PostalReporter.com Blog

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. 10-11, 2007. The public is welcome to observe the Board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 11 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items:

Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 8:30 a.m.

1.Minutes of the previous meeting, Nov. 14-15, 2007.
2. Remarks of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board (Jim Miller and Alan Kessler).
3.Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO (John Potter).
4.Holiday preparations (Pat Donahoe, deputy postmaster general and chief operating officer, and Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president).
5 Committee reports.
6.Consideration of the Postal Service Fiscal Year 2007 Annual Report (Chairman Miller)
7.Fiscal Year 2007 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations, including Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Reporting Requirements (Chairman Miller).
8.Consideration of Final Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriation Request (Glen Walker, chief financial officer and executive vice president).
9.Diversity strategy (Alta Rodriguez, manager, National Diversity Initiatives office).
10.Tentative agenda for the Jan. 29-30, 2008, meeting in Washington, DC.

From FedBIZOPPS:

Description

This is a Request for Proposals from organizations and individuals to assist the Postal Regulatory Commission staff in developing a Report on Universal Postal Service and the Postal Monopoly to be submitted to the President and Congress in late 2008.

Section 702 of the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act (PAEA) requires the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC or the Commission) to submit a report to the President and Congress on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in the United States, including the monopoly on the delivery of mail and on access to mail boxes.     Universal postal service, also referred to as universal service obligation (USO), is mandated by law and defines the minimum mail service to which each citizen is entitled.     Generally, the USO incorporates five features: (1) access to retail services and delivery, (2) frequency of delivery, (3) quality of service, (4) affordability, and (5) range of mail products offered.     Because providing a minimum level service to every citizen may not be profitable under certain conditions, a USO is generally financed by granting exclusive rights to the postal administration to provide selected services, i.e., a postal monopoly.     Over the last ten years, many countries, mostly in Europe, have begun to reduce the postal monopoly while at the same time ensuring some minimum level of service for each citizen.  It is within this context that Congress has mandated this study.

The PAEA lists a series of items Congress expects to be included in the Report.     Each of these items actually represents tasks to be performed, some of which might be considered descriptive in nature and some of which might be considered analytic in nature.     The Commission has decided to outsource some of the work.     Although there are discrete tasks, each task represents a part of the ultimate report, and so prospective providers should recognize how each task relates to the other tasks so as to provide a meaningful comprehensive report.     It would not be an understatement to characterize this report as critical to the future of the Postal Service and stakeholders since Congress may act on any recommendations included in the report.  For this reason, care and due diligence must be exercised in carrying out the tasks. See Notice and RFP for Universal Service Report

“Keeping Posted is a site for retired USPS employees who want to stay connected with Postal news, events and personnel. This site also provides links to retirement resources and products and services specific to USPS.”

At KeepingPosted.org, retirees can:

·      Read current and archived editions of USPS News Link.

·      Keep an eye on the future with the Strategic Transformation Plan 2006.

·     Get access to special discounts with postal partners.

·     Download the latest postal speeches, Congressional testimony and official news releases.

·     Find out about new stamp issues and upcoming dedication events.

·    Stay current with industry news with MailPro, a bimonthly publication for mailing professionals.

·    Check out our performance in copies of the Annual Report and the Comprehensive Statement.

 Keeping Posted website

source: USPS

New Limits on Numbers of Casuals Also Go Into Effect

“Dec. 1, 2007, will be a historic day for postal labor,” APWU President William Burrus declared this week. “It marks the elimination of part-time flexible employment for the Clerk Craft in large offices. “As the result of contract negotiations, Clerk Craft PTFs will disappear as a job category in every postal installation of 200 work-years or more,” Burrus noted. “This has been a long-standing objective of postal employees, and it has finally been achieved.  [full story]

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is seeking information and interest for a company to provide non-alcoholic beverage and/or limited food service in an experimental retail arrangement within a newly designed, customer-friendly full-service postal retail outlet.     The Postal Service wishes to create an environment that provides customers, including many small businesses, convenient access to a variety of business-related retail services co-located within the postal retail outlet.

This postal retail facility provides a contemporary USPS environment featuring; a staffed sales area with attractive merchandising and open service counters, self-service checkouts, AV furnished conference room and lounge area.     The interior retail space uses non-traditional colors, finishes, signage and casework and has a much more contemporary feel compared to traditional Post Offices.     The Postal Service provides shared-use areas and internet access over a dedicated wi-fi internet connection within certain parts of the building as well as 24-hour Post Office box and self-service area.

The Postal Service has dedicated space within this newly renovated retail outlet for sublease to multiple vendors who will provide complementary services to postal retail customers, many of which are small businesses, home-based businesses, or business travelers.     The postal outlet is a leased facility located in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg near the metro area’s largest shopping mall.

Purpose

USPS is interested in exploring an environment that provides our customers convenient access to a variety of business and related retail services co-located within a postal retail facility.     The future design of new, or the conversion of older, Postal retail offices may be an outcome of tests conducted at this facility. (more…)

APWU News

Burrus Issues Stinging Rebuke To USPS Inspector General
Audit ‘Lacks Relevance, Ignores Legislative Mandate’ to Bargain

APWU President William Burrus slammed the Office of the Inspector General recently, charging that in a September audit report [PDF] on employee benefit programs the office had inserted itself into the collective bargaining arena.

In a Nov. 16 letter [PDF] to Inspector General David Williams, Burrus said, “Simply put, your analysis of the cost of postal benefits compared to those of other federal agencies lacks relevance.”

“The statutory mandate for bargaining has been and continues to be ‘to establish and maintain wages and benefits comparable to the private sector,’” Burrus wrote, “but your analysis compared the USPS negotiated-benefit programs to six federal and five quasi-federal agencies.”

The OIG comparison, the union president said, “has no standing in the bargaining process.” He noted that both the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 and the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 require the Postal Service to bargain with employee unions over wages, benefits, and working conditions.

“USPS contributions to the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) and the Federal Employee Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program have been established as a result of legally-required negotiations,” Burrus wrote. “I am troubled that the Office of Inspector General has elected to insert itself into the collective bargaining arena without portfolio. Because the law does not confer such responsibility to the OIG, the audit report serves no constructive purpose.”

Burrus said that he was “particularly offended by the report’s claim that reductions in benefit program contributions represent ‘$1.073 billion in funds put to better use.’

“Your auditors are not positioned to arrive at such a conclusion,” he said.

The APWU president also criticized the Inspector General for the OIG’s failure to address billions of dollars granted to major mailers in excessive worksharing discounts. “Despite the enormity of this loss of revenue, your office has failed to document and analyze this egregious violation of the integrity and accountability of the Postal Service.”

“It is especially troubling that your office has remained silent while the USPS has failed to adjust workshare discounts to reflect the reduction of millions of work hours that resulted from automation. As you undoubtedly know, under the law, as work hours used for mail processing are reduced, the avoided costs reflected in workshare discounts must be reduced proportionally.”

“Rather than producing an irrelevant comparison of postal benefit costs to those in other federal agencies,” Burrus wrote, “your office would better serve the public interest by exposing this collusion between major mailers and postal management.”

Copies of Burrus’ letter to the Inspector General were distributed to the other postal unions.

See Excerpts from the OIG Audit Report posted Nov. 14, 2007 

From the Postal Service notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities website:

The United States Postal Service (USPS) wishes to pre-qualify suppliers who can develop, implement, manage, and analyze information for a national Employee Engagement survey.  The purpose of this system is to provide an independent, periodic measure of the satisfaction levels of Postal Service employees.  Such a process should also help the USPS to identify which employee engagement drivers need attention to increase employee engagement.  The USPS is seeking suppliers who apply current industry best practices and demonstrate innovative approaches to providing actionable insights into employees’ perceptions.  Suppliers pre-qualified as part of this process may be invited to participate in response to a solicitation(s) issued by the USPS.  It is the intent of the USPS to issue a solicitation for the measurement of employee engagement and analysis using pre-qualified suppliers. 

PART I - GENERAL INFORMATION (continued)
 
B.  PROJECT DESCRIPTION
 
The purpose of the Employee Engagement survey is to measure employees’ attitudes about the workplace and their perception of drivers of their overall work experience.  It will be a census survey of the entire employee population to gain insight into the issues and concerns of the workforce.  The current survey (Voice of the Employee) measures perceptions of workplace environment, consists of 41core questions and is administered on a quarterly basis to one fourth of the approximately 800,000 employee population.  Every employee has an opportunity to respond to the survey once every year. 
 
All 41 questions elicit employee opinion on a wide variety of workplace related issues.  Six of these questions have been identified as key indicators of workplace environmental factors that can have an impact on employee performance and affect business outcomes.  These questions are combined together, each receiving equal weight, and averaged into an index score.
 
The successful supplier must be able to:
 
A.  Select a stratified random sample of employees for each Performance Cluster (PC) and Headquarters/related unit, stratified by bargaining and non-bargaining employees within each PC and Headquarters/related unit.  The entire audience of the approximately 800,000 employee population will be sampled during each year.  The USPS will provide the name, mailing address, indication of bargaining/non-bargaining employee status, area, performance cluster, work location, and email addresses (as appropriate) for each career employee. 
B. Conduct the data collection process through both  mail-out and web-based processes. 
The current mail-out process includes:  producing sufficient quantities for all survey recipients; providing outgoing and return white envelopes and preparing the mail-out of the survey, including collating and stuffing surveys, cover letters, instructions and return envelopes.   Employee address information needs to be printed so that the recipient can peel or tear off this information to preserve anonymity.  Only work location code, bargaining/non-bargaining indication and field/HQ designation will remain on the survey itself.  NOTE – current process specifics are being provided to provide overall scope.  Proposals should include current industry best-practice processes.
 
The web-based process (not yet designed) will require specific attention to security and preservation of anonymity.  NOTE – as indicated above, proposals should include current industry best-practices processes. 
C.  Distribute (mail and/or email) surveys within a specified (narrow) time period. Special packaging and sorting will be necessary for different locations, based on the size of the office.
D.  Receive all returned hardcopy surveys via first class mail at the contractor site. Scan or image all returned answer sheets. 
 
Receive and maintain all web-based survey data.
 
Produce and deliver tracking reports, including data verification, so that the incoming information can be continually monitored.
 
E. Results will be calculated and made available at the various levels (for example national, area, performance cluster, Processing & Distribution Centers, and Bulk Mail Centers).  Results calculated will need to be given to the USPS electronically in various types of spreadsheets and databases.  Analyses and results must be able to be broken down in various ways.
F. The supplier must produce hard copy data reports of results at the various levels.
G. The USPS is seeking demonstrated experience in analysis, including sophisticated interpretation and presentation of findings. 
H.  The USPS is seeking industry best-practice follow-up (action planning and measurement) tools and processes.
 
See Full Notice

Post Office: South Beach, FL

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Post Office: Glendale, CA

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Post Office: Topock, AZ

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