PMG Briefs Management Associations, Unions On Current Situation Facing USPS

July 17, 2009 by
Filed under: APWU, NALC, NAPS, NAPUS, NPMHU, NRLCA, usps 

Postmaster General Briefing
July 14, 2009
USPS Headquarters

On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, Louis Atkins, NAPS Executive Vice President, represented NAPS at a briefing with Postmaster General Jack Potter. Also in attendance were the leaders of all of the craft unions and the other two management associations.

Postmaster General Potter briefed the attendees on the current situation facing the Postal Service:

Continued losses in volume are crippling the finances of the Postal Service. Between 2008 through 2010, the Postal Service expects that it could lose as much as 25 – 30 billion pieces of mail volume. Every time the Postal Service loses a billion pieces of mail, the Postal Service looses $ 360 million dollars in revenue at current rates.

Employees need to know that the Postal Service has already taken steps to bring our Health Benefits in line with the rest of the federal government by the agreements that were reached with the unions and management association in the last round of pay agreements by increasing the employee contribution by 1% each year.

There are no plans to have any new equipment deployments in the near future. Right now the Postal Service has enough equipment power to process all of the world’s originating mail in just six hours time.

The “Summer Sale” was explained to the attendees. Mailers who use this opportunity will be required to maintain their expected volume of mailings through October, 2009 to earn a rebate on summer mailings. Customers who simply advance their mailing cycle will not get the discount rebate.

PMG Potter then provided information on the Postal Service’s strategies for FY 2010 and beyond:

• The Postal Service needs to continue to cut costs

• Grow the Business

• Protect Liquidity

Key Strategies are expected to include:

• Continued freeze on hiring

• Additional Tour compressions

• Restructuring Delivery Routes

• Continued integration of Network Distribution Centers

• Flat Sequencing

• Station and Branch consolidations

• Further reductions in administrative positions

The Postal Service continues to stress that relief from the passage of HR 22 alone will not bring the Postal Service the financial relief that it needs and the implementation of five-day delivery is vital to the future solvency of the Postal Service.

Although there has been much discussion of the change to five day delivery, and that the change must have congressional approval and a change to the current law, it now appears that Saturday would be the day that delivery would be eliminated. In a five-day proposal, retail units would remain open on Saturday to provide service to customers.

Post Office boxes and Caller Service would also be maintained under the Postal Service’s plan. Remittance mailers could use Post Office boxes and/or Caller Service to maintain their cash flow.

Under the Postal Service’s proposal, there would be no delivery or collection of mail for city routes, rural routes or contract routes. Express Mail would continue to be delivered as it is currently.

• Mail processing would process originating mail Monday – Friday.

• Mail processing for destinating street addresses processed Monday – Friday.

• Mail processing for destinating PO Boxes and Callers Monday – Saturday.

• Mail processing for destinating remittance mail Monday – Sunday

The Postal Service is also considering options to increase the sale of non-postal items in retail units. As these plans are finalized there will be information provided to employees and the public.

PMG Potter stated that the new Priority Mail initiative with flat rate boxes is performing well and helping us improve our revenue. Employees should tell everyone they know about the benefits of the flat rate boxes’

source: http://haloscan.com/comments/rehema/deljuly1409/#463271

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Comments

66 Comments on PMG Briefs Management Associations, Unions On Current Situation Facing USPS

  1. clerk in MO on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 6:15 am

    2. Nobody every looks at saving on utilities! Why do they only look at cutting jobs, or hours? That’s not the only places you could save money. In the long run, I think it will cost more money with the carriers running into overtime on Mondays.

    I keep bringing up the fact the Post Office could save a ton of money in utilities if they would shut the heat off or move down to 50 degrees in the mail processing plants from Fall through out the winter months. The machines produce enough heat to keep it comfortable. I know where I work we run fans and wear shorts because it’s so hot, and that’s even during January!

    Broaden your thinking!

