PostalReporter.com Blog

National Newspaper Association Press Release

Action by Jackson (MS) postal officials to improve service to newspaper mail are welcome signs that the United States Postal Service is hearing the National Newspaper Association’s call for better delivery, NNA President Jerry Tidwell, publisher of the Hood County (TX) News said this week.

NNA Postal Committee Chairman Max Heath, vice president of Landmark Community Newspapers, Inc., reported results from work by NNA and Mississippi Press Association on particularly troubling service issues from Jackson . NNA highlighted the service problems in testimony to the Postal Rate Commission in September.

USPS’s Jackson Plant Manager Ruben Rodriguez announced that he was requiring preparation of newspapers in white flats tubs with green sleeves for ZIP Codes 369, 390, 391, 392, 393, and 396 in his area. Clear mailing sacks, which were considered part of the service problem, will be abandoned in those areas.

Tidwell said USPS is demonstrating that the tubs can improve service.

³NNA has supported abandonment of sacks for more than a year,² Tidwell said.

³We also strongly encourage both the Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission to avoid container fees on these tubs. Financial deterrents to the use of tubs will slow our work.²

Heath said both publishers and postal plant managers in other parts of the country should heed Rodriguez’s management example. Carolyn Wilson, executive director of Mississippi Press Association, agreed.

“Delivery of newspapers has long been a growing concern in our state.

Cultivating a good working relationship with USPS folks in Jackson was a primary focus during 2003 when Patsy Speights, general manager/editor of The Prentiss Headlight, was MPA president,” Wilson said. “Developing that line of communication has enabled us to get the attention of postal staff at multiple levels. It also helped to arrange for their participation last week in the postal session during the ArkLaMiss Circulation Conference in Vicksburg . Max, Patsy, and other attendees were able to have personal interaction with the three USPS representatives, and already we’ve seen positive actions being taken by our Jackson plant manager. MPA is hopeful the attention being given to members’ concerns will bring about improved delivery for Mississippi newspapers.”

Heath conducted his “Maximizing Postal Savings & Delivery” seminar for the ArkLaMiss circulation managers, just prior to the announcement of this service improvement. He said massive complaints by publishers were heard at the event.

He said, “The active involvement of Rodriguez, as well as Kathy Horne, manager of Business Mail Entry, interacting with me and the member newspapers, was one of the high points of my postal-seminar career.

“It is rare to get a mail processing manager of Mr. Rodriguez’s stature to attend a state or regional meeting in this setting. He’s a trouper to endure the complaints, was candid about shortcomings and backups in the Jackson plant, and pledged a lasting fix. The granting of flat tray (tub) use to all newspapers within six three-digit processing territories covering most of the state for their 5-digit and 3-digit mail is a significant gesture. If handled properly, this change should significantly improve delivery for the bulk of out-of-county mail, and even some in-county mail not entered in delivery offices, by Mississippi newspapers. He’s a hero to me and members of NNA and MPA in Mississippi .²

“Publishers are encouraged to drop unsacked bundles for all delivery office entered mail and to push for increased use of the white tubs in any out of county mail where USPS permits them.”

Information on that option and on new preparation requirements allowing newspapers to travel with first-class mail in certain areas is available from NNA’s Washington office, NNAWashington@nna.org or from Heath at maxheath@lcni.com

USPS released the following Media Advisory:

Postal Service prepares for 20 billion holiday cards, letters and packages

The U.S. Postal Service will deliver 20 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. But that’s only part of the Postal Service holiday story. Online services. Solutions for holiday shopping, shipping and mailing needs. Post Offices decked out in the season’s finest. Employees ready to help make the holidays sparkle. The Postal Service kicks off the season with a press conference — outside — and shows off the 2006 holiday stamp.

When:
Tuesday, Nov. 28
10 a.m.  

Where:
National Postal Museum
Massachusetts Ave. and First Street NE
Entrance closest to Union Station
Washington, DC     

Who:
Pat Donahoe, deputy postmaster general and COO
Susan Plonkey, vice president, customer service
University of Maryland Brass Ensemble

Story lines:
What it Takes: How the Postal Service will deliver 20 billion pieces of mail and make the holidays hassle free for its customers. Donahoe will lay out the plan.

Log On and Step Inside a Post Office: This year, the Post Office comes to you. Postal Ambassadors in uniform will demonstrate USPS’ online suite of services. Reporters will learn how to request a free package pickup and build, address and mail holiday greeting cards.

Shipping Tips: Learn from the pros how to avoid holiday shipping and packing mishaps.

