November 27, 2006 - Post Office braces for crush of holiday mail

“On Monday you can start seeing the increase of mail,” Rudy Garcia, officer in charge of the Del Rio post office said. “You can see your Christmas cards start coming through and you can see the volume pick up. Once we get around the 8th, 9th and 10th of December it’s in full force.” It peaks generally the last Monday before Christmas, this year on Dec. 18. Nationally the Postal Service expects to handle an estimated 280 million cards and letters that day, triple the normal volume. A couple of days later, the 20th or 21st, the seasonal siege on the postal service peaks and begins to taper off a little. Christmas gift traffic ready to fly |  Heavy reading arrives in the mail | USPS to Hold Press Conference Nov. 28 to Kickoff Holiday Season |

November 25, 2006 - Postal jobs won't ship out

Rejection of proposal leaves 280 jobs safe - The local U.S. Postal Service distribution center will not move to Mobile, a U.S. Postal Service official said Friday. The decision means 280 area postal jobs will stay put, said Joseph Breckenridge, spokesman for the Postal Service in Northwest Florida. "We do not have any intention of consolidating the operation in Pensacola with Mobile," said Joseph Breckenridge, spokesman for the Postal Service in Northwest Florida.   |

November 25, 2006 - Postal Handbooks Revised to Reflect Changes of Workplace Investigations to USPS OIG - Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) and Administrative Support Manual (ASM) Changes From the November 23, 2006 Postal Bulletin - Effective immediately, Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) 665.14, Reporting Violations, is revised to reflect the requirement to report alleged violations of Postal Service laws and employee misconduct, including theft of mail, to the Office of Inspector General. Archive: APWU Questions Postal Inspection Service Transition to USPS OIG    |

November 25, 2006 -Tax dollars do support Postal Service
 The USPS borrows money from the Federal Financing Bank (a tax-funded account "loaning" our tax dollars to federal agencies). A federal account by any other name is still our tax dollars. I joined the old postal service in 1962, fresh out of the Marines, and retired in 1985. I was an officer with the postal workers' union and negotiated contracts and even lobbied in Washington. I am quite familiar with postal operations. But, don't fall for the fodder for public consumption that tax dollars do not benefit the USPS. They do and always will as long as it is a federal monopoly.   |

November 25, 2006 - Postal employees in Maine celebrate motorcycle stamps - Postal employees at the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Hampden celebrated the new American Motorcycles stamps by riding their bikes to work and taking a photo of the bikes with an enlargement of the new stamps in the foreground.   |

November 23, 2006 - 83-Year-Old Postal Worker Carries On
‘Retire’ not in vocabulary after 50 years of service - Harry Hoover has delivered mail along the same route since he began working for the Postal Service in 1962. He has more than a year of unused sick leave and, as a gift Wednesday, eight hours of administrative leave, but he doesn’t plan to take time off soon, he said.“I plan to work until I no longer care if customers’ mail gets delivered,” he said. After the ceremony, Hoover left to complete his 518-stop route, just like always.   |

November 23, 2006 - Postal Nurse Charged With Defrauding USPS-

A Postal contract nurse was indicted on November 14, 2006 of cheating the U.S. Postal Service out of approximately $64,000 with fake medical invoices. Janet Ortega, 44, of Daly City, California was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts of felony mail fraud.   |

November 22, 2006 - USPS and Four Postal Unions Agree to Extend Contract Negotiations - The Postal Service and its four largest unions have agreed to extend contract negotiations in a continued effort to reach negotiated settlements. Contract negotiations have been extended until midnight Nov. 30 with the NALC, NRLCA and NPMHU.  APWU Negotiations will resume Monday, Nov. 27- APWU: Contract Talks to Resume After Thanksgiving Weekend -"Because we are attempting to break new ground, the final pieces of an agreement pose difficult challenges," he said. "Despite intense discussions today, agreement on all of the issues is still beyond our grasp."  NALC: "As long as there is any reasonable hope for a negotiated settlement," President William Young remarked, "we will do everything in our power to achieve one." NPMHU Contract Update #15 - “With renewed energy, and perhaps even with a few new ideas, an overall deal is still possible,” said President Hegarty.  “It therefore only makes sense to continue negotiations until the parties reach an agreement or reach an actual impasse.”    |

