"... why Postmaster General John E. Potter got a six-figure bonus last year even as the Postal Service racked up billions of dollars in losses. Mr. Potter received about $135,000 in incentive bonuses last year as part of an $800,000 compensation plan..." 
Source: www.washingtontimes.com
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Click here to email your senators: http://www.capwiz.com/apwu/issues/alert/?alertid=13812926 ...help protect your benefits and pay!"... Because a vote on the bill is expected early next week, before the Senate adjourns for its August recess, local and state activists must move quickly, Burrus said. The national union will hold a teleconference for local and state leaders on Monday, Aug. 3, at 2 p.m. EDT, to discuss the issue.
“I call on every APWU local to generate messages to their senators based on a 1 to 5 ratio of their members,” Burrus said. “If the bill passes as written, it will destroy collective bargaining for postal workers.”
The amendment would require arbitrators ruling on postal contracts to take into account the “financial health of the Postal Service.”
“Given the severity of Postal Service’s financial crisis, if this bill passes, we can anticipate that in the next round of negotiations, many of the things our members take for granted — such as cost-of-living increases, raises, and protection against layoffs — will be at risk.” Under current law, arbitrators must consider the “comparability” of postal wages to employees in the private sector who perform similar work.
“In fact, arbitrators routinely consider the Postal Service’s financial status as part of the context of negotiations,” Burrus said. “However, to attach this specific requirement to the law leaves workers at a severe disadvantage. ..."
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"... To remove its financial condition from the High-Risk List the Postal Service needs to undertake a number of major structural changes, Dodaro said. In the short term, a key challenge is to cut expenses quickly enough to offset mail volume and revenue declines to avoid running out of cash to pay its expenses. In the long term, USPS should consider consolidating operations, closing unneeded facilities, and reducing its workforce to reflect new trends in mail use...."
Source: www.gao.gov
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"... Those companies have Combined Mail Agreements with the post office, as well as some expensive equipment — think $700,000 to $800,000 for a special optical reader machine for starters. Basically, they “work share” with the postal service. By taking over some mail pickup and sorting services “the post office bypasses three or four procedures at significant labor savings to them, which allows us to offer the permitted discounts,” Cline explained...."
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"... The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
Workers (CPI-W) rose 1.1 percent in June, prior to seasonal adjustment.
The index value of 210.972 was 2.0 percent lower than in June 2008. On a
seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-W rose 0.9 percent in June.
..."
Source: www.bls.gov
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"...Unions, on the other hand, uniformly oppose five-day delivery; labor leaders have blasted the proposal, saying it would eliminate thousands of jobs and hurt the Postal Service’s already-sagging mail volume. ..."
Source: federaltimes.com
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"...the investigation that took place at the mail distribution center at 2400 Orange Ave., where agents confiscated crack, PCP, prescription painkillers, marijuana and a loaded handgun. ..."
Source: www.cleveland.com
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Michael Jackson Stamp
"... According to the Postal Service rules, a stamp honoring Jackson cannot appear until five years after his death...."
Source: www.examiner.com
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"... The stamps recognize "talented recording artists who have enjoyed great success in the music industry," says the Canada Post on its website. The set of four stamps will be officially released on July 2. ..."
Source: www.spinner.com
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LIVING THE GREEN LIFE TRAINING DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST LEADS A SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE
"...the past several years, Mulligan and his family have been restoring their property to a fully functioning farm. In doing so, they’ve incorporated a number of green initiatives as they’re getting the place up and running. These include retaining and redistributing pond and rainwater, heating with renewable resources, re-appropriating used building materials, recycling and natural vegetation management. ..."
Source: liteblue.usps.gov
Postal NewsVisit Our Homepage
"...A quarterly publication, USA Philatelic is the only official source for the complete line of current issues from the U.S. Postal Service. ..."
Source: shop.usps.com
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Postina the Kitten
"...A kitten found abandoned in a Boston mailbox has been adopted by a postal service employee in New Hampshire, animal rescue officials said. ..."
Source: www.upi.com
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"... “This decision is the worst possible response to unusual circumstances that have adversely affected mail volume,” the union president wrote. It assumes that the economy will not recover, and that mail will not serve as a viable medium for commercial activities...."
Source: www.apwu.org
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Huntsville Fire and Rescue crews evacuated a busy post office Tuesday morning after an employee found a leaking package. ..."
Source: www.waff.com
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"...The APWU has filed a Step 4 grievance protesting management’s interpretation of the contractual protection against layoffs for APWU-represented employees who were on the rolls as of Nov. 20, 2006, but had not achieved six continuous years of service. A Memorandum of Understanding in the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement provides protection to such employees. ..."
Source: http://www.apwu.org/news/webart/2009/09-067-layoffprotection-090611.htm
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"...Railway Labor Act (RLA), a law passed in 1926 to prevent disruptions to national air and train traffic. Though many FedEx Express workers don't have a direct relationship with the operation or maintenance of the air fleet, they are still covered by the RLA. That law carries a difficult path to unionization that requires a national vote by every worker at a company ..."
Source: www.businessweek.com
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"... A special Hawaii edition of the U.S. Postal Service's large flat-rate shipping box will make its debut Thursday, on Kamehameha Day...."
