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Select News from Postalblog
New CSRS, FERS
Retirement System Goes Online in 2008
NALC, NRLCA Presidents Debunk
PMG Letter Justifying Contracting Out Mail Delivery
PMG: USPS Strongly
Opposes the 'Mail Delivery and Protection Act'
Photo: Postal
Window Clerk and A Very Strange Mail Package
OSHA partnership helps reduce
ergonomic injuries at USPS
USPS Customer
Satisfaction Questionnaire Website Launched
Senator Collins Introduces Postal Resolution Reaffirming Protections
of Sealed Mail
NAPUS: Is Mail Service at Risk?
USPS Awards Contract to Protect
Employee Personnel Records
NALC Young: It’s time to stop
the ‘run amok’ OIG
Postal Service Awards $874.6
Million Contract for Flat Sequencing System
Unofficial Transcript of NALC Rap Session
Recent EEOC
Decisions Involving Postal Employees
Postal Employees Know Your Rights
Postal Worker Fired After Second Violation of USPS Zero Tolerance
Policy
Postal Employees Should Think
Twice Before Appealing Case to MSPB
Kenneth Jones
vs. US Postal Service,
illustrates why postal employees should think twice before
appealing their discipline to the Merit Systems Protection
Board.
New Book:
Beware of Cat: And Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier
Postal Worker Fired After Second
Violation of USPS Zero Tolerance Policy
Bush Plan Would Cut Tax-Free
Employer-Provided Health Insurance
MSPB Overturns Postal Worker’s Removal for $45,000 Stamp Stock
Shortage
Postage Rate Hike in 2008?
Postal Service: ‘Intelligent
Mail’ Fully Operational By 2009
Video:
Signed, Sealed and Delivered- Labor Struggle in the
Post Office
NPMHU Sues USPS, APWU To Overturn RI-399 Arbitration Award
USPS: New Postal
Law-The Financial Impact
Can Bush Open Mail Without
Warrant?
Former
Postal Worker Charged in FEHB Scheme to Defraud USPS and NALC
Un-Merry
Christmas
Postal Service Terminates Disabled Iraq War Veteran for Unacceptable
Attendance
Letter
to the Editor
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Mismanagement at Royal Oak
Carrier Unit
FedEx and DOT at Stalemate in
Dispute Over Disclosure of Postal Contract Data
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USPS, APWU Reach $5.3 Million
Agreement in Anthrax Travel Grievance
Postal
Worker Fired for Refusing to Work on DBCS Machine
Postal Nurse Charged With Defrauding USPS
Five-Year Postal Employees Stats At a Glance
Big Win For APWU in MS-47 Maintenance Case - "Custodial Jobs
Protected"
Emery Agrees to Pay $10 Million
for Submitting Fraudulent Billings to USPS
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USPS to Sell Segway Scooters to General Public
Former
Postmaster jailed for stealing over $50k
Postal Worker Sues USPS – Denied Permission to Work Off-the-Clock?
USPS OIG Paper:
Postal Officers Travel Expense Guidelines
USPS Mail Processing Facility Faces $44,250 in Fines for Safety
Violations
USPS
and GE Sign New Six-Year $100M Contract for Semi-Trailers
Man Pleads Guilty in Kickback Scheme to Pay Postal OWCP Specialist
APWU Initiates
Dispute Over Changes to USPS Computer Security Rules
Postal Worker Injured in Iraq Wins Job Back Under USERRA
USPS to Conduct Search for Sex
Offenders on Postal Payroll
Postal Supervisor Fired for Rewarding Employees With Non-Worked
Overtime Pay
Reader
Raises Concern Over USPS Revised Emergency Salary Authorization
Policy
USPS
OIG Audit Report: Pasadena P & DC Consolidation
MSPB Upholds Removal of Postal Worker Videotaped Abusing FMLA
USPS to remove stamp machines
by 2010
Postal Service Plans for More
Than $1 Billion in Cost Reductions
Carrier
Fired for Gambling Signed Last Chance Agreement
Mystery Shopper Evaluations Should Not Be Used to Discipline
Window Clerks -
National
Dispute Initiated Over USPS’ Improper Use of Casuals
APWU: Olympia, Tacoma and Everett Mail May Move to Seattle
Postal Service Lists 139 Facilities
As Potential Candidates for Consolidation
Postal Worker Fired for Violating USPS Zero Tolerance Policy
Court Backs USPS in Stamp Trademark
Lawsuit
Letter
- Postal Workers Injured on Duty Should Know Their Rights
USPS
Migrating Personnel Info to PostalPEOPLE System
Driving Postal Vehicle Without
Seatbelt May Get You Fired
USPS
Dragnet Continues to Sweep Up Injured Workers
Supreme Court Revives Postal Worker's Discrimination Suit
Number of Active Postal Employees
by Age, Years of Service (PDF)
Trenton APWU Excessing Update, Custodian Exam for Clerks
Federal Court Overturns Letter Carrier Removal for Breach
of Last Chance Agreement
Postal Window
Clerks Protect Your Jobs
USPS releases
April 2006 Financial and Operating Statements
North Carolina
Postmaster Reassigned After Assault Complaint
Postal Mail
Handlers in Talks to Stay With AFL-CIO
NIOSH Reports on DBCS at Denver
Postal Facility
USPS Proposing to Contract Out
Postal Vehicle Service
Federal Court Affirms USPS FMLA Return-To-Work Policy
Whoa…An Interesting
Supreme Court Case Involving USPS
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July 31, 2007-
Mail carrier helps police nab
suspects
Two Detroit men believed responsible for at least 50 suburban
home invasions over the past five months face charges after being arrested with
the help of mail carrier. Both men were placed under surveillance after a U.S.