November 22, 2006 - Post Office Problems Still Linger After Carrier Route Adjustments - (CT) Many of the citizens objected to the new routes because their mail was getting delivered late. According to William F. Cournoyer, manager for post office operations, one of the problems with the old system was that many of the postal carriers were collecting too much overtime. But when asked how much overtime workers are collecting now, Cournoyer responded with "about the same." Many did not understand this procedure. Ed Margnelli, owner of the Day Club, was one of them. Margenlli asked Cournoyer, "If you have too much overtime, why not hire more workers?" Cournoyer said they are looking into the possibility of hiring more carriers when the routes are fixed, but they have labor unions to contend with.  |

November 22, 2006 - Dog owner charged with assault of postman - A South Toledo man was charged yesterday with trying to hit a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier with his car after he became upset that the carrier pepper-sprayed his dog when the canine tried to bite him, authorities said.  |

November 22, 2006 - Mail Services opens Washington mail processing facility - Mail Services Inc. has expanded its international mail processing network in response to increased volume and customer demand. MSI, a Baltimore-based international mailing company, said a new Washington/Dulles processing facility will handle publications, parcels, direct mail and corporate mail destined for Canada and locations worldwide beginning Jan. 2.

November 22, 2006 - USPS 2006 Preliminary Annual Financial Report | Five-Year Postal Employees Stats At a Glance  |

November 21, 2006 - USPS and Four Postal Unions Agree to Extend Contract Negotiations - The Postal Service and its four largest unions have agreed to extend contract negotiations to 3 p.m. today in hopes of reaching negotiated settlements. The current contracts expired at midnight last night with the National Association of Letter Carriers, American Postal Workers Union, National Rural Letter Carrier’s Association and National Postal Mail Handlers Union.  |

November 21, 2006 - APWU: As Deadline Passes, Parties Agree to Continue Talks
APWU President William Burrus has told union members that progress toward an agreement had been made, but that “important issues remain that have not been finalized.” The parties will continue discussions on Nov. 21. “The terms of the new contract are too important to rush agreement because of an artificial deadline,” he said.  |

November 21, 2006 - Post office reputation not so bad, judge says

November 21, 2006

Grandmother burns rubber, minds mail
New passport rules could keep post offices busy

APWU Wins Major Maintenance Arbitration Case

UPS ups rates 4.9 percent

November 20, 2006

November 19, 2006 - Burrus: Contract Agreement 'Possible'

In a telephone message on the eve of the expiration of the contract, APWU President William Burrus told union members that although final agreement is beyond reach at this time, "I am convinced that agreement is possible." Negotiations are continuing, he said, with health benefits and wages dominating the discussions.    |

November 19, 2006 - Big Win For APWU in MS-47 Maintenance Case - "Custodial Jobs Protected"

 Arbitrator Shyam Das rejected the USPS attempts to eliminate custodial work through the ill conceived ‘Budget Worksheet’. He ruled that, ” it is appropriate that the Postal Service be directed to rescind the 2001 MS-47, to reinstate the 1983 MS-47, and to reinstate or prepare staffing packages as soon as practicable. As the Postal Service has stressed, the building inventories still are in use and the performance standards have not been changed. Prior staffing documents based on frequencies determined by the appropriate level of management under the 1983 MS-47 presumably still exists, and can be revised under that handbook where needed. Whether a remedy is appropriate for the intervening period since the implementation of the 2001 MS-47, and, if so what it should be, is a matter remanded to the parties for further discussion.  - MS-47-Housekeeping-Postal-Facilities-1983.pdf |

