POSTAL NEWS

...from various sources.

11.17.2009

North Pole Postmark 2009


"... Get the North Pole Santa Postmark for your Santa Claus letters. Check this out to get your free North Pole Postmark. Also you can print a letter from Santa to use with the postmark ...and it's all free..."  
Source: northpolepostmark.blogspot.com




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11.08.2009

Guess This Tool Revealed: The Graphotype


"... Patented in 1917 as a "Machine for Making Printing Plates",the Graphotype was a mainstay of the mass mailing industry until the 1960's. This machine and its partner, the Addressograph, were developed and manufactured by the Addressograph company of Chicago, IL (and later the Address-Multigraph company of Cleveland, OH)...."  
Source: www.popsci.com




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11.05.2009

Ouch! Health Care Premiums Take Huge Jump

Take a look at the huge increases in the Postal Premium Rates for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for the Fee-for-Service Plans (FFS) in 2010. For example, one of the largest increases in the fee-for-service plans comes from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan, second only to an increase in the Mail Handlers Benefit Plan. The increase in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Standard Family Plan is an explosive $22.11 Biweekly. This will or nearly will virtually negate the November 2010 contractual pay increase of bargaining unit employees.   
Source: www.opm.gov




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11.01.2009

Smith Electric Vehicles to partner with AM General on USPS EV

"... AM General is building the chassis for the prototype and Smith is providing the electric powertrain. In the urban and suburban environments where the LLV..."  
Source: green.autoblog.com




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Man detained for killing his wife

"... on the day of the attack Mrs Davidson, who worked in Penrith's Crown Square Post Office, had asked her husband to leave after finding out he had failed to apply for state benefits...."  
Source: news.bbc.co.uk


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10.31.2009

USPS now offering Hallmark greetings


"...Postal Service has begun a yearlong program testing the sale of Hallmark greeting cards in about 500 post offices, including the Port Columbus station in Columbus and the Zane Street station in Zanesville. ..."  
Source: www.columbusdispatch.com




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10.22.2009

USPS WAIVER WAVE-OFF REMINDER — SIGNATURE MAY NOT BE REQUIRED


"... USPS is reminding employees that a mailer can instruct the Postal Service to deliver an Express Mail Next Day Delivery or Express Mail Second Day Delivery item without obtaining the signature of the addressee or the addressee’s agent...."  
Source: liteblue.usps.gov




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10.21.2009

[APWU] Incentive Offer Leads to One-Time Exception on Casual Cap


"... No employees may be excessed from an installation while the relaxation of the casual restrictions is in effect. Casuals in excess of the cap must be terminated prior to March 2, 2010. ..."  
Source: www.apwu.org




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10.20.2009

Mail Handlers Union Prevails in National RI-399 Arbitration

APWU APPEAL DENIED IN ALL RESPECTS

"... In a national award rendered on September 7, 2009, National Arbitrator Joseph M. Sharnoff determined that certain assignments on the Small Parcel and Bundle Sorter (SPBS) machines were properly assigned by the USPS to the Mail Handler Craft...."  
Source: www.npmhu.org




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10.19.2009

More USPS Executive Positions? What about craft programs...


"...The Corporate Succession Planning (CSP) Open Season is well under way. Employees EAS 22 and above across the country are applying ..."  
Source: liteblue.usps.gov




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10.13.2009

FERS Sick-Leave Credit Included In Defense Authorization Bill


"... The compromise legislation also includes a provision that would make it easier for federal agencies, including the Postal Service, to rehire retirees (for a limited time) without forcing them to take a cut in their annuity checks. “This provision will help eliminate the USPS objections to APWU’s efforts to return postal retirees to employment,” Burrus said. “If the bill is passed, the union will renew our discussion with management on this issue.”..."  
Source: www.apwu.org




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10.10.2009

Wichita Post Office Finds Package Leaking Mercury


"... the mercury contaminated 170 nearby small packages, which have been isolated and withdrawn from processing due to safety concerns. The Postal Service is currently working with local health departments, as well as private companies certified to work with hazardous materials, to determine whether the affected packages can be decontaminated and delivered. Virtually all of the packages were mailed from within a 50 mile radius of Wichita...."  
Source: www.kake.com




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10.08.2009

Postal Service announces final list of closures


"... expected to release its final list of post offices and other postal facilities that it plans to close nationwide. ..."  
Source: www.federalnewsradio.com




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10.03.2009

Post office stab suspect believed dead; cops say he likely committed suicide


"... Kelly said the two men bumped shoulders and walked past each other, but kept exchanging words, then stopped and squared off. Gutierrez, 20, took off his jacket and assumed a fighting stance, Kelly said. McCaulla then strode toward him, brandishing a knife at his side.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/09/30/2009-09-30_post_office_stab_suspect_took_own_life_cops.html#ixzz0SuswpOS6
..."  
Source: www.nydailynews.com




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9.25.2009

Should the Postal Service Eliminate Sunday Mail Processing Operations?


