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TOP NEWS STORIES |
USPS: VER By the Numbers
"VER Group 1 includes clerks, mail handlers and initial
level supervisors of mail processing and customer service. The
group has 72,000 eligible employees. The application deadline
was Sept. 30. USPS has approved the applications of 3,685
employees, whose retirement date is Dec. 31, 2008. VER Group 2
includes headquarters and headquarters-related employees, as
well as rural and letters carriers. This group has 67,000
eligible employees. The applications deadline was Nov. 21.
USPS has approved the applications of 4,049 employees, and
their retirement date is Feb. 28, 2009." -
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Zumbox.com - The Alternative Online Postal Service
"Zumbox delivers paperless mail online - from street address
to street address. What used to only be sent as paper mail can
now be sent without the paper. How? We've created a nationwide
paperless postal service with a Zumbox for every street
address in the United States, including yours." -
Businesses will pay an introductory price of
$.02 per address - Mailers don't need
your email address to send you a message, they use your address -
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Forget dead letters; worry about a dead USPS
"Top officials of the U.S. Postal Service and the American
Postal Workers Union are monitoring the serious mail problems
in Philadelphia. But William Burrus, national president of the
APWU, warned of an even worse problem on the horizon than
"just the delay of the mail." With a nearly $3 billion loss in
fiscal '08, and a projected deficit of up to $5 billion in the
current year, the USPS is "close to not being able to sustain
a national postal-service system to the public," Burrus said." -
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APWU: Rough Rides Along the Network Realignment Trail
"In the fall we learned of yet another example of the failure
of the USPS network realignment plan: The Postal Service
announced in November that it was rescinding two consolidation
proposals - both of them nearly three years old. One was a
plan to consolidate a western Iowa postal facility's mail
across state lines; the other was a proposal to consolidate a
South Dakota facility to a plant 90 miles away." -
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Late night mail delivery frustrates some Quad-City customers
"The reason the mail has become so tardy is that post
offices nationwide are in the process of "right-sizing," said
Davenport Postmaster David Rash, who added that he does not
like using the term. The amount of mail being sent through the
U.S. Postal Service has decreased greatly in recent years. For
example, it is estimated that the amount of mail sent between
Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve this year will be 19 billion
pieces - down 1 billion from last year. As a result, the
Postal Service is not replacing letter carriers who retire." -
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Congressmen Request Postal Bill Be Included in Economic
Stimulus Package (PDF)
"We are writing to request that the text of H.R. 7313,
introduced on December 9, 2008, be included in the economic
stimulus package currently being developed. This bill would
assist the U.S. Postal Service to address its serious
financial constraints and would serve to protect existing
Postal Service jobs." (Postcom.org) -
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USPS processing 1 billion fewer pieces of mail this year
"That doesn't mean the U.S. Postal Service isn't busy,
but there has been a dramatic drop in mail volume.
"Nationwide, we will still accept, process and deliver 19
billion pieces of mail this holiday season [Thanksgiving
through January 2009]. Last year, it was 20 billion... we are
very busy, but it is hard to ignore a billion pieces of mail." -
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Report: Keep postal monopoly in place
"Although no immediate changes are called for, recent events
require the commission to recommend that Congress closely
monitor the Postal Service's financial situation as the
possibility now exists that significant changes may become
necessary to preserve effective and efficient postal services
for the nation," the report said." -
Report (PDF) -
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APWU: Union Files 'Dispute' Over Elimination of Tour 2
"The APWU has initiated a Step 4 dispute with the Postal
Service, protesting management's nationwide plan to eliminate
or drastically reduce Tour 2 assignments and employees. The
dispute, filed Dec. 16 by union President William Burrus, is
in addition to an Unfair Labor Practice charge filed by the
APWU with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Nov. 25." -
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USPS: Declining Mail Volume Leads to Route Adjustments
"The Postal Service plans to have evaluated thousands of
routes across the country by year's end. Most of the changes
resulting from those evaluations will go into effect in
January 2009. The changes are designed to give letter carriers
stability and consistency by assigning a single route that
they will deliver on a regular basis. Adjustments are also
made to ensure delivery of mail at the same time of day.
Finally, these adjustments will allow customers to become more
familiar with their carriers." -
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Philadelphia: Office Snooping Pays Off
"THE ANNOUNCEMENT in late August that the U.S. Postal
Service planned to transfer 162 mail clerks made no sense to
veteran postal worker Nick Casselli. With hundreds of
overflowing unsorted mail bins blocking passageways at the
Southwest Philadelphia processing plant and a yearlong ban on
overtime, Caselli said, he knew there weren't enough clerks to
process the daily mail. As a new shop steward, Casselli set
out to find out why. Using the "eyes and ears" of co-workers,
Casselli was first to uncover the Philadelphia post office's
dirty little secret." -
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Postal Veterans Introduce Late Session Postal Relief
Legislation (PDF)
"...if Congress does not approve the change in the required
retiree health benefits payments, the Postal Service would
have to consider such options as service cuts, as in reducing
hours in Post Offices; more aggressive employment cuts; or
other actions to ensure cash is available to meet payroll,
retiree health benefit requirements, and other obligations.
Should our proposal not be adopted by Congress, and the
economic downturn is greater then currently forecast, I would
recommend to the Board that the Postal Service seek
legislative authority to curtail or suspend delivery on our
lightest delivery days next summer." -
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Area and District Job Postings are Frozen
"As information, the following message was just sent to
the Area V.P.s and to the field from Tony Vegliante: Staffing
changes will be made in the Field beginning early 2009. Due to
these changes, effective immediately all Area and District job
postings are frozen until further notice including laterals
and downgrades. Any exceptions need to come through my office
by contacting Bretta Bombac, Mgr. HR Integration and Support." -
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Mail Carrier Stabbed in Apparent Robbery
"A mail carrier was stabbed in an apparent robbery in
Rockville Monday afternoon. The victim was stabbed after 2:45
p.m. at Halpine Road and Alsace Lane, police said. She was
taken to an area hospital with one stab wound to the torso.
Investigators believe the 31-year-old carrier's wallet or
purse was stolen." - Postal Worker
Recovering -
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Philly update: 'A lot' of late, lost mail found by inspectors
"Gwen Ivey, president of American Postal Workers Union Local
89, said that "inspectors are all over the place," referring
to the ongoing audit by the Office of Inspector General at the
U.S. Postal Service's facility on Lindbergh Boulevard near
Island Avenue. Separately, postal clerks are finding late
first-class mail in waste bins and elsewhere, but it's unclear
whether the inspectors have seen it, she said, adding that she
advised clerks to "bring it to the attention of their
supervisors."
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More Mailroom Screwups -
Brady Calls for Probe of Processing Center -
Mail dumped to thwart probe? -
Postal Service Responds - New manager to meet with union prez - Postal Service manager gets canned - Local post offices say the mail is not
going through there, either | Complaints about service piling up -
Docs blast delays in the mails - Where mail goes to
die - News, meds, invites
lost in alleged mail fiasco -
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APWU: Modified Work-Week Talks Stall
"The union's concern is clear: As postal management plans
to reduce mail processing to a two-tour operation, the union
has no interest in facilitating the effort. While many
employees would favor the opportunity to have three
non-scheduled days in the course of a service week, their
entitlement does not supersede the right of an employee to
work the contractually required eight-hour, five-day schedule." -
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