POSTAL NEWS FROM PEN
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2010
January 31, 2010
Trackstick
Mini - GPS Tracker
PEN reader Don Cheney tells us that GPS tracking
was recently installed in LLV's at his office -
the Trackstick description says "The
detachable weatherproof and shock resistant
case, magnetic mount, and a small 3 1/2” figure
make the Trackstick Mini ideal for covert
deployment and use in harsh conditions."
-
NAPS
Alerts Congress to Possible Pay Abuse by USPS -
Taking
Control of the Board of Governors
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
Postal
union: Use pension money to keep Whippany center
open -
January 30, 2010
PRC Chair
Goldway: Five-Day Mail Delivery Awaiting
Advisory Opinion -
Federal
Eye: 162 sites may still close
-
Sheriff's
action not federal offense, postal inspector
says -
PostCom:
Obama nominates two to USPS Board of Governors
-
Paul
Steven Miller -
January 29, 2010
Postal
worker faces forgery counts
An Indiana postal employee was arrested Thursday
after federal investigators said she forged
hospital excuse slips to justify paid sick days
she received. -
Cops: DVDs,
caviar seized from mail carrier's home
Original story >
Carrier
charged in $123K mail thefts -
APWU: USPS Trims
Closure List to 162
Also see:
Current
List of Stations/Branches Under Review as of
January 29, 2010 - Station/Branch
Optimization/Consolidation (SBOC) Initiative
- And
Postal
Service Updates Consolidation Initiative
-
Springfield Area Local Reaches Mail Transport
Equipment Service Center (MTESC) Agreement
-
The
National League of Postmasters are taking their
working condition issues to Congress
-
Intelligent Snail: USPS Finally Addressing
Crossed-Out Barcodes - Dead
Tree Edition -
Former
U.S. Postal Service worker to appear in court
for allegedly destroying mail
-
January 28, 2010
NY Carrier
charged in $123,000+ mail thefts
-
Greenwood,
IN postal clerk charged with misappropriation of
funds -
Somersworth postal branch manager on
administrative leave -
PostCom
tells us - You might want to take a look at the
video posted by
FedNewsTonight on the sole source
contracts issued by Robert Bernstock. -
Deal close
for Haitian postman to accept donations
-
January 27, 2010
Taking
Advantage of Regulated Rates
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer
It's cheaper for Canadians to cross the border
and use USPS -
U.S.
Postal Inspectors to Aid Haitian Postal System
Recovery -
$2,700 in
donations to Haitian mail carrier still in limbo
The U.S. Postal Service Tuesday rebuffed an
attempt by Bucks County Congressman Patrick
Murphy to get a Haitian-born mailman a special
exception so he could accept more than $2,700 in
donations raised by his customers to help his
family on the earthquake devastated island. -
Bill Would
Grant Postal Service $2 Billion to Electrify
20,000 Delivery Vehicles -
TE carrier
charged in connection with mail dumping incident
-
January 26, 2010
Could the
Budget Kill Efforts to Save the Postal Service?
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
Why USPS
needs to step it up -
Salvation
Hidden in Plain Sight
Presort -
Seattle
council talks about junk mail, but what for?
-
Mailman
barred from accepting funds for trip to Haiti
- Also see
USPS
blocks gift to Haitian-born postman
-
January 25, 2010
Postal
Service offers reward for info leading to mailer
of 'Black Death' letters from Idaho
-
Regulating
the USPS into Financial Stability
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
Former
Parish postal worker gets probation for stealing
greeting card cash -
USPS and
sustainability -
NALC: OIG
bolsters case for prefunding reform
-
See NALC
Fact Sheet (PDF 3.62mb) -
U.S.P.S.
Senior Financial Managers’ Code of Ethics
-
OIG:
Policies Were Not Followed For High-Risk
Financial Transactions, Cash, Stamp, and Money
Order Accountabilities, CPU, and Master Trust
Accounts -
The Direct
Mail Market: Structure and Success Factors
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
January 24, 2010
Prosecutor: Postal Worker Stole Veterans' Drugs
Postal officials examined employee assignment
records and attendance before determining that
Schwomeyer, who drives a tractor-trailer for
USPS, was working the distribution route on the
likely dates the drugs were stolen. -
Texas
postal inquiry doesn't satisfy its customers
-
January 23, 2010
NALC wins
arbitration case on use of DOIS to schedule
letter carriers
- scanned PDF file -
Fear, Anger
and Health Care
NAPUS Newsletter (PDF) -
Majority
of Union Members Now Work for the Government
-
Former
postal employee faces 156 charges in
investigation -
January 22, 2010
TUNNE v.
