Burrus to VER-Eligible Employees: ‘DON’T GO’
"... APWU President William Burrus is advising union members to delay making a decision as long as possible...." 
Source: www.apwu.org
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Employees Would Be Best Served By Postponing Early-Out Decisions
"... I ask that eligible employees delay making a final decision on early retirement until the union concludes discussions at the national level. If we are not successful, we will announce that we have reached an impasse, and individual decisions can then be made.
In the interim, help us help you by delaying your decision.
Please note: The Postal Service has told us it plans to make additional requests to the Office of Personnel Management for approval to offer early-outs to other categories of employees, including some members of the Maintenance Craft, Letter Carriers, and Rural Letter Carriers. ..."
Source: www.apwu.org
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APWU Meets with USPS, Seeks Bargaining Over Early-Outs
"... "We do not oppose Voluntary Early Retirements,” he explained, “but we do object to any plan to offer them selectively and exclude some employees from eligibility,” he said. “We also believe that for this VER, which is not the result of contract negotiations, severance pay must accompany an offer of early retirement."..."
Source: www.apwu.org
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20,000 postal clerks, mail handlers may get early retirement
"...calls for closing airport mail facilities and consolidating bulk mail centers, along with streamlining the computer software that maps postal routes. The closings are expected to lead to staff reductions and more outsourcing. ..."
Source: federaltimes.com
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May 2008 CPI-W COLA
"...The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 1.0 percent in May 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS)..."
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Airport post office facility may close by year's end
"... Closing of the branch, whose official name is the Cleveland Airport Mail Center, is being considered as part of an overall streamlining plan, U.S. Postal Service spokesman David Van Allen said Monday. Danny Pride, president of Cleveland Area Local American Postal Workers Union, said the union has been told the Postal Service already has decided to close the center when its lease expires at year's end. Officials are delaying the announcement as long as possible to avoid a backlash, he said. ..."
Source: blog.cleveland.com
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"... It states that district manager Shelwyn Epperson “unilaterally changed terms of employment by closing the Sunday operation in several offices on the western slope” and did not negotiate the changes with union representatives, which Gray claims is in legal violation of the National Labor Relations Act. “The APWU believes the Sunday closures will negatively affect customer service,” reads the charge. The Aspen post office previously had some clerks in the office — and some mail carriers delivering Express Mail — on Sundays...."
Source: www.aspendailynews.com
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APWU to Meet With USPS Over Possible 'Early Out' Offer
"... six-day delivery are being re-evaluated, which guarantees we will be seeing proposals for revolutionary change. APWU is demanding bargaining on any proposal to offer “early outs.” We believe that all APWU-represented employees should be eligible, and that there should be monetary incentives for interested employees. ..."
Source: www.apwu.org
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Paper Lives
"...Some reasons paper will not die for the foreseeable future.
* Internet access is not universal, so mail remains the primary method of delivering transaction documents such as bills and invoices as well as marketing messages. While Internet adoption rates continue to rise, it is unlikely that it will ever reach the near 100% coverage provided by the postal service. A recent study in the U.S. found that only 62% had home Internet access.[6]
* The Future of Mail and Transaction Documents Study concluded that the value of printed transaction documents will remain essentially stable, dropping .0066% a year through 2010 and that revenue related to printed direct mail will continue to increase at 4.5% a year..."
Source: members.whattheythink.com
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Exclusive: Wyoming Mountain Depicted On Colorado Stamp?
"...Al DeSarro, with the U.S. Postal Service, said that Engeman's artwork "was not based on any specific picture of a mountain." He said it is supposed to be a generic representation of a mountain -- not a specific mountain in Colorado. The U.S. Postal Service plans to issue a total of 60 flag stamps in alphabetical order -- one for each state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories as well as the stars and stripes..."
Source: www.thedenverchannel.com
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USPS ‘Network Plan [PDF]’ Would Adversely Effect Postal Workers, Service
"... Regrettably, postal management has developed a business plan that relies almost exclusively on reducing work hours as a means of remaining financially solvent. Year after year budgets are established that call for reductions in the number of employees, the consolidation of facilities, and other cost-cutting measures. This is a failed strategy and it cannot sustain America’s mail service. However, if management intends to continue down the road of employee reductions and contracting postal activities, we shall insist that every change be made consistent with our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We shall also engage the American public so that they are aware of intended changes that would erode mail services. ..."
