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POSTAL NEWS FROM PEN
April 2010
April 30, 2010
Is the
Postal Service bluffing?
Rag Content - Is the five-day proposal just a
ploy to get the mailing community to fight even
harder for legislative funding /reform to save
the sixth day of delivery? -
Smart Post
- What Does its Success Suggest for Letter and
Flat Mailers - Courier,
Express, and Postal Observer -
Check Out
This Week In Postal
Beyond Going
Postal - Postscript
(PDF - 49 kb)
by Stephen D. Musacco, Ph.D. -
Sen.
Carper Reacts to Postal Regulatory Commission's
Planned 6 Month Review of Postal Proposal to End
Saturday Delivery -
APWU: If
USPS Eliminates Saturday Delivery...The Postal
Service Would Fall Apart -
APWU Flyer -
Also see APWU Fact
Sheet "Save Saturday Service" -
Postal
Service angered by regulator review schedule
The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it is
disappointed with the schedule put forth by
postal regulators to consider proposed changes
to Saturday mail delivery, arguing the Postal
Regulatory Commission needs to move faster to
help the mail agency avoid financial insolvency.
-
FERS and
CSRS Disability Retirement: The Game of Legal
Relay and the Importance of Identifying the
Right Evidence -
USPS OIG:
Function 4 Overtime Workhours
-
Is there a
Problem with RPW Parcel Select Volumes?
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
April 29, 2010
PRC Sets
Schedule to Review Proposal to End Saturday Mail
Delivery -
Reform of
Postal Service retirement system desperately
needed - Federal News Radio -
USPS:
Envisioning America's Future Postal Service
-
Two men
indicted for mailing fake Anthrax letters
-
The Impact
of Postal Service Corruption on Customer Service
- by Eric L. Wattree -
Carrier
Finds Texas Woman Decapitated in Street by
Chainsaw -
City of
Richmond, Va. Drops All Charges against Postal
Workers Local Official -
APWU:
Employees Retiring Last October Still Waiting
for Annuity Checks -
April 28, 2010
Aspen
Postmaster Stays In $175 Hotel Room
-
Washington
Post's New Magazine Will Bypass USPS
Dead Tree Edition says "In what may
be a troubling precedent for the U.S. Postal
Service, The Washington Post is about to launch
a paid subscription magazine that will bypass
the USPS delivery network." -
Ohio
businessman pleads guilty in Postal Service
bribery case -
Post
Office Cuts - Jobs Could Be Moved Up to 200
Miles -
April 27, 2010
Carrier
accused of stealing mail-order medicine
A Marshall mail carrier was arrested after
completing his route Monday and charged with
stealing prescription drugs from a Madison
County veteran. His wife and another woman have
also been charged with selling the painkillers.
-
Offer
FedEx and UPS big piece of postal pie
What if FedEx and UPS took over all handling and
delivery of parcels or anything that didn't fit
into a mailbox? Wouldn't that free up some
bodies (and money) to provide mail delivery six
days a week and allow branches to be staffed
with more than one clerk trying to serve long
lines? -
PostCom
reports "The Economist has
told some of its Washington-area subscribers
that for the next three months they would be
receiving the magazine by a hand-delivery
service. Why? because "it has been widely
publicized that the US Postal Service is
considering eliminating Saturday mail delivery."
The Economist told its readers that it wanted to
hear from them as to whether private mail
delivery proved sufficient to their needs. Could
be a sign of the coming times." -
PRC Seeks
Comment Regarding USPS Ending Saturday Delivery
-
Also from
PRC: April 27, 2010 - Notice:
Live audio broadcast of a public Prehearing
Conference in Docket No. N2010-1 will air at
10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 27. Links to the
audio will be posted here approximately 10
minutes prior to the broadcast.
