PostalReporter.com Blog

U.S. Attorney Press Release  

BIRMINGHAM, AL - April K. Cummings, 30, of  Fosters, was charged in a one-count indictment for the theft of $16,452.33 from the U.S. Post Office in Fosters, Alabama.

“Theft of postal funds is a federal crime which receives zealous prosecution,” sated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. 

The indictment was filed today in U.S. District Court, and  stated that Cummings stole money from the U.S. Post Office located in Fosters, Alabama, where she was employed as the postmaster relief from October 6, 2006, until April 21, 2007.  

The penalty for misappropriation of postal funds is not more than 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. 
           
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

APWU President William Burrus has criticized the outcome of a meeting of 700 USPS executives, at which participants were invited to identify the best opportunities for improving postal efficiency. According to a USPS News Link report dated Oct. 18, among the top vote-getters were managing sick leave and overtime, and maximizing the use of non-career employees.

In a sharply worded letter to Postmaster General John E. Potter, Burrus wrote, “As you are aware, each of these issues is governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which details the rights of the employees. A request for special focus on these contractual issues is best presented in preparation for contract negotiations.

“I note that compliance with the National Agreement was not listed among the leading objectives,” Burrus continued, “even though millions of dollars have been distributed” as a result of USPS contract violations.

The union president did not object to the solicitation of input from responsible managers per se, he wrote, “but an open-ended invitation to improve efficiencies is a solicitation to ignore agreements.”

Ending harassment of employees and improving employee morale were not included among the top recommendations, Burrus observed, “even though it is clear that serious change [in these areas] would improve efficiencies.”

Burrus ended the Oct. 23 letter by requesting that the Postmaster General officially remind postal executives and managers that the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement must be adhered to.

PMG Potter and USPS Executives Focus On 2008 (October 18, 2007)

How much would be paid for unused sick leave is not yet clear. But federal managers hope the change will keep employees from taking excessive sick leave as they approach retirement. Such sick leave abuse cost the government $68 million in lost productivity in the year ended March 30, 2006, an August Congressional Research Service report says. Moran said he hopes to introduce a bill by Thanksgiving that would pay FERS retirees for some percentage of their unused sick leave. One favored option, according to Moran’s staff, would pay 10 percent of the hourly rate of a retiree’s high-three salary — the average of the employee’s highest salaries over three consecutive years — for any accumulated sick leave balance above 500 hours.  

http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3143785

From the United States Postal Service:

Featuring Iconic Celebrities from the Hollywood Legends Stamp Series

Six new stamp puzzles featuring John Wayne, Lucille Ball and other Hollywood Legends stamps take the puzzle out of gift giving.

Manufactured in the United States by White Mountain Puzzles, these 1,000-piece puzzles also depict images of Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.

The “Hollywood Legends Puzzles” are some of the consumer products licensed by the U.S. Postal Service. Other items include apparel, fashion accessories, packaging and shipping products, toys and games.

“U.S. postage stamps celebrate the things that make our nation great,” said Nick Barranca, Vice President, Product Development. “They remind us of America’s natural wonders, important historical events, and the people who touched our lives. Like the Hollywood stars they depict, these puzzles are sure to be popular.”

The “Hollywood Legends Puzzles” can be found at specialty retailers including: It’s a Puzzle stores, Go! Games stores, and at whitemountainpuzzles.com.

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(Hawaii) About 3,000 Oahu postal employees received letters in the mail this weekend warning them that their personal information may be compromised.

The employees’ names, Social Security numbers and other information were on a laptop computer that was stolen in August.

So far, there is no indication the thief was able to access the employees’ information, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Duke Gonzales said.
 
An employee called KITV concerned about why it took so long for the postal service to issue an alert.

More info from KiTV The Hawaii Channel

Postal Regulatory Commission Press Release

Press Briefing – Thursday, November 1, 2007
2:00 pm, Commission Hearing Room

Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today released the final regulations to implement new modern ratemaking and classification systems for market dominant and competitive mail products. The 178-page Order describing the regulations is available on the Commission’s website, www.prc.gov and has been submitted to the Federal Register.