Source: www.apwu.org
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POSTAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENHANCEMENT ACT § 302 NETWORK PLAN, June 2008 [PDF]Visit Our Homepage
"... The bill would help reduce wasteful, inefficient, and detrimental subcontracting by the U.S. Postal Service by requiring the USPS to bargain with postal unions before it engages in significant contracting-out. Thanks to outreach and education efforts by APWU locals, the legislation has gained 116 cosponsors since it was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) ..." Source: www.apwu.org
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"... Only a few days after the tornado brought destruction to the Town of Windsor, a disabled 93-year-old retiree in Denver thought it was his duty to donate what he could to the disaster stricken town. Ted Koomanoff sent a $100 check as a donation to the clerks at the Windsor Post Office..."
Source: www.coloradoan.com
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7 businesses have stations
"... The stations are called Contract Postal Units and were opened in the city as a response to the population surge in East Baton Rouge Parish since Hurricane Katrina, said Judith A. Brining, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service in Baton Rouge. ..."
Source: www.2theadvocate.com
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get your mailing lists processed for change-of-address updates
"... The NCOALink SmartMover web service lets you build a seamless address verifying and updating process right into your own application to work the way you want, when you want it. A smart mailer like yourself already knows the benefits of cleaning up a mailing list..."
Source: www.melissadata.com
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"...United States Postal Service spokespeople in Birmingham said Wednesday that fuel costs are eating up budgets ..."
Source: www.nbc13.com
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The Incredible Postal Workers Aboard RMS Titanic
"... The postal workers rushed to the mail room to begin rescuing the mail. It has been estimated that the workers retrieved up to 200 sacks of registered mail and had carried them to the upper decks on the slim chance that it might get rescued. Even as water began to fill the post office, the men admirably answered the postal workers call of duty to save the mail from destruction..."
Source: www.stampsofdistinction.com
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Retired postal worker Mark Shaber has message for children
"...Retired postal worker from Bedford Post Office and summer employee at Spring Mill State Park. Title of book: Animals and Stuff
..."
Source: www.tmnews.com
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"...Entitled, "A Guide to U.S. Design Numbers (USD), 1847- 1947," the new collection-building structure focuses on 435 regular-issue U.S. postage stamps that were issued from 1847 to 1947 and intended for use on letters or parcels. PSE has produced a full-color, 56-page booklet with photos of the stamps and a cross listing of the USD numbers and their corresponding numbers in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. The Scott numbers are used with permission of Scott Publishing Co., a subsidiary of Amos Press, Inc..."
Source: www.psestamp.com
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Union Campaign Against Violent Stereotype Greeted with Silence by Postal Management
"...The union has learned that the Postal Service has designated a franchise business called — you guessed it — Goin’ Postal as a partner in the USPS Approved Shipper Program. The national union learned about the partnership from local editors Mike Mazurkiewicz, (Saint Paul’s Postmark) and Cathy Hanson (Minneapolis’ Northern Light), who ventured into a Goin’ Postal outlet in their area. When they identified themselves to a manager as postal workers offended by the company’s name, they were informed that the company plans to open 4,000 stores nationwide..."
Source: www.apwu.org
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OPM Reminds Agencies of Additional Benefits for Civilian Employees in Combat Zones
Springer outlined a list of authorities currently available to agencies. These include, but are not limited to:
* The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 provides for a higher annual maximum limitation on premium pay;
* The Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) provide a number of important compensation entitlements, such as danger pay and hardship differentials;
* OPM regulations give agencies the discretionary authority to provide recruitment, retention, and relocation incentive payments (up to 100 percent of basic pay) to address difficulties in recruiting or retaining employees in combat zones;
* Agencies have the ability to offer time off awards;
* Agencies have the authority under DSSR to provide travel benefits for rest and recuperation equivalent to one trip every six months and after 90 days in the country; and,
* Agencies have the authority to grant administrative leave (excused absence with pay and without charge to leave).
For additional information on these and other authorities, Federal employees should contact their agency human resources office.
Reference: www.opm.gov
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Contract COLA: $633
"...The accumulation toward the third regular cost of living adjustment for letter carriers under the 2006-2011 National Agreement was $633 in May following the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April 2008. The actual COLA will reflect the increase in the CPI between January and July 2008. ..."
Resource: www.nalc.org
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Neither rain nor heat nor gloom of night stops folks from living large at the unofficial retirement community of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
"...With an efficiency renting for under $75 in 1964, Nalcrest [Florida] was nirvana for postal retirees. It remains a bargain: A one-bedroom rents for only $305, and dinners at Jay Bee's II, the town's only restaurant, average $6. ..."
Source: nationalgeographic.com
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Slattery discloses list of lobbying clients
"...Slattery represented the CT Corporation from 2005-2007 during postal reform debate. The USPS wanted to use postal revenue to subsidize non-postal services in competition with private businesses..."
