Postal News October 2011

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Postal News

October 2011

10/31/11

Seattle: Postal Service hiring for the holidays -

Postcom: "Word has it that Sens. Lieberman, Carper, Collins, and Brown will be proposing a bipartisan postal reform bill some time this week" -

How Far Does Your 44 Cents Go? -

PRC: Exigency Request Decision Issued (PDF) -

Arkansas Update: Post Offices Off the Closing Lists -

Memo From Germany: Reinventing Post Offices in a Digital World -

APWU: Battle Over USPS Future Enters Critical Period -

Poll: Mail 5 days a week OK -

Philistines at the Gate: The Venice Post Office on the Chopping Block -

10/30/11

Military post offices in Iraq to close Nov. 17 -

The great stamp rip-off: Saturday first-class post now goes the same as second... but Royal Mail keeps it secret -

A Not-so Universal Postal Service -

PRC Looking to Hire Up to 10 Part-Time Temporary Attorneys (PDF) -

10/29/11

Mail carrier fights back against would-be robber -

Salas sworn in as Postmaster of Turlock -

Postal retiree will now wait for the mail -

Pasco postal carrier plucked gift cards from mail, feds say -

Congressmen meet with Postmaster General -

Post office employee convicted of money-swap scam -

10/28/11

eBay: Support online business by providing relief to the USPS -

APWU: Union Launches Petition Drive to Save America's Postal Service -

Camden letter carrier retires after 50 years -

Robber costs postal worker his job? -

Bigelow reacts to possible P.O. closure -

'Issa softened the five-day delivery provision somewhat' -

Residents fight post office closure in Florence -

Winners of postal dog contest -

10/27/11

Postal Workers Fire Back on Pensions -

USPS avoids $300m bill as judge throws out SRO lawsuit -

USPS to Sell 2011 White House Ornament -

GDP and the Postal Market -

Rural Carrier Killed in Crash With Coal Truck -

Postal service pushing closure of Duluth processing center -

PMG: "We're Here to Stay" -

Industry, CA Processing and Distribution Center Originating Mail Consolidation Audit Report (PDF) -

Mail delivery controversy affecting some Conrad residents -

Residents, postal service at impasse. Resident: "This is the biggest scam in US history" -

10/26/11

3 arrests made in postal-carrier robberies -

The Twisted Logic of the Postal Service: Fewer post offices, and more post offices without a postmaster -

Judge Rules on SF SRO Case (PDF) -

USPS Responds About Community Meetings Open Door Policy (PDF) | Let the sunshine in -

Thieves target mail drops -

Junk Mailers Get a Postage Price Break. You Don't. -

Rural postal patrons trying to make case to keep offices -

10/25/11

How Google Uses Direct Mail Marketing to Grow Its Business -

Netflix loses 800,000 customers -

NALC: The deafening silence of a $1.3 trillion industry on the Issa bill -

Post office's closing stuns Highland Park -

Dog causing mail problems in Norfolk -

Oak Creek postal center plans may change -

USPS risks print industry "distrust" with direct mail trial -

Radical deficit-cutting options on table -

10/24/11

USPS Adding Temp Jobs in Metro Soon -

CNBC: 'The Truth About the Post Office's Financial Mess' -

The Incredible Shrinking Postal Service -

Postal Service Mixes Up Its Fruits -

USPS seeks contractor to run gym for executives -

Residents say closing post office would kill small Nevada town -

Agate post office symbolizes town's demise -

Mail carriers spend final day at Winnetka Post Office -

Post office pain -

With mail like this, it's hard not to go postal -

Fox Panel Pushes for Privatizing the United States Post Office -

Federal Times: Proposal to end FERS dishonest -

10/23/11

Anderson mom celebrates 40 years of mailing pumpkins -

Postal workers make move -

Pricing Challenge - US Postal Service -

The Postal Workers Strike of 1970: 'Our Backs Were Against the Wall' -

The Postal Service Runs Amok: How Not to Close a Post Office -

10/22/11

Letter: Some Redondo Beach carriers working until 10PM, 12-14 hours a day due to route reductions -