"... One area for consideration is the elimination of Sunday mail processing operations. In many Processing and Distribution Centers around the nation..."  
Source: blog.uspsoig.gov




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9.22.2009

USPS Jobs Don't Exist, Agency Says

"... "We are not hiring any full-time workers at the U.S. Postal Service," said Kim Yates. "Those ads are not endorsed by the postal service, nor representative of what we do here." She said the USPS does not post job positions in newspapers, and that all of the information included in the study guide is offered for free at Indiana libraries...."  
Source: www.theindychannel.com


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9.19.2009

U.S., Cuba Mull Direct Postal Service


"...Havana put special emphasis on the importance of eliminating the United States "blockade," as the embargo is known by Cubans so as to reestablish direct postal service under the norms set out by the Universal Postal Union to which both countries belong. ..."  
Source: www.cbsnews.com




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9.18.2009

Jackson postal facility to close, displacing 50 workers


"...Workers at the distribution center were urged to start looking for other jobs as letter carriers, take a voluntary early retirement offer or consider the early-out incentive program that offers employees $15,000 to retire or quit by Oct. 31, Zarebski said. Zarebski said many workers might be forced to look for work in areas that are 500 to 1,000 miles away from Jackson. ..."  
Source: www.mlive.com




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9.15.2009

Postal Employee Unscheduled Leave Call-In Phone Number

   Are you sick and have lost the telephone number for the USPS Postal Employee Unscheduled leave Call-Out number? Here is a cute site someone is providing that you should bookmark for those rare times you are suffering from an illness and need to use unscheduled sick leave.
Source: Postal Employee Unscheduled Leave Call-In Phone Number


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9.14.2009

Advocates of Postal ‘Reform’ Attempt to Misdirect the Public’s Attention


"... The most egregious omission in this blame game is the silence on postal rate policies that forgive postage in amounts as high as 10.5 cents per letter for mailers to perform the exact functions that would be performed by underutilized postal employees. The very workers who process mail at a cost of less than one cent per letter are replaced by 10.5 cent workshare discounts, yet pundits focus their attention on postal workers and arbitrators. Something is wrong with this picture.
William Burrus
President, APWU ..."  
Source: www.apwu.org




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Postal Service called federal crown jewel


"... Now the U.S. Postal Service: I have traveled to Europe, Canada, Mexico and South America, and I can tell you we have the best postal service in the world — and the cheapest. Americans are spoiled and take the postal service for granted...."  
Source: www.knoxnews.com




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Time running out on NSPS, sick leave, postal rescue bills

"... As Congress tries to wrap up its work this fall, the problem is clear: too many high-priority bills to move and too little time. By December, lawmakers aim to complete work on 13 federal spending bills, health care reform, a climate change bill, and a Defense authorization bill...."  
Source: www.federaltimes.com




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9.01.2009

Workers Comp fraud


"...surveillance videos shown to the jury depicted [name removed] at a UTEP football game, painting his house, and throwing tires and other debris into a dumpster, all with full use of his arm. ..."  
Source: www.claimsjournal.com




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OSHA calls for nearly $60,000 in penalties against Eau Claire USPS


"... the agency says proper training was not given to employees who were spotted operating forklifts unsafely. ..."  
Source: www.wqow.com




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8.27.2009

The Postal News Network is now on Twitter

"Follow us on Twitter Now"  
Source: twitter.com/PostalNewsNet




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8.26.2009

FedEx / USPS Contract Expected to Generate About $8 Billion in Revenue


"...FedEx Express will continue to fly over 4 million pounds of U.S. mail every business day - the equivalent of 40 wide-body DC10 aircraft using existing aircraft and facilities. ..."  
Source: www.redorbit.com




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RETIREMENT-SEPARATION INCENTIVE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING


"...The parties further agree that these incentives will be provided to no more than 30,000 employees in the Mail Handler and APWU bargaining units combined. If more than 30,000 employees indicate that they wish to take advantage of the terms of this MOU, the number allocated to each of the bargaining units shall be proportional to the number of employees in the bargaining units that are eligible for these incentives. The parties agree to meet and discuss implementation of this paragraph once the number of employees indicating a desire to take advantage of this MOU reaches 25,000. ..."  
Source: www.npmhu.org