B-Roll:
DVD of package volume, mail being processed, slates of packing tips

Audio:
Brass Quintet
Live demonstration soundbites

Earlier this year in a story about the U.S. Postal Service (Saving the Post Office) , the Washington Post briefly mentioned tiny cardboard scales (pictured below) that the post office was offering so customers could easily weigh their letters. The article created somewhat of a demand for the cardboard postal scales.

According to the Washington Post: 

It turns out the Postal Service didn’t distribute the nifty little scales in all post offices. But after a limited giveaway last fall, it will distribute 200,000 “in early summer” to 18,000 post offices nationwide, according to Gerald J. McKiernan, a Postal Service spokesman. The post office will sell them for a “modest cost,” McKiernan said. They shouldn’t cost much, because the post office is paying the manufacturer “much less than the cost of a first-class stamp” for each one, according to the Dutch co-inventor of the scale, which is given away by many major postal services, including Royal Mail and Deutsche Post, he said.”

Several PostalReporter.com readers are wondering whatever happened to the “sale” of the tiny cardboard postal scales?? 

Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) and Administrative Support Manual (ASM) Changes From the November 23, 2006 Postal Bulletin 

ELM REVISION

Reporting Violations
Effective immediately, Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) 665.14, Reporting Violations, is revised to reflect the requirement to report alleged violations of Postal Service laws and employee misconduct, including theft of mail, to the Office of Inspector General.

665.14 Reporting Violations

[Revise 665.14 to read as follows:]

All allegations of violations of Postal Service laws or misconduct by Postal Service employees, including mail theft, must be reported immediately to the Office of Inspector General.

ASM REVISION

Lookout Galleries
Effective immediately, Administrative Support Manual (ASM) 533.561, Lookout Galleries, is revised to state that Office of Inspector General agents have access to lookout galleries for investigative purposes.

533.561 Use

[Revise 533.561 to read as follows:]

Lookout galleries are for the exclusive use of Postal Inspection Service and Office of Inspector General personnel. They are to be used for criminal investigations only

Related links:

- USPS Office of Inspector General: What to Report

- APWU Questions Postal Inspection Service Transition to USPS Office of Inspector General   

WASHINGTON – The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Washington, DC, at Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, on Dec. 5-6, 2006. The public is welcome to observe the board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 6 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items:
1. Minutes of the previous meeting, Nov. 14-15, 2006.

2. Remarks of Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter.

3. Committee reports.

4. Consideration of the Postal Service Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report (Chairman James Miller).

5. Consideration of Final Fiscal Year 2008 Appropriation Request (Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President H. Glen Walker).

6. Capital Investment.
       • Flats Sequencing System – Phase I Program (Engineering Vice President Walt O’Tormey).

7. Tentative Agenda for the Jan. 9-10, 2007, meeting in Washington, D.C.

A Postal contract nurse was indicted on November 14, 2006 of cheating the U.S. Postal Service out of approximately $64,000 with fake medical invoices. Janet Ortega, 44, of Daly City, California was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts of felony mail fraud.

According to the indictment, Ortega — while working from April 2003 to February 2004 in the medical unit at the postal processing and distribution center on Evans Avenue in San Francisco — created, submitted and authorized about 37 bogus invoices for services supposedly performed by a physician named Dr. John De Leon.

But De Leon apparently doesn’t exist; Ortega had the checks sent to a post office box that she controlled, and she pocketed the money herself, prosecutors say.

She’s scheduled to appear Dec. 14 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman of San Francisco.

Full article from Daily Review

Department of Justice U.S. Attorneys Office Press Release:  (more…)

 …and Expand Opportunities for Donors to Provide Financial Assistance

“Federal employees, postal workers and members of our military services have provided enormous support to thousands of charities that participate in the annual campaign,” said OPM Director Linda M. Springer.

(Press Release) Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has issued final rules that modernize the Combined Federal Campaign, including the removal of geographic barriers to employee giving during disasters and emergencies.

The rules, published in yesterday’s Federal Register, streamline comprehensive eligibility criteria and public accountability standards on organizations wishing to participate in the CFC, as well as promote the use of technology to enable online pledging. They also make private foundations ineligible for CFC participation.

OPM’s rules allow employees to make financial contributions to organizations outside their local areas during disasters and emergencies; additionally, charities with administrative and fundraising expenses in excess of 25 percent of total budget may participate in the CFC, but will have to publicize these expenses in campaign listings.

“Federal employees, postal workers and members of our military services have provided enormous support to thousands of charities that participate in the annual campaign,” said OPM Director Linda M. Springer. “With these rules, we are ensuring the future success of a program that was established in 1961, while further reinforcing the confidence of donors who want to know their contributions are being properly used.”