Postal Service trapped on a route to failure -

West Valley man fights USPS over missing gold coins -

GAO's Description of Privatization Creates a Straw Man -

Detroit postal contractor paid bribes for 8 years before helping feds -

Mail frauders headed to federal prison -

10/21/11

FOX News Video: Taxpayer Bailout for the Post Office -

Out of Thin Air: New Numbers on Declining Mail Volumes -

Postal Service proposes closing Gaylord mail processing center -

Postal workers mark 10 years since anthrax attacks -

USPS publishes new policies for employees' use of social media -

On the Hit List: Newark, NJ -

Burrus: Not Giving Up On 6-Day Delivery -

Merchants Say 2012 Postal Rate Increase Means Less Catalogs Mailed -

10/20/11

Ex-Postal Employee Charged With Postmaster Attack -

Changing the Model: PMG Discusses Health Care Proposal -

APWU: Questions and Answers on the Contract -

No Windfall Possible for UPS and FedEx from USPS Problems -

Illinois: Hearings begin on fate of area post offices -

The USPS' Radical Plan: Good in theory, potential chaos in reality -

NY: USPS Deficit Puts City Post Offices On The Chopping Block -

APWU: October 2001 Anthrax Attacks - Remembering Postal Heroes -

UPS, FedEx Poised to Gain From USPS Pain -

Mailers Getting Cold Feet About Postal Service Cuts -

10/19/11

Audit Report: Flint, MI Processing and Distribution Center Consolidation (PDF) -

Dayton: Postal workers fired up about changes -

Reforming the Postal Service for the Internet Age -

Can the Postal Service be saved? It's time for an overhaul -

Why Mailers Support Radical Downsizing of the Postal Service -

PRC Hearing Transcript in Post Office Closings Case (PDF) -

Post Office Wants More Than Mail: From Hunting Permits to Ads on Trucks... -

10/18/11

Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Mail and Worker's Comp Fraud -

Is the USPS courier model irrelevant? -

Postal Service Adjusts Mailing Services Prices for 2012 -

Ex-Postal Employee Attacks Postmaster: Cops -

A Conflict of Visions: The Pension Dispute, Periodicals Mail, and the Great Postal Debate -

A Decade Later: USPS Remembers Anthrax Crisis -

Bayview post office under attack once again -

Chicago's Chinatown Residents Worried Post Office Might Close -

USPS Announces Recommended Holiday Mailing Dates for Military Mail -

10/17/11

New AmazonLocker Service Offers Postal Delivery Options -

USPS faces $642m shortfall in print media mail services -

WSJ Community Question of the Day: What should the Postal Service do to become more profitable? -

APWU: Video of Union's Fight to Save USPS Now Available -

North Miami: Postal Worker Robbed at Gunpoint -

Postal Reform After the House Committee Markup -

Legislation could allow Postal Service to move funds -

Lawmakers inch closer to compromise over Postal Service rescue plan -

10/16/11

Please, Mr. Postman, raise my postage! -

NALC President Rolando's seven-point proposal to the 'super-committee' -

Now we can't even afford the mail? Please -

Throwing in the Towel on 5-Day Delivery? -

10/15/11

Postal pin-ups pose for a cause: Mail carriers release calendar to combat cuts -

For closure? USPS considering shutdowns at area branches -

D.C. lawmakers pitch air park to USPS -

National Postal Museum Papers and Presentations -

10/14/11

Revolt in Virginia Hollow Complicates Postal Service Survival -

Postal Workers Swiped, Sold Seized Narcotics -

Three Years of FSS Processing: Pioneering District Achieves Significant Savings -

APWU: House Panel Approves Postal 'Destruction' Bill -

House Republicans stick to partisan line over USPS crisis -

Villages hear what will happen if their post offices are closed -

Mailers Now Facing Large Rate Increase -

The Ed Show: The GOP's War on the Postal Service Rages On -

Empty Mailbox Blues -

Ex-postal worker admits illegally opening package, leafing through book at sorting facility -

Periodicals Mail Study, September 2011 (PDF) | Postal study is bad news for publishers -

10/13/11

Oversight Committee Approves Issa-Ross Postal Reform Bill | Summary of Comments -

Postal Service's 'welcome kit' raises privacy concerns -

Audio: PRC Monthly Meeting (MP3) -

Communities fight back against post office closings -

Family Personally Delivers Party Invitations, Gets Charged Postage Anyway -

Spoof: Postal Service rescue plan would turn mail carriers into drug runners -

10/12/11

The Postal Service debate, round two (Or three? We've lost count.) -

Want to Save Your Post Office? Read This How-To Book | Redbook (PDF) -

Beautiful Post Office: Milton, PA -

The Post Office is Doomed: Some Say Good Riddance -

Monarch residents ready to fight for post office -

Alaska going postal over Issa plan to reform USPS -

Thursday Committee Vote on Issa-Ross Postal Bill -

Delivering Postal Service Reform, by Darrell Issa -

Workers' comp costs Postal Service more than it should, IG finds -

Pryor still seeking Postal Service response -

10/11/11

Mailbox Bomb Shakes Albuquerque Neighborhood -

Broker Roundtable: USPS Finances and Direct Mail -

Commissioners Robert Taub and Mark Acton begin their new terms at the PRC (PDF) -