Postal carrier -- who is also a recent graduate of the Lakes Area Citizens
Police Academy -- alerted police of "suspicious persons" driving around an
apartment complex in a maroon sedan.
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Editorial: Privatization, consolidation, contracting =
DESTRUCTION
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Deprince is an inspiration to all
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Bottle Rockets Probable Cause Of
Postal Fire
Police: Reported post office
shooting a hoax
Mail delivery in one Waco
neighborhood could soon be changing
July 30, 2007-
Postal Employees
Cry Foul Over Alleged USPS Privacy Violations
Lance McDermott, a mechanic for mail-processing
equipment, said in the U.S. District Court complaint that he has
been inundated with credit card, cell phone and life insurance
offers in the past two years — but that’s not what most troubles
him. In some instances, it appears the Postal Service provided
the companies with eight-digit employee identification numbers,
used for sensitive tasks such as accessing health care records,
the complaint said. McDermott's lawyers filed a proposed class action lawsuit
against the Postal Service on behalf of all employees, claiming
the Federal government agency has violated terms of the Privacy
Act and distributed contact information of its employees to
marketing partners.
Archive: Editorial :USPS Expands on Disclosures Permitted under
Privacy Act
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PRC Commissioner Goldway discusses changes in the
USPS
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Audio
Bee, wasp stings also a danger for postal carriers
Gallery show at Twist comes courtesy of USPS
Postal sorting stays in Jackson (TN)
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July 28, 2007-
NALC: Tentative Agreement Being
Readied For Rank-and-File Ratification Vote
It is
anticipated that the proposed contract will be ready for the
official Ballot Committee (see separate article) to mail out
to all active members in good standing by early August. The
precise date of the mailing will be determined by the Ballot
Committee. If ratified, the contract would provide a lump
sum COLA payment of $686 for July 2006–May 2007, followed
by a COLA for the two-month period of May–July 2007 which
currently stands at $38 annually, and then nine additional
COLAs over the five-year term of the contract.
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Oakland Postal Employee
Gets Prison for Assaulting Postal Police Officers
Court documents say that on Nov.
21 at the Oakland Processing and Distribution Center, Hercules
pushed and swore at his supervisor, who used a handheld radio
to call for help. Three Postal Police officers responded,
and Hercules punched two of them in their faces before they
could subdue him.
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Time to ‘band’
together in Slope
Letter Carriers accused of
littering streets with rubber bands. What is the postal
service’s official policy towards litter? It’s a fair question
to ask now that Park Slope’s streets are being blanketed by
dozens — hundreds, thousands! — of thick, brown rubber bands
that are carelessly dropped every day by letter carriers.
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Opinion: New
13-Ounce postal rule make no sense
"Since
the 1990s there has been a rule in place that said you
couldn’t mail a package that weighed more than 16 ounces
if you used stamps unless you took it to a Post Office and
handed it to a clerk. The new rule modifies that to
bring the size down to 13 ounces. The weight rule
alone flies in the face of rational thinking. If you could
make a 16-ounce bomb, who is to say you couldn’t make a
12-ounce one? It might be slightly less powerful, but a
bomb is still a bomb. Some local postal officials,
speaking off the record, question the logic too. Sounds
like the change is a veiled attempt to drive customers to
the post office where they offer to sell you everything
from coffee cups to tote bags."
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Highway Contract
Driver pleads not guilty to destroying Indian
artifacts
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Court records show it was a HCR driver and not a letter
carrier
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Postal
Employees Honored With Community Award
Sorting mail one piece at a time
Culp Creek post office gets canceled
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July 27, 2007-
USPS Seeking Info to Contract
Out Mail Distribution and Transportation?
Is USPS Planning to
Outsource P&DCs and BMCs -
"The U.S. Postal Service is conducting market research to
identify interested organizations with the capability to implement
a time-definite mail distribution and transportation network.
Network components consist of (1) Operations, (2) Network
Design, (3) Facilities, (4) Equipment, (5) Information Technology,
(6) Personnel, (7) Network Management, and (8) Security.
A synopsis of the network is described in this document. The
synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and
does not in any way constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP)."
(PostCom
)
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GAO Report: USPS
Progress Made in Implementing Mail Processing Realignment
Efforts, but Better Integration and Performance Measurement
Still Needed
- GAO made recommendations to
USPS to enhance the planning, accountability, and public communications
related to its realignment efforts and to improve its delivery
performance measures.
The Postal
Service: Planning for the 21st Century
Testimony from committee meeting focusing on the U.S. Postal
Service's mail delivery standards and the effectiveness of
its mail processing and distribution operations. Mailer group
pushing for increased compensation for senior management:
"The Postal Service’s Board of Governors must encourage creation
of new executive compensation systems that reflect senior
management’s ability to meet those standards. These systems
must offer greater compensation where consistent, on-time
delivery is met. The PAEA has given the Postal Service some
additional and much-needed latitude in the way it compensates
its managers. We strongly encourage the Board of Governors
to use the results of any new performance measurement system
in determining who will receive the additional compensation
the PAEA makes possible."
eNAPUS:
Congressional Postal Hearings – No Sparks, But Small Fire
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Postal Service Using Private
Contractors in Las Vegas
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Postal Service Employee in
Court for Taking Iroquois Artifacts
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USPS Releases Photos Of Mauled
Milpitas Letter Carrier
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Meal rewards
Romeo mail carriers' accident-free streak
Small Ore.
town losing its post office
Disability
group puts post office on notice
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July 26, 2007-
Postal investigation sought in St. Joseph, MO
A U.S. Congressman said he's
going to call on the postmaster general to investigate possible
problems in St. Joseph's post offices. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves,
a Republican from Tarkio, Mo., said Tuesday that his office
has received complaints about mail being destroyed and delayed
and he hasn't obtained satisfactory answers But sources inside
the local post offices said that Carl Norwood, the St. Joseph
post master, ordered clerks to dump the mail because of an
impending inspection sometime before July 15. Those carts
weren't checked for first-class mail and were sent out to
be recycled, local sources said. What may be happening is
infighting between some postal employees and postal administrators.