Reference: primebuzz.kcstar.com
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The healthcare bill you don't know about at the Postal Service
"...A provision contained in the otherwise modest postal reform bill of December 2006 aims to pre-fund retiree health benefits with money that was overfunding the USPS's contribution to another government account. For the next 10 years, the Postal Service is required to direct more than $5 billion annually into pre-funding retiree health benefits. That's not enough to wipe clean the tab for taxpayers, but it is enough to make a prudent down payment...."
Reference: www.miamiherald.com
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Connected: Postal Service technology can be helpful
"...the Postal Service has recently installed imaging equipment specifically to expedite the return of undeliverable checks -- and there was a picture of my check near the bottom of the page!..."
Source: www.post-gazette.com
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Langford, to save fuel, urges an end to Saturday mail delivery
"...Langford last week announced a four-day work week for 4,000 Birmingham city employees, effective July 1. That plan received national and international attention. Langford was featured on Fox News Channel and ABC World News Tonight in stories detailing how the nation is coping with near $4 a gallon gas prices..."
Source: al.com
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Thanh Nien Daily, Vietnam - A court in the southern province of Bac Lieu yesterday sentenced a former treasurer of the local post office to death for embezzling over VND15 billion (US$937,000).
"...found guilty of siphoning off the money between 2003 and 2006, was also forced to pay back the stolen amount..."
::► Source: www.thanhniennews.com
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The effective date of the next Mail Handler COLA
"...the next adjustment will be effective the second full pay period after the release of the July 2008 Index..."
Source:
AGREEMENT between National Postal Mail Handlers Union, 2006-2011.
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HEGARTY TESTIFIES: FOCUS ON USPS AFTER POSTAL REFORM
"...President Hegarty said, "the Postal Service continues to make plans to replace long-term career employees who are dedicated to the mission of the Postal Service with low-paid, no-benefit, non-career, and often transient workers. Not only are the financial “savings” an illusion, but the American people should not have their postal system subsidize the profits of privateers, whether in the processing or delivery of mail..."
Reference: www.npmhu.org
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This is a good question. There has been no official notification provided to the masses of postal employees. Many are speculating there will be an offer. Would it not be a good time to inform yourself relative to the VERA regulations? Take a look at the OPM website on this subject at http://www.opm.gov/Reduction_In_Force/vera/vera01.asp
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"...The move came just days before OPM was scheduled to launch wave two of the retirement project for employees at the U. S. Postal Service. Currently, 26,000 employees at the General Services Administration have converted to the system, with OPM expecting to transfer all federal employees to RetireEZ by February 2009...."
Source: www.govexec.com
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Postal Service to build massive center near airport
"...Nashville Post (subscription) -
The US Postal Service plans to build a 626000-square-foot processing and distribution center near Nashville International Airport... Panattoni Development Co. will oversee construction and is working with the USPS on traffic studies of the area. The new facility is likely to employ more..."
Reference: www.nashvillepost.com
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Support for Mail Network Protection Act Tops 100
"...The legislation, introduced last November by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), would require the Postal Service to bargain with postal unions before it engages in significant contracting-out and protect inexpensive, trustworthy mail service for the American public..."
Reference: www.apwu.org
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Postmaster General Embraces Change
"...Potter spoke about new technologies that are providing these solutions — Intelligent Mail Barcode and the Flat Sequencing System (FSS). FSS is new technology that will speed the sorting and delivery of large envelopes, catalogs and magazines, quadrupling productivity. FSS machines also will be able to read the Intelligent Mail Barcode, allowing mailers and the Postal Service to track mail throughout the sortation process, improving service and reducing costs to mailers and consumers...."
Reference: www.usps.com
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Postal Service Launching Competitive Expedited Mail Prices "...All Express Mail and Priority Mail customers can save money simply by going online to purchase postage, including customers using Click-N-Ship at usps.com. Express Mail customers will receive 3 percent off the published retail prices and Priority Mail customers will save an average 3.5 percent. Customized contract pricing will also soon be available for large commercial customers...." Resource: www.usps.com
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Court Upholds Unfair Labor Charge Against USPS "...The case stemmed from an incident on Aug. 25, 2004, when an employee at a Florida post office discovered white powder in a tray of letters. Mindful of incidents involving anthrax in the mail, several workers protested the supervisor’s instructions to process the mail. The supervisor told the shop steward at the Destin post office to shut up, and an employee filed an unfair labor practice charge, alleging that the supervisor had refused to allow the shop steward to perform his duties...." Resource: www.apwu.org
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was fired as a Mississippi postmaster. The charges: throwing out mail—and writing on government time..." 