The day I needed the post office...it was closed -

South Side Bethlehem residents hope to keep neighborhood post office -

McCaskill doubts USPS sincerity -

Netflix axes Qwikster -

10/10/11

SNL on Netflix, Qwikster and Nutflicks -

Please Mr. Postman, Look and See, If There's a Six-Pack in Your Bag for Me -

Postal workers help coworker -

Postal service to continue post-anthrax safeguards -

Hallmark CEO: Editorial on USPS Cutting Saturday Delivery -

Haste Makes Waste: The Hidden Cost of Closing Post Offices -

5 Day Delivery FAQs -

Scientists' Analysis Disputes FBI Closing of Anthrax Case -

Wounded Knee Post Office Under Siege: Citizens Fear Losing a Critical Service -

10/09/11

Waukesha letter carrier arrested in suspected drunken driving -

Postal Service delivering hole to heart of towns -

City postal workers face uncertain future -

Why Are the Postal Service's Financial Problems Such a Surprise? -

Postal service revenue can't keep up with payroll -

Anthrax Attacks Still a Mystery After 10 Years -

Last-Ever Customer at a US Post Office -

10/08/11

Twisted Government Accounting Behind Postal Service Woes -

OIG: Postal Service Workers' Compensation Program (PDF) -

OIG: Standardization of Mail Processing Equipment at Processing and Distribution Centers (PDF) -

Postal Workers Take Part in Tulsa Demonstrations -

10/07/11

Where the Post Office Is The Town's Heart, Fear of Closings -

Customers List Their Choices for Living Stamp Subjects -

Congress steps up backlash against US post office closures -

The Internet Myth: Why Email Isn't Killing Snail Mail -

OIG: Global Positioning System Management Advisory Report (PDF) -

OIG: Postal Service Revenue: Structure, Facts and Future Possibilities (PDF) -

USPS posts notices for potential closures at 38 Montana offices -

Postal Supervisor Guilty of Mail Theft Gets Federal Prison Time -

Postal Service keeps quiet on effort to stamp out mail theft -

Mailman beat up for not loaning cellphone to teen -

APWU: Union Challenges Proposed Changes to USPS Service Standards -

10/06/11

Only 31 USPS Employees Laid Off in Reorganization -

APWU, USPS Establish Guidelines on Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures -

Congressman Issa Goes Postal -

Postmasters Request Meeting With USPS to Discuss RIF Avoidance Strategies -

Postal Service Remains in Limbo -

Postal Workers Rally at Legislators Offices -

USPS Faces $$$ Crisis, Employees Ask for Support -

CARLSBAD: Tree falls onto mail truck -

10/05/11

Why the Postal Service Exists -

USPS proposal would oust FEHBP for single health plan -

Letter: USPS reminds employees not to engage in campaigns for or against changes in mail service (PDF) -

Good News: USPS Revenue Continues to Grow -

New Post Office Ad Backfires in at Least One Case -

USPS faces competing interests in path to reform -

Buffalo: Postal workers fight to keep WNY jobs -

WSJ: Junking the Junk Mail Office -

10/04/11

Programming glitch delays paychecks for 5,000 rural carriers -

VIDEO: How Darrell Issa Would Save the Postal Service -

Spending measure gives Postal Service six more weeks to pay bills -

Apple's greeting card app sends shares of card makers tumbling -

Rep. Lynch: Postal bill has support -

USPS Requests Delay in Exigency Filing Deadline (PDF) -

Closing Rural Post Offices Would Hurt Businesses -

Hundreds Question Possible Sunriver Post Office Closure -

Postal Service readies for change in Erie, elsewhere -

Congressional offices confront an increasing amount of mail -

Bucking the National Trend of Post Office Shutdowns, Goleta Processing Center Grows -

Two Somerville Postal Workers Accused of Selling Cocaine -

10/03/11

Issa: USPS must shave labor costs -

Post Office Closings: Updated List and Projections -

Digital Currency: Opportunities for the Postal Service (PDF) -

You haven't got mail: Average U.S. households receive a personal letter just once every SEVEN WEEKS -

