acting on a call to the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) Hotline, alleging employee misconduct at the Willow Place Station of the Houston, Texas Post Office, OIG Special Agents initiated an investigation on November 1, 2006. The OIG was responding to the report of instances of intentional discarding and delaying of mail by postal personnel.
The investigation revealed that a number of letter carriers were discarding deliverable mail as Undeliverable Bulk Business Mail (UBBM). Carriers at the station were interviewed and the results of the interviews are being furnished to postal management for consideration of any disciplinary action. Egregious cases will be presented to the United States Attorney for possible criminal prosecution. The OIG is aware of the operational needs of the Post Offices and is working with postal management to ensure mail service will not be disrupted.
The subject mail included periodicals and circulars. No political mailings were delayed or discarded. The ongoing investigation is part of the OIG’s mission of preventing and detecting fraud, waste and misconduct in the Postal Service and promoting the integrity and efficiency of postal programs. The Postal Service’s support was instrumental in this investigative effort.
The majority of postal personnel are dedicated, hardworking public servants whose daily efforts instill trust in America’s postal system.
November 18th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Funny how how these “investigations” are magically appearing at contract/election time….
November 18th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
All the OIG’s investigation’s involve craft employees’s? There out there to protect management and only management! We don’t call them the OIG in our office, they are the Postal Inspector General’s, PIG’s!!
November 19th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
In 17+ yrs, I’ve YET to see a boss/PM in our office ever, EVER pay for daily and FREQUENT violations of contract, workplace harassment, falsification of volume, hiding and delaying mail, lying to customers, etc. Now, we have 2 different folks, OIG and PIG, to act as Mgt. GESTAPO! When EAS is subject to the HIGHEST levels of trust and obedience, like they want from craft, then we will have a start at making the USPS a great organization!
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:41 am
December 4th, 2006 at 4:10 am
What a witch hunt. A lot of the circulars in question were for vacant apartments. Those are not marked as vacant on the edit sheets, because they are not over 90 days vacant. In some case the customers had requested that circulars not be placed in their boxes. About 30 hard working carriers from the same station, most with 20 plus years, are sitting at home with no pay because of this. What a bitter joke on them and their families. OIG wants the carriers to keep cramming circulars into the apartment mail boxes until no more can be jammed in and then the whole bundle rubber banded and put on the parcel shelves. How much out of date mail is wasted by management each year. What happened to common sense and good judgement. Months and months of “out of date” grocery circulars saved for customer pick up. What a great idea. Where will all the parcels go, when hundreds of these wasp nest are sitting there. That is the waste.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:12 am
RE-ENSTATEMENT OF EMPLOYEES TO DUTY STATION WILLOWPLACE POSTAL FACILITY 77070.
(INFORMAL LEGAL RESPONSE TO INVESTIGATION)
“DEAR SIRS’
THIS IS A FALSE APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 16.7 NALC AGREEMENTS, 16.5 NARLC. THE MATERIAL IN QUESTION HAS NEITHER BEEN DESTROYED OR DAMAGED BEYOND DELIVERY STANDARD AND HAS BEEN DETAINED FOR SUPPOSIVE INVESTIGATION, THOUGH CURRENTLY UNTIMELY BY YOUR DELIVERY GUIDELINES ,THE MATERIAL IN QUESTION IS PRESENTLY DELIVERABLE.
IN READING, AND REVIEW OF YOUR PROCEDURES, THE MATERIAL HAS BEEN HANDLED ACCORDINGLY, REVIEWED BY AN ACTING SUPERVISOR BEFORE ACTUAL PLACEMENT IN ANY WASTE CONTAINER, YET NOT ALLOWED REDELIVERY.
SIRS, YOU ERROR IN CONTENT, YOU ERROR IN PROCEDURE, YOU ERROR IN YOUR OWN PROTECTIVE IMPLIMENTATION OF PROTECTING DELIVERABLE MATERIAL. THE MATERIAL WAS RETRIEVED IN THE REVIEW STAGE OF NORMAL DAILY OPERATIONS AS IS PROPER, BUT FALSELY DECLARED TRASH, BEFORE ACTUAL ACT TAKING PLACE.
YOU MERIT THIS ACTION, SUSPENDABLE WITH INVESTIGATIVE POWERS ENVOKED. CRIMINAL INTENT SUPPOSED PRESENT BY THE BROADEST OF DEFINITION, DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE OF DELIVERABLE MAIL.