  2. NALC Stud on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 6:17 am

    3. Employees will tell everyone? then they WILL be written up for talking to customers too long and time wasting practices, just as it has happened with customer connect. Until Management’s attitude changes there will be no progress. they tell the customers something and right after the craft employee suffer. They want to save money but thte contract violations and the illegal firing of employees continues. The Unions are winning most of the contractual grievances costing the USPS millions of dollars. the a;so are winning most of the discipline cases and when that happens then USPS has to pay for lost wages and benefits, to include overtime missed. People agre being fired for minor vehicle accidents, discipline for being stung by bees, bitten by dogs, etcetera, Everytime the USPS faces some kind of finacial dificulty they get petty in hte discipline. they want to readjust the route, but they base the adjustments on bogus data created by management to meet their goals. this result on routes overburdened and much overtime as well as discipline for unauthorized overtime which can lead to removals and grievances filed; the union’s are very succesful on these types of grievanes and again hte USPS pays millions for lost wages and benefits.

  3. nalc on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 6:53 am

    4. go slow for more dough.

  4. dick nixon on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:34 am

    5. fire everyone but the mailhandlers!

  5. Cheeky on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:41 am

    6. This paragraph in the article ticks me off:

    Employees need to know that the Postal Service has already taken steps to bring our Health Benefits in line with the rest of the federal government by the agreements that were reached with the unions and management association in the last round of pay agreements by increasing the employee contribution by 1% each year.

    If their going to bring us in line with the rest of the Federal agencies then we better start getting ALL the days off they get off.

    This is BS!!! We’re QUASI Federal…and we get crap compared to the other Federal agencies.

  6. cc on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:45 am

    7. Didnt see anything that says he will cut higher management positions. Guess they are too valuable in the processing/delivery of mail.

  7. Envious clerk on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:45 am

    8. City and rural carriers will get Saturdays and Sundays off EVERY week? That will make those jobs look very attractive.

  8. ptf clerk on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:51 am

    9. Hey Cheeky,
    Go work for a diff federal agency then. We’re lucky to get the holidays off that we do! Now I get too much time off with the clerk hours cut. Try to be a little more grateful for the job and healtcare.

  9. Grapost on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 8:39 am

    10. The PMG says to inform customers of the Benefits Of Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes! What a Joke!

    The benefits of the Flat Rate Boxes SUCKS! They are so small. The largest being just 13 inches!

    Anything larger goes by the Diminsional Weight classification which is a ripoff!

    Example: I had a box that weighed less than 5 Pounds. Under regular weight pricing the cost was a little of over $10 dollars for shipment by Priority Mail.

    BUT NOOOOOO! Since it was a larger than 13 inches (22 X 15 X 8 inches) the cost was $26.45 based on Dimensional Weight Guidelines.

    $26.45 to mail a box under 5 Pounds to Florida from Pennsylvania.

    WHAT A SCAM! Since the creation of the Postal Service all pricing was based on weight UNTIL NOW!

  10. gph 42 on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 9:29 am

    11. What a bunch of negative, unworthy crybabies some of you people are. I want more cookies, Johnny has more! I don’t want to do this he don’t have to. If he don’t do this then I will not do that. Crybabies!!

  11. BoBo on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 9:33 am

    12. THE MAILHANDLERS SHOULD BE THE FIRST TO GO..SINCE THERE IS NO MAIL

  12. postal customer on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 10:16 am

    13. clerk in Missouri, I don’t think I have ever heard the words carrier and run in the same sentence before

  13. Hello,Newman! on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 10:44 am

    14. Out of an approximately 70 – 75 billion dollar budget, the reduction of 52 delivery days a year will save at the most 3.5 billion dollars, and as little as 1.5 billion dollars. This is NOT growing the business! These miniscule savings are not worth the loss of service we are providing. If PMG Potter continues to try to implement this most radical service reduction he will go down in history as the worst PMG in history.

    Before you even think about reducing delivery days, the postal service must seriously considering reducing the number of postmasters – changing assignments to include up to 5 associate offices each will save billions, and will not affect service.