November 19, 2006 - Postal Worker Dock Death Linked to Vermont Accident
"A month before the Nov. 8 loading dock accident at a Springfield mail processing facility claimed the life of postal worker Robert J. Scanlon, another postal employee was nearly killed in an identical accident at a mail facility in White River Junction, Vt., union officials said. Union representatives at each facility said if management had listened to the repeated safety warnings about removing "glad-hand locks" used on trailers at the docks, each accident could have been prevented. The locks prevent truck drivers from removing a trailer before it is loaded. Once loading is complete, the lock is removed by a worker called an "expediter" who walks between the trailer and the truck cab, which is then put in reverse toward the trailer."    Postal Workers Union and Regional Managers Differ Over Safety |

November 19, 2006 -  Columnist: Postal Service 'Stupidly' Bans ZIP Code Books  -"A spokesman said the postal service would prefer customers to use the www.usps.com Web site to obtain ZIP codes. After that, they would prefer customers call the ASK-USPS toll-free number at (800) 275-8777. Finally, postal service customers may purchase a computer disk for $50, which includes a year of "free" monthly updates of ZIP codes. Lena Mitchell: "How can something be free when you paid $50 for it? I think that explanation is a cover for the fact that the marketing department is trying to use zip code information as a new profit center. Fifty dollars, indeed, for a CD we all know cost only a few pennies to produce." |

November 18, 2006 - Mail Handler Contract Update: Economic Proposals Submitted

To frame the negotiations during the final days, the NPMHU has set forth its on-the-record economic demands. These proposals include: • A new National Agreement to cover six years, from November 21, 2006 through November 20, 2012. • The continuation of general wage increases during each and every year of the contract. • The continuation of cost-of-living adjustments during each and every year of the contract. • The maintenance of all current benefits and benefit programs, including the current formula for determining employee contributions for health insurance. • The implementation of one-level pay upgrades for all Level 4 and Level 5 mail handlers, and other adjustments to the current pay scales. • The implementation of increases in night shift differential and Sunday premium pay as previously outlined and circulated. • The implementation of improvements in the clothing program and increases in the dollar amounts provided as clothing allowances.  |

November 18, 2006 - APWU Union Rep Speaks Out On Post Office Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Incident - A postal union representative is speaking out after 39 workers were sent to the hospital Nov. 8 after inhaling carbon monoxide fumes while they worked that day. Gregg Libbey, union representative for the American Postal Workers Union Local 1376, says the explanation for the fumes, given by post office management and spokespersons to fire, police and rescue personnel, as well as the media, was not accurate.  |

November 18, 2006  - Emery Agrees to Pay $10 Million for Submitting Fraudulent Billings to USPS - The United States Government has reached a $10,000,000 settlement with former USPS contractor Emery Worldwide Airlines concerning its responsibility for the acts of Emery’s employees in allegedly submitting knowingly inflated billings to the USPS for the handling of Priority Mail at mail processing facilities during a multi-year contract,  Emery and the United States have agreed to settle this matter arising under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729, et seq., after lengthy negotiations. The United States Government discovered evidence that indicated that Emery employees inflated billings to the Government for services by, among other things, misclassifying the size of mail, double-weighing mail and inaccurately weighing mail   |

November 18, 2006 -  USPS OIG Investigation on Discarded Mail at Houston Post Office

Acting on a call to the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General Hotline, alleging employee misconduct at the Willow Place Station of the Houston, Texas Post Office, OIG Special Agents initiated an investigation on November 1, 2006. The OIG was responding to the report of instances of intentional discarding and delaying of mail by postal personnel. The investigation revealed that a number of letter carriers were discarding deliverable mail as Undeliverable Bulk Business Mail (UBBM). >  |

November 18, 2006-  Final Delivery for Married Mail Carriers
An era came to a close on Friday in Burlington County, New Jersey. A husband and wife team of mail carriers made its last delivery. 81-year-old George Mick and his 75-year-old wife Jeanette are partners in life and, for the last four decades, partners on the job at the Chatsworth Post Office Happily married for 52 years, the Micks have spent 44 of those years working part-time sorting and delivering mail. They finally decided to retire and Friday was their last day.