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Too Sick To Work at One Agency
But Not A Second One
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Massachusetts postal worker
charged in theft of $13,000
QC postal carriers deliver thank-yous to
returnees from war zone
Postal Service Tell Public
Dog Attacks Are Costly
Workaholic
climbed to postmaster post
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July 25, 2007-
Letter Carrier Faked Dog Bite
Claim for Profit, Investigators Say
-"A
Freedom letter carrier was arrested Friday following a month-long
investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector
General into allegations that she tried to extort hundreds
of dollars from one of her customers. Letter carrier Carolyn
Maielua, 49, allegedly told the customer she'd been bitten
by the customer's dog earlier this summer, but that she wouldn't
report the attack if the customer paid her $700, according
to Dan Mihalko, spokesman for the Inspector General's office
The customer paid about $100, but when she didn't come up
with the rest of the money, Maielua withheld her mail and
the customer reported the problem to the Freedom Post Office,
Mihalko said."
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Senate Subcommittee Hearing Today
on Implementing Postal Reform
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Federal
Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services,
and International Security will hold a hearing titled “Views
from Postal Workforce on Implementing Postal Reform” today
at 3:00 p.m. The hearing will be the second this year at which
the subcommittee has taken testimony on the implementation
of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (P.L. 109-435),
which was signed into law in December.
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Postal Workers Legal Woes
Mailman In
Uniform Arrested In Drug Sting
- An Indianapolis letter carrier faces felony narcotics
charges after police said he tried to buy crack cocaine from
undercover officers while he wore his U.S. Postal Service
uniform.
Ex- Postal worker indicted for stealing
stamps - Wendy Watkins was
charged with embezzling about $707.95 worth of funds and stamp
stock .
New Mexico postmaster admits thefts.
Postmaster
Pearson Cummings pleaded guilty to stealing $16,000 from the
register and writing out false money orders to himself.
Ex-North Carolina Postmaster gets fine, probation for $42,000
Theft
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Fire Destroys
Longtime Post Office
Interest Arbitrator Selected for NRLCA Contract Hearings
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Mail carrier
dies after slide into ditch
Contract Route Driver Indicted
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Waco postal
distribution center will not close, officials say
Editorial:
Waco postal jobs -- saved!
USPS is there to serve at Oshkosh
Postal
Carrier Honored for Bravery
Rural Carriers Head Up Cut the Corn Campaign
Postal Service
delays Georgia utility bills
St. Charles bulk deliveries draw complaints
Fumes force evacuation of Omaha post office
Postal Logistics
is the first to earn USPS OK to co-palletize
Explosion halts mail
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July 24, 2007-
USPS steps up after 5 weeks of no mail for residents
"Through rain, sleet or snow, residents expect to get their
mail. However, mailboxes at La Villita Las Colinas haven't
seen any deliveries. In fact, one homeowner, Misty Broome,
said she hasn't received one piece of mail since she and her
husband moved into the neighborhood five weeks ago. "I felt
like I'll be a reasonable person, maybe a week, maybe two
weeks," she said. "But at the two-week point, I really started
taking it seriously."
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Delaware Rural
Carriers Union Officer Admits Stealing $59,000
For four years, the secretary-treasurer
of the Delaware Rural Letter Carriers' Association diverted
money to himself -- including checks as small at $12 -- to
steal almost $59,000 from his union, according to court documents.
On Monday, Michael A. Pingitore, 47, of Newark, admitted six
counts of embezzlement of union funds. Assistant U.S. Attorney
Robert F. Kravetz said Pingitore set up a secret bank account
that he controlled in the union's name to collect reimbursement
for business travel by other union officials, money from rebates
due to union members, and some union fees and dues in dozens
of transactions, some more than $6,000.
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Postal Truck Stolen On Milwaukee's
Northwest Side
Post
office embezzler receives probation
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New 13-Ounce Mail Rule to Take
Effect July 30
Post office
goes green: Three trucks run on biofuel
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July 23, 2007-
Machine augments
staffed post office counter
When the U.S. Postal Service
changed the opening time at its staffed service counter from
8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in February, Postmaster Vincent Daniels
had no inkling that it would cause such a controversy among
residents and township officials. Mayor Jason J. Varano said
even though the post office is open 24 hours so that customers
can use its automated postal center, personal service is what
customers seem to miss. Instead of working at the counter,
clerks are now sorting mail for the carriers, allowing all
mail delivery to be completed by 4:30 p.m., instead of 6 or
6:30 p.m.
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USPS streamlines sorting to keep up with growth
One of
the seven mail sorting machines at the Hesperia Post Office.
The highly automated procedure sorts mail by carrier route.
Since mail currently takes longer to sort, some carriers have
to return to pick up and deliver mail later in the day. Once
processing is moved down to Redlands, Cannone said that could
change. “Our whole intent is to get carriers on the street
earlier, so they complete their routes by 5 p.m.”
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Op/Ed: Service and
efficiency in postal service
The National Association
of Letter Carriers, like the American Postal Workers Union
-- and the Postal Service itself -- has a storied history.
That, in and of itself, is no reason to keep union carriers
in place, as opposed to the contract workers that the Postal
Service has employed in recent years to cut costs, even though
it does speak to a tradition of service (perhaps not as efficient
as it once was).