PADUCAH POLICE DEPT
Plaintiff files complaint against Paducah, KY
police and the United States Postal
Service/Paducah Annex (USPS); Beth Cluck and
Russell McCuiston, USPS employees; and Andrew
Zeman, a U.S. Postal Inspector. -
Postal
workers win a round
An arbitrator is to decide the fate of a Logan
postal facility that now is threatened with
closing, a federal judge has ruled. The court
order doesn't ensure the mail-transfer plant
will stay open, but it offers hope for the
facility's 550 employees, an attorney for the
workers' union said Thursday. -
Viagra to
the Rescue? Postal Regulations Are Taking the
Life Out of Tabloid Magazines
Dead Tree Edition -
Englewood
residents rally around post office and its mural
-
January 21, 2010
APWU
regarding:
OIG Says
USPS Overpaid Federal Government $75 Billion
-
NC Postal
Employee Charged With Theft Of Veterans
Prescription - Includes Video
-
Postmaster
General Appoints Award-Winning Poet and
Designers - Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
Changes Announced -
Bristol,
TN man indicted for attempted murder in relation
to Wytheville, VA P.O. standoff
-
Update:
Inspector General continues probe at Somersworth
post office -
Pensions:
Another Government Rip-off of USPS
Dead Tree Edition - The U.S. Postal Service
isn't a money-losing operation, just a victim of
unfair pension accounting by the federal
government, a
report
from USPS's Inspector General indicated today. -
PRC states
(PDF) "The Postal Service states that it
“remain[s] highly uncertain regarding the
availability of cash in an amount that is
sufficient to fund our required $5.5 billion
Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund
payment on September 30, 2010.” Also see
NOTICE OF
PUBLIC FORUM AND OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT
-
Postal
Worker Going to Prison - ordered to pay $156,462
in restitution to USPS -
Higher
Health Premiums: Just Wait!
If you think the most recent FEHBP open season
was a nightmare of high premiums and bad
choices, just wait a couple of years! -
The U.S.
Postal Service’s Financial Condition: Overview
and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service -
January 20, 2010
New OIG
Study Estimates USPS Has Been Overcharged for
the CSRS Pension Fund by $75 Billion
A study just released by the U.S. Postal
Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG)
shows that the current system of funding the
Postal Service’s Civil Service Retirement System
pension responsibility is inequitable and has
resulted in the Postal Service overpaying $75
billion to the pension fund. -
Obama
display at post office draws protests
-
Courier,
Express, and Postal Observer
says "It is time that someone should examine the
impact on the Postal Service of not being able
to rightsize its network, management and labor
using the same employment rules that apply in
the private sector." -
Manager of
Somersworth post office escorted from building
The manager of the city's Postal Service branch,
who was recently found to have altered his
employees' time sheets, was escorted out of the
building by a representative of the Office of
the Inspector General Tuesday afternoon,
according to the president of the state postal
union. -
Enshrining
a Twentieth Century Postal Service
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
Taxing
Your Health Premiums
Federal News Radio -
January 19, 2010
USPS Can’t
Rationalize ‘Network Rationalization’
APWU Web News -
Dept. of
Labor Recovers $1.8 Million from USPS Contractor
-
In this
new year, one battle on two fronts
(PDF)
NALC President -
OIG: For
Better or For Worse
Has the workplace environment in the Postal
Service gotten better or worse over the last 10
years and why? -
Postal
carrier killed in Inlet shooting
Georgetown Times, SC -
USPS
Report on PRC Rate and Service Inquiries for
December 2009 (PDF) -
January 18, 2010
Current
PRC Chairperson Once Advocated Privatization of
the Postal Service -
OIG, USPIS
LAUNCH WORKERS’ COMP FRAUD INITIATIVE
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the
U.S. Postal Inspection Service have launched a
joint year-long initiative to combat workers’
compensation fraud. -
U.S.
