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TOP NEWS STORIES |
FMLA: Here We Go Again
Bush Keeps Trying to Chip Away at Workers' Rights
"The proposed Family and Medical Leave Act regulations -
issued on Feb. 11 - would require workers to provide more
proof of illness; to present such documentation more often;
and to relinquish medical information to non-medical
personnel. If enacted, the new rules also would allow
management personnel to contact workers' medical providers."
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Make Your Voice Heard -
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NALC 132: 'Complete break down of
grievance procedure in Dallas'
"Since the arrival of the new District Manager (Linda
Welch), there has been a significant increase in the level of
stress placed upon letter carriers in the workplace. There has
also been a complete break down of the grievance procedure
within the city of Dallas. As a result, the branch has decided
to push back." -
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Postal Service Can't Account for Millions, Audits Say
"The U.S. Postal Service can't account for at least $33.4
million in facilities-repair and vehicle expenses last year
because of weak controls and lax oversight, two reports from
the agency's inspector general's office said. The Postal
Service couldn't assure that any of the $27.6 million in
maintenance and repair expenses at facilities examined by
auditors were used for that purpose, according to one of the
reports posted on the agency's Web site." -
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USPS emphasizes responsible use of sick leave
"Last year, 35,000 employees had at least 20 unscheduled
absences from work. More than 60 percent of all unscheduled
absences are for sickness or injury. Together, they cost USPS
$50 million each pay period. "Sick leave is a great employee
benefit,” said Bill Galligan, Senior Vice President of
Operations. "But abusing sick leave can disrupt operations,
increase costs and negatively impact service to our
customers." -
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PRC Ruling Exposes Unhealthy Relationship Between USPS and
Influential Mailers
"The commission ruling reaffirms the APWU's position that
workshare discounts that exceed the postal costs avoided are
not consistent with the standard of universal rates for all
mailers, large and small. The 2008 PRC ruling is Exhibit #1 in
exposing the unhealthy relationship between postal management
and influential large mailers. The Postal Regulatory
Commission has issued a strong warning that it will not permit
the continuation of arbitrary "sweetheart" deals for large
mailers." -
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Queen Creek Upgrades to Postal Trucks
"Rural mail carrier Jim Thistlewood smiles when he talks about
the postal truck he uses to deliver mail in Queen Creek.
That's because up until about a month ago, he used his own
vehicle with more than 250,000 miles on it. "This thing rides
like a Cadillac," Thistlewood said, as he loaded bins full of
packages and mail into the back. The postal vehicles, provided
through an agreement with the National Rural Carriers Union,
are in place on 38 of the 49 mail routes in the Queen Creek
area." -
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National Grievance Filed on 2008 Rural Mail Count
"The National Board has been receiving numerous reports
from the field concerning problems with the 2008 National Mail
Count. In addition, information has been and continues to be
provided by rural carriers to the respective state steward,
the respective NRLCA Executive Committeeman, or other National
Officers regarding the mail count. All reports and information
are being reviewed and investigated." -
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New Orleans: Gloom of night mail draws complaints
" Responding to complaints from eastern New Orleans about mail
deliveries at 8 p.m. or later, U.S. Postal Service officials
said Wednesday that mail generally shouldn't arrive after 6
p.m. and that they would take action on such reports. Postal
Service District Manager E.W. Waldemayer said the agency is
working steadily to repair wholesale damage to postal services
caused by Hurricane Katrina flooding, and the subsequent
depopulation of much of the city." -
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USPS to Eliminate 2,400 Supervisor Positions?
