December 19, 2013

OSHA Cites USPS For Safety Violations In Dothan, AL

OSHA has cited the U.S. Postal Service in Dothan for four safety violations carrying $84,000 in proposed penalties following the agency’s inspection begun in July in response to a complaint. Two of the four are repeat violations carrying  $77,000 in penalties.  Comments (Count)

APWU Files National Grievance Challenging USPS On 'Sales Retention Team' Jobs - The union filed a Step 4 dispute in November, challenging management’s decision to establish Sales Retention Team jobs without assigning the positions to the Clerk Craft and without posting the jobs for bid.   Comments (Count)

OIG says USPS could save $19m annually by automating Rural Carriers Timekeeping Process Carriers manually record their workhours on timecards daily and supervisors manually input carrier route time into a spreadsheet and into the Time and Attendance Collection System. Our objectives were to assess the rural delivery mail count and timekeeping processes. Comments (Count)

OIG: Contractors paid over $15m during period of USPS VMF employees getting bribes,kickbacks,lap dances During fiscal years (FY) 2009 through 2013 OIG investigations closed 11 instances of VMF employees with corrupted interests receiving bribes in exchange for steering work, receiving kickbacks for arranging fraudulent payments to contractors, or concealing personal relationships with a supplier to secure contract work. Comments (Count)

Video: The Ed Show- Fight to save the USPS from extinction

Republicans continue their attempts to destroy the backbone of America, the United States Postal Service. Ed Schultz and APWU President Mark Dimondstein discuss  Comments (Count)

Florida Postal customer's dispute with mail carrier leads to no mail for 26 days    A Brooksville homeowner says the post office refused to deliver his mail for more than two weeks. The homeowner called on our a local TV station to end what had turned into a standoff between him and the local postmaster. Comments (Count)

Video: Home Security Cameras Catch Grinches Stealing Packages Off Front Porches

Perhaps he lowest of the low actually struck before the holidays when a man sent a toddler to snatch a package from a porch. Once the little girl delivered the box, the man placed both stolen loot and child in the same stroller before making a getaway.  Comments (Count)

Photo: Postal Workers 365 days a year – Because the mail never stops

Postal Service delivers packages on two Sundays to handle holiday rush

Video: Store named ‘Goin’ Postal’ stirs bad memories in Royal Oak, MI

Canada wants to eliminate my job as a letter carrier. Here's why you should care

Amarillo: 2 Plead Guilty to Failing to Deliver Mail

Mail carrier dumps mail along route

Federal Workers Should Benefit from Flexible Spending Account Changes, Lawmakers Say

FedEx CEO says drones unlikely to make big impact

MO: Water bills were reportedly misplaced by post office

San Francisco Mail carrier robbed

December 18, 2013

USPS Customer Services Manager arrested for robbing post office

The manager knocked on the door of the Washington Heights office after 5 p.m. Tuesday and told two women who were inside closing up that she needed to use the bathroom, cops said. The manager doesn’t work in the office but knew the two employees, who were counting money, police said. Once inside, she pulled out a blue ceramic knife and started to tie up a 60-year-old woman in packaging tape, cops said. The woman, as she was being bound, yelled to her 59-year-old coworker, “Call 911! Call 911!,” cops said. The manager fled after snatching up about $2,000 that the women had been counting at the time, police said. New York Postal Supervisor accused of robbing co-workers at knifepoint  - Two of the victims were tied up and robbed at knifepoint, while a third person was robbed without being bound, one source said.  Comments (Count)

USPS hires woman with criminal record as PMR at North Carolina Post Office

U.S. Postal Service officials refuse to answer questions about a convicted criminal recently hired to oversee an Anson County post office. Officials confirmed Wednesday that the woman was hired as the Postmaster-Relief in November. The move comes less than 10 months after she pleaded guilty to multiple counts of financial card fraud and forced to pay back nearly $3,000 in embezzled funds. 

PR note: Contrary to popular belief people with criminal records are not precluded from getting hired at city, state or federal level jobs.  Comments (Count)

Postal worker catches twin baby boys tossed from a burning third-floor apartment in Bronx - Neighbor Jermaine Shirley, 30, says he was heading to work when he smelled smoke and acted on instinct, rushing around back to catch Israel and Ishmael Codner from their father who dangled them over the fire escape.  Comments (Count)

Michigan Letter Carrier Attacked By Armed Robbers While Delivering Mail at 7:15 pm - Clarification: Police say 7:15pm, news media cite 7:20pm as the time of robbery. The postal worker told police he was walking back to his mail truck when he was approached by a man who then brandished a handgun.  According to police, the gunman forced the worker to the ground and took the vehicle’s keys so he could open the rear door to the mail truck  San Francisco Mail carrier robbed  Comments (Count)

APWU: Using Postal Drivers Can Save Money, Secure Jobs

A recent test in Louisville KY shows that the USPS can save money and preserve postal jobs by combining truck routes currently run by contractors with routes run by Postal Vehicle Service employees. APWU President Mark Dimondstein will appear on The Ed Show on MSNBC tonight, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m. EST  Comments (Count)

Counterfeit check ring stole $6 million in checks from USPS mail processing center - The joint investigation, led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Section, along with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, revealed an alleged theft of more than $6 million of business checks from a U.S. Postal Service processing and distribution center in Philadelphia  Comments (Count)