IN SO DOING, OVER 35 EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN PLACED ON NON-PAY STATUS, UNDER THE SAME GENERAL DISCORD, WITHOUT FORMAL CAUSES DRAWN OR CHARGED ACCORDLING. THE FOREGOING INCIDENT IS OVER 30 DAYS IN MAKING , 41 DAYS AS OF THIS DAY OF DECEMBER 11TH, 2006. IN SUCH COMPLIANCE, WITH YOUR CLAIM, THE EMPLOYEES ARE CURRENTLY STILL ON SUSPENSION, THE LONGEST SUSPENSION CURRENTLY MORE THAN 40 DAYS, WITHOUT FORMAL CHARGES BOTH PRESENTED TO EACH ACCUSED OR FILED.
WE DEMAND JURISPRUDENCE, THE SAME INFORMAL DISCORD HAS NOT BEEN APPLIED BY AGREEMENT CORRECTLY OR IN A COURT OF LAW. BY FORMAL REVIEW OF NATIONAL AGREEMENTS, THIS IS NEITHER THE INTENT OR THE RESULT FOR SUCH ‘ EMERGENCY ACTIONS’.”
December 14th, 2006 at 10:17 am
GATHERING NUMBERS CURRENTLY , AS TO COST , CURRENTLY ROUGH ESTIMATES AT ABOUT ONE MILLION, TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, TO PROVE WHAT , THAT THIS STATIONS CHECK AND BALANCE SYSTEM BEFORE WASTING WORKS ? IGNORANCE IS BLISS , AND VERY EXPENSIVE ! POSTAL WASTE? HOW MANY OF US CAN TRASH 1,200,000 DOLLARS?
December 24th, 2006 at 8:23 am
We do business with this post office on a daily basis and always seem to get other people’s mail in our postal boxes. After speaking with some of their personnel several times, they continue to work on getting it right. It does become frustrating when we have to pay so much for postal delivery and it can’t be done right the firt time. Also, it makes you wonder who is getting your mail if you are getting someone elses mail. This also happens at my home address, and unfortunately my home mail is delivered out of the same location — Willow Place. To leave this email on a positive note, they do have some friendly and helpful folks that work behind the counter there….
January 9th, 2007 at 11:22 am
The report above has errors, I’m representing 4 of the carriers. The only thing involved is Houston Chronicle Food Circular. That is it. I need UBBM Policy from anyone anyware in America. This case revolves around carrier placing what they deemed undeliverable (Management deemed Deliverable)into the designated Undeliverable Bulk Business Mail Container.
That is it. Nothing less, nothing more.
Thank You Klspence@email.com
April 28th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Funny that that last response comes from Ken Spence - a former effective union steward that decided to go to the “dark side” and sell his talent for management.
Sorry Ken, but you are a whore (and not really that talented - I look forward to our first case oppossing each other coming soon).
As an update, the NALC won ALL cases that were appealed to arbitration for Willow Place Station.
The NALC took care of business and put the OIG in their “Barney Fife” place - we didn’t make them look dumb, they did it all by their stupid litle selves! LOL
June 15th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
The acting Postmaster in Montclair, CA., based only on a bogus phone call from a known gang-banger who has a criminal record, called the OIG who put a tracking device on the a letter carrier’s truck from February through April. Then they walked him out on emergency suspension with no pay claiming he twice scanned his first MSP scan BEFORE he left the office. When the NALC representative got the OIG report, it was discovered that the OIG’s tracking device was mis-calibrated by an hour!!! The union got him back with full pay plus overtime before Management issued the intended removal. Ignorant OIG Agents Anthony Tran and Adrian Valdez, who made numerous errors in their reporting, put him and his family through hell for no reason.
July 6th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I live in the 77070 zip code. Delivery is mediocre at best. It is too often that neighbors are delivering mail to neighbors. Currently I have a pile of mail for my next door neighbor, a letter for someone else and a large letter package for someone down the street. These mis-deliveries have been going on for years. Recently it has been getting a ridiculous. Something seems to be seriously wrong at this post office. A while back, I had a check for over $10K for one of my neighbors sitting on my counter for over a week (I usually go through my mail about once per week). I believe a thorough investigation and additional training are fully justified.