  14. geogia peach on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 11:22 am

    15. Do a comparison with Postal Pay Schedule (any crat) versus General Pay Schedule for other government employees. The postal pay schedule is roughtly 20% more for similar positions.

  15. j tull on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 11:34 am

    16. customer connect is a loser. they dont want us to pick up the mass mailings because it will take Overtime. so our bosses tell them were all on the street or all gone home for the day.when the people are told to bring it in they see the carriers coming and going.what ever happened to service?

  16. flemwad on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 12:19 pm

    17. I’m not gonna give a damn till I see downsizing in managment, then I’ll be glad to help out. Otherwise, up yours management

  17. shortzburn on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 12:24 pm

    18. If you’ve noticed, management has been flooding their ranks with TE’s acting as 204B’s. Why? So when they are forced to downsize management, all the good ole boys are safe. TE’s take the pipe again.
    La TE

  18. Jenius I am on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 1:45 pm

    19. Hand it to the PMG. They will still sort and deliver box section mail. As soon as this happens, the PO will advertise “If you want mail delivery on saturday, rent a PO Box”. Our box section is currently less than half full. Smart man, he should give himself another incentive pay check.

  19. Phillychick on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 3:10 pm

    20. WHEN are they going to cut management? The post office is way too top heavy. Plus, I work the window and we don’t have any Priority Flat Rate boxes. The advertising on TV is saturated now and we have no boxes! What is wrong with this picture? DOWNSIZE MANAGEMENT!!!!!

  20. pardnert on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 3:28 pm

    21. it’s a joke. We got more managers in the office than people working on the floor. 3 people with clipboards watching 1 person work.Holy sheet.Last people to go will be the Diversity specialist,Safety Specialist(don’t wake him up),attendance control supervisor (who’d she blow?)vehicle training(8 frigging people?)Maintenace Supervisors(23 last count)so like let’s get rid of workers so these leeches can keep getting a paycheck?

  21. ak47joe on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 3:53 pm

    22. Suggestion: Try the 5-day delievery service for a 1 year period, and see if it works.

    Propose this to congress; it the public dosen’t cry bloody murder, and it works for the Postal Service; lets do it.

    I personally doubt it will work. Some places are stretched so thin with limited labor, reducing the labor force only makes this completely impossible to improve costomer service.

    Personally, I have 4 kids and would love to be home with them on weekends, but I am considering the long term survivablility of the service.

    I feel we pay the big shots way too much money to be making poor decisions, and destroying the Postal Service ill advised so called money saving tactics.

  22. Unbiased on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 4:09 pm

    23. PMG Potter: Read our lips: Slash management NOW!!!

  23. nelliebelle on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 4:45 pm

    24. Too many piggy managers. They work for 2 hours, then goof off the rest of the day; the skeevy bums

  24. pepperoni on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 4:52 pm

    25. do what we tell you, you lazy carriers. Dois says pivot, you pivot, and say thank you, sir. I may only be a 204b, but, I will move up quick, cause I have the stones to get in your face.

  25. Tom on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 5:09 pm

    26. boo hoo; cry cry cry; don’t like your job go (nobody holding you) It might be with your job skills you may go from $26 to $9….:)

    You just got lucky to land a good job that pays well. If you could do better you would leave so stop crying…Again, nobody forces you to stay.

    PS it looks like your gravy train may crash so you better start practicing these key phrases: Would you like that biggie sized, Welcome to Wal-Mart, Welcome to McDonalds, Unleaded or preimum, Would you like me to get your windows too, paper or plastic? etc..

  26. O BamYoMama on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 5:18 pm

    27. i bees tell yo-

    express mail 7 day
    box mail 6 day
    window (staff by Walmart) 5 1/4 days
    business delivery 5 day
    residential delivery 3 day
    not til yo idjits vote fo me agin, den kiss yo asses goodbye

  27. BROWN SUGAR on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:57 pm

    28. YO, JERKOFF TOM, WE ALL WILL BE PRACTICING THOSE KEY PHRASES. IF YOU HAVN’T NOTICED, THERE ARE VERY FEW DECENT PAYING JOBS AVAILABLE AT ALL. MINIMUM WAGE ARE EVEN HARD TO COME BY. SO DON’T MOCK OTHERS TOO MUCH. WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME POSTAL SHITHOLE.