Fight to survive: Postal Service's management, four unions at odds over plan of action -

Digital Domain: Reading the Writing on the Envelope -

Sioux City's USPS Mail Processing Center closes for good -

Postal Retirement Q&A October 2011, by Roseanne Jefferson -

Consumers Still Prefer Paper -

10/02/11

GAO: Census Bureau and Postal Service Should Pursue Opportunities to Further Enhance Collaboration (PDF) -

The NY Times Does it Again -

The Postmaster Takes the National Review to School -

The Fight to Save the US Postal Service -

Why Mailers are Taken for a Ride -

These Are the Postal Service's Sad Ads Against Email -

October Audiobooks Review by Jonathan Lowe

10/01/11

Post office estimates $10 billion loss -

Dog attacks bring curbside mailboxes -

Marketers forge through dire times for US Postal Service -

TOP NEWS STORIES

NPMHU: Postal Service Suggests Sweeping Operational Changes Are Necessary
"In short, the USPS goal is to create a 20- hour daily operating window, with all of the processing work being accomplished during these hours, leaving only 4 hours of downtime for maintenance of the machinery and similar functions. In order to implement this plan after the facilities have been consolidated, the Service Standards for most First-Class Mail and Periodicals would need to be adjusted from overnight or one-day delivery to two-day delivery." -

$641 million: The price of disgruntled employees
"Besides paying tens of billions of dollars each year in compensation, operations and overhead costs, the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service has another huge annual expense: hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements to disgruntled employees and former employees. This year, the Postal Service more than doubled its projections of "probable" liabilities related to employee grievances and lawsuits: $641 million, according to the agency's latest quarterly financial report." -

GAO weighs in on Postal Service's financial health
"The U.S. Postal Service's prefunding for retiree health benefits should either be eliminated or restructured, and compensation and benefits for employees should either follow private or public sector standards, but not a hybrid of both, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday." - Report (PDF) - GAO Lays Out the Options - What Matters and Who Loses -

Ron Bloom, NALC's Point Man According to Wikipedia: "As the deputy to Steve Rattner (who led the Auto Team at Treasury), he helped manage the process that led to the reorganization of General Motors and Chrysler. An experienced dealmaker, he played a key role in extracting concessions from the companies, their lenders and other creditors, and the United Auto Workers (UAW)." - The Power Behind the Throne at GM - 2009: UAW members approve General Motors concessions -

NALC Brings in the Big Guns
"The National Association of Letter Carriers has apparently decided it's time to bring in the big guns to defend the interests of its members. In a press release today, NALC announced that it has retained the services of the investment bank Lazard Group, LLC, and Ron Bloom, former assistant to President Barack Obama for Manufacturing Policy. Lazard and Bloom will serve "as financial advisors in connection with issues relating to the United States Postal Service." - Postal Union Turns to Wall Street for Advice on its Future - Obama's ex-auto, manufacturing adviser sets sights on the Postal Service -

The Postal Service isn't owed a big refund, GAO says
"The conclusions set for release Thursday by the Government Accountability Office run counter to the opinions of postal regulators, the postal inspector general and congressional Democrats, who say Congress should refund as much as $75 billion to the Postal Service for improperly overpaying federal retirement accounts since the 1970s." - NALC President Issues Statement - USPS Not Pleased With Overpayment Report - Report (PDF) -

Health care is making the postmaster general angry
"They can get their own plan," he said of the federal government, waving his hands and at times pounding his hand on a nearby table for emphasis. "I could care less about them, truthfully. While we're standing around holding this $5.5 billion millstone, I didn't see anyone helping us out. Now we've come in with a new plan and they say, "Oh, you can't do that." -

Post Office's Rescue Plan: Junk Mail
"What we want to do is to make standard mail more interesting for customers so we can grow the total volume," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in an interview. "We don't call it junk mail-it's a lucrative avenue for anyone who wants to reach customers." -

Idle Sioux City Postal Workers to Earn Millions
"Tuesday was the first day that Scott Tott was scheduled to become a standby employee at the Sioux City mail-processing facility that closed Friday.
Tott - and 39 of his workplace peers - might have nothing to do for the next 3 and a half years, but will still get paid. Top postal officials have studied plans to close the facility since 2005. Yet in May the officials agreed to a four-year union contract." -