Postal News

Former carrier convicted of mail fraud after claiming disability
"A federal judge sentenced a 56-year-old Hudson man to one year of home confinement Thursday following his conviction on federal charges of mail fraud and making false statements. Arthur Martel, a Vietnam veteran, filed a claim form in 1996 under the Federal Employees Notice of Traumatic Injury and a claim for Continuation/Compensation pursuant to the Federal Employees Compensation Act. He was awarded compensation for total disability at a rate of 75 percent of his full time postal service pay, according to the court documents." -

The Allure of the Forever Stamp
"In the past several weeks, Postal Service customers have been buying Forever Stamps at a rate of about 30 million per day, bringing the amount sold to more than 6 billion since they were first offered. The Associated Press further detailed the climb, reporting forever stamp sales of $267,696,023 in March, $207,900,132 in February and $115,303,031 in January." -

Rally to protest Lafayette post office closing
"Up to a few weeks ago, the only reasons given by United States Postal Service officials for closing the branch had to do with security concerns, citing broken security cameras and a broken bulletproof glass door through which parcels are passed. But earlier this month, Darleen Reid, a USPS spokeswoman gave Jersey Journal columnist Earl Morgan an additional reason. "It's not official yet, but the paperwork is already in the works to permanently close the Lafayette Post Office because it doesn't make a profit and we are under a congressional mandate that post offices make a profit," Reid said." -

Sweeping Changes Debated for Landmark Family and Medical Leave Act
"Under proposals being considered by the Labor Department, workers would have to tell their bosses in advance when they take nonemergency leave, instead of being able to wait until two days after they left. They would have to undergo "fitness-for-duty" evaluations if they took intermittent leave for medical reasons and wanted to return to physically demanding jobs. To prove that they had a "serious health condition," they would have to visit a health-care provider at least twice within a month of falling ill. What's more, employers would have the right to contact health-care providers who authorized leave." -

Pissed at the post office
"From Boulder City to Boston, rural mail carriers across America tell CityLife they're seething over a "fixed" evaluation system -- called, appropriately enough, the "mail count." This periodic process (held from late February to early March of this year) is an official accounting of each carrier's average mail volume so that post-office managers can reallocate workers and resources to routes that have grown the most and need more TLC." -

Rural Mail Carrier Carjacked
"Instead of friendly mail customers, a rural postal carrier was confronted with an unusual and threatening sight Tuesday -- a knife-wielding man who demanded the carrier's car. The man robbed the rural route carrier of her car and mail during the 10:30 a.m. robbery and carjacking near Avenue 128 and Road 120 south of Tipton, postal inspector Renee Focht said Wednesday." -

Towns Backs Bill to Protect Stamp Vending Machines
"Today, Congressman Edolphus "Ed" Towns (NY-10) announced his co-sponsorship of H.R. 5548, the "Postal Service Access Assurance Act of 2008." This legislation would serve to ensure the continued availability of automated stamp vending machines by the United States Postal Service for underserved communities. USPS announced in October 2006 that it would phase out stamp vending machines by 2010. Approximately 5,900 vending machines would be removed each year until nearly 23,000 machines - now in service - have been withdrawn. USPS points to reasons such as aging equipment, lack of repair parts, and the high costs of maintenance." -

SF Postal Workers Picket Against Abusive Boss
"Join Brach 214 Carriers in protesting the continuing abusive and discriminatory behavior by Bryant Annex Supervisor Ron Malig and calling for the Postmaster to remove him from supervising carriers. Management allowed this supervisor to continue his obnoxious behavior at PCA. Carriers at PCA struggled to stop the abuse including petitioning Congress people. He was moved to Bryant Annex where he continues his behavior in violation of The Joint Statement on Violence and Behavior in the Work Place." -

Retired postal workers have town to call their own
"The name of the town is Nalcrest and it is the only official retirement community for mailmen and mailwomen in the United States. Located on 300 acres, about 7 miles east of Lake Wales in Polk County, Nalcrest contains 500 apartments. They are full, almost exclusively, with former carriers and their spouses. The village is meant to provide a safe, social and warm retreat for the mail veterans, most of whom completed their 25 to 30 years of service." -

Raleigh Post Offices Make Up Own Rules
"At least two Raleigh post offices have denied some U.S. citizens the ability to get a post office box by creating their own requirements that are more stringent than Postal Service rules listed on their website. The Raleigh Chronicle looked into what it takes to get a post office box in Raleigh after a local university student said they were denied a post office box despite presenting proper identification." -

APWU: Mail Network Protection Act Gains Eight More Co-Sponsors
"Eight more members of the U.S. House of Representatives have become co-sponsors of the Mail Network Protection Act (H.R. 4236) in the past two weeks, thanks to continuing outreach efforts by APWU locals. The legislation would help reduce wasteful, inefficient, and detrimental subcontracting by requiring the USPS to bargain with postal unions before it engages in significant contracting-out." -

Even Credit Card Offers Are Ebbing
"Since last November, credit card companies have slashed the amount of direct mail they send out, according to figures released by Mintel, a market research firm. Mintel found that fewer pieces had gone out in February, the last month for which figures were available, than in any month since April 2004. Mintel extrapolated the figures from a panel of 9,700 households, recruited afresh every month." -

APWU Donation to Save Small-Town Post Office
"The APWU has given a one-of-a-kind gift to the people of McCausland, Iowa: a donation of $30,000 to help save their post office. The contribution will pay for renovations to a building the small town purchased in order to stave off threats by the USPS to discontinue regular postal service for its 300 residents. The saga began more than four years ago, when the Postal Service closed McCausland�s only post office because of mold contamination. A �temporary� post office has never been up to code, and the USPS threatened in January of this year to close it on April 25." -

'Fine' Time for Postal Cop
"A former postal police captain was fined $10,000 yesterday for joining a mobbed-up gambling ring at the Terminal Produce Cooperative Market and Hunts Point Cooperative Market, both in The Bronx. Ronald Seebeck, 42, of Yonkers, had managed uniformed postal cops in the Postal Inspection Service's Newark offices before getting booted last year. Prosecutors said Seebeck's role in the gambling ring included working side-by-side with a Genovese associate handling sports bets." -

Postal worker shoots 2 neighbors, then himself, in Harlem
"A postal worker shot and gravely wounded two neighbors at a Harlem apartment building today before turning the gun on himself as cops closed in, police said. The shocking violence erupted about 6:05 a.m. in the lobby of a building in the Manhattanville Houses on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 131 St., police said. One victim was found in the lobby with a gunshot wound to the head while the other apparently was chased to the third floor and shot three times in the chest, police sources said. Both victims were in critical condition at area hospitals. The gunman, described by neighbors as a mild-mannered postal employee in his 40's, committed suicide, shooting himself in the head after cops cornered him at his apartment, the sources said." - One Dead, One Extremely Critical - NY1 News - Gothamist -

Postmaster says 'stolen' van was a lesson for worker
"The police launched an intensive search for a stolen mail van Friday afternoon, only to discover that it had actually been �stolen� by the local postmaster in an attempt to teach a worker not to leave the keys in the van. The police were not amused. Barrington Postmaster Steven Santilli, 43, of 201 Woodland Ave., North Providence, who had taken the truck, was unapologetic, saying there was no theft because it was his truck, and this was the policy used to teach employees a lesson, according to the report from Patrolman Dianne Pinto." -

Burrus Asks Bush to Appoint Postal Service Advisory Council
"At this critical juncture in the history of the Postal Service, the APWU insists that the Advisory Council be established and consulted, in accordance with the statute,� Burrus wrote. �Matters of crucial importance to the Postal Service and its employees, including realignment of the postal mail processing network, implementation of a major new flat sorting program, establishment of service standards, and implementation of the new rate-setting provisions enacted by the PAEA, make consultation with the Advisory Council more important now than at any time since the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act." -

Postal Protest: Mansfield employees say move is hurting service
"Overtime is an issue. So are contradictory statements about whether delivery of mail deposited in Mansfield on Saturdays is delayed because it is sent to Akron or Cleveland for processing. Tillman Franklin believes work that could be done locally should remain in Mansfield. Franklin, a member of American Postal Workers Local 903 and chairman of the Save Our Mail campaign, said the Diamond Street post office stopped canceling Saturday mail March 15." -

Ex.-La. postal workers accused of stealing mail
"Former U.S. postal workers were indicted Friday on allegations including stealing mail and tossing mail into the trash instead of delivering it, federal prosecutors said. Indictments came in four separate cases involving alleged crimes by Baton Rouge-based postal employees and contract workers between 2005 and 2007, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney David Dugas." -