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Job Opening: USPS Recruiter
Pardeeville
postal carrier Hary gets state honor
Summer swelters, but mail won't fail
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July 22, 2007-
Photo: 1940s Postal Vehicle
Letter: Contract Delivery Must
Be limited
Post office tries to speed
sorting
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July 21, 2007-
Ask President
Burrus
Question: How does the
contract the National Association of Letter Carriers recently
negotiated compare to the APWU Collective Bargaining Agreement?
The following chart details the wage increases negotiated
by APWU and NALC. While the agreements differ in achieving
the objectives, the results are essentially comparable.
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Burrus Tells Congress: Compel USPS to Bargain Over Subcontracting
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If Congress wants to limit USPS subcontracting,
lawmakers should enact legislation compelling the Postal Service
to bargain over the issue, rather than intervening in specific
contracting-out disputes. In informal remarks to the subcommittee,
NALC President Bill Young endorsed Burrus’ message. “Last
time we testified before this committee, it seemed we were
in total disagreement,” he said. “Today we are in total agreement.”
NAPUS (PDF)
- USPS BOG Vice-Chair Alan Kessler implied
that the contracting-out discussions could have been colored
by the composition of the Board of Governors – 5 Republican
and 4 Democratic members.
Union seeks mandatory bargaining over
mail delivery contracting
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Postal Worker Survives Gunshot to Head
(Indiana) Danelle Trier says
on June 30th, while delivering the mail on her normal route,
something came in her open car window and hit her in the head.
Trier said she was shocked when they announced to her she
had been shot. Blood ran down her neck and that's when she
went to the hospital. They revealed a .22 caliber bullet that
had been lodged behind her ear. Police say a 17-year old male
was shooting at squirrels around the time of the shooting.
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APWU Lawsuit
Over USPS Consolidation Plans Dismissed
In a recent ruling, a U.S. District
Court concluded that
the complaint was rendered “moot” by a subsequent
advisory opinion issued by the Postal Regulatory Commission
(PRC). The December 2006 opinion found that the goals of the
END program were “consistent with the policies and criteria
of the Postal Reorganization Act,” but concluded that the
“evidentiary record does not provide assurance that the proposed
realignment program, as currently envisaged, will meet its
goals.”
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Ex-Postal worker
gets probation in guitar thefts
New Harry Potter book to set
postal record, UN agency says
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July 20, 2007-
Washington
Watch from Linns Stamps
Clerk Miller "Formerly Known
as USPS BOG Chairman" - Because of his repeated calls
for privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, James Miller III,
the chairman of the Postal Service board of governors, has
not been regarded as a friend of the nation’s large postal
unions. Perhaps in an attempt to show his appreciation
for postal workers, Miller showed up at the board’s May 2
meeting sporting a light blue Postal Service postal worker
shirt. He said it was a great shirt, and he was honored
to be working for the same organization, but he needed a name
tag. He asked Postmaster General John
E. “Jack” Potter if he could use his influence to get him
a name tag. Without pausing, Potter shot
back, “When you join the union, we’ll give you a badge.” With
that Miller announced that he would be known as “Clerk Miller.”
New USPS Lobbyist- Marie Therese Dominguez hired
as vice president of government relations. In her new position,
Dominguez, a former Clinton administration appointee, will
be in charge of bolstering the Postal Service’s image on Capitol
Hill. Dominguez comes from FieldWorks, a Democratic consulting
firm. One of the firm’s partners is Deborah Willhite, who
once held the top government relations job at Postal Service
headquarters. Richardson new consumer advocate for PRC.
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USPS, APWU Reach Agreement on
Contract Postal Units
The issue
was whether the creation of a Contract Postal Unit (CPU) violates
the National Agreement if a contract is let to a contractor
who does not own the property or facility where the CPU is
being established. As of May 17, 2007 , branded products and
services of competitors such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL may not
be sold at any newly-established CPU. Exceptions to this exclusivity
requirement may be approved by Headquarters Retail Access
Channels, but this is likely to occur only in isolated areas
where the CPU is quite literally the only place in town at
which a consumer can process package deliveries.
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USPS to Sell Prepaid Cards at
Post Offices
"The USPS desires to sell General
Purpose Stored Value Card at approximately 15,000 POS ONE
locations nationwide. The sales of General Purpose Stored
Value Cards at USPS retail sites will be operated as an alliance
between the USPS and a commercial partner."
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Nation's oldest postmaster wants to be known for being herself
Now that the national hoopla
has died down, Verna Naylor, 91, can get back to just being
herself and doing her job.In May, it was announced that Naylor
is the oldest postmaster in the United States and the second
oldest postal employee in the country, second only to a 92-year-old
man in California. She also has the distinction of being the
oldest female postal employee.
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Photo: Antique Mail Cart
USPS to meet with residents on post office
Street’s Mail
Service Cut Due To Terrorizing Pit Bull
Harry Potter Flying Into Stores, Homes
PhotoStamps of the Year Contest Winners
Mail should be flat rate
Customers mourn kind, helpful mailman
Nice job,
Postal Guy (or Gal)
Post
Office Robbed At Gunpoint
Cost increases
aside, Postal Service still bargain
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July 19, 2007-
Inquiring Minds Want to Know: What is the Postal Service Contracting
Out?
Today,
the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service (of
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) will
conduct a hearing on USPS' decision to consider all new routes
for contract delivery. Witnesses will include Rep. Albio Sires
(NJ), Alan Kessler (BOG Vice Chairman), PMG Potter, David
Williams (Inspector General, USPS) and union presidents ,
Burrus, Hegarty, Pitts and Young.
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Postal carrier
shot in Illinois
A gunman shot a mailman Wednesday
afternoon in Calumet City, and the federal government is offering
a $25,000 reward for information leading to arrest and conviction.