Administered by OPM, the CFC is the nation’s largest employer-sponsored charity drive. Since its inception, the program has received donations in excess of $5.5 billion from the federal community.

“We will continue to provide federal donors with assurances the charities that participate in the CFC have met the eligibility criteria and are fiscally accountable,” said Springer. “I am confident we will have a stronger CFC as a result of this process, and set the campaign on a solid course toward modernization.”

note: The new rules will apply to next year’s (2007) CFC and not affect this year’s campaign.

APWU Web News

(11/21/06 ) APWU has proposed bold steps to address important issues for postal employees, union President William Burrus told APWU members in a telephone message. “Because we are attempting to break new ground, the final pieces of an agreement pose difficult challenges,” he said. “Despite intense discussions today, agreement on all of the issues is still beyond our grasp.” Contract talks will resume after the Thanksgiving weekend.

The full text of President Burrus’ message is below:

This is Bill Burrus, reporting to you on the afternoon of Nov. 21, on the progress of contract negotiations. The expiration date was midnight, Nov. 20, but we were unable to finalize an agreement prior to the deadline, so we continued discussions. Despite intense discussions today, agreement on all of the issues is still beyond our grasp. We are close, but because of the importance of the issues that are not yet settled, we cannot announce a final agreement.

APWU has proposed bold steps to address important issues for postal employees. But because we are attempting to break new ground, the final pieces of an agreement pose difficult challenges. We will apply all of our resources to close agreement on these tough issues.

The Thanksgiving holiday is approaching, and members of the APWU Rank-and-File Committee have returned to their homes. After the holiday, we will continue our discussions with the intent of reaching final agreement.

I will provide a new message on Wednesday, Nov. 29, to inform you if any progress has been made.

Thank you for calling in, and keep the faith.

The toll-free number for the APWU Contract Negotiations Hotline is 800-992-APWU (or 800-992-2798).

USPSNEWSLINK EXTRA
Tuesday | November 21, 2006
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS EXTENDED

USPS, Unions agree to continue efforts to reach settlement

The Postal Service and its four largest unions have agreed to extend contract negotiations in a continued effort to reach negotiated settlements. Contract negotiations have been extended until midnight Nov. 30 with the National Association of Letter Carriers, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association and National Postal Mail Handlers Union. Contract negotiations also have been extended for the American Postal Workers Union. Negotiations will resume Monday, Nov. 27.

———–

APWU: Contract Talks to Resume After Thanksgiving Weekend -”Because we are attempting to break new ground, the final pieces of an agreement pose difficult challenges,” he [Burrus]said. “Despite intense discussions today, agreement on all of the issues is still beyond our grasp.” 

NALC: “As long as there is any reasonable hope for a negotiated settlement,” President William Young remarked, “we will do everything in our power to achieve one.”

NPMHU Contract Update #15 - “With renewed energy, and perhaps even with a few new ideas, an overall deal is still possible,” said President [John] Hegarty.  “It therefore only makes sense to continue negotiations until the parties reach an agreement or reach an actual impasse.”

“Dear Santa” sponsored in part by the U.S. Postal Service airs on ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas:
Tuesday, November 28th at 7pm ET/PT
Saturday, December 16th at 7am ET/PT

The one-hour special features Santa granting children’s wishes with a little help from celebrity “elves” Matt Dallas (Kyle XY), Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, hit recording artist Brian McKnight, Raven-Symoné (That’s So Raven), Wilmer Valderama (That 70s Show) and host Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars).

USPS Press Release

WASHINGTON — It’s that magical time of year.  The United States Postal Service, ABC Family,

7-Eleven, Mann Made Productions and City Explorer TV have partnered this holiday season as Santa’s helpers to grant the special holiday wishes for children in need.

ABC Family will premiere a one-hour holiday special titled, “Dear Santa” on Tues., Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.  This network TV special was created to help make children’s dreams come true — dreams that were written in letters to Santa Claus from children all across the country.

“Santa has counted on the power of the mail for more than two centuries to deliver the special holiday wishes of children,” said Postmaster General John E. Potter.  “Connecting families, friends and loved ones through the mail during the holiday season is what we do.  Postal employees across the nation join charitable organizations, corporations and individuals as Santa’s helpers in making children’s holiday wishes come true by answering the letters to Santa that we receive,” Potter said.  “We are pleased to be a part of this production and hope it encourages others to visit their local post offices to do the same.” (more…)