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TOP NEWS STORIES |
OIG Report: Imprudent Purchases Made by Postal Service
Employees (PDF)
"Employees have made purchases, primarily gifts and items for
meetings, which we believe are imprudent and unnecessary during a time of severe
economic uncertainty in the Postal Service. Purchases included GPS systems, video game consoles, camcorders, digital cameras, personal computers, an
espresso machine and a TiVo system." -
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Postal Service to Revamp Bulk Mail Center Network
"We have just learned that the Postal Service plans to
undertake a significant transformation of their entire Bulk
Mail Center network-likely the biggest change since the 21
BMCs were created more than 30 years ago. At the same time,
they have apparently shelved plans to outsource both the
operation of those BMCs and a significant portion of their
ground transportation network." -
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NALC: Young Calls For Compliance With National Contract (PDF)
"Let Let me make the following clear to one and all,
including Postal Service management at headquarters and in the field, and all letter carriers, at
every level in the union and in every post office: No one, at any level, has any authority to
amend or violate the national contract, period." -
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USPS Lost $751 Million In January (PDF)
"USPS discloses that its unaudited January 2009 financial
results were an estimated $5.80 billion in revenue and $6.55
billion in expenses, resulting in an estimated net loss of
$751 million. This loss compares to a loss of $44 million in
January 2008, which resulted from total revenue of $6.58
billion and total expenses of $6.62 billion. Mail volumes
declined by over 16% in January 2009 from January 2008. The
January results continue to illustrate that the downward
pressure on the Postal Service business continues into 2009." -
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National League of Postmasters: Management Style in Many Areas
is 'Sick'
"This is a good time to address an even more serious
problem that I've spoken about several times over the last few
years. The management style embraced by many, many areas and
districts throughout this country is sick. Mr. Black's remarks
are just a symptom of the ailment. Mr. Black's remarks are the
first that we are being forced to review publicly. Part of
this style is to systematically berate, belittle and humiliate
subordinates, including POOMs, Postmasters, and supervisors." -
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Panel Chair Has Window Into Postal Service
"The subcommittee will also be looking into the
disclosure this week that Postmaster General John E. Potter
received a compensation and retirement package of more than
$800,000 in 2008. "Given the losses the postal service is
reporting and the downturn of the economy, that pay is not in
line with performance," Rep. Stephen Lynch said." -
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Postal Service hits back at criticism of postmaster's pay
"Postmaster General John E. Potter has come under criticism
for his total 2008 compensation of nearly $800,000, but the
agency's board of governors says the pay is less than what
leaders of several other independent government agencies
receive. And the amount is far below that given to CEOs in the
private sector, even though compensation and benefit packages
for postal service officers are required by law to be
comparable to those given to private-sector employees doing
similar work, the board of governors says." -
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Americans Advocate Reduced
Services to Help Postal Service
"When given a choice of three options for helping the U.S.
Postal Service out of its financial difficulties, a majority
of Americans prefer cutbacks in services - such as ending
Saturday mail delivery and closing post office branches - to
either government assistance or higher stamp prices." -
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Postal Service Implementing GPS
Tracking of Delivery Vehicles in Dallas
"The USPS is implementing GPS technology in delivery vehicles
within the Dallas District. The GPS systems will collect data
such as vehicle speeds, vehicle idling, park times and route
deviations, and the information will be transmitted to USPS
management via email and end of day reports." -
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Postal Service Mailing Services Prices to Change May 11th
"The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service have approved new
prices for mailing services, including a 2-cent increase in
the price of a First-Class Mail stamp to 44 cents. Prices for
mailing services are reviewed annually and adjusted each May.
The new prices will go into effect Monday, May 11. Customers
can continue to mail letters at today's prices by purchasing
the Forever Stamp before May 11. On May 11 the price of the
Forever Stamp will be 44 cents." - APWU
Denounces USPS Rate Proposal -
Publishers' Postage Hikes Will Vary Widely - Catalog
Postal Rates to Rise 2.3% - USPS Jacks Up Price of
First-Class Mail Stamps -
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APWU Blasts USPS Response to Postal Financial Crisis
"The challenges facing the Postal Service require a
review of the entire postal network; simply cutting USPS-operated
facilities and USPS employees is unfair and will not solve the
Postal Service's financial crisis. The Postal Service has
reduced postal work hours by more than 100 million hours over
the last four years," he noted, "without a single adjustment
in the billions of dollars lost to discounts and
subcontracting." -
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Falling numbers are adding up to Postal Service cuts
"Rising Tensions: This is the worst I've seen things in a
long time," said Robert J. McLennan, president of the Buffalo
branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. "Many
of our carriers hate coming into work every day, because they
have to walk on the snow and ice, and also have to fight with
management... They're constantly pushing our people to the limit.
A carrier was suspended in Cheektowaga last week because his
supervisor hid in a parked car and counted how many steps he
was taking. The carrier was told he was suspended because he
was walking 80 paces a minute, instead of 100." -
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PMG Outlines Actions to Ensure Long-Term Viability of USPS
"Speaking
yesterday to the Board of Governors, PMG Jack Potter
re-emphasized the fact USPS faces extraordinary financial
challenges in the months ahead, and that there is no
indication the faltering economy or continuing decline in mail
volume will stabilize in the near future. Mail volume was down
more than 9 billion pieces last year, Potter told governors,
and preliminary reports show mail volume dropped more than 5
billion pieces during the first quarter of FY 2009." -
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USPS Loses $384 Million in First Quarter
"The
Postal Service ended its first quarter with a net loss of $384
million as the economic recession contributed to a 5.2 billion
piece mail volume decline compared to the same period last
year. The 9.3 percent volume drop marked the eighth
consecutive quarter of accelerating volume declines. With no
economic recovery expected for the remainder of FY 2009, the
Postal Service projects volume for the year will be down by
12-15 billion pieces." USPS BOG
Financial Update (PDF) -
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USPS: Great Lakes Area Staffing Reduction Driven by Worsening
Economy
"The
Postal Service is in dire straits," said Area VP Jo Ann Feindt.
She explained the reduction in Area office staffing levels
were being driving by worsening conditions in the economy, a
projected mail volume decline of 15 billion pieces and a
projected net financial loss in FY 2009 of $6 billion or more.
"We could be out of cash by summer," she said." -
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An Open Letter to USPS Employees From PMG Jack Potter
"As
most of you have heard, I talked to Congress last week about
the economic situation of the Postal Service. I told them we
are in a financial crisis. I told them how it came about. Then
I offered some proposals that could help us through a very
difficult economy. The biggest problem we're facing is the
economy itself. Business is down. It's harder for companies
and families to get credit. Unemployment is up. People are
worried about the future. Spending has slowed down across the
board - on homes, on cars, on household goods, and even on the
mail. And some of the businesses that were our largest mail
users have had the most difficult time - so they're mailing a
lot less, as well." -
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Postal Service Asks OPM For Early Retirements Through Rest of
the Year
"The Postal Service also wants to offer more early
retirements beyond the 8,000 employees who have so far agreed
to retire early. Potter said the Postal Service has asked the
Office of Personnel Management for permission to offer more
early retirements through the rest of the year. The Postal
Service cut 26.9 million work hours in the first quarter of
fiscal 2009, and expects to meet a goal of cutting 100 million
hours this fiscal year, Potter said. That would be twice the
amount cut last year." -
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