The mail carrier was treated for a bullet wound to the leg
after the gunman tried to rob him at 4 p.m.
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Photo: Semi-Automated Postal
Robotic Delivery Vehicle
"SARA
is a semi-automated postal deliver robotic vehicle. The concept
is a proposal for a robotic vehicle for delivery of letters
and flats in residential areas. We concluded that many tasks
of the postal delivery can and should be automated to gain
savings in fuel and man hours."
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Postal Bulletin July 19 Issue -
SOP for “Notice Left” Mail
Post office is the best deal when sending your bags ahead
Man reindicted in crash that hurt postal
worker
It's a red-letter
day for sender as mail from 1981 returns home
Mail mix-up in Dana Point wears out welcome
Postal Employee
Arrested for Assaulting Cop
Cooling a postal hot seat in Monticello
Postal Service to offer Flight 93 postmark
Rattlesnake mailed to ex-boss
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July 18, 2007-
Is The Postal Service Suffering?
The lines are longer at the post
office and some people are getting their mail later in the
day. It's all part of the new U.S. Postal Service. But is
customer service suffering? There are fewer people behind
the counter, and fewer people delivering the mail. And the
post office is beginning to hear complaints from customers.
Jim Bertolone heads up the American Postal Workers Union,
which represents mail clerks. "It appears to us that the service
has gotten so bad, both in delivering the mail and how long
people wait in line, the Postal Service is in fact encouraging
people to buy their postage online, or get it in their drugstore.
We don't want you to come into the building unless you're
going to spend a lot of money."
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Postman who vanished
is charged in federal court
John R. Jordan, the Knightstown letter carrier who disappeared
for several days before he was found in Columbus, has been
charged in federal court. Jordan was charged with "unlawfully
detaining and delaying mail entrusted to him and which was
to be delivered by him as a carrier of the Postal Service,"
said an announcement from U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks on Tuesday.
Runaway mail carrier put on home detention
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Peoria Woman Going Postal Over Mail Pick Up
A home-bound woman in Peoria
is going a little postal because her outgoing mail isn't always
picked up. Sharon Roberts tells us, "the post office informed
me if there is no mail delivered to your house, the carrier
does not have to pick up your outgoing mail. It is a courtesy--not
part of their job.
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House Subcommittee to Hold Hearing
on USPS Contracting
Cost increases aside, Postal Service still bargain
Police
seek tips in postal station robbery
Postmaster General Discusses ‘Vote By Mail’
at Conference
Publish and Perish?
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July 17, 2007-
NALC Asks to
Hold Congressional Action on Contracting Out (PDF) - NALC
Bulletin -
A
National Joint Committee will seek to address the issue of
Contract Delivery Service for new deliveries during a six-month
moratorium on outsourcing in offices where city carriers work.
As a result, Young said in a message to e-Activists that he
would ask Congress to pause for a few months before acting
on a legislative ban on contracting out. Young emphasized,
however, that if NALC does not get a satisfactory contractual
solution to this problem, he will again call on e-Activists
and other members to help win a legislative prohibition.
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Ex-Houston
Postal Workers Accused of Mail Misdeeds
A federal grand jury last week
issued felony indictments against Sebert Ramey, 21, of Spring;
Michelle Thordsen, 42, of Splendora; and Michael Kull, 42,
of Cypress. Ramey, a former temporary letter carrier is charged
with delay and destruction of U.S. mail. Thordsen, a former
rural letter carrier is charged with theft of mail and possession
of stolen mail. Kull, a former temporary letter carrier
is charged with opening a package he was to deliver, with
intent to steal the prescription narcotics it contained.
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Prosecutors Consider Charges Against Resurfaced
Mailman
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Mike Causey-
Dental Benefits: Are You Smiling Yet?
Mail carrier honored for quick
action in house fire
Periodical rate hike worries
small mailers
Suspicious Packages Inundate
Authorities
Editorial: Don't cut Waco
postal service
Edwards campaign changes mail
protocol after suspicious packages
Cops save teen stuck
in mailbox
July 16, 2007-
Check's in
mail, but not in box
People unhappy
with their contract carriers- Sun Valley East in suburban
Boynton Beach is one of at least 10 communities in Palm Beach
County where the Postal Service uses subcontracted employees
to work the routes. The workers are hired by contractors that
bid on delivery routes. For several years now, tensions have
risen in the county over the use of these part-time workers.
Residents like Anthony Broskowski say the worst problems occurred
two years ago. He remembers seeing carriers with mail strewn
across their car dashboards.
Note: As
one PR reader pointed out the NALC contract proposal calls
for a halt to contracting out at 3,000 city delivery installations--not
at all post office with delivery operations.
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Delivery's rural, free, at present anyway
Postal
service studying changes to local delivery
Rural post
offices more than mail
New York: Postal Center temporarily
evacuated after fire
Going postal may not pay when seeking stamps
Tighter Standards
for Addresses Prompt New Look at Mailing Practices
Customers
slow to warm up to automated postal centers
Lake Geneva
mail boat delivers mail
Post office move may prove wrong
July 15, 2007-
An opportunity lost--in the mail
Woman crashes car into post office
July 14, 2007-
Mail carrier missing 3 days found safe
Letter
Carrier Arrested on Weapons Charge - John Jordan, 48,
Knightstown, apparently left his route Wednesday of his own
accord, said Felicia George, an inspector with the U.S. Postal
Service. Jordan apparently put a kayak into a stream on the
south side of Greenfield and floated to southern Indiana,
Greenfield Police Chief Clarke Mercer said. Columbus is about
60 miles south of Greenfield. A customer at a Columbus Laundromat
called police and reported seeing a gun in man's travel bag,
Mercer said. Columbus police picked up Jordan and arrested
him on a weapons charge. Jordan's motives for disappearing
-- apparently without informing his wife or two teenage daughters
-- remained unclear, though mounting monetary woes may have
contributed.