Postal Service Delivering Green, Looking At
Alternate Energy Delivery Systems
-
Senators
Collins and McCaskill Calls On OIG To Review
USPS Contracting Policies -
January 17, 2010
Congress -
let USPS run its own business
Editorial: Observer Publishing Company -
January 16, 2010
What’s
wrong with Post Office
James Bertolone Pres. APWU Local 215 -
Postal
Rate Cap Finishes Year in the Red
Dead Tree Edition -
Logan
postal battle will move to arbitration
-
Sen.
Rockefeller Urges USPS to Keep All Wheeling P&DC
Employees -
January 15, 2010
NALC and
Organized Labor Succeed In Obtaining Critical
Improvements To Congressional Health Reform Bill
(PDF) - Also see:
White
House, unions reach deal on taxing insurance
coverage - Also see
The
Cadillac plan tax compromise -
Federal
Eye: Postal Service contracts questioned
-
Not a
Smooth Move: Postal Service Hides
Change-of-Address Forms -
Dead Tree Edition -
Postal
workers say paper dust is destroying their
health -
Postal
Service should stop abetting tax evasion
-
Panama
City, FL Postal Workers Seek Answers in Public
Meeting -
January 14, 2010
Sad End:
Texas Search Group Finds Body of Missing Postal
Employee In Creek, Family Furious
-
Baltimore
Mail Carrier Sentenced to 3 Years Incarceration
for Stealing Over $100,000 in Treasury Checks
-
Mail
litters Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers, FL
-
PRC Orders
USPS to Terminate Two Nonpostal Services and
Clarifies Guidelines for the Sale of Licensed
and Nonlicensed CDs and DVDs
- Also from the PRC see
PRC
Extends Initial Public Comment Period to
February 16 in its Investigation of Suspended
Post Offices -
Leaving
the Mailstream One Customer at a Time
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
U.S.
Postal Service Investigating Missing Worker
-
Postal
Service Inefficiency Drives Up Periodicals Costs
Dead Tree Edition -
Court
Reporter Says Postal Inspector Bullied Her,
Looking for Dirt on Criminal Court Judges
-
January 13, 2010
APWU: Can
Parcels Save the Postal Service?
Burrus Update -
PRC Chair
Wants To Hear From You -
Man Pleads
Guilty To Bribing Postal Official
When interviewed by FBI special agents Ashvin
Shah, a Postal Service Architect/Engineer,
denied being involved in bribery while serving
as a Postal Service Architect/Engineer, however,
he committed suicide within 12 hours of being
interviewed. -
Where Is
The $250 I Am Supposed to Get as a Federal
Retiree?
Postal
worker sentenced to 8 months for drug
distribution -
APWU: USPS
Medical Units Phase-Out Begins
-
Police are
looking for a 49-year-old postal worker missing
since Thursday -
Former
Georgia carrier admits to stealing letters after
sting -
Nine-Million-Member Union Coalition Calls For
Defeat Of Cadillac Tax -
January 12, 2010
What a
Surprise - USPS General counsel finds USPS
executive Robert Bernstock broke no contracting
violations -
Read Original Story
-
Postal
Inspector calls 911 after shooting wife, then
kills himself -
New York
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli calls for
investigation into lost pension checks
-
Amarillo.com reports that
Emma Crain, an Amarillo, TX postal employee, was
sentenced to six months in federal prison after
pleading guilty to misappropriation by a postal
employee. Crain was sentenced to six months in
prison and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Crain
was charged with stealing $15,059.93 while
working as a postal employee in Amarillo,
according to the federal indictment. -
Firms Hold
Fast to Snail Mail Marketing
Wall Street Journal -
January 11, 2010
PRC report
values one-day-per-week Postal Service delivery
cut in billions -
Changing
Culture and Contracting Violations
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
Did top
postal exec break contracting rules?
The U.S. Postal Service's top marketing
executive directed more than $1.3 million in
sole-source contracts to former business
associates since July 2008, according to
documents obtained by Federal Times. Robert
Bernstock, president of the Postal Service's
Mailing and Shipping Services division, approved
$600,000 to consultant Lynne Alvarez, $412,500
to consultant Richard Sorota, and $324,975 to
consultant Kimberly Wolfson, all of whom
Bernstock worked with in the private sector
prior to joining the agency in June 2008.
