PostalReporter.com Blog

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: What is the Postal Service Contracting Out?

On Thursday, July 19, the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia,  United States House of Representatives will hold a hearing on USPS contracting.

The following witnesses will testify:

Panel I:

The Honorable Albio Sires, (Rep.-NJ)

Panel II:

Mr. Alan Kessler, Vice Chairman, U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors
Mr. John Potter, Postmaster General/CEO, U.S. Postal Service
Mr. David Williams, Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service
Panel III:

Panel III:

Mr. William Burrus, President, American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
Mr. William Young, President, National Association of Letter Carriers
Mr. Donnie Pitts, President, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association
Mr. John Hegarty, President, National Postal Mail Handlers Union

Statement of Congressman Sires

Potter Provides Keynote Address at Secretaries of State Summer Meeting
 
Portland, OR — Mail can play an important role in helping citizens chose their elected officials and the U.S. Postal Service has resources officials need to create Vote by Mail programs.

Those were the two main points shared by Postmaster General John E. Potter during a keynote address at the National the Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) summer meeting here. Stressing proven experience, commitment and available resources, Potter said the Postal Service is a ready partner in states’ efforts to reach voters and conduct elections through the mail.

“The Postal Service has a proud history of working with election officials across the country to suggest mailing options, assist with address databases and ensure proper handling of election materials,” Potter said, adding that almost 200,000 ballots were delivered to military installations around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, during the 2006 national elections.

“Even in times of war, we have delivered the most fundamental symbol of democracy. A ballot,” Potter said.

Founded in 1904, NASS is the nation’s oldest, nonpartisan, professional organization for state officials. The summer meeting, “A First-Class Experience,” is hosted by Bill Bradbury, Oregon’s Secretary of State. Oregon is the only state in the nation to vote exclusively by mail. Twenty six additional states are considering Vote By Mail initiatives.

The Postal Service plays no role in how elections are carried out in the United States, although it is fully authorized to inform and educate election officials about available USPS products and services.

Those services were put to the test last year when the Postal Service worked closely with the Louisiana Secretary of State and other officials to help locate and deliver election and voting information to tens of thousands of residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in time for statewide elections as well as the New Orleans mayoral race.

The Louisiana legislature declared June 2, 2006, “United States Postal Service Day,” recognizing the dedication and commitment Postal Service employees showed after the hurricanes and specifically acknowledging successful efforts in the elections.

“We were honored by the recognition of the work we do every day in cities and towns across the country, but especially thankful for those two resolutions as they acknowledged the partnership we have with the state of Louisiana that we deeply valued,” Potter said.

The resources and expertise shared in Louisiana are available to any elected official across the country through training programs and an Internet-based resource center created by the Postal Service.

The Election Officials’ Mailing Resources website on usps.com provides election officials with quick, easy and convenient access to postal resources, products, services and information designed specifically to address absentee ballot and vote by mail questions and challenges. State and local officials can find information on the website on preparing and sending mail during an election cycle. It offers a step-by-step course of action that includes planning, addressing and designing election mail.

The Postal Service also created 90-minute, customized training sessions for election officials. “Election Mail: tips, Tools and Tactics for Successful Mailing” is presented by postal representatives with a depth of knowledge and understanding of election mail and designed to address specific needs, challenges and laws specific to individual cities and counties across the country. To date, more than 1,500 officials have completed the training.

“The Postal Service recognizes the vital role that mail plays in the American democratic process. We are committed to providing election officials with the information necessary to meet their election mail needs,” Potter said. “We have always been proud of our role in binding a great nation together and we are pleased that we can strength this role by our participation in voting by mail.”

Please Note: For more information about Election Mail and the Postal Service, go to usps.com/electionmail.

Remarks of PMG Potter 

City Letter Carrier from Washington, DC. According to the Flickr Photo caption: “Daryl our super-friendly postman has been on his route in Columbia Heights since 1996.

City Letter Carrier in Indianapolis, Indiana

Flickr Photos

Postmaster placed on emergency paid leave

ANDOVER, MA - The town’s postmaster was placed on emergency paid leave yesterday as the U.S. Postal Service continues an internal investigation of its operations in Andover. Michael Quinn, Andover’s postmaster since May 2006, is the only post office employee in town to be placed on leave as a result of the investigation, according to postal service spokesman Bob Boisselle. www.eagletribune.com

Going postal may not pay when seeking stamps

Nationwide, the postal service has decided to yank most stamp-vending machines from post office lobbies. The process isn’t fully under way here, but it’s only a matter of time, says Theresa Meyers, Waco-area customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service. In fact, the reason for the plan — the machines’ tendency to break down — is already at work here, Meyers said. “Out of service” signs on the machines are a common sight at many local postal branches. Bottom line: Sooner or later, consumers who don’t look for alternatives will be forced to either wait in line or leave empty-handed. www.wacotrib.com
also see: USPS to remove stamp machines by 2010

Woman Crashes Car Into Post Office

BURLESON, Texas - Burleson police said a 42-year-old woman crashed her Volvo into a post office at about 1 p.m. Friday afternoon. Investigators said the woman punched a hole in the front of the building on the 200 block of Johnson Avenue when she rounded a corner and tried to stop but failed. The car caused significant damage to the building’s brick facade, but only went about 2 feet into the building. The woman, her 4-year-old passenger, and those inside the post office were not injured in the crash. www.nbc5i.com

Bulk mailers, catalog business hit hardest by postal increase

The price of a stamp rose to 41 cents in May, a 5 percent bump, but businesses that rely on catalogs and bulk mailings are grappling with postage increases of up to 40 percent. www.goupstate.com

Financial Services Appropriations bill directs USPS not to proceed with consolidations until it meets GAO’s recommended criteria for making these decisions

(Press Release) Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that he has successfully included a provision in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill that would prevent the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from consolidating mail processing facilities in Sioux City until USPS satisfies the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recommended criteria for making these decisions.  This GAO report was requested by Senator Harkin in response to USPS plans to close the Sioux City Postal Center. The FSGG spending bill must be approved by the full Senate and the House of Representatives before becoming law.
 
“Consolidation of the Sioux City mail processing facility should not proceed until the USPS implements a fair, accurate and transparent method for making these decisions,” Harkin said. “USPS must be forthcoming with communities targeted for consolidation about how their postal service will be affected and what costs it will impose on the community.” 
 
Sioux City’s mail processing facilities and others across the country are being reviewed by the Postal Service for consolidation.  The soon to be released GAO study concluded that consolidation decisions are not based on consistent information from site to site, that site-specific data is not used, and that the actual delivery impacts of consolidation are not measured.
 
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Harkin has expressed strong concerns about the way the Postal Service is proceeding with the consolidation of mail facilities nationwide.  While the provision Harkin secured today preventing USPS consolidation until the GAO report is implemented is not binding law, it is a recommendation from the Appropriations Committee.  Such recommendations are normally followed by federal agencies such as the Postal Service.  
 

Tentative Agreement Reached On City Letter Carriers Contract
 
NALC Press Release - The National Association of Letter Carriers reached tentative agreement today with the U.S. Postal Service on a new five-year National Agreement for all 222,000 city delivery letter carriers throughout the nation. The pact, which includes new limits on contracting out of city letter carrier work along with provisions covering wages, benefits, and working conditions, will be submitted to the NALC membership for rank-and-file ratification.

The agreement, retroactive to November 21, 2006, provides general wage increases of 8.85 percent over five years along with regular cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and a single lump-sum COLA payment of $686 for the period between July 2006 and May 2007.

The proposed contract includes new limits on contracting out of city letter carrier work in more than 3,000 city delivery installations and establishes a six-month moratorium on contracting out city carrier delivery services elsewhere across the country. During the moratorium, a union-management task force will seek to develop an “evolutionary approach to the issue of subcontracting, taking into account the legitimate interests of the parties and relevant public policy considerations.”

The tentative 2006-2011 National Agreement also abolishes the use of low-wage temporary employees known as “casuals” and replaces them with bargaining unit “transitional employees” under terms and conditions established by the contract. It also includes negotiated resolutions to several long-standing issues involving automated sorting of large flat mail, adjustment of carrier routes and other operational matters.

Consistent with trends in the private sector, the proposed accord also provides the Postal Service relief on health care costs by increasing the share of health care premiums paid by city letter carriers by five percentage points over the five-year duration of the contract.

NALC President William H. Young said the tentative agreement is a ‘win-win’ contract for both unionized letter carriers and the Postal Service, and especially the American public that still relies on universal mail delivery for much of its critical personal and business communication.

“This agreement is fair to hard-working letter carriers by taking necessary steps toward protecting their jobs now and well into the future, along with financial compensation that takes into account increases in the cost of living and the difficult task carriers often face in delivering mail to our nation’s growing population,” Young said. “At the same time, it helps the U.S. Postal Service to build on its record as the most efficient and affordable postal service in the world.”

The agreement provides a 1.4 percent wage increase retroactive to November 25, 2006; and wage increases of 1.8 percent on November 24, 2007; 1.9 percent on November 22, 2008; 1.9 percent on November 21, 2009; and 1.85 percent on November 20, 2010.

The proposed agreement, which would expire on November 20, 2011, was approved unanimously today by the NALC Executive Council following negotiations over the past several days by bargaining teams led by Young and Postmaster General John E. Potter.

The NALC represents all city delivery letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.
 
Tentative Agreement Highlights

The U.S. Postal Service used a bit of history to make history when it debuted its first infomercial on June 16. Appearing in the infomercial below is the company Dale & Thomas Popcorn, which sells unique popcorn gift baskets and popcorn gift tins.

USPS to study why some APCs not performing well

Postal Service is delaying the second stage of installing automated postal centers in lobbies.

Spokesman Gerry McKiernan confirmed the delay Wednesday, saying the agency is studying why some of its already installed automated centers did not perform up to expectations.

About 2,500 automated postal centers have been located in post offices across the country. The centers allow customers to weigh letters and parcels, select the type of service needed and print out postage, using credit cards to pay.

A June report from the agency’s inspector general said that as many as half of the installed centers were not meeting minimum expectations.

McKiernan said of the 2,500 installed, 514 centers were not meeting expectations for various reasons.

As a result, he said, deployment of further centers is being delayed while the problem ones are being assessed. The agency also cited cost considerations in the delay.

McKiernan said that 145 of the underperforming centers are being relocated to other offices. In the other cases, officials are trying to determine if customers just don’t want to use the machines or need assistance getting started with them.

In some cases lobby directors are being put into service to help people begin using the automated centers.

An inspector general’s report had warned that installing the planned 3,000 phase two centers could end up causing a loss of $115 million over seven years, rather than the anticipated $243 million in income.

source: Associated Press

Related: USPS OIG Report -Deployment Strategy of Automated Postal Centers

              What can the Automated Postal centers (APCs) do?

EEOC releases annual report 2006

Below is a summary of report on the U.S. Postal Service:

Permanent Workforce: Out of 693,677 employees – 60.63% are men and 39.37% women

Major occupations
224,009 city carriers - 73.44% men | 26.56% women
213,262  clerks - 44.21% men | 55.79% women
66,582  rural carriers - 46.08% men | 53.92% women
768    Senior Pay Level - 71.35%men | 28.65% women

“This report covers the period from October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2006. The September 30 snapshot includes only employees in pay status thus, some permanent employees, like seasonal employees or those on active military tours of duty are not included..While the United States Postal Service constituted 28.5% of the work force, it accounted for 43.7% of all EEO counselings, 36.9% of all complaints filed, 41.2% of all completed investigations and 40.7% of all complaints closed in FY 2006.”

“In FY 2006, the U.S. Postal Service reported the highest alternative dispute resolution (ADR) participation rate in the pre-complaint process (73.5%), while the government-wide average was 44.6%. No other agency with 25 or more completed/ended counselings had a participation rate greater than fifty percent.”

“In FY 2006, the U. S. Postal Service reported the highest percentage (95.9%) of timely issued merit decisions without an Administrative Judge decision.”

The top 3 bases of alleged discrimination most often raised were: (1) Reprisal; (2) Disability (Physical); and (3) Age. 

The 6,183 complaints filed at USPS contained  2,541 allegations of disability discrimination.1,445 allegations of race (Black) discrimination, 646 allegations of race (White) discrimination, 234 allegations of race (Asian) discrimination, 28 allegations of race (American Indian/Alaska Native) discrimination and 811 allegations of color discrimination.

Costs: USPS agreed to pay $369,402 for 5,162 pre-complaint settlements, of which 376 were monetary settlements averaging $982.  USPS expended a total of $5,676,799 for 4,452 complaint investigations, for an average expenditure of $1,275. USPS agreed to pay a total of $5,575,275 for 845 complaint closures through settlement agreements, final agency decisions, and final agency orders fully implementing AJ decisions.  For complaint closures with benefits, the average award was $6,597.

See Full EEOC Annual Report on the Postal Service Work Force

 David Hatch vs OPM - note: Hatch is a Postal Worker

The Office of Personnel Management is changing the way it calculates service toward retirement for certain employees on workers’ compensation, agency officials announced last week.

According to an OPM benefits administration letter, federal employees on workers’ compensation who hold a full-time appointment but are able to work only part-time now will be credited for full-time service.

OPM’s previous interpretation of civil service law held that these employees were not entitled to full-time credit when they worked, for example, four hours per day and received workers’ compensation benefits for the other four hours. But a 2005 decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board struck down OPM’s interpretation and ruled that full-time credit should be allowed since these employees initially were given full-time appointments.

In the case, David Hatch v. OPM, Hatch was elected to a full-time position with the U.S. Postal Service in 1966, but was injured on the job in 1990 and was carried on the payroll in leave without pay status for almost three years. Hatch received payments through workers’ compensation for that period, and in 1993, returned to work at USPS in a limited duty assignment. He was reassigned to a modified letter carrier position in 1995. Hatch was able to work only four hours a day in each assignment and received workers’ compensation for the remaining four hours of each day the agency placed him in a leave without pay status.

Hatch retired in 2002, only to find that OPM determined that his service between the date he returned to work and the date of his retirement should be considered part-time service, thus reducing his annuity. MSPB determined that OPM was required by law to award Hatch retirement credit for full-time service for the time he was in a leave without pay status

read full story from Govexec.com or read MSPB decision -David Hatch vs OPM 

OPM Director Linda M. Springer responded to APWU on Feb. 10, 2006 , writing, “OPM will apply the decision in all factually similar cases, both under (CSRS and FERS). This includes new applications for retirement benefits as well as cases that come to the attention of OPM for any reason, regardless of the commencing date of the annuity.”