Mailman found with red scooter and $5,000 cash
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Postman found with tent
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Former postal employee faces fraud charges
Margaret M. Cio,
49, is accused of submitting fraudulent Claims for Reimbursement
for Expenditures on Official Business to the U.S. Postal Service.
Besides theft of public money, the indictment also charges
Cio with making and presenting false, fictitious and fraudulent
claims for reimbursement to the U.S. Postal Service. Authorities
say Cio sought and received reimbursement for expenses she
claimed to have incurred in connection with work-related travel.
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Postal News Tidbits July 14,
2007
Postal Service finds site in Opa-locka
July 13, 2007-
Without A Trace: No Clues in
Greenfield, IN Letter Carrier's Disappearance
The 20-year Postal Service veteran
who disappeared from his mail delivery route this week had
just returned from a family vacation with his wife and two
teenage daughters. These details emerged Thursday, but little
else surfaced to aid investigators trying to determine what
happened to John Jordan, 48, who did not return to the Greenfield
post office at the end of his shift Wednesday. Jordan delivered
mail to the first residence on his route Wednesday about 9
a.m., said Kathy Evans, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service. The rest of the mail for Jordan's route
sat undelivered at the end of the day in his mail truck. Search
dogs tracked Jordan's scent to a nearby cemetery but that's
where the trail ended.
Blood found on missing mail carrier's truck
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Volunteers helping in postal
carrier search|
Police Search For Missing Mailman
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Mailing plan outlook: What's in store for the fall?
Squirrel With
Sweet Tooth Terrorizing Alaska Post Office
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July 12, 2007-
Tentative Agreement Reached On City
Letter Carriers Contract
The agreement, retroactive to
November 21, 2006, provides general wage increases of 8.85
percent over five years along with regular cost-of-living
adjustments (COLAs) and a single lump-sum COLA payment of
$686 for the period between July 2006 and May 2007.The proposed
contract includes new limits on contracting out of city letter
carrier work in more than 3,000 city delivery installations
and establishes a six-month moratorium on contracting out
city carrier delivery services elsewhere across the country.
The tentative 2006-2011 National Agreement also abolishes
the use of low-wage temporary employees known as “casuals”
and replaces them with bargaining unit “transitional employees
The agreement provides a 1.4 percent wage increase retroactive
to November 25, 2006; and wage increases of 1.8 percent on
November 24, 2007; 1.9 percent on November 22, 2008; 1.9 percent
on November 21, 2009; and 1.85 percent on November 20, 2010.
Tentative Agreement Highlights
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Police Search
For Missing Mailman
Authorities are asking for help
to find a mail carrier who disappeared Wednesday morning.
Officials said John Jordan, 48, started his route on Wednesday
but disappeared. Jordan's postal van was found a few blocks
from the Hancock County courthouse. Jordan made his first
morning deliveries, but the rest of the mail is still inside
the truck as it gets processed for evidence. Jordan
is a 20-year veteran of the Post Office in Greenfield, Indiana.
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Worker bot sorts packages
"...a
parcel sorting system that employs agile robot workers capable
of quickly classifying and separating small items such as
mail packages
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Sen. Harkin Secures Postal Service
Provision in Appropriations Bill
Contract Mail carrier arrested for DUI on route
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Video: NALC
Picket Held July 1, 2007 in Paterson, NJ
Postal
Delivery Suspended to Lubbock Home Following Dog Attack
Letter Carrier Biking to Deliver a Different
Message
Mitt Romney mails USPS-compatible DVDS
Sam's Unusual
Mailbox Pictures
DHL, union
at odds over firing
UK: Postal Strike? What Strike?
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July 11, 2007-
Death of the Mailman?
"There
is talk of reducing the number of days the mail is delivered
from six to four or even one. There are suggestions of eliminating
home delivery in favor of customer pickup at central locations.
There is discussion of outsourcing some delivery areas to
private companies. Call me an alarmist, but none of this sounds
good. Any blow to the U.S. Postal Service is a blow to the
fiber of America. I know it's a changing world. I know the
cost of everything is going up. But if we can't save the U.S.
Postal Service, we've got big problems."
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USPS Deployment
of Automated Postal Centers Put On Hold
Postal Service
is delaying the second stage of installing automated postal
centers in lobbies.
Spokesman Gerry McKiernan confirmed the delay Wednesday, saying
the agency is studying why some of its already installed automated
centers did not perform up to expectations. A
June report from the agency's
inspector general
said
that as many as half of the installed centers were not meeting
minimum expectations.
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EEOC Annual
Report on U.S. Postal Service Work Force
While the United States Postal
Service constituted 28.5% of the work force, it accounted
for 43.7% of all EEO counselings, 36.9% of all complaints
filed, 41.2% of all completed investigations and 40.7% of
all complaints closed in FY 2006. The top 3 bases of alleged
discrimination most often raised were: (1) Reprisal; (2) Disability
(Physical); and (3) Age.
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Humane Society Sues Postal
Service for Mailing Animal Fighting
Materials -
"The
Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit in federal
court in the District of Columbia challenging the United States
Postal Service's refusal to implement portions of a new federal
law that prohibits the mailing of animal fighting paraphernalia,
including trade magazines that advertise fighting animals,
knives, and other implements used in illegal dogfights and
cockfights."