Read
Previous Story on Bernstock -
2 postal
carriers held up on job -
OIG: Top
10 Postal Stories of 2009 -
“Do not
mail” registry? Seattle City Council vote
tomorrow - Also see
Should
City Council Kill Junk Mail? -
Former
Postmaster sentenced to prison
-
January 10, 2010
Glitch
leaves 20,000-plus rural mail carriers without
paycheck -
January 09, 2010
At
funeral, postal workers deliver special tribute
-
Lima
postal ‘study’ doesn’t add up
-
Thousands
of New York state pension checks remain lost in
mail -
AFL-CIO
Stays Out Of Fight to Oust Miami Mayor - APWU
does not -
January 08, 2010
Woman
sentenced in plot to bomb 8 Minnesota post
offices -
NY
Comptroller Rips Postal Service For Missing
Checks -
January 07, 2010
Mail
Carrier Rated as One of The Top 10 Worst Jobs
for 2010
Due to a very poor hiring outlook, its physical
demands, and its moderately high levels of
stress, the job of mail carrier was rated
tenth-worst in the CareerCast.com survey. -
Would A
Lottery Bail Out the Postal Service?
Dead Tree Edition -
Postal
carrier charged with failure to yield in fatal
accident -
Mail
carrier charged with assault on elderly neighbor
-
Ex-postal
worker admits bins theft, gets probation
-
January 06, 2010
PAY
PROBLEM FOR 4,370 RURAL CARRIERS
PEN News -
Mail
safeguards on Capitol Hill don't extend to
politicians' district offices
Ever since a 2001 anthrax scare, all
mail sent to congressional offices on Capitol
Hill is zapped with radiation to kill spores and
other potentially lethal bugs before delivery.
No such precaution is in place for letters
addressed to lawmakers' district and state
offices, U.S. Postal Inspection Service
spokesman Peter Rendina confirmed Tuesday. -
APWU: Representing Members in Small
Offices: Size Not a Factor – Nor Is Location -
Re-regulating the Postal Service?
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
Postal
workers irked by slow response to defibrillator
request -
Postal
workers: Leave our mail alone
-
550 postal
workers begin transfer process
-
Going
postal as New York pension checks lost in mail
- Also see:
New York
Pension Checks Are in the Mail...Really
-
January 05, 2010
APWU: We
Want to Hear From You
Postal employees in small offices
whose hours have been reduced while managerial
hours have been increased are being asked to
complete and return a union-sponsored
questionnaire [PDF]
on the subject. Work-hours for part-time
flexible clerks at many small offices have been
slashed, APWU President William Burrus noted in
a
column in the
January/February issue of The American Postal
Worker magazine. -
Former
postal workers sentenced for stealing gift cards
worth nearly $25,000
Charged were: James Rosciano III, 49,
an emergency management coordinator and Alyse
Mordoh, 56, a confidential secretary to the
district manager of the U.S. Postal Service in
Central New Jersey. Mordoh was responsible for
buying, tracking and handing out gift cards
provided to postal employees. Between May 2005
and December 2007 they stole 562 gift cards
valued from $20 to $100 that provided employees
with clothing, restaurant meals and books. -
OIG Blog:
Pricing and Price Caps -
The Postal Accountability and
Enhancement Act: Overview and Issues for Congress (PDF)
Congressional Research Service -
Negotiating Changes in Retiree
Health Payments
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
January 04, 2010
Postal
boss moonlights for cash from corporations
The financially troubled U.S. Postal
Service pays Robert F. Bernstock a $232,500
salary to oversee its shipping and mailing
division, but a little-known hiring provision
allows the executive to earn even more money
from outside corporate sources. -
Also see:
Paying
Postal Executives
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer
Also see PEN's Opinion:
Postal
Executive Pay
-
January 03, 2010
A Bad Move
for Small Mailers: Postal Expert Questions Move
Update Surcharge
Dead Tree Edition -
January 02, 2010
The Postal
Service and the President Obama
Courier, Express, and Postal Observer -
U.S.
Postal Inspection Service watching mail for
illegal drugs -
January 01, 2010
Police
capture woman in stolen mail truck after chase
from Portland to Washington -
Former Postal Employee Sentenced to
12 Years in Prison for Selling Crack Cocaine
-
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