“I am extremely proud the Commission has completed its work eight months ahead of the statutory deadline set by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) (PL 109-435), said PRC Chairman Dan G. Blair. “We and the U.S. Postal Service have a full agenda before us as we implement the requirements of the Act. Having the new ratemaking system in place sooner, rather than later, allows us to focus on the tasks ahead and hopefully avoid an old cost-of-service rate case,” Blair noted.

“These new rules provide the Postal Service with the ability to adjust rates for market dominant products within a Consumer Product Index (CPI) cap,” said Blair, who praised the tremendous public input from interested parties throughout the Commission’s rulemaking process. The Commission issued two Advance Notices of Rulemaking, held three field hearings, as well as inviting comments and reply comments on the proposed regulations.

The regulations consist of three parts:
• Regulations related to rate adjustments for market dominant products, including the formula for the calculation of the rate cap under which annual adjustments may be made;

• Regulations related to competitive products; and

• Establishment of a Mail Classification Schedule, which categorizes products as either market dominant or competitive.

The Commission’s introduction to the adopted rules highlights certain clarifications made to the proposed rules issued on August 15, 2007, as a result of reply comments, including:
• Clarifying the content of the notices of proceedings applicable to the various types of filing;
• Reaffirming the use of the rate cap for market dominant products;
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• Adopting a transition rule for the calculation of rate cap in the event of a transitional rate filing;
• Clarifying the content of an exigent rate request;
• Reaffirming that each negotiated service agreement (NSA) is a separate product, but that functionally equivalent NSAs may, with supporting evidence, be grouped as one product; and
• Adopting initial lists of market dominant and competitive products.

“These new regulations provide the predictability and flexibility envisioned by the PAEA by enabling the Postal Service to price its own products; ensuring competitive products pay their own way; improving accountability; and maintaining universal service at affordable rates,” said Chairman Blair.

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.

The Postal Service could lose more than $45 million if a proposed agreement with the Bank of America Corporation is implemented, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) concluded in early October, but the commission decided nonetheless that the agreement could be justified under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

The APWU opposed the agreement, arguing that USPS predictions of savings were based on obsolete data. Although the commission did not reject the Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) as the APWU requested, its conclusion echoed arguments and analysis made by the APWU.

In a brief filed before the commission, the APWU asserted that, “If adopted, it would cause the Postal Service financial harm; … it would not be fair and equitable; and it would constitute an unreasonable preference between mailers.”

The PRC ruling concluded, “The Postal Service has been given broad rate and classification authority….” but it strongly cautioned the USPS Board of Governors that “several significant financial concerns related to this Agreement have come to light. This independent evaluation should be used by the Governors to inform their decision on whether or not to proceed with this Agreement.”

In a dissent from the majority opinion, PRC Vice Chairman Dawn Tisdale wrote that while he supports Negotiated Service Agreements in principle, “the Postal Service has information showing that this is a bad deal financially that is likely to be viewed by other mailers as discriminatory. It is too certain that the Postal Service will lose money, and certain that the losses will be too substantial, between $25 million and $45 million, for me to recommend this agreement.”

Commissioner Ruth Y. Goldway agreed in part with Tisdale’s dissent: “First and foremost, through this NSA, the Postal Service will lose between $25 and $45 million and opens itself — if it is to be fair to other similarly situated mailers — to lose much more.” But Goldway ultimately decided to “go along with the majority” and voted to approve the NSA with the Bank of America.

The essence of the NSA is a proposal to compare current “read and acceptance rates” for Bank of America mail to the average read and acceptance rates throughout the USPS in 1999, and to reward Bank of America for exceeding those rates, the APWU noted. Read and acceptance rates have improved significantly in the intervening years, the union contended, so the 1999 rates cannot provide a valid baseline for the NSA.

In its decision, the PRC notes, “Read/accept rates have improved steadily since 1999. Through the diligent discovery efforts of an employee organization, recent, reliable Postal Service read/accept data from 2006 and 2007 surfaced. The Commission concludes that read/accept rates have improved to such an extent that Bank of America will not have to make any improvements in barcode readability to receive all available mail processing performance discounts.”

The Postal Service had estimated that the NSA and Bank of America’s commitment to the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) system would produce a cost savings of $5.5 million

Commissioner Goldway sharply criticized the Postal Service: The NSA “demonstrates that the Postal Service is not yet capable of negotiating a good bargain within the framework of the PAEA,” she wrote. “The record of the case indicates that the Postal Service negotiators did not prepare themselves with all the necessary financial information and costing data when conducting the bargaining process with Bank of America”

The PRC report also noted that because the Postal Service will require “the use of IMB for all automation discount mail in the near future, incentives under this Agreement would be paid to Bank of America while other mailers may be required to adopt the same mailing practices without similar incentives.”

Negotiated Service Agreements are special rate and service arrangements between the USPS and a mailer. The USPS-Bank of America proposal was the first NSA considered by the PRC since the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act became law on Dec. 20, 2006.

APWU News Article Oct. 29, 2007

A federal grand jury has indicted a former postal employee for fraudulently obtaining disability benefits through false statements.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Marjorie Frazman, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Inspector General’s Office; Joanne Yarbrough, Acting Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Inspector Martin J. Dickman of the Railroad Retirement Board’s, Office of the Inspector General announced that RONALD E. LICHTENSTEIN, 57, of 11 Grasshopper Lane, Walpole, MA was charged by a federal grand jury with three counts of mail fraud, three counts of making false statements to obtain Federal Employee Compensation and one count of making false statements in relation to obtaining a disability annuity from the Railroad Retirement Board (“RRB”).

The indictment alleges that LICHTENSTEIN, who was employed by Conrail from 1985 to 1995, and the postal service from 1998-1999, filed claims for disability with the RRB and with Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (“OWCP”) on the basis of a stress disorder, following a heart attack and bypass surgery. LICHTENSTEIN’s applications were approved, and he began receiving approximately $2500 a month from OWCP, and between $1700 and $2000 a month from the RRB, from 1999. The indictment also alleges that LICHTENSTEIN concealed from, and made false statements to, these agencies in certifying to OWCP on a yearly basis from 2003 through 2005, and to RRB in 2004, that he was not working or self-employed. The indictment alleges that, during the period of claimed disability, LICHTENSTEIN actively participated in the operation of a business out of his home called the Algonquin Sweeping and Striping Company.

If convicted, LICHTENSTEIN faces a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison on each count of mail fraud, five years in prison on each count of making a false statement to obtain federal employees’ compensation, five years on making a false statement to the RRB and a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count.

The case was investigated by agents from the Department of Labor Inspector General’s Office, the Postal Inspection Service, and the Railroad Retirement Board’s Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Theodore Merritt of the Public Corruption Unit.

The details contained in the Indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

USPS Office of Inspector General Audit Report

 as of June 2007, bargaining employees represented 89 percent of all Postal Service employees. Nonbargaining employees represented the remaining 11 percent. Table 1 also shows that 22 percent of bargaining employees were Function 1 employees (Mail Distribution), 34 percent were Function 2B employees (Delivery Services), and 16 percent were Function 4 employees (Customer Services) and Other Functions were 28 per cent. Without good workforce planning, the Postal Service may not be able to perform its mission economically, efficiently, and effectively. According to one vice president, the Postal Service is also developing Talent View, a workforce planning tool for bargaining and nonbargaining positions. This tool will be instrumental in helping management analyze the workforce and make decisions about the current workforce and what will be needed over the next 5 to 7 years.

USPS OIG Report: The Postal Service’s Comprehensive Strategic Workforce Plan (PDF)

Motorcycle Mailbox

Photos