Harland Clarke Holdings Corp. to Acquire Valassis

In 2012 the Postal Service entered into a negotiated service agreement (NSA) with Valassis    Comments (Count)

Thanks to a group of dedicated postal workers, Santa replies to Morrisville letter writers

Video: Canada Post blames tablets for mail decline

Cutting hours at post offices in rural Wisconsin communities will continue for another year

Bronx money order thieves nabbed in Rockland

Louisiana  man convicted of robbing, assaulting USPS contract driver

Video: USPS Investigating Dallas Branch PO after hundreds of Christmas cards missing

Relocation, relocation, relocation: The new M.O. for closing post offices

The Incompetent Bell Gardens Postal Sorting Office is Losing L.A.'s Mail 

Video: Postal deliveries pile up in O’Fallon, Mo.

Postal Service Price Hikes? Return to Sender

Virginia letter carrier pleads guilty to stealing gift cards, drugs
Modesto post office murals shipped to Virginia

Indiana Postal Worker Charged With Theft

December 09, 2013

NALC: Budget negotiators reject Saturday delivery cut, unfairly target future federal employees - “Thanks to the thousands of dedicated letter carriers, citizens and small-business owners who raised their voices in opposition to this misguided proposal to slash delivery service,” Rolando said, “Congress will not unwisely weaken the Postal Service or undermine our last-mile delivery network. Budget Deal Asks New Feds to Contribute More to Pensions - New federal employees and military retirees would have to contribute more to their pensions under the bipartisan deal the congressional budget conference committee unveiled Tuesday evening.  NALC: Budget Talks Threaten USPS Jobs and Pay Right now, Congress is considering a budget deal that could both threaten the future of the U.S. Postal Service by ending Saturday delivery and cutting letter carriers’ pay by increasing pension contributions APWU: Budget Negotiators Threaten Postal, Federal Pay, Benefits | NAPS Statement on Budget Committee Proposals Cutting Federal Retirement Benefits | Congress prepares to stick it to federal workers again | Feds' Tension Over Possible Pension Changes Escalates  Comments (Count)

New Mail-Sorting Process Causing Unnecessary Delays in Ketchikan, AK

In a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) said the decision to change how Ketchikan mail is sorted was made several months ago with apparently no public notice. “It is my understanding that in theory the USPS planned to have Ketchikan mail sent to Juneau in the evening, sorted, and then returned the next morning for delivery,” said Sen. Begich. “Unfortunately, it does not appear that those responsible for the decision had an adequate understanding of the weather in Southeast Alaska, which can cause flight delays and cancellations during much of the year, nor did they take into account the possibility of mechanical breakdowns of aircraft used by the USPS contractor  Comments (Count)

Postal carrier ejected from truck after collision with 13-year-old driver

A postal carrier was injured Monday when she was thrown from her truck during a collision with a pick-up driven by a 13-year-old boy, police said  Comments (Count)

NALC announces creation of network to address safety issues

This nationwide network will identify the cause of these issues in each office and address them based on the facts and needs of each office. While there are common causes of some problems, the causes of safety issues often differ from office to office, so the solutions will differ as well.  Comments (Count)

USPS says impact of recession necessitates above-inflation price rise

The US Postal Service has insisted it should be able to break its annual price cap to combat the effects of the “Great Recession” on its mail volumes. The world’s largest postal service is currently seeking regulatory approval for a 6.5% increase to its retail stamp prices for First Class Mail, and a 5.9% increase for its business mail rates. The rate rise, which is well about the rate of inflation on which its annual price cap is based, aims to raise an additional $2bn in revenue to help the Postal Service cope with its current financial crisis. USPS has said it will not need to implement the “exigent” rate increase if Congress passes comprehensive postal reform laws by the end of this month. Last month major USPS customers called on regulators to reject the exigent rate rise, stating that the primary cause of mail volume losses in the United States has been the diversion of communications to the Internet. USPS Deputy PMG Ron Stroman responds to Post and Parcel article Comments (Count)

Mail carriers struggle to make their appointed rounds

FORT WORTH — Cathy Pepper is fed up with mail that is being delivered late — sometimes after dark — or that is sometimes placed in the wrong mailbox. Pepper and her neighbors are concerned that mail carriers can’t read house numbers or the addresses on packages. A letter first goes to the Keller post office then goes to the North Texas Mail Processing Center in Coppell .Then, the letter goes to a secondary processing center in Fort Worth before it is sent back to Keller, where it is sorted again and sent out with a carrier to be delivered, Bolen said. When someone is used to getting their mail at 10 or 11 in the morning, it is being delivered later in the afternoon,” he said. Comments (Count)

Book: The Street Life of a Mail Lady Unfolds In ‘Postal Blue Image’

Mail Carriers Keep Working Through Winter Weather

They'll go postal in Brooklyn if post offices close

Postal Service Woes Threaten To Limit ‘Operation Santa’ Effort

Video: Animal attacks on mail carriers prompt more curbside service in Wichita, KS

Tip leads to recovery of suspected stolen mail

Amazon, Postal Service May Want to Think About a Merger

Postal News site caught stealing news from female website owner