Roosters Delivered to Post Office Tip Police to Cockfighting
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Video: USPS Infomercial
Heat-related illness sends
three postal workers to the hospital
McHugh bill
would stop mail-order cigarettes
Postmaster says no local plans for contract mail service
USPS offers hold mail command
via the Web
UPS works to
hobble its rival, FedEx
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July 10, 2007-
Union wary
of Postal Service’s plans for KCK center
Plandome Heights Mail
Carrier will
be missed
Mailers react to $29M House cut
NPR: Postal Rates Increase for Magazines
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July 09, 2007-
Study Shows
Mail Carriers Need Sun Protection
A San Diego State University
professor wants to change the Post Office uniform. It's just
one of her suggestions after a four-year study on letter carriers
and sun protection. Doctor Joni Mayer began
Project Sunwise with
$2 million-plus grant from the National Cancer Institute.
The problem was obvious. Mail carriers are in the sun a lot,
but they hardly use hats or sunscreen. The study provided
sunscreen and comfortable, wide-brimmed hats to thousands
of mail carriers in Southern California. Health officials
gave sun damage talks while carriers sorted mail. Researchers
found that carriers were twice as likely to use sun protection
when sunscreen and comfortable hats were provided for them.
Mayer says Project Sunwise left a lasting impression with
San Diego mail carriers. Mayer is now in talks with the U.S.
Postal Service to expand the program nationwide.
Postal
Carriers Promote Healthy Habit
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OPM modifies rules for figuring
certain employees' retirement benefits
The Office of Personnel
Management is changing the way it calculates service toward
retirement for certain employees on workers' compensation,
agency officials announced last week. According to an OPM
benefits administration letter, federal employees on workers'
compensation who hold a full-time appointment but are able
to work only part-time now will be credited for full-time
service. To the extent that agencies can provide their own
records on those who have recently retired or are in the process
of retiring, it would be retroactive," said OPM spokesman
Mike Orenstein.
see archive on Hatch vs OPM
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Ex-Postal Exec
Enters Guilty Plea
"A former supervisor
of more than 75 post offices in New Jersey yesterday admitted
steering contracts to private businesses in return for cash
and other favors and also to getting an employee to do work
at his home. John F. Balliro, 51, of Hamburg entered his plea
to a count of conspiracy to defraud before U.S. District Judge
Stanley Chesler in Newark, also noting he agreed to cooperate
in the government's ongoing investigation of the case. He
told Chesler he also steered contracts for cleaning and maintaining
Postal Service vehicles to an unidentified car wash and repair
business between 1998 and 2003. In court papers, the work
was valued at $600,000 or more, and the beneficiary was listed
as operating in Newton. Yesterday's plea brings to three the
number of people charged so far in a federal probe of Postal
Service corruption in North Jersey. "Former
postmaster admits guilt
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Postal
carriers save time since sorting moved to Albuquerque
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Alabama: Douglas post office
robbed
On new routes,
mail delivery is passing to private contractors
Paris postal
employees receive regional honor rewarding productivity
APWU: Updated Joint Contract Interpretation Manual (JCIM)
Available
Retail associate stamps out crime
Letter writers
use pen and paper to say it best
Postal rates hurt good will
via books
Repositionable
notes extended for additional year
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July 08, 2007-
Postal
changes aim to thin lines
In a move that departs from typical
postal procedure, local union leaders and postal management
audited their own facilities over the past several months,
leading to a major realignment of job duties that they believe
will add more window clerks and eventually shorten lines.
Local postal leaders said they have not been allowed to replace
employees lost over the past few years to relocation or retirement,
leaving large gaps in operations. The current realignment
aims to fix this staffing shortage by combining and shifting
job duties.
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Postal van collides with truck
in Mesa rollover
Post office
orders 'green' packages
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July 07, 2007-
APWU alleges
mail moved to Traverse violates AMP
According to local American Postal
Workers Union President John Marcotte, the USPS moved “flats”
from the Gaylord location the day after announcing the Area
Mail Processing (AMP) study was concluded. “The flats have
nothing to do with the AMP study. That study had to do with
cost-saving benefits of taking (single piece first-class)
mail collection to Traverse City rather than Gaylord,” said
Jim Mruk, USPS manager of Public Affairs and Communications.
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Postal Delivery Should Not Be Outsourced
Tension and contention for postal world increases
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They Want a New Post Office. A Fortress, Not So Much.
Stolen Mail
Raises Fears of Stolen Identities
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July 06, 2007-
What's Next For the U. S. Postal Service
"Could mail one day go
the way of many pizza chains, where customers can pick it
up or pay extra for home delivery? Will the mail still arrive
six days a week? Will the government still be involved? The
Postal Service is facing big questions as it struggles to
cope with rising costs and major changes in the way people
communicate." For example,
Gene Del Polito suggested the possibility of requiring centralized
delivery and allowing the consumer pay something extra to
get actual delivery service to the door.
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Please, Please, Mr. Postman,
Come Back- And He Did
(New Jersey) When Bob Fay, a
postal worker, seriously injured his knee, he was forced to
go on disability for five months. But the hiatus also offered
him a rare opportunity: the chance to see — and hear about
— what life on his mail route in this Essex County suburb
would be like without him. David Stamm said that he had seen
so many replacement mail carriers, some not wearing uniforms,
while Mr. Fay was gone, that he thought there had been a postal
strike.
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Postmaster admits stealing $70,000
(New York) "There was something foul in 12202. (That's Berlin,
not Denmark) A former Rensselaer County postmaster routinely
monkeyed with sales records to hide her theft of nearly $70,000
from the U.S. Postal Service, according to court papers. Karen
Dobert-Morine, 51, of Averill Park, the former Berlin postmaster,
has admitted to dispatching thousands of dollars of money
orders to herself."