Source: www.honoluluadvertiser.com
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"... Please voice your opinion to the USPS Customer Affairs Manager and oppose the shipping of our mail to Springfield, Ill. The Quincy Processing and Distribution Annex sorts mail ..."
Source: www.hannibal.net
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"...A U.S. Postal Service truck wrecked on Interstate 65 in north Chilton County early Thursday morning, scattering mail all over the road and blocking the southbound lane for at least two hours. ..."
Source: www.clantonadvertiser.com
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"...Baton Rouge postmaster Carl Karnish gave his nod of approval for the site. “Anybody going on this site will be able to navigate through it easily,” he said, while attending Antill’s presentation Wednesday at the General Mail Facility on Bluebonnet Boulevard. ..."
Source: www.2theadvocate.com
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"... Cuba notified the Obama administration it was ready to resume talks on migration issues and to negotiate direct postal service between the countries for the first time in decades...."
Source: www.timesdaily.com
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"... The union representing postal workers confirmed Tuesday that its members are too fearful of being caught in gang violence to deliver on Strathcona Court, where the Red Scorpion gang associates have lived with their parents David and Susan...."
Source: www.vancouversun.com
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"... The purpose of the bill (H.R. 2161) is to roll back the harmful changes made by President Bush four days before he left the White House: FMLA regulations that went into effect on Jan. 16 have created problems in the field, such as employer representatives contacting workers’ doctors without the workers’ consent, and rejecting previously accepted FMLA certifications. Workers with long-accepted “conditions” have been challenged and have been forced to visit their doctors repeatedly...."
Source: www.apwu.org
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Prepare for the May 11 by taking advantage of USPS web tools.
"...Endicia offers similar services as a third-party website. The company sells printers, labels, scales, and services to automate your shipping process. ..."
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
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"...Lapuh, the shop steward for the Los Alamitos Post Office, forwarded the reports to Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Ca., and Diane Feinstein, D-Ca., in hopes that the workers will see change. As shop steward, Lapuh represents union employees and assists with filing grievances. ..."
Source: www.ocregister.com
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Data Companies Issue New Warnings About Breach That Could Lead To Potential Compromise Of Credit Cards
"... Postal Inspectors Service said that of the 40,000 individuals whose information was accessed, up to 300 were compromised and used to obtain fraudulent credit cards...."
Source: www.cbsnews.com
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"... This page lists locations of USPS Collection Stations (blue mailboxes) and post offices in the..."
Source: www.payphone-project.com
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"...“There's no federal safety standard on it, so it’s a real problem,” reports Bob Williamson, president of the San Francisco chapter of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). “We’ve had people who have developed occupational asthma from breathing the fine dust.” Other reported problems include bronchitis, allergic reactions, migraines, bacterial infections, conjunctivitis and sore throats. ..."
Source: www.healthnewsdigest.com
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Associate Supervisor Program being cancelled?
"...On April 10, 2009 Susan M. LaChance, Vice President Employee Development & Diversity, USPS notified the Managers, Human Resources, Area that the Associate Supervisor Program (ASP) is being canceled because of the current business conditions. ..."
Source: www.napus.org
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"... “Under the Postal Service’s own regulations,” Herrera said, “SROs are apartment buildings, and they are entitled to the same method of mail delivery—to individual locked boxes—that is afforded to all other tenants in all other apartment buildings.”..."
Source: www.fogcityjournal.com
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"...I then called the postal service and was told that the card was "square" in size (i.e., 5.25 by 5.25 inches) and that classified it as nonstandard in size. If it was "rectangular," that would have been fine. ..."
Source: atlanticville.gmnews.com
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"... The Toowong Postal Service, which has been delivering mail to residents for 136 years, is celebrating with Australia Post as they mark their national bicentennial this year...."
Source: westside-news.whereilive.com.au
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"... Rep. Walt Minnick is asking the U.S. Postmaster to rethink plans to sever the contract that pays a pilot to deliver mail to residents living deep Idaho's wilderness...."
Source: www.kpvi.com
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"... “One of the byproducts of this relationship is the preservation of discounts that benefit the mailers at the expense of Postal Service stability…The law specifically requires universal service at uniform rates, yet the standard has been nullified with the growth of discounts that were intended to be temporary. Over time, discounts have morphed into a disgraceful policy that rewards large mailers with rate reductions so extreme as to be absurd,” Burrus added...."
Source: www.workdayminnesota.org
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"... A Faribault, Minn., woman already on parole for threatening elected officials in Austin, Minn., was charged this week with making bomb threats against 16 post offices in southern Minnesota...."
Source: www.grandforksherald.com
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"... U.S. Postal Service is canceling a contract with backcountry pilot Ray Arnold, ending the air mail route to more than 20 ranches in the Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness...."
Source: www.2news.tv
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"...streets were littered with rubber bands, as well as many private driveways and paths. ..."
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
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"... The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
Michael Jackson Stamp
"... The stamps recognize "talented recording artists who have enjoyed great success in the music industry," says the Canada Post on its website. The set of four stamps will be officially released on July 2. ..." 
