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TOP NEWS STORIES |
USPS: More VERA Approvals
"The Postal Service has received additional approval from
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to offer voluntary
early retirement to all eligible employees in Motor Vehicle,
Maintenance (excluding electronic technicians), Rural and City
Carriers, Field EAS (non Headquarters-related offices) and
Postmasters. This offer is open to employees in those
positions who meet the OPM conditions, and who are at least 50
years of age with 20 years of creditable federal service or
any age with 25 years of creditable federal service." -
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Ex-postal workers cite problems
"As the U.S. Postal Service sheds jobs in St. Joseph, two
former employees lay the blame on management. A former postal
employee suggests management is forcing hard-working employees
to retire or quit amid a difficult work environment. "I would
have stayed another two or three years but the work
environment got hostile," said Bob Wilson. Mr. Wilson, the
former Savannah, Mo., mayor, worked in St. Joseph with the
postal service for 32 years before retiring in June." -
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OPM Approves Early Outs for Letter Carriers
"The Office of Personnel Management has informed the Postal
Service that it may offer voluntary early retirement to
members of the city letter carrier craft. NALC President
William H. Young said details of an early retirement agreement
are being worked out and will be released once finalized."
- Early Outs Approved for Rural Carriers -
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Postal Service Stats Put FedEx, UPS at Risk
"The number of parcels and packages that postal workers are
toting around the country has declined sharply, according to
government statistics, opening the prospect of fresh
liabilities for the U.S. Postal Service's private-enterprise
rivals, analysts said. According to the data, challenging
economic conditions, the end of stimulus checks, and inflation
in fuel prices have contributed to a pronounced selloff in
package deliveries. Express mail shipments fell 14% in the
quarter that ended in June." -
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Tough economic times hurt post office
"The U.S. Postal Service
could lose about $2
billion this year due to tough economic times, and it
needs to change to meet the demands of the public, Postmaster
General John Potter said Monday. Potter told the National
Association of Postmasters of the United States at their
convention in St. Louis that the postal service is grappling
with issues that many businesses are facing - like how to
handle high fuel prices." -
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USPS Loses $216 Million in July
"The July financial results were as follows: Volume was 5.4
percent under plan, revenue was 3.5 percent under plan, and
expenses were 2.8 percent under plan, resulting in a net loss
of $216 million. Year-to-date, volume is 3.5 percent under
plan, revenue is 3.5 percent under plan, and expenses are 1.4
percent under plan, resulting in a net year-to-date loss of
$1.4 billion." -
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Another VERA Approval
"The Postal Service has received approval from the Office
of Personnel Management to offer voluntary early retirement to
all Headquarters and Headquarters-related employees - that
includes service centers, organizational units and Area
offices - in EAS and PCES positions. Details of the program
are still being developed and will be announced soon. Once
they are announced, they will be posted to the VERA website on
Blue and LiteBlue. No incentive package will be offered for
employees who choose early retirement." -
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APWU: Delegates Focus on Bargaining Priorities
"All our hard-fought benefits become useless if our members no
longer have their jobs," the resolution noted. "We cannot
allow postal management to commit blunder after blunder and
attempt to balance its budget on the backs and through the
wallets of our members." Protecting work in the Clerk,
Maintenance, Motor Vehicle, and Support Services crafts must
be the union's No. 1 goal." -
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Postal Carrier Pleads Guilty to
Delaying Mail
"A 58-year-old former mail carrier admitted today in
federal court that he had stashed thousands of pieces of junk
mail at his home, opening himself up to a possible prison
sentence. Steven Padgett, of Raleigh, was a veteran mail
carrier, employed with the postal service since 1995, and
began an Apex route in 2001." - Video -
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Obama Would Oppose Move to Contract Out Routes
"Obama spoke to a crowd of mostly labor union members from a
wide array of industries. He spent about 30 minutes answering
questions from the crowd, promising them a Labor Department
that would look out for the rights of union members and said
he would oppose a move to contract U.S. Postal Service routes
to private firms." - Postal clerk happy
about announcement -
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NALC: Contract COLA - $1,498!
"The next regular cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) under
the 2006-2011 National Agreement will be $1,498 annually,
based on the Consumer Price Index for July. The COLA,
effective the pay period beginning August 30 (pay date
September 19), is the third of eight COLAs included in the
2006-2011 contract. The new COLA is equivalent to 72 cents per
hour, or $57.60 per pay period." - APWU:
$1,477 COLA Increase Highest in History -
NRLCA: $1,497 for Rural Carriers -
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NYC lawmakers take aim at postal fraud
"The post office isn't as safe as it looks - that's the
message a group of New York City politicians is trying to
send. The lawmakers held a news conference in New York on
Wednesday to urge the United States Postal Service to impose
more stringent rules on how people forward their mail to new
addresses. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Queens Democrat who is
running for mayor, called the current system an "open door to
identity theft." -
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Postal Service Slashes Overtime
"The US Postal Service has cut overtime expenses by close to a
billion dollars in the first three quarters of its fiscal
year. Reports filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission show
that the USPS reduced overtime by over 28 million hours
through pay period 14, which ended on July 4. The reduction
translates to $923 million in overtime savings compared with
the prior year. The year to date overtime rate for bargaining
unit employees stood at 8.7%, down from 11.7% in 2007. In pay
period 14 alone, overtime was 6.5%, compared with 10.2% in the
same period last year." -
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NPMHU: Third Update on VERA
"As you all know, the Postal Service has released the details
of the voluntary early retirement (VER) for mail handlers. On
August 18, 2008, an annuity estimate will be mailed to all VER-eligible
employees from Eagan, MN. However, there is no guarantee that
everyone who applies will be approved. In other words, just
because a mail handler gets a VER offer in the mail will not -
we repeat, NOT - guarantee a VER." -
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Post Office Posts $1 Billion Loss
"For the quarter, operating revenue was $17.9 billion, down
$437 million, or 2.4 percent, compared with the same period
last year. Operating expenses totaled $19.0 billion, an
increase of $178 million, or 1.0 percent, from the third
quarter last year. Total mail volume was 48.5 billion pieces,
a 5.5 percent drop
from the same period last year. The agency said its fiscal
2008 year-to-date net loss totals $1.13 billion after nearly
breaking even in the first two quarters." -
Could Force Maximum Rate Hike Next Year -
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Indictment of Second Postal Worker for FMLA Fraud
"Edward Mosby was employed full time as a Manager of Customer
Service at the Ridge Branch Post Office in Richmond, Virginia.
Between September 26, 2006 and January 19, 2007, he was
approved 590 hours of paid sick leave/FMLA leave based on
medical documentation showing that he was unable to work due
to chronic stress. While on leave Mosby entered into a
contract with Century 21 to sell real estate as an independent
contractor. The indictment alleges that, in violation of
federal law, Mosby neglected to inform the Postal Service of
this alternative employment. It also alleged that, prior to
going out on leave, Mosby left his office on over 200
occasions to show real estate, and viewed over 40,000 real
estate websites in the month prior to taking leave." -
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Meriden Postal Routes Cut
"A recent assessment of Meriden's routes by the postal service
estimated that 30 hours of worker time could be cut out of the
daily routes for efficiency, Paul Daniels (NALC) said. He sees
30 hours as a reasonable cut, but the post office ignored that
assessment and decided to use a computer program that cut 96
hours out of the delivery schedule, he said. Daniels said he
expects the service disruptions will last for months. Similar
route changes made by a computer program in Middletown took
almost nine months to be ironed out, he said." -
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Tools Guide Postal Service Decision-Making
"Last year we implemented Enterprise Risk Management (ERM),
enabling the Postal Service to identify and make intelligent
risk decisions as we address important business issues. We are
able to systematically and effectively identify, evaluate and,
where appropriate, mitigate significant risks and opportunity
losses to the Postal Service. One tool we use is risk heat
maps, which prioritize and focus our efforts." -
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Anthrax Victims React to Ivins' Death With Mixed Emotions
"In the seven years since the anthrax attacks sent him to the
hospital and nearly killed him, retired D.C. postal worker
Leroy Richmond has despaired at times about whether the case
would ever be solved. "I became kind of discouraged," he said
yesterday, recalling how the number of agents on the
investigation had dwindled at one point. "Then I said to
myself, the FBI doesn't normally give up on cases" -- even if "it takes them years and years."
- Postal workers go without answers -
Closure for families of anthrax attack victims -
Anthrax attacks changed mail handling
- Ivins had mild persona, but some saw dark
side - FBI Press Release -
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