"In the past week, Postmaster General Jack Potter and
members of Headquarters staff have had conference calls with
each USPS district manager and district staffs with direct
instructions to reduce supervisory positions within each
district. Each district has been given a target number of
supervisory positions that must be eliminated ranging from 26
to 47 positions per district." -
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Efforts to Block Junk Mail Slowed
"Barred by law from lobbying, the Postal Service is
nonetheless trying to make its case before a growing number of
state legislatures that are weighing bills to create Do Not
Mail registries, which are similar to the popular National Do
Not Call Registry. The agency has printed 3,000 "information
packets" about the economic value of standard mail, with
specific data for each of the 18 states that have considered a
Do Not Mail Registry. It has dispatched postmasters to testify
before legislative committees around the country." -
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Free Recycling Through the Mail
"Customers use free envelopes found in 1,500 Post Offices to
mail back inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital
cameras, iPods and MP3 players - without having to pay for
postage. Postage is paid for by Clover
Technologies Group, a nationally recognized company that
recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges,
laser cartridges and small electronics." -
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List would slow flood of junk mail
"But the group (ForestEthics) also claims junk mail is
more than an inconvenience for consumers - it's a huge waste
of natural resources. ForestEthics says it takes paper from
almost 100 million trees each year to print the nation's junk
mail and that unsustainable logging for that paper is
deforesting parts of Indonesia and Canada that are important
carbon sinks to slow global warming. "One third of all the
mail delivered in the world is U.S. junk mail,"’ said Todd
Paglia, executive director of ForestEthics. "And the
environmental costs associated with this are tremendous."
- ForestEthics.com -
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What Went Wrong With the Postal Rate Hike?
"Recent data from the Postal Service indicate that
Periodicals Class mail only covered 83% of its costs in fiscal
year 2007. This news comes on the heels of the "cost based
rates" that went into effect last July and were designed to
reduce the Postal Service's costs. Many people in the industry
are now wondering "What went wrong?" The answer is that
"nothing went wrong," once three basic facts are understood..." -
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USPS OIG: Pacific Area Incurred $17.8 Million in Unnecesary
Costs In Using FedEx (PDF)
"We concluded that during fiscal years 2005 and 2006, the
Pacific Area incurred about $17.8 million in unnecessary costs
because they used expensive FedEx transportation to move mail
that could have been moved on low-priced surface
transportation or on less-costly passenger airlines. The
Postal Service also paid FedEx to sort mail when they could
have avoided those costs by sorting the mail or properly
preparing it for transport before giving it to FedEx." -
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USPS to offer price incentives for competitive products
starting in May
"The US Postal Service plans to start offering pricing
incentives, such as volume-related discounts, for its
competitive mail products including Express Mail, Priority
Mail and other shipping services as of May 12. "Just providing
service at a great price is our goal," said Steve Kearney, VP
of pricing and classification for the USPS." -
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Postal Service freezes hiring at headquarters
"The U.S. Postal Service is freezing hiring at its
headquarters and headquarters field units because of projected
financial losses. Executive Vice President Anthony Vegliante
announced the hiring freeze in a March 7 memo to postal
executives. Postal Service spokesman Gerry McKiernan said the
freeze is directly related to rising expenses and expected
financial losses in 2008. The Postal Service expects to lose
$600 million in fiscal 2008, one year after it lost $5.1
billion." -
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Legislation would allow more feds to cash out sick leave at retirement
"Rep. James Moran, D-Va., said Monday that he planned to
introduce a bill that would provide employees under the
Federal Employees Retirement System with a one-time payment of
up to $10,000 for any remaining sick leave at retirement. The
benefit also would apply to employees covered under the
Foreign Service Pension System and U.S. Postal Service. The
bill would enable the government to pay 15 percent of the
hourly rate of a retiree's final salary for any sick leave
balance of more than 500 hours. Moran said the threshold was
put in place to encourage employees to accrue at least 500
hours, or three months, in case of long-term illness or
disability." -
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Contract Carrier Arrested After Mail and Drugs Found in House
Used to Sell Drugs
"The main resident at the address, Marguerite Marsey, 51,