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eNAPUS Bulletin (PDF)
The Social
Security Check is in the Mail
Gone postal: Health concerns
close Boneville Post Office
July 05, 2007-
USPS Seeks Vendors for Postal Package Processing System
"In concert with its Strategic
Transformation Plan 2006-2010, the United States Postal Service
(USPS) is evaluating the augmentation and potential replacement
of its existing fleet of legacy sorting machines with new
equipment that will improve operational efficiency to reduce
costs associated with package processing. This new equipment
will be developed under the program name Postal Package Processing
System, commonly referred to as “3P”. This prototype system
will be assembled and tested at a postal facility located
in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area."
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Jail Time for Postal Carriers
"Suffolk
County District Attorney Daniel Conley this week announced
the sentences of four U.S. Postal Service workers arrested
for selling cocaine and marijuana, at times from their post
office vehicles. Michael Sheehan, 43, and Stanley Giordano,
43, of Revere and Newburyport respectively, were sentenced
to two years on cocaine charges. Michael Micciche, 39, of
Revere, was sentenced to two years - sentence suspended for
three years- on marijuana charges. Raymond Bell, 37, of Chelsea,
was sentenced to one year of probation on marijuana charges.
The four postal workers were arrested last fall, as part of
Operation Pony Express.
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Mike Causey:
Borrowing From Your TSP Nest Egg
ZIP-PITY HOO-HA: New Yorkers
unhappy over loss of their glitzy ZIP code
Postal Bulletin 7/05/07 Issue
15-minute Tip: Should You Put
That Check In The Mail
Postal Worker Finds Girl Abducted
From Sandbox
Mail delivery
won’t change
Sellwood postal worker’s hobby
preserves history through photographs
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July 04, 2007-
Postal Supervisor’s Retaliation
Lawsuit Dismissed
Recently, a federal court in
Richmond, VA dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by postal employee
Harold Moss. In the suit, Moss claimed his postal superiors
retaliated against him after he complained about certain mail
counts, reports and delivery practices. Some of the allegations
include: 1) directing him to falsify mail counts and reports;(2)
ordering him to discipline employees when discipline was not
warranted.
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Video: NALC
Branch #709: Reno Picket Against Contracting Out
Random Acts of Kindness: "Angels in the post office"
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Postal Service trying to track down missing Social Security
checks
Schumer joins fight against fortress-like post office
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Grassley: Decision Should Have
'Rational Basis'
Mail competition
Community Saves Post Office
Hoods in Mailmen's Clothing -That's
no mailman. That's some hoodlum in a smoke-spewing car, driving
down the wrong side of the street -- a new nonpostal employee
shoving letters into your mailbox.
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July 03, 2007-
PRC Commissioner
Goldway Urges FTC to Watch USPS (PDF)
Ruth Goldway : "I am writing
to urge the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to fully assert
their broad statutory responsibilities to oversee the activities
of the United States Postal Service (USPS) given to it by
the Postal Authorization and Enhancement Act (PAEA). Under
this reform law, the Postal Service is encouraged to act more
like a private corporation. It can accumulate a surplus and
raise pay levels for management. The FTC must use its regulatory
expertise and authority to review and, if appropriate, call
into question actions of the Postal Service as the Service
markets competitive products that may create unfair competition
with private competitors."
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APWU: DHL Express
Found Guilty of Unfair Labor Practices
Labor Department
Study Affirms That FMLA ‘Is Working as Intended’
Esquivel's
Mr. Fix-it for the post office
Fireworks burn
hundreds of letters
Mailman more
than a messenger
Postal
Inspection Service deal goes to Birmingham Film company
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July 02, 2007-
Policy Leaders Call for Lifting
the Postal Service’s Mailbox Monopoly
The current monopoly bars private
citizens and businesses from placing letters or other items
in mailboxes without paying Postal Service delivery fees.
The prohibition “injects unnecessary nuisance, cost and inefficiency
into simple acts of community communication,” continued the
statement. The letter was signed by heads of leading organizations
representing taxpayers and consumers who rely on First Class
letter mail and postal services, as well as two prominent
postal policy experts..
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Postal
clerk gets prison for stealing over 8,000 movies
A former a 32-year Houston post
office clerk was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison
Monday for stealing thousands of movies sent through the mail.
Anthony Zuniga, 53, of Houston, was convicted of two counts
of mail theft by a postal employee. Using surveillance, U.S.
Postal Inspectors watched Zuniga steal 122 DVDs from the post
office and later found another 8,000 stolen Netflix and Blockbuster
DVDs during a search of his home.
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World War II-era
photo arrives in mail
New Jersey:
Postal
workers rally in Silk City
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Clients of Blue Cross to get billed for paper bills
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House passes
appropriation bill minus postal funding
How to put a post office back together
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July 01, 2007-
What would Dad think of outsourcing our postal carriers?
"A mail carrier's salary allowed
us to be about as middle as middle-class could be in the 1950s.
But lately the mailman is going the way of the shoemaker,
the steelworker and the auto worker. These jobs are being
outsourced. The United States Postal Service is gradually
doing away with its own mailmen, outsourcing the jobs to private
companies, who pay their employees who knows what."
A postal proposal
delivers anxiety
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Talk Therapy for
Postal Rage
“There have been times when I
have been in line and there were no (window) clerks behind
the window,” said Mr. Dubrow, citing his experience as the
holder of a post office box at the Kensington station. “If
it’s quiet or something, all of a sudden they’ll go take a
walk.” Just recently, Mr. Dubrow said, he waited a half-hour
to deal with a matter regarding his post office box, only
to be told he was in the wrong line. His e-mail complaint
to post office management has gone unanswered for two weeks,
he said Friday.
See Video referenced in story
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Uncertain future for Zip Code 99757
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