POSTAL NEWS

...from various sources.

12.21.2009

Postal Service union fights consolidation


"...Jim Alexander, the president of the Southern Oregon Area Postal Workers Union, argued Saturday that closing one of the county's two largest post offices could end up costing taxpayers more and hampering the timely delivery of their mail. ..."  
Source: www.mailtribune.com




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Paying More to Send U.S. Mail at U.P.S. Stores


"... At some U.P.S. Store franchises in Manhattan, however, clerks do not always tell customers that they may be paying a Grinch-like surcharge when they send something by the United States mail...."  
Source: www.nytimes.com




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12.14.2009

Postal Service Employees Owed $300M in Taxes, IRS Data Shows


"... it's "important" to consider that the percentage of those owing taxes at the postal service is "relatively small" compared with other agencies. The postal service is the largest federal employer outside the military..."  
Source: www.foxnews.com




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12.13.2009

USPS Responds to Postal Workers Claims

United States Postal Service Statement regarding the Proposal to Consolidate Mail Processing from Elmira to Rochester


"... The Postal Service is looking to react appropriately to mail volume declines while improving service and efficiencies. One of the initiatives under consideration is the consolidation of automated mail processing from Elmira to Rochester. Though the plan has not been finalized, here are a few key..."  
Source: www.weny.com




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AT&T Government wins VPN contract extension from USPS


"... U.S. Postal Service has just signed, sealed and delivered a four-year, $120 million network contract extension to AT&T..."  
Source: www.fiercetelecom.com


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Mail carrier attacked in Dorchester, USPS offers award


"... Dorchester letter carrier was hospitalized yesterday after she was knocked to the ground and slashed by an armed thug who tried to rob her as she kept her appointed rounds, police and U.S. Postal authorities said...."  
Source: www.bostonherald.com




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12.03.2009

Clemmons investigated by drug enforcement authorities after he moved


"... the U.S. Postal Inspector Service investigated Clemmons for a case involving shipments of marijuana between Seattle and South Dakota, said Jerry Styers, a spokesman for the postal inspector's office in Seattle...."  
Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com




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12.02.2009

USPS Fantasy Land


"...Because workshare discounts are a joke, as president of the APWU, I can extend the following offer: APWU members will perform all mail sortation for .01 less than the discounted rate of 10.5 cents major mailers enjoy for performing a small portion of the process. The USPS will save money, and every APWU-represented mail processor can benefit from a modest raise. ..."  
Source: www.apwu.org




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11.30.2009

Postal Service future gets input from First Coast

As delivery bundles shrink, experts seek possibilities to keep the agency afloat

"...after spending a career with the Postal Service, spent much of the summer looking at what the future business models for the Postal Service might look like. Slentz worked 30 years for the service, moving up through several regional postmaster positions before retiring seven years ago as manager of strategic operations for the entire U.S. Postal Service. ..."  
Source: jacksonville.com




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11.25.2009

USPS/NAPS Announce New Interim Supervisor Selection Program


"... NAPS and the Postal Service have collaborated in the establishment of an interim program to identify and select initial level supervisors in Customer Services and Processing & Distribution..."  
Click here for the announcement
Source: naps.org




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11.23.2009

Postal Service employees will receive pay raise in December


"...Postal Mail Handlers unions will receive a 1.2 percent pay raise. Members of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association and the National Association of Letter Carriers will see 1.5 percent and 1.9 percent ..."  
Source: www.govexec.com




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Economy, Internet mean lighter load for post office


"... Last week the U.S. Postal Service announced that it lost $3.8 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. It delivered 26 billion fewer pieces of mail, a drop of 13 percent...."  
Source: /www.app.com



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11.20.2009

Four Memphis post office branches still on possible closure list


"...Sixteen Tennessee post offices remain on the list, including one in Knoxville, three in Nashville, four in Chattanooga, three in Clarksville and one in Jackson...."  
Source: www.commercialappeal.com




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U.S. Postal Service reinstates Santa Claus letter program

"... The U.S. Postal Service announced Friday it would reverse a decision to cancel its annual Letters to Santa program because of security concerns...."  
Source: www.canada.com




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11.19.2009

USPS: The Grinch who stole Santa's letters


"... Postal Service is dropping a popular national program begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. Replies come with North Pole postmarks...."  
Source: www.delcotimes.com




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11.17.2009

the Suncoast Scoop: a blog designed for all Suncoast District Postal Employees


"... The "Scoop" is a way to spread the word about the special people, events and life as Suncoast District postal employees. We will accentuate the positive and strive to recognize the good things people are doing during these difficult economic times. Got a photo, story, event for the Scoop? email it to: The Suncoast Scoop!..."  
Source: suncoastscoop.blogspot.com




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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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