  28. gr8fullht on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 9:42 pm

    29. If they want to bring us in line with the rest of the federal government employees as far as health benefits go, how about an area wage increase like the rest of the federal government employees get?

  29. Ha! Ha! on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 10:25 pm

    30. Tom must be a 204b TE who has not carried mail or did a honest days work.Where else can you come from off the steet an become a manager?

  30. CSRS SLUG on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 12:42 am

    31. Tom and O bam are both idiots.

  31. Former Pea In The Pod on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 6:47 am

    32. Lets be fair. If the American People are going to be responsible for bailing out our major failing industries & businesses, then the union workers need to do their share and take a pay and benefit cut. If the USPS can’t make money and is continually Billions of dollars in the whole, then every worker needs to take a cut. $25+ an hour and great benefits are no longer acceptable in this economy when the outfit is failing. If USPS were profitable, then fine. But the people should not have to bail out companies so they can continue to pay over inflated salaries and benefits.

    Sorry, but we all know its true.

  32. dick nixon on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 7:52 am

    33. excess all clerks to walmart! then give the mailhandlers a big raise!

  33. eddie p on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 10:27 am

    34. POINT IS:
    Let’s save this institution, somehow we need to come together!!!!!

  34. TruthSeeker on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 11:48 am

    35. Congress MUST wake-up and realize that protecting all of the tiny town Post Offices in their voting district is bankrupting the USPS. They cost us an average of $200K/yr and never make a profit. Private Business in a Free Enterprise Economy would close a loser down in less than 18 months. It could not afford to go in debt just to say it has a store at the corner of Main & 1st Street in a city of 300 residents! If saving their post mark is the goal then collect their outgoing mail and just change the key code at the processing center to post mark with their city’s name. We can NEVER justify paying a Postmaster to sit and read his favorite novel waiting for another customer. In our geographic area (centering around Yakima, WA, the only 100K city in a 50 mile radius) we have White Swan, Brownstown, Harrah, Wapato, Granger, Zillah, Buena, Parker, Moxee, Naches, Tieton & Cowiche Post Offices (12) that loose big money every year! 12 Postmasters who are paid top EAS wages even though their job requirements only take less than an hour out of their 8 hour shift. Some of these Postmasters had worked in much larger offices (with tougher responsibilities & much harder work but chose to transer to a postmaster’s “Retirement Office” like one of the 12 named above, BUT TAKE THEIR HIGHEST PAY LEVEL FROM THE LARGE OFFICE WITH THEM TO THEIR TINY TOWN SNOOZER! WHY???? They are no longer working at a high & difficult level so why do they continue to get paid while working the equilivant of 1 hr. per day? ANSWER: The Postmaster’s UNION!!!! I say combine all unions: Postmaster’s, Postal workers, letter carriers clerks, rurual, etc. into one union: “The USPS employee’s union”, and ELIMINATE ALL OFFICES THAT DON’T GENERATE A PROFIT. Or else, tell Congress that they must pay for these losers. Either eliminate the unprofitable or take the USPS back into the Cabinet Office. If you don’t breakeven or make a profit you will be closed because the economic times dictate drastic actions to prevent our complete colapse! WAKE UP FOLKS, LET’S BE HONEST!

  35. ;P on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 12:10 pm

    36. HONESTY in the postal service? wake up also!

  36. xxx on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 1:53 pm

    37. we just have a stand up talk about missing sandwiches from our ref inside the office hahahahahahahahahahahahha….. honesty!!!

  37. dixon tu deep on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 2:06 pm

    38. The 5 day work week sounds good to me people.

  38. dixon yomouth on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 2:08 pm

    39. woooooooooooooooooo ! weekends off

  39. perraneum breath on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 2:21 pm

    40. Can’t we all just get a long

  40. Flatfoot on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 4:36 pm

    41. PMG is going to push for 5 days. For one of 2 reasons. He is smart and trying to manipulate congress for relief or 2 his ego is too wrapped around 5 day delivery that he won’t back down.
    I think its the second reason. No matter what savings or route compressions are all he will see is 5 day delivery.