Employee
accused of stealing almost $30k from postal
station -
OIG Blog:
The Great Debate -
Postal
service workers protest proposed service cuts
-
Flats
Sequencing Map
Dead Tree Edition -
Direct
Marketing Assn Spent $250K Lobbying in 1Q -
Including USPS -
April 26, 2010
Postman
Sues WFXT-TV After Being Featured in Undercover
Investigation
A postman who lost his job after being featured
in a “Fox Undercover” investigation has slapped
WFXT-TV (Ch. 25) with a $500,000 defamation
suit. -
EEOC
Upholds Class Action
EEOC rejects appeal of USPS. The administrative
judge outlines four broad complaints; the
National Reassessment Process NRP fails to
provide a reasonable accommodation; creates a
hostile work environment; wrongfully discloses
medical information; and has an adverse impact
on disabled workers. -
OIG Blog:
What if USPS explored partnering with prepaid
debit card providers to sell prepaid debit cards
at post offices -
Letter
carrier delivers in a heroic way
-
April 25, 2010
Documentary on postal rampages warns of the
perils of the workplace -
Other
options available; don’t cut mail delivery
-
Push to
stop Saturday mail delivery would impact local
businesses -
USPS
Advises NRLCA That Cameras Will Be Placed in
LLV's and POV's to Collect Data for Negotiations
-
April 24, 2010
APWU:
March in NYC to “Make Wall Street Pay!”
-
5 or 6 Day
Postal Delivery? -
New
cameras being deployed at USPS facilities
nationwide in order to
provide OIG Special Agents with enhanced video
surveillance capabilities of activities
occurring within USPS facilities -
Florida
Mail carrier guilty of delivering drugs
-
Senators
indicate support for Postal Service reform in
subcommittee hearing -
Potter
renews plea for postal reforms
Federal Times -
What is
the true cost of labor?
Ask Burrus -
April 23, 2010
Potter
Stands Strong On Five Day Delivery
-
Altering
Mail Delivery Schedule Could Negatively Impact
Consumers Relying on Home Delivery of
Prescription Drugs -
Pharmaceutical Care Management Association -
The Future
of the U.S. Postal Service -
Hearings and Testimony before the Subcommittee
on Federal Financial Management, Government
Information, Federal Services, and International
Security -
April 22, 2010
Mail
Service Providers, Beware
Postal Affairs Blog -
Not All
Postal Employees or Union Members Support Their
Unions Stance on Big Government or Health Care
-
Hoping for
deliverance
USPS has issued an urgent appeal for help. Will
Congress deliver? -
Email spam
may be increasing the effectiveness of direct
mail marketing -
Mail truck
catches fire in Battle Ground
-
In case
you somehow missed it...here's what the PMG told
the Comm. on Oversight and Gov. Reform
(PDF) -
AMERICAN
POSTAL WORKERS UNION OFFICER CHARGED WITH
EMBEZZLEMENT OF UNION FUNDS AND WIRE FRAUD
-
April 21, 2010
Postal
Worker Accused Of Stealing Hundreds Of Gift
Cards -
Volcano
impacts Postal Service deliveries
Washington Post -
The United
States Postal Service: An Assault on the
American Middle Class
by Eric L. Wattree -
Not
anti-dog, but pro-carrier -
‘Confidential’ Letter Shows Postal Service’s
Inefficiency -
Japan
Unveils Plan To Roll Back Postal Privatization
-
April 20, 2010
The postal
service's fiscal crisis and future viability
By Rep. Edolphus Towns
"The IG argued that the USPS has overpaid into
the Civil Service Retirement System by as much
as $75 Billion. If these findings are correct,
it puts the changes to the USPS business model
in a whole new light because the Postal Service
would be able to fully fund its retiree health
care obligations for the next 75 years if it was
allowed to access the funds." -
PostCom
says "The word from several sources is that Korn
Ferry is in charge of a search for a new postal
senior v.p. to be in charge of governmental and
public affairs. It sounds like a re-creation of
a position that once had existed within the
USPS. It was a good idea then. It would be a
good idea now." -
Arbitrator: OIG Agents Intended to Make a
Grievant’s Life a Living Hell
-
5-day delivery would
not mean layoffs, PMG says
Federal Times -
A $75
Billion Catch 22 -
Full-Service Intelligent Mail USPS
Release #4
Postal Affairs Blog -
Does the
Postal Service Need to Re-examine Its Delivery
Service Standards? - OIG Blog
-
The Postal
Service’s Union Problem
Tad DeHaven - Cato Institute -
Putting a
price tag on Postal Service woes
Washington Post -
APWU: For
Active Reservists and National Guard
Differential Pay, At Last -
German
Postal Model Can Show U.S. The Way
-
Obtain a
Free PDF Copy of Beyond Going Postal, by Stephen
Musacco, Ph.D. -
April 19, 2010
Cleveland
postal workers sentenced on drug charges
Seven of the eight arrested worked at the mail
distribution center at 2400 Orange Ave., where
agents confiscated crack, PCP, prescription
painkillers, marijuana and a loaded handgun in
June. -
Postal
Service Changing to Remain Viable
-
Outlook grim for Postal Service as
revenue ebbs -
Why the US Postal Service Will Not
Survive
OpEd News -
Health
care overcharges are unjust burden for USPS
Federal Times - Opinion of David C. Williams,
Inspector General USPS -
Saving the
Postal Service
Federal Times - Letter from a Retired Postal
Employee -
Highlights
of National Postal Forum
Print CEO -
Ex-postal
worker in Mobile, AL pleads guilty to trashing,
hiding mail on 'overloaded' route
-
April 18, 2010
Return to
sender
Cape Cod Times -
The Truth
About Postal Absenteeism Rates
OIG Report - Revisited by Request -
Four
Arrested for Theft from the Postal Service
-
Houston
Carrier Charged with Theft of Mail
- Also see
Texas Mail
Handler Charged with Theft of Mail
-
April 17, 2010
USPS OIG
Says Postal Executive Pay is A-OK
by Rick Owens -
Going
Postal in the Digital Age
CBS News -
Insights from the DMA and Nonprofit
Mailers
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
House
Hearing Raises Questions About Postal Plans and
Numbers - NAPUS Newsletter -
APWU:
Rationale
for Five-Day Delivery Shattered at House Hearing
- Also see NALC:
Skepticism
reigns at House hearing on postal crisis
-
USPS and
Congress trade barbs
DM News -
Postal
employee arrested on child pornography charges
A postal employee was arrested Friday on charges
that he used a government computer to view child
pornography in November 2009. -
Analysis:
Change the role of the Postal Service to keep it
viable - Federal News Radio -
Leaving the Mailstram: Saturation
Advertising
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
April 16, 2010
PMG says
USPS could cut its workforce
Washington Post -
USPS
prodded -- once again -- to do more with less
GovExec.com -
Stealing
Time From Employees At USPS
By Eric L. Wattree -
Lawmakers
question U.S. Postal Service money saving
priorities -
Postal
Service must adopt private biz principles for
success -
Mail delivery cuts mean businesses
need to plan ahead -
Unions
Making Postal Service Unsustainable
-
Postal
Service 800 number gives callers wrong tax
deadline -
April 15, 2010
GAO:
Action Needed to Facilitate USPS Financial
Viability (new report
4.15.10) -
Reports from House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform:
-
Connect to
the Live Webcast
-
Ruth
Goldway - PRC Chairman
-
David
Williams, Inspector General, OIG
-
Ideas For
Positive Change In The Future Of USPS - PRC
Chairman Goldway
-
Read all
reports (scroll down)
Also see these articles:
-
Postal
Service chief seeks congressional support for
changes to mail service
-
Postmaster
Delivers Bad News
-
Federal
Employee Issues Take Center Stage at Postal
Service Hearing - GovExec.com
Rep. Darrell Issa says "It is clear that we have
not recognized that the Postal Service has more
workers than it needs ....No postal service
employee should be given a route that's less
than a full day's work." -
USPS May
Go Broke by October, Potter Says
Potter "If Congress is unable to act this fiscal
year on broader legislation, our projections
show that we will risk running out of cash the
first month of fiscal year 2011.” -
US Post
office finances dire but service cuts hurt -
Lawmakers skeptical of cutting Saturday delivery
-
Video: The
End of the U.S. Postal Service?
-
Put out
the fire, then build Postal Service back up
Federal Times -
Legal
Challenge Likely for Exigent Rate Increase
Dead Tree Edition -
April 14, 2010
Saving The
Public Enterprise Model - Who Pays?
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
NALC: GAO
report attacks postal labor, stiffs Congress
The Government Accountability Office issued its
long-awaited report on potential changes in the
Postal Service’s business model. NALC President
Fred Rolando expressed the union’s deep
disappointment in the report’s content. Citing
the GAO’s failure to deliver what Congress asked
for, Rolando criticized GAO for instead
producing what he called “a full-throated attack
on collective bargaining." -
AFL-CIO
Launches EXECUTIVE PAYWATCH
APWU of
Wisconsin -
The U.S.
Postal Service is a Toxic Work Environment
Dr. S. Musacco -
GAO
encourages significant changes to 'not viable'
Postal Service business model
- DM News -
Postal
Policy: Now its Congress's Turn
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
TRUHLAR v.
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE
Briefly - carrier was rear-ended in his mail
truck - filed for workers comp - continued
performing in a rock band - USPS finds out and
fires carrier. Carrier sues USPS and NALC...he
loses. -
Two postal
workers charged with stealing $50 from mail
-
Intelligent Mail stands major test of US Census:
USPS -
April 13, 2010
GAO
Suggests Plant Closings, Two-Tiered Wage
Structure for USPS - Dead
Tree Edition -
Federal
Register: Nationwide Change in Frequency of
Postal Delivery -
Hallmark
launches Intelligent Barcode card line with
Postal Service -
PMG
Addresses National Postal Forum
via
PostCom
-
Will Obama
create the Post Office of health care?
Washington Examiner -
Sinking
Ship: The U.S. Postal Service
Opinion: Washington Examiner -
Is It Time to
Re-evaluate the Retail Network?
OIG Blog -
April 12, 2010
GAO: U.S. Postal Service:
Strategies and Options to Facilitate Progress
toward Financial Viability
Read
Highlights -
Read Full
Report -
In part the GAO report states:
- Reduce the size of the workforce through retirements and
outsourcing.
- Reduce wage costs, for example, through a two-tiered pay system that
would pay new hires lower wages and “grandfather” employees in the
current system.
- Reduce benefit costs by reducing USPS health and life insurance
contribution rates for active employees to levels comparable to those
paid by other federal agencies.
- Adjust workforce mix, for example, by using more part-time staff.
- Require arbitrators to consider USPS’s financial condition when
making binding arbitration decisions.
- Defer costs by revising funding requirements for retiree health
benefits.
- Remove appropriations language requiring 6-day delivery.
- Much more contained in
Full Report
Postal
Saturday Cut Isn’t ‘Done Deal,’ PRC Chairman
Ruth Goldway tells Bloomberg today
-
GAO report
endorses cuts in U.S. Postal Service
The U.S. Postal Service's current business model
"is not viable," and the mail agency should make
deeper job and wage cuts, hire more part-time
staff and consider outsourcing some operations,
according to a draft of a government audit
acquired by The Washington Post. -
Also see:
GAO:
Postal Service business model not working
- Federal News Radio -
FEHBP
Dodges Risk Pool Bullet
Federal News Radio -
The United
States Postal Service: "What's Wrong With
Plantations?"
The Wattree Chronicle -
April 11, 2010
More On SF
VER
San Francisco District -
Chairman
Towns Announces Hearing to Examine Financial
Viability of the Postal Service
Committee On Oversight and Government Reform -
Keep
Saturday mail delivery
Post and Courier - Also see:
More
seniors than 18- to 34-year-olds favor cutting
Saturday mail -
Grandson
sought in death of 74-year-old
-
Post
Office Extends Hours To 3 A.M. To Attract
Late-Night Bar Crowd
-
April 10, 2010
UPS and
FedEx Pay
by Rick Owens - PEN -
Bellingham
man pleads not guilty to calling 911 to threaten
postal workers -
Postal
employee pleads guilty to theft in federal court
-
Is
Saturday mail delivery still needed?
-
April 09, 2010
San
Francisco District
Voluntary
Early Retirement
Clerks, Mail Handlers, Custodians, Maintenance
Operations Support Clerks and EAS in Select
Offices to Receive Early Out Notices -
Former
Minto, ND postmaster charged with stealing
government funds -
APWU:
Early Retirement Rumors: Again, APWU Says: Don’t
Go! -
Ex-Redding
postal worker indicted by federal grand jury
-
Prison for
Texas Postal Worker
-
USPS to
Test Direct-Mail Product Sampling
-
Postal
Service releases survey findings
-
April 08, 2010
'Abortion
Kit' Flyer Called Mail Fraud
-
An
Imperiled Icon: Postal Service Looking Hard at
Five-Day Delivery Schedule
Politics Daily-
Going
postal, Part II
...most interesting was that President
Eisenhower actually ended Saturday delivery back
in 1957. That lasted exactly one week. People
were so outraged that Congress quickly passed,
and Eisenhower signed, an appropriation of $41
million to keep the Saturday mail going. -
Union says
no Saturday mail may cut 300 WNY postal jobs
-
Postal
service is not forthcoming on delivery issue
Dana J. Klipsch: Pres. SW Indiana Rural Letter
Carriers Assoc. -
CA Mail
Carrier Mauled By Pit Bulls -
The Postal
Journal - New Look and features
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer
Michigan
Carrier: I Stole Mail To Buy Groceries
-
Arrest
made after devices found in Texas mailboxes
-
Netflix, Postal
Service’s Largest Corporate Client, Braces for
End of Saturday Delivery -
Also see: Netflix
and other businesses might suffer if Postal
Service five-day delivery proposal enacted
-
APWU:
Dispute Over 90 Day Notice of Excessing Appealed
to Arbitration -
April 07, 2010
Rep.
Chaffetz: Don't ditch Saturday delivery
Proposal by Rep. Chaffetz: Skip 12 (delivery)
days a year. Wants to keep Saturday delivery and
instead choose 12 additional days a year to halt
delivery. He is the ranking Republican on the
House subcommittee that oversees the service. -
USPS mum
on leads to pipe bomb suspect
-
Prescription narcotics vanish from Sacramento
post office -
Postal
union workers launch lunchtime protest in
Asheville -
Comments
to Washington Times Editorial: Cancel the post
office |
Read
Original Editorial -
Dropping
Saturday delivery may only make U.S. Postal
Service’s problems worse -
APWU:
Postal Management Makes an Important Discovery -
USPS Must Help Generate Mail
-
What is
the Context for 5-day Delivery?
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
More on the USPS Direct Mail
Solicitation
MFSA Response - Postal Affairs Blog -
April 06, 2010
Congress
Is Hurdle to USPS Reforms
National Journal reports that two key
policymakers don’t support the U.S. Postal
Service’s desire to eliminate Saturday mail
delivery. House Financial Services
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jose
Serrano (D-NY) says he’ll be working with USPS
management and the postal unions to avoid
service cuts. And House Oversight and Government
Reform Federal Workforce Subcommittee ranking
member Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) announced that he
too opposes the move. -
Charges
filed against Dearborn Heights letter carrier
-
End to
Saturday mail faces resistance
GovExec.com -
USPS
continues investigation on hiring of registered
sex offender -
OPM Issues
Policy on Electronic Statements of Earnings and
Leave -
Our
opinion: Cut cost of postal labor
PEN Ed: Another one those articles written
without using a brain. -
April 05, 2010
Big
mailers oppose 5-day delivery
Federal Times -
Put out
the fire, then build Postal Service back up
by Ted Keating President, National Association
of Postal Supervisors via Federal Times -
Five-Day
Delivery is Part of the Solution
GovExec.com -
The
Washington Post asks "What do you think? Should
Saturday mail service continue?"
-
April 04, 2010
Postal
unions blast 5-day plan -
Mail
Carrier Responds to Ending Saturday Delivery
-
April 03, 2010
Keep
Saturday mail deliveries -
Not just
Netflix: Other businesses, people, stand to lose
if Saturday mail is cut -
Axing
Saturday delivery gets mixed reaction
-
April 02, 2010
USPS:
Initial public reaction to 5 day delivery
The Postal Service held a total of 14
focus group sessions in New York, Chicago,
Atlanta and Seattle. Six were consumer groups
consisting of low-, medium- and high-income
customers living in center city, suburban and
rural areas. Eight sessions involved small and
medium-sized businesses that each had fewer than
100 employees. The most significant finding from
the focus groups was that regardless of whether
they were consumers or small commercial
organizations, most customers agreed that
elimination of Saturday delivery to street
addresses would have little impact on them. Most
said they would “adapt.” -
Former
postal carrier pleads guilty to obstructing
delivery of mail and stealing medications mailed
to disabled vet -
Neither
rain nor sleet nor overtime ...
Several Huntsville, AL letter carriers logged
overtime Friday evening after local postal
officials discovered a bin of 1,700 pieces that
were supposed to have been delivered earlier
that day. -
AL postal
carrier pleads to theft from the mail
-
April 01, 2010
Chairman
PRC:
Saturday mail cut 'not a done deal'
Ruth Goldway video at Washington Post
The nation's top postal regulator struck back
Thursday at suggestions that the end of Saturday
mail delivery is near, cautioning customers that
delivery cuts won't occur until her panel issues
its opinions. -
Also see
this video and others at C-Span -
Sex
Offender's Mail Route Includes Schools
- Also see:
USPS to
investigate hiring of Greenfield postman who is
a known sex offender -
Injured
post office employees taken off the job
-
Will
Congress Save Saturday Mail… Again?
About.com -
UPS
Charges You $11 To Fix Zip Code Mistake
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