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The American Postal Workers Union will join with other progressive forces at a demonstration in Jena, LA, to protest the excessively disparate punishment of six African-American high school students who were embroiled in a racially tinged altercation.

Mychal Bell, age 17, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 20, and APWU members intend to lend their voices to the demand that justice be color blind – that this child should not be imprisoned for a period of 15 years or longer because of his color.

Details of the events leading up to the altercation that resulted in Bell’s incarceration (since December) can be found at www.naacp.org/news/press/index.htm. Unless something is done, it is clear that this small community with a history of racial division intends to disproportionately penalize these teenagers.

The NAACP is coordinating activities demanding justice for the ‘Jena Six.’ Included in the planned events is a rally at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena on Sept. 20. An APWU contingent of support will be led by Secretary-Treasurer Terry Stapleton and Human Relations Department Director Sue Carney, who is coordinating the union efforts.

President William Burrus urges APWU members to participate. Locals should notify the Human Relations Department of their plans by calling 202-842-4270. The national union will reimburse locals for the cost of chartering buses for the protest.

“This union will not sit idly by as justice is perverted and children of any color are victimized by their communities,” Burrus said.

Postal Regulatory Commission Press Release

Dawn A. Tisdale, vice chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), announced today that he will leave the Commission on November 22, 2007. He has advised President George W. Bush that he will not seek renomination.

“Three years ago, when I was sworn in as a Commissioner, I promised my family that I would return home to Texas when my term of office was over. I am following through on that commitment,” said Commissioner Tisdale. “Although every day is special with your children, my daughters are 14 and 16 years old. I want to share in the excitement of their passage into young adulthood.

“I am proud of my contributions to the Commission during what has been a very active period. Over the past three years, we have decided two rate cases, including the first fully litigated case since 2001,R2006-1. I have been involved with the reorganization of the PRC resulting from the enactment of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the PAEA, last December and the issuance of the proposed regulations for a new ratemaking process; participated in other rate and classification decisions; and presided over the Postal Service’s Evolutionary Network Development plans, N2006-1,which brought needed transparency to the Service’s network development plans.

“I wish my fellow Commissioners well as they continue the transformation of the Commission into the strengthened regulator envisioned by the PAEA. It has been my privilege to serve with Chairman Dan Blair, Commissioners Ruth Goldway, Tony Hammond, Mark Acton, and former Chairman George
Omas,” said Commissioner Tisdale.

Commissioner Tisdale was nominated by President Bush on February 11, 2004, to complete a term expiring on November 22, 2006. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 21,2004, and is currently in his holdover year. Mr. Tisdale previously served in various positions within the U.S. Postal Service from 1966-2000, and served in the U.S. Navy from 1962 to 1966. He is a native and longtime resident of Austin, Texas.

The Postal Regulatory Commission is an independent federal agency comprised of five Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed Commissioners, each serving terms of six years. The Chairman is designated by the President. In addition to Chairman Blair, the other four Commissioners are Ruth Goldway, Tony Hammond,Dawn Tisdale, and Mark Acton.

Workers at the international delivery company DHL’s new Upper Macungie shipping hub voted against forming a union early this morning.

The employees, who help sort packages shipped around the Northeast, voted 217 to 135 against union representation, according to sources with DHL and the American Postal Workers Union, or APWU, which led the union campaign.
Mark Dimondstein, lead field organizer for the union, said the union would challenge the election results, charging that the company engaged in “psychological warfare” against its workers’ rights to organize a union.

“It’s very clear to us that injustice was done, and we intend to work with the workers to fix it,” he said. “We’re going to defend the workers’ rights to a fair election, and this was not a fair election.”
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-n-l-dhl-union-091307-cn,0,3168741.story

Health insurance premiums for federal employees and retirees will increase by an average of 2.1 percent next year, the Office of Personnel Management announced this afternoon.

Officials said they held down the rate increase, which is substantially lower than what most other workers will be asked to pay in 2008, by dipping into excess financial reserves of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which provides about $35 billion in health-care benefits annually

The federal program will offer 283 plans next year and will provide insurance coverage to about 8 million Americans: civil service and postal workers, retirees, and family members. The government picks up about 70 percent of premium costs in its role as employer.

Next year, individuals will pay an average of $1.58 more per two-week pay period, and families will pay $4.11 more biweekly, officials said

Read Full Story at Washington Post

OPM also announced the renaming of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Open Season to the Federal Benefits Open Season to reflect the broadened scope of benefits available, including the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS). The FEHBP features 283 plan choices in 2008, one less than in 2007.

The 2007 Federal Benefits Open Season will be held from Monday, November 12, 2007, through Monday, December 10, 2007.

From the Postal Bulletin dated September 13, 2007

In August 2007, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) management sent a letter to all participants announcing the implementa­tion of new security enhancements.

Starting in October 2007, the TSP will no longer use your Social Security number as your primary identifier on its Web site, www.tsp.gov, or ThriftLine, 877-968-3778. Instead, TPS will assign an account number for you to use in conjunction with your Web site TSP password or ThriftLine personal identification number (PIN). You will also use your new account number when you fill out TSP forms.

During September 2007, TSP will send the account number to you in a bright blue mailer. If your address on file with the Postal Service™ has changed, make sure to update it using one of the following options:

1. On a Postal Service computer, go to http://blue.usps.gov; under “Employee Resources” in the right-hand column, click on Employee Self-Service, then click on Employee Change of Address.

2. On a Postal Service kiosk, click on Employee Change of Address.

3. By mail, send PS Form 1216, Employee’s Current Mailing Address, to:

HRSSC COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
PO BOX 970400
GREENSBORO NC 27497-0400

4. By telephone, call HRSSC at 877-477-0323, option 5; validate your identity with your employee identifi­cation number (EIN) or Postal Service PIN.

Related:  Account Numbers Are Coming in October (TSP website)

Information from both cases below:

A Connecticut federal district court has granted an appeal by the U.S. Postal Service to “amend a declaratory judgment and injunction” issued in April prohibiting contract postal units from posting displays that involve religious proselytizing. “In Cooper v. United States Postal Service the court limited its ruling to the contract postal unit operated by Sincerely Yours, Inc. (SYI), eliminating an earlier ruling which applied to all contract postal units l. The court  also modified its injunction to more specifically indicate the proselytizing activities of SYI that are to be prohibited.” Religion Clause Blog

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut had found in favor of Bertram Cooper, in a case brought with the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut (ACLU-CT), against the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The case involves a contract postal unit in Manchester, Conn. owned and operated by an evangelical church, the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church, through a non-profit subsidiary called Sincerely Yours, Inc. (SYI). Inside the SYI unit, in addition to standard USPS equipment, décor and paraphernalia, there were numerous religious displays, including a poster asking if customers “need prayer in their lives”, Church-related artwork and photographs, and a television playing various religious programs created by the Church.

Cooper, an elderly veteran and Manchester resident, asked representatives of the SYI unit to remove the religious displays, but was informed that if he did not like them he could go elsewhere for his postal services. Cooper filed suit against the USPS seeking to have the displays removed on the grounds that they violated the First Amendment of the Constitution, and an order obliging the USPS to monitor all contract postal units for similar proselytizing materials.

SYI later joined the suit on the side of the USPS. In its ruling, the court found that the religious displays at the SYI contract postal unit violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and issued an injunction ordering their removal. It also ordered the USPS to provide “adequate and ongoing” notice to all of its 5,200 contract postal units nationwide that, in providing postal services, they must not act in a manner that proselytizes or advances religion. The court further stipulated that USPS must implement “adequate and ongoing” procedures for monitoring compliance with the order. USPS appealed the decision.

click here for decision

Post Office: Avilla, Missouri 64833

Flickr Photos 

San Luis Obispo County Tribune-  A postal employee being investigated for mail theft from a San Luis Obispo post office resigned recently amid criminal allegations, according to a spokesman from the postal service.

Investigators from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General said last week a worker at the main post office at 1655 Dalidio Drive was allegedly stealing mail.

Postal officials would not identify the employee.

Authorities began the investigation after a customer noticed a piece of mail was missing, according to spokesman Dan Mihalko.

“It was an allegation that came forward,” Mihalko said. “They were aware something that was expected didn’t show up.” Mihalko would not specify how much mail or what was allegedly stolen but said the thefts did not appear to be extensive, involve other employees or continue over an extended period of time.

Full story

Contract ratified! Approved by 9-to-1 margin

Rank-and-file members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) overwhelmingly ratified a new five-year National Agreement with the U.S. Postal Service covering city delivery letter carriers throughout the nation, the union announced today.

The vote for ratification was 104,346 to 11,895 according to Joseph DeRossi of NALC Branch 41, Brooklyn, New York, chairman of a special Ballot Committee that supervised the tabulation.The tentative settlement, reached by negotiators on July 12, had been endorsed unanimously by the NALC Executive Council.

USPS: “The agreement is the third contract between the Postal Service and its four major unions from the 2006 negotiations. Contracts were ratified with the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) in January 2007. Members of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) failed to ratify a tentative agreement. The terms of that contract are currently scheduled to be resolved in interest arbitration proceedings this fall.”

(Press Release) The 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO) will announce its endorsement for the 2008 presidential election on Wednesday morning, September 12 in a briefing at 11 a.m. EDT at NALC Headquarters in Washington.

NALC President William H. Young will be joined by the endorsed candidate at the event.

The announcement will follow a formal endorsement vote by the union’s 28-member Executive Council which is currently meeting in Washington and also comes after a nationwide postcard survey of all NALC members on their preference among candidates who responded to a questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to 8 Democratic and 10 Republican candidates.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 11 a.m. EDT

WHERE: Hutchings Hall (first floor) at NALC Headquarters, 100 Indiana Ave., NW, Washington, DC (Intersection of First and C Sts. NW)

WHO: NALC President William H. Young and the union’s endorsed presidential candidate.

WHAT: News briefing to announce presidential endorsement.