is reportedly a U.S. Postal Service subcontractor authorized
to deliver mail in rural areas. Marsey was seen driving by the
house and was later arrested without incident after deputies
stopped her vehicle. More mail belonging to local residents
and drugs were allegedly found in the vehicle. She was booked
into the Butte County Jail in Oroville and charged with
possession of a controlled substance, possession of a
controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled
substance, maintaining a residence for the purpose of selling
a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia,
possession of stolen property and possession of marijuana. Her
bail was set at $105,250." PostalMag.com comment: Not
only was the mail stolen and not being delivered, but items
from the mail (IDs, checks, etc.) may have been used for
criminal purposes. Meth users have long been associated with
mail thefts. Now, as postal subcontractors, they don't have to
steal mail from mailboxes. They can now go straight to the
post office and pick up an entire route's worth of mail! -
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Postal Service Relents; Church Sign Can Stay at Coffee Shop
"The issue was a small sign hanging below the cafe's
larger "Coffee" sign. The smaller sign announces the name of
the Road 2 Damascus Church, which uses the space on Sundays,
when the cafe is closed. Last month - about a year after the
post office opened in the cafe - someone called postal
officials to question whether the church's sign was a
violation of the separation of church and state. A retail
specialist with the U.S. Postal Service's Portland District
consulted postal regulators in Washington, D.C., and together
they decided that the sign must come down." -
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Mad as Hell!
"How many of you are old enough to remember the movie
Network? Good! My mental telepathy says that a number of hands
have been raised. Recall the scene where the actor Peter
Finch, in the role of a disgruntled newscaster, urges his
audience to open their windows and show their displeasure by
yelling out "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it
anymore." Well, after reading the March 6 National News page
of the Washington Post, the one with the article entitled
"Postal Service Feels Weight Of "Junk Mail," I am mad as
hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." -
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Postal Service
Feels Weight of 'Junk Mail'
"We cannot afford, literally or figuratively, to begin
(the year)... more than $1 billion in the red," Postmaster
General John E. Potter testified before a Senate subcommittee
yesterday. "We would never be able to dig out of that hole."
Potter said he wants to explore the possibility of renting
space in the 37,000 post offices across the country to banks
and other commercial interests. He said, however, that legal
restrictions governing federal property could get in the way
of, say, installing a Starbucks in the local post office." -
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MSPB Says
Letter Carrier Will Stay Removed for Punching Co-worker in the
Face
"Mr. Balouris was a letter carrier in a Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania facility of the United States Postal Service. He
had 15 years with the agency and no record of prior
discipline. An altercation involving "heated words" as well as
some physical contact took place between Balouris and another
letter carrier, resulting in Balouris punching his co-worker
in the face." -
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eNAPUS: Economic Woes Hit USPS (PDF)
"To address the slackened mail revenue, the PMG testified that
he will seek to trim the agency's operating costs by $1
billion. One area he identified was adjusting work hours to
meet the reduced mail volume; Potter pointed to the current
rural mail count as a way to assess the degree to which work
hours can be changed... For the most part, the Universal
Service Obligation (USO) means affordable 6-day mail service
to every delivery point in the nation, and the ubiquity of
Post Offices. The PRC will be preparing a report that would
put a price tag on the USO, and could recommend redefining
it." -
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U.S. Postal Service Plans $1 Billion in Cost Cutting
"The U.S. Postal Service plans $1 billion in cost reductions
this year to reduce a projected $2 billion loss caused in part
by a slowing economy, Postmaster General John Potter said. "We
cannot simply wait for a recovery," Potter said in prepared
testimony for the U.S. House subcommittee on federal
workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. "We
are clear in our resolve that it will not come at the expense
of service." -
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Reforms deliver freedom to compete, transparency, postal
officials say
" A year after Congress passed a sweeping postal reform
bill, lawmakers are seeing signs that their efforts are paying
off. The reforms have led to a smoother process for changing
postal rates, more transparency and discipline in the U.S.
Postal Service's finances, and more freedom in how USPS
competes with commercial rivals." -
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