Former Letter Carrier Sues Postal Service
"A rural letter carrier who delivered mail locally for 34 years before he retired last week has a federal lawsuit against the Postal Service, accusing his former boss of age discrimination and retaliation. Peter J. Marinelli, 57, of Ashland, claims a postmaster pressured him to leave during his last six years on the job and retaliated against him when he complained to superiors that he was being harassed." -

APWU Endorses Sen. Barack Obama
"The National Executive Board of the American Postal Workers Union has voted unanimously to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president. �Sen. Obama�s message is one of hope and change,� said union President William Burrus. �His message is special, and the timing is right.� �We are most impressed by Sen. Obama�s commitment to eradicating the undue influence of special interests in the political process,� he said. �Our current political system does not allow for the voices of average citizens to be heard over the demands of lobbyists and big-money campaign contributors." - Burrus: He'll Take Us in the Right Direction -

GAO: Millions Wasted on Gov't Cards
"U.S. Postal Service workers separately billed more than $14,000 to government credit cards for Internet dating services and a dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Orlando, Fla., for 81 people at a cost of $160 each for steaks and crab. The dinner bill also included more than 200 appetizers and more than $3,000 worth of wine and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold. In the Internet dating case, a postmaster charged $1,100 over 15 months for two online services, including the Ashley Madison Agency. The expenses went unnoticed for more than a year even though he was under internal investigation for viewing pornography on a government computer. The postmaster was eventually told to repay the Internet charges but faced no disciplinary action." - GAO Report (PDF) -

USPS: Lafayette Post Office Not Profitable for Us
"Apparently seized by a spasm of frugality, U.S. Postal Service officials in Jersey City have decreed the Lafayette Post Office, which has operated out of a storefront location near the corner of Pacific and Communipaw Avenues for 40 years, must close because it isn't making money." -

In the mail soon - a new generation of direct marketing
"Direct mail marketing - often derided as advertising's poor relation - is experiencing a resurgence. In today's marketing climate, direct mail is getting more creative attention as well as an explosion in alternative delivery vehicles. A recent survey by the United States Postal Service found that people look forward to seeing what is in their mailboxes and they spend an average of 30 minutes reading their daily mail." -

Senator Collins Addresses National Postal Supervisors
"Direct mail is in no way comparable to the unsolicited and invasive telephone calls that are curbed by the �Do Not Call� registry. Direct mail imposes no burden on the public, it causes no interruptions, and I, for one, look forward to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons I get in the mail. A �Do Not Mail� registry would attempt to solve a problem that does not exist and would have devastating consequences for every home, community, and business that relies upon our Postal Service." -

San Antonio APWU: Boycott and Pickets Called For
"The membership voted to picket because there is no unity in the post office when management is abusing employees, not treating them with dignity, respect and fairness, the deliberate violation of our collective bargaining agreement, and utilizing other employees to perform APWU bargaining unit work." -

Employees Speak Out Against Postmaster
"'Joe' claims the new postmaster, Antonio Gracia, has instilled fear in nearly every employee there. "Some are very anxious because they don't know what this guy is capable of. He fired a girl in the middle of the street for no reason," says Joe. This employee says Gracia harassed an employee for weeks telling her quote 'a monkey would do a better job than her'. �Joe' says that's not the worst. He says he reportedly threatened employees. "He was upset that a postal employee had called in sick. So that day he made a comment that if he had a gun he'd shoot someone," says Joe." (See KGBT home page for link to news video) -

Two Postal Workers Recovering After Attacks
"MILWAUKEE - Two letter carriers in Milwaukee are recovering after attacks in their neighborhoods. One letter carrier was attacked by kids throwing rocks. Another letter carrier was attacked by a dog. �Carriers are just out there trying to do their job and they want to deliver their mail fast an courteously, and they really don't need to be harassed or insulted by anyone in the neighborhood,� Postal Inspector Lori Groen said." -

TB case eyed at post office in Chantilly
"Fairfax County health officials are investigating why more than 30 employees at a Chantilly post office have tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis. A union leader representing Northern Virginia postal workers was upset about the union not being told about the situation. "I'm outraged," said Douglas Sapp of the Northern Virginia area local of the American Postal Workers Union." - Postal Workers Tested for TB -