USPS Releases Details of Early Out Offer
The Postal Service has released details of the voluntary early retirement (VER) offer recently authorized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for USPS employees in clerk, mail handler, supervisor of distribution operations and supervisor of customer services positions. This offer is open to employees in those positions who meet the OPM conditions, and who are at least 50 years of age with 20 years of creditable federal service or any age with 25 years of creditable federal service — see the FAQ for more details.
On Aug. 18, an annuity estimate will be mailed to all VER-eligible employees from Eagan, MN. In addition, on Aug. 22 a VER offer packet will be sent to all eligible employees containing a cover letter, an application and a list of questions and answers. Interested employees will have from Aug. 25 to Sept. 30 to submit their application. It’s important to note that Sept. 30 is the date when an employee’s voluntary choice to retire becomes irrevocable.
By mid-November, the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) will notify employees as to the status of their VER application. At that time retirement counseling will be made available. Employees receiving approval will have an effective retirement date of Dec. 31.
As a reminder, a voluntary early retirement is just that — voluntary. This timeline only applies to employees in clerk, mail handler, supervisor of distribution operations and supervisor of customer services positions who meet the eligibility requirements.
Click here for the list of frequently asked questions.
source: USPS
Burrus to VER-Eligible Postal Employees: ‘DON’T GO’
American Postal Workers Union (APWU) News Bulletin | PDF
With news that eligible employees will soon be receiving notice from the Postal Service about an offer of Voluntary Early Retirement (VER), APWU President William Burrus is advising union members to delay making a decision as long as possible.
“The decision about when to retire is a personal one that is influenced by family obligations and lifestyle,” Burrus said. “But the attractiveness of ending a career early should be weighed with consideration of factors that may not be readily apparent.”
In addition to life-long annuity reductions, he said, employees should realize that the Postal Service offer is being made because of the prospect of heavy financial losses in the current fiscal year and beyond. “The opportunity to retire early may be tempting, but it is not being offered for the employee’s benefit: It is intended to improve the financial condition of the Postal Service.”
“An employee who retires after 25 years of service can expect to receive an annuity of less than half of the average basic salary of the last three years,” Burrus said. He noted that this would exclude most of the time period covered by the 2008 upgrade and the September 2008 Cost-of-Living Adjustment, which is expected to be over $1,000 — one of the largest in postal history.
“Employees who can work for another 15 years before reaching their annuity maximums can expect pay hikes over that time equal to the nearly $18,000 in raises over the past 15 years,” Burrus said of the increase from $34,000 to September’s $52,000.
“The USPS would save about $1 million in salary, benefits, and retirement annuity for each such employee,” he said.
“Those who take the early-out offer will allow the Postal Service to avoid these future obligations, while receiving a significantly lower annuity for the balance of their lives — and lives of their survivors.” The annuity reduction would be “substantial,” he said, and cannot be justified unless the Postal Service offers an incentive.
“We have discussed incentives with the Postal Service,” Burrus said, “but, so far, management has refused to consider any kind of bonus in conjunction with the early-out offer.” The discussions with management are continuing, he said.
“We do not oppose Voluntary Early Retirement per se,” Burrus said, “but we believe incentives should be offered and all eligible employees should be included.”
“And we expect that if a sufficient number of employees do not accept the early-out, the Postal Service will still face a significant deficit, and will still be forced to find ways to reduce the workforce. We will be having continuing discussions with postal management,” he said, “and these discussions will be influenced by the number of employees who voluntarily retire without incentives.”
“In this uncertain economy, there is no reason to make a hasty decision,” Burrus said. “Energy and medical costs are escalating, which will make it extremely difficult to survive on a fixed income. One simply has to consider the financial disincentives to retire early, especially without an upfront monetary incentive.”
“As employees who meet the eligibility criteria think about their choices, I ask that they forgo making a quick decision. At this time, the union’s recommendation to eligible employees is that unless you have compelling personal reasons to retire early, DON’T GO.”
Who Will Be Eligible for the Postal ‘Early-Out’ Offer?
American Postal Workers Union (APWU) News Bulletin
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approves requests by federal agencies and the USPS to offer Voluntary Early Retirement.
According to OPM, to be eligible, employees must be at least 50 years old and have at least 20 years of creditable service, OR may be any age provided they have at least 25 years of creditable service.
OPM’s approval of the Postal Service’s VER request [PDF] applies to Clerk, Mail Handler, and initial-level supervisory employees agency-wide. The offers can be made to eligible employees “from June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2009.”
The USPS estimates that nearly 57,000 clerks, and about 16,000 mail handler and supervisory employees are eligible. It projects that 6,496 clerks, 1,552 mail handlers, and 693 supervisors will accept the VER offer.
The Postal Service has told the APWU that it plans to request approval to offer early-outs to other categories of employees, including some members of the Maintenance Craft and city and rural carriers.
Las Vegas Mail Carrier Wins America’s Hottest Husband Contest
BRENDAN DOANE, 37
Las Vegas
U.S. Postal Service mail carrier
Married two years
Through rain or sleet or (more likely) desert heat, Brendan Doane never fails to carry the mail to its appointed destination. But no matter how dedicated he is to work, he’s even more passionate about his wife, Dayna.
Read full story (Redbookmag.com)
Hillary Clinton to Address Over 8800 Letter Carriers At Boston Convention
Clinton to Address Letter Carriers’ Convention; Over 8,800 Delegates Heading to Boston Event
Over 8,800 letter carriers are planning to convene in Boston July 21-25 as delegates to the 66th Biennial National Convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers — the largest convention among AFL-CIO unions.
The week-long event at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) will bring together unionized mail carriers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. The 303,000-member union, founded in 1889, represents active and retired city letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), who the union had endorsed for president, will address delegates on Monday, July 21. The NALC was among the earliest unions to back Clinton.
NALC President William H. Young will deliver a keynote address July 21 shortly after the convention convenes.
Young had abstained from voting – pending action by his convention – when the AFL-CIO recently endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). The NALC convention is expected to vote on an endorsement resolution on July 21.
NALC has cancelled the traditional opening reception initially scheduled for Sunday evening, July 20 at the BCEC in support of members of Local 26 of the UNITE-HERE union who are engaged in a bitter contract dispute with Aramark Corporation, the firm that handles food service at the convention site. The NALC also cancelled all food services at the Convention Center during workshops and general sessions throughout the week and has moved breakfast workshops to the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel.
During the convention, delegates will discuss issues critical to the future of the Postal Service including efforts to stop contracting out of letter carrier positions by the Postal Service, the work of special task force to evaluate postal delivery routes, and resolutions and constitutional amendments submitted by delegates.
In addition to Senator Clinton, speakers scheduled to address the convention include: Boston Mayor Thomas Menino; Reps. John Tierney and Michael Capuano, both (D-MA), and John McHugh (R-NY); American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus; Alan Kessler, Chairman, USPS Board of Governors; Michael Critelli, executive chairman of the board, Pitney Bowes Inc.; Bill Disbrow, president and CEO, Valpak; Philip Bowyer, deputy general secretary, Union Network International; Stephen Fitzpatrick, general secretary, Communications Workers Union, Ireland; and Dean Baker, co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Registration will be July 19 and 20. General sessions will begin Monday, July 21 at 10 a.m. and continue daily through July 25. Workshops will occur daily beginning at 7:30 a.m. prior to the session, and again in the afternoon following adjournment.
source: National Association of Letter Carriers
Burrus: Postal Employees Would Be Best Served By Postponing Early-Out Decisions
Burrus Update
In light of the announcement that the Postal Service has received approval to offer Voluntary Early Retirement to employees in the Clerk Craft and the Mail Handler Craft, as well as to some supervisory employees, many APWU members are beginning to wonder about their options.
As employees who meet the eligibility criteria (still to be determined) think about their choices, I ask that they forgo making a quick decision. There are compelling reasons for taking a wait-and-see attitude, including that the economy is in (or is approaching) a recession, and the opportunities for even part-time employment have diminished. In addition, energy and medical costs are escalating, which will make it extremely difficult to survive on a fixed income.
Meanwhile, economic stagnation has had a serious impact on mail volume: The union has been informed that the Postal Service expects a deficit of approximately $1.4 billion in the current fiscal year. We also can expect that if a sufficient number of employees do not accept the early-out offer, the Postal Service will still face a significant deficit, and will still be forced to find ways to reduce the workforce.
In light of these factors, it would be foolish for employees to retire early without achieving all of their personal objectives.
The union will continue to discuss the details of the early-out offer and will report the results of those discussions. Among the subjects to be addressed are whether all APWU-represented employees will be included and whether eligible employees will receive an incentive bonus for retiring.
I ask that eligible employees delay making a final decision on early retirement until the union concludes discussions at the national level. If we are not successful, we will announce that we have reached an impasse, and individual decisions can then be made.
In the interim, help us help you by delaying your decision.
Please note: The Postal Service has told us it plans to make additional requests to the Office of Personnel Management for approval to offer early-outs to other categories of employees, including some members of the Maintenance Craft, Letter Carriers, and Rural Letter Carriers.
William Burrus
President
Bush Nominates Ruth Y. Goldway to Additional 6-Year Term on PRC
From White House Personnel Announcement:
The President has nominated Ruth Y. Goldway, of California, to be Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission, for an additional six-year term expiring 11/22/14. Ms. Goldway currently serves as Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission.
NPMHU: First Update On VERA For Postal Mail Handlers
Filed under: early out, NPMHU, retirement, Uncategorized, Union, usps, vera
RE: First Update on VERA: Voluntary Early Retirement
This is the first in what undoubtedly will be a series of updates with regard to the issue of Voluntary Early Retirements for mail handlers.
The National Office has learned that the Postal Service has formally been granted authority by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to offer a VERA to certain postal employees during the period from June 30, 2008 through June 30, 2009. The grant of this authority does not obligate the Postal Service to offer a VERA, but simply gives the Postal Service the authority to offer a VERA if, after discussions and negotiations with the affected postal unions, the Postal Service believes that a VERA would be helpful.
In the next few days and weeks, the NPMHU and the Postal Service will meet to discuss any and all early out options. Until discussions occur, there is no additional information to distribute.
As always, the National Office will continue to address the situation and will alert our members when there are substantive developments to report.
NALC President Urges Congress to Reject Proposal to Study 5-Day Delivery
From The National Association of Letter Carriers:
Young protests “wasteful” appropriations amendment: President Young is urging Congress to reject a proposal by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) to order USPS to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of adopting a five-day delivery week. In a letter sent to top congressional leaders, Young notes that a similar yet more comprehensive study of universal service is already underway, as mandated by the 2006 postal reform law. “Saddling the Postal Service with the responsibility for conducting or participating in a duplicative study of Saturday delivery is unnecessary and wasteful,” Young said. Letter
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House Committee Approves Study On Ending Saturday Mail Delivery (6/26/08
USPS Gets VERA Approval
USPS News Link
Postal Service authorized to offer voluntary early retirement
It’s official.
The Postal Service has received approval from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to offer voluntary early retirement to employees in clerk, mail handler, supervisor of distribution operations and supervisor of customer services positions nationwide.
Automation and technological advances coupled with mail volume reductions has the Postal Service continuing to look for ways to voluntarily reduce its workforce while maintaining excellent customer service.
Details of the program are still being developed and will be announced later. No incentive package will be offered for employees who choose early retirement.