PostalReporter.com Blog

Karl Rove, President Bush’s close friend and chief political strategist, plans to leave the White House at the end of August, joining a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 1 1/2 years of the administration.

On board with Bush since the beginning of his political career in Texas, Rove was nicknamed “the architect” and “boy genius” by the president for designing the strategy that twice won him the White House. Critics call Rove “Bush’s brain.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/rove_resigning
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/13/8320/72882

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the Merit System Protection Board’s decision removing EAS-17 Customer Services Supervisor David Whelan from his position (see background of case below). The Court issued its non-precedential decision without an opinion.   (more…)

Postal Address Management Systems Specialist is EAS position

On August 7, 2007, the US District Court of the District of Columbia granted the USPS motion for summary judgment based on the NLRB’s clarification decision excluding the AMS Specialist position from the bargaining unit.

In short, the court ruled that the February 2007 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Award (that the AMS Specialist position is excluded from the bargaining unit) supersedes (based on “Superior Authority”) the arbitrator’s placement of the position and therefore makes that decision unenforceable.

This is another significant positive step toward closure and final resolution regarding the status of the EAS AMS Specialist position – very good news -Source: National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS)

court opinion via PostalReporter.com

A short background of the case from APWU:  

The Snow award, dated April 29, 2003(Case No. Q94C-4Q-C98117564) sustained the union’s grievance challenging the exclusion of the AMS Specialist position from the bargaining unit. The NALC and the USPS petitioned the arbitrator to review his decision, but he passed away before responding to the parties’ motions.

The Daily American reports:

Ursina Borough residents may no longer have a post office starting next month. The facility along Park Street does not meet the requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Borough council members are working to move the post office to the borough building. (Staff photo by Jennifer Garlesky)

 

 

Ursina Post Office Fate Unknown

Post Office: Tioga, West Virginia 26691

Flickr Photos

 Addiitonal info can be found at Stamp Collecting Round-up

RICK SQUINDO. Retired Bedford, NJ, Postmaster Rick Squindo, a member of a team of USPS employees that helped restore the postal system in Iraq, has died of cancer.

Squindo was a member of the postal team that opened the new Iraqi Post International Service Center at the Baghdad airport. Before the team arrived, Iraq had not sent international mail for 15 years. Within a week of opening, the Baghdad facility had received seven tons of in-bound mail. The team also helped Iraq resume its membership in the Universal Postal Union.

Click here for more information on Team Iraq.

USPS New Link

Related link: USPS Assists in Rebuilding Iraq Post

USPS’ Boston District Uses Monopoly-Based Game to boost Mystery Shopper scores

From USPS

Broadway, little green plastic houses and the Southern Railroad will never be the same to Boston District employees. That’s because the district’s retail team has developed a creative twist to boost its Mystery Shopper scores.

The district recently launched a contest based on Monopoly, the popular board game whose 480 million players have been aggregating real estate and making — or losing — money since 1935.

Retail associates who participate in the contest collect game points based on their mystery shop score. “This will help employees understand that excellent customer service is the object of the game,” District Manager Charles Lynch said. “The only way to win is to pass Go, which happens when the clerk earns 100 percent on a mystery shop.”

When the contest ends on Sept. 30, the retail area with the most points wins a trophy, a gift certificate and complimentary coffee and doughnuts — not as big a deal as buying Park Place, but worth the effort.

USPS Press Release

Board of Governors Briefed on Third Quarter Performance & Financial Results
 
National on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail were at all-time highs in the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 for all three of the categories the Postal Service tracks. Overnight service was 96 percent on-time, up from 95 percent the same period last year. Two-day service was 93 percent on-time and three-day service was 91 percent on-time.

First-Class Mail performance, presented today during the Postal Service Board of Governors meeting, is measured independently by IBM Global Business Services. The process measures First-Class Mail from the time it is deposited into a collection box or lobby mail chute until it is delivered to a home or business.

“I’m very proud of our third quarter performance,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “Our performance is at an all time high and this is the first time that a 93 percent on-time score has been achieved for two-day national performance.”

Five Postal Service districts led the nation with a 97 percent on-time score for overnight delivery. They are the Dakotas (comprised of North and South Dakota and northwest Minnesota), Greensboro, (the northern and eastern part of North Carolina), Big Sky (the state of Montana), Louisiana, and Northland (most of Minnesota and part of Wisconsin).

During the same period, national residential customer satisfaction was at 92 percent, as measured by the Gallup Organization. Eight Postal Service districts earned scores of 96 percent or better for customer satisfaction. They are Albany (comprised of the northern, eastern and central portions of New York state), Maine, Southeast Michigan, Massachusetts, Western New York (including Buffalo and Rochester), Greater Michigan, Dakotas, and Hawkeye (most of Iowa and the Quad-City communities of Illinois).

Third Quarter Financial Results

Also during today’s Board of Governors meeting, Chief Financial Officer H. Glen Walker said revenue for the third quarter totaled $18.4 billion, up 2.9 percent from the same period last year. Expenses for the quarter totaled $19.1 billion, including $878 million that is attributable to the implementation of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, signed into law the end of last year. The result was a $659 million net loss for the third quarter.

Total factor productivity (TFP) once again continued its upward trend in the third quarter, increasing by 1.8 percent, with year-to-date TFP up 1.4 percent. TFP measures the relationship between workload and resource usage. 

Postal Quarter III FY 2007 (PDF)

The ballots were placed in the mailstream beginning August 6 to 217,505 NALC active letter carrier members in good standing as of April 13, 2007 and must be received by the Ballot Committee by 11:59 p.m. on August 27 in order to be counted.

http://www.nalc.org/news/bulletin/PDF2007/Bull07-14.pdf