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8.25.2009

Postal Retirement Incentive Now being offered

USPS Offers $15,000 Retirement or Resignation Incentive
The United States Postal Service is offering a $15,000 Retirement or resignation incentive to certain employees. The first installment will be $10,000 in November 2009 and the other $5000 will be one year later. Mailings will go out in the next few days to eligible employees. Stay tuned for more details. Update coming soon. The Postal Newsgroup

8.17.2009

Union Members Protest Proposed USPS Changes


"... picketed outside Josh Colin’s home Sunday. Colin is the district manager for the postal service in..."  
Source: nbc4i.com




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8.15.2009

Obama Goes Postal about Healthcare Reform


"... In his own town-hall meeting on Tuesday, Obama stated, “How can a private company compete against the government. If you think about it…FedEx and UPS are doing just fine. Right? The, uh, no they are. It’s the post office that’s always having problems.” ..."  
Source: www.examiner.com




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8.12.2009

Plot to kill Post Office cloaked by right wing ‘recess rally’ chaos


"... Without the legislation the agency says that on Sept. 1 it will have to fire more than 50,000 workers, close down hundreds of post offices and kill Saturday pickup and delivery. The right-wing amendment effectively squashes the collective bargaining rights of the entire Postal Service workforce by ordering arbitrators to place the fiscal condition of the Postal Service ahead of any contractual obligations the agency has to its workers or retirees. ..."  
Source: www.pww.org




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PMG Potter Pay

Losing Billions But Getting A Bonus


"... Postmaster General John Potter's base salary climbed to $265,000 last year from $186,000 in 2007. He also received a performance bonus of $135,000. In all his total compensation -- salary, bonuses, retirement benefits and other perks -- topped $850,000, a spokesman with the U.S. Postal Service told FOXNews.com on Wednesday...."  
Source:




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More attacks on USPS Blue Collar Wages

Article Title: With Fewer Customers and Fixed Labor Costs, U.S. Postal Service Faces $7 Billion Net Loss in 2009


"...USPS will need to negotiate with its four largest unions on collective bargaining agreements that will expire in 2010 and 2011. These agreements cover about 85 percent of postal employees and include items such as cost-of-living adjustments, work rules, and layoff protections.” ..."  
Source: www.cnsnews.com




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The President and the Postal Service


"... President Obama made what his advisers believe were his first public comments on the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday, basically knocking its performance..."  
Source: washingtonpost.com




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8.10.2009

Your Corner Mailbox Could Be Stamped Out


"... hundreds of post offices could be shuttered, and mail delivery could be cut to five days a week. And that's not all. CBS News correspondent Bianca Solorzano reports that familiar blue mailbox on your corner may be going the way of the pay telephone - gone. ..."  
Source: www.cbsnews.com




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Watch the USPS Senate Hearing of August 6, 2009

"...Due to the declining use of mail services, the U.S. Postal Service currently faces up to $7 billion in losses this year. Postmaster Gen. John Potter & Inspector Gen. David Williams gave details on cost-cutting efforts. ..."  
Source: cspan.org




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8.06.2009

USPS SERVICES, PAYROLL WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED

USPS FACES YEAR-END CASH SHORTFALL


"...the Postal Service this fiscal year faces a possible Sept. 30 cash shortfall of up to $700 million. But that shortfall, according to PMG Jack Potter, will not diminish the levels of customer service or threaten the agency’s ability to meet payroll. ..."  
Source: liteblue.usps.gov




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8.05.2009

Career Advise - Moving Forward

Article Title: [PDF] Federal Employees give career advice
Snippet of Article: "...summarized what Federal employees perceive to be important career accelerators in the accompanying table. These accelerators provide practical strategies for employees to explore in terms of how to advance their careers, as well as identifying roles supervisors can play in helping them...."


Source: www.mspb.gov
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8.03.2009

The U.S. Post Office on Balboa Island


"... the Balboa Island Post Office has been a mainstay of island life for generations. “It’s one of the few landmarks that we have here that has stayed the same and that’s why we love it,” Balboa Island resident Jeanne Gerbi said...."  
Source: www.dailypilot.com




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Postal News - Are Post Office Layoffs a Possibility?

Stopping Saturday mail delivery could mean layoffs for USPS
"... If Congress eliminates Saturday mail delivery to help the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service, then layoffs are a possibility, a top USPS official acknowledged to House lawmakers on Thursday...."


Article Reference Source: www.govexec.com
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