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TOP NEWS STORIES |
Save Your Post Office!
"A rallying cry can be heard across the country, from the
swanky streets of SoHo to the tiny town of Randolph, Kansas:
"Save Our Post Office!" As the United States Postal Service,
weighed down by a crippling multibillion-dollar deficit,
shrinks down its operations, post offices across the country
are on the chopping block. Each year, hundreds of postal
operations shutter, but this coming fall could be the single
biggest consolidation in USPS history." -
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USPS lost $677 million in May; volume down 20% from last year
"The US Postal Service processed 2.8 billion fewer pieces of
mail in the month of May than it did in the same time period a
year ago. The steepest decline was in advertising mail, down
24%. First class mail was down 16%. The 19.9% decline in
overall volume yielded a 15.3% decrease in revenue. Combined
with a decrease in expenses of just 6.7%, the end result was a
net loss of $677 million. That brings the fiscal year to date
loss to $3.4 billion, putting the USPS on track to lose around $6
billion by the time the fiscal year ends on September 30." -
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NALC: Subcommittee Marks Up HR 22
"The subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and
the District of Columbia marked up H.R. 22 today and passed it
by a unanimous vote. This legislation will allow the United
States Postal Service to pay its share of contributions for
annuitants' health benefits out of the Postal Service Retiree
Health Benefits Fund." - APWU: Key House
Panel Passes HR 22 -
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National Reassessment Process Settlement Clears Path For
Hundreds of Held Grievances
"As a result of many months of negotiations, the party's
three-part settlement addresses all of the NALC's contentions
in this grievance and solidifies the contractual rights of
affected letter carriers. The parties agreed that NRP does not
change management's obligations to provide limited duty to
injured employees and it does not change the provisions of ELM
546." -
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APWU on Five-Day Delivery: Don't Do It!
"Burrus' letter was in response to a notice from the USPS
Vice President for Labor Relations, which said the Postal
Service plans to complete a study of the concept within 60
days. "Our interest is in gathering, in this short timeframe,
as much input from interested parties as possible," the June
10 letter said; it asked for a response from the union just
nine days later." -
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Troubled USPS Eyes Help From Congress
"The U.S. Postal Service is projecting a loss exceeding
$6 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, which puts
retiree health benefit contributions in jeopardy unless a bill
is passed by the U.S. Congress. To close the multi-billion
dollar deficit, the Postal Service has asked Congress for
flexibility to go from a six-day delivery schedule to five
days per week, and is evaluating early retirement packages and
work-hour reductions. Officials have implemented freezes on
hiring and executive salaries and have cut travel expenses." -
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Advertising Up While Volume Drops at Postal Service
"GRAND RAPIDS - Postal carriers are carrying less these days,
so the Postal Service is marketing itself in new ways. Given
rising postal rates and increasing deficits for the country's
post office, why is it spending money on advertising? FOX 17's
Mike Avery has a video report." -
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WSJ: Post Office Looks to Scale Back
"The agency is reviewing 3,100 post offices and retail outlets
-- out of 36,700 -- for possible closure or consolidation, and
it expects decisions by Oct. 1. Since 2000, the agency has
shut 1,337 post offices and outlets, and since 2005 it has
closed two of 380 mail-processing centers and consolidated
nine. Dozens of other proposed closures or mergers were
rejected, many following local resistance." -
USPS officials say 300 outlets closures
nationwide likely -
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Mail Carriers File Class Action Lawsuit Over Labor Violations
"In a suit filed June 10 in the Texarkana Division of the
Eastern District of Texas, the employees allege the USPS
violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring work in
excess of eight hours per day and forty hours per workweek
without overtime compensation." - Routes
are Overburdened in SW, Says Complaint - USPS
Class Action Lawsuit -
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Union Challenges USPS Interpretation of Layoff Memo
"The APWU has filed a Step 4 grievance protesting
management's interpretation of the contractual protection
against layoffs for APWU-represented employees who were on the
rolls as of Nov. 20, 2006, but had not achieved six continuous
years of service. A Memorandum of Understanding in the
2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement provides protection
to such employees." -
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Connecticut Could Lose 150 Small Postal Branches
"As many as 150 small neighborhood post offices could close in
Connecticut this fall as part of an aggressive step by the
U.S. Postal Service to try to stay viable during the recession
and in an increasingly digital world. The postal service is
surveying its facilities across the country to see which it
can consolidate, a step that could lead to the closing of
smaller post offices starting in October." -
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Another USPS Workplace Tragedy
"Prior to my retirement from the USPS, at a former district I
worked for, there were three suicides within a two year period
that I concluded were contributed to in significant part by
how these employees were treated in the workplace. The third
employee, a city letter carrier, fatally shot himself in a
postal jeep and left a letter stating that he could no longer
take the job. The suicide at the Gastonia postal facility was
the second since December 2005." -
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APWU Responds to USPS Notice on Retail Operations
"In response to a USPS notice that "the Postal Service is
considering consolidating operations in our larger stations
and branches," APWU President William Burrus has reminded
management that a Memorandum of Understanding included in the
2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement requires that "all
existing retail operations will remain within the installation
of which they are a part." - USPS
Studies Retail Network, Office Consolidations -
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NALC Unrelenting on Six-Day Delivery (PDF)
"NALC has received reports from North Carolina, New
Jersey and other states that postal managers have been telling
letter carriers and other postal employees that the Postal
Service has decided to drop one day of delivery each week to
cut costs. Worse, some have suggested NALC has agreed to this
change. Nothing could be further from the truth." -
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USPS Gives APWU List of Retail/Delivery Units Being Considered
for Consolidation or Closure (PDF)
"The Postal Service is considering consolidating operations in
our larger stations and branches. This effort could include
possible termination of leases and/or movement of operations
from Postal Service-owned facilities. As a consequence,
employees working in those retail/delivery facilities may be
reassigned to other retail/delivery units, and/or other
facilities, or other duties in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreements." -
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Recession, USPS downsizing may force closure of twenty post
office branches in NYC
"The economy might do what neither snow nor rain nor dark of
night could - close 20 post office branches in Manhattan and
the Bronx. The shutdowns could come before Labor Day because
of the recession and the downsizing of the cash-strapped U.S.
Postal Service, local union officials said. "This is
unprecedented," said Chuck Zlatkin, the legislative and
political director for the New York Metro Area Postal Union.
"This is pretty drastic, and it's happening very quickly." -
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Police Investigate Apparent Suicide at Post Office
"Gastonia Police are investigating an apparent suicide this
morning at the post office annex on the 1800 block of South
New Hope Road. Police were called out around 7:08 a.m.
Tuesday. "One of the employees is inside dead from a gunshot
wound," Gastonia Police Sgt. M.B. Lari said. "It appears to be
a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head." -
Did Toxic Work Environment Contribute to
Postal Employee's Suicide? -
Obituary:
Steven Specer -
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