  41. Buffalo stool on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 1:39 am

    42. I’m real sad that our wonderfull jobs are going too dissappear. I got another letter of warning for using sick leave to go to a doctors appointment.I have 1600 hours on the books and haven’t called in sick in over 3 years.

  42. Scott on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 1:46 am

    43. With all the talk of low mail volume why does it take up to 6 days to get a letter 7 miles then?

  43. will on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 5:06 am

    44. scott, that’s the efficiency of the go slow for more dough mantra lol.

  44. Unbiased on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 12:36 pm

    45. Scott, if it went through a machine, that’s your answer.

  45. T. Sarbig on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 1:36 pm

    46. Ever notice all the lousy workers who went on into management. Especially the men; how can you respect them

  46. 123offigo on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 1:57 pm

    47. all postal managers should never be respected, they are the lowest form of scums in this planet. I will respect a street gangster but never a postal manager and that includes the freaks, the mutants they call 204b’s.

  47. bilkoboy on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 5:11 pm

    48. I’m confused. If we go to five days of sorting the mail, what happens to mail that is entered on a friday? Does it get cancelled and then sit around until sunday night to get run through the dps?

  48. Anonymous on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 2:58 am

    49. Postal SERVICE….put service first. profit should not be a part of the USPS. postal service for all Americians. Rethink the USPS NOW

  49. Feellicks the Mech on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 9:14 am

    50. USPS is not a company We are the GOVT
    We have too many bosses who don’t do squat

  50. A team player on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 6:56 am

    51. Wow, how sad some of these comments are. If you don’t like your job….GET OUT!! It is people like you that makes our company unproductive!! There are so many things to be thankful for and if you can’t say something nice than we don’t need you!!

  51. 123offigo on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 7:43 am

    52. hey team player, i’m out already and doing a something else! it is you in management that is not thankful to those employees who are busting their balls to the do job that can not be done by your pets! be thankful to those who are carrying other loads instead of punishing them! Managers like you can not even differentiate what is right from wrong, only your bonus is important!

  52. Hello,Newman! on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 9:29 am

    53. Potter is with worst PMG in History!! Growing the service while cutting delivery days is an oxymoron. And speaking of morons, Potter needs to explain how cutting $1.5 billion on a sixth delivery day will be the magical event that will put us in the black. How about eliminatiing 4 out of 5 postmasters, which would save much more money and not affect service?

  53. Newman on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 11:56 am

    54. Make a mandatory retirement at 65! These old farts do nothing but crap in their depends!
    Get rid of 204b program. The idiots they put up for this, are horrible craft workers!
    Have 1 VP! Not 25

  54. Rufis Leakin on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 4:40 pm

    55. Can we actually get someone of some importance from Congress to look at this website and read alittle. I’m sure they will see the comments and maybe look into them and realize that Management has destroyed the Post Office,, Salary Bonus Perks, Stupidity, and the hostile way they treat the workers who earn THEIR Pay. Not to mention the way they treat People to call to ask a question or complain about something.. Maybe then we can rid the PO of the Cancer that is Management and do what we were hired to do. Proudly deliver the mail each and every day to our customers who (used) to trust us and believe in us.

  55. Capt. of Titanic on Wed, 22nd Jul 2009 3:49 am

    56. 25 VP’s? Try 60.

  56. hitler on Wed, 22nd Jul 2009 11:13 am

    57. 204b’s are worst than the kapos of world war 2!

  57. Board of Governors on Thu, 23rd Jul 2009 1:55 am

    58. 204b’s are the life blood of our organization. Let’s give a round of applause for our fine friends in management.

  58. Anonymous on Thu, 23rd Jul 2009 3:39 am

    59. #9…you don’t know what you are talking about…hopefully you are not a PM or window clerk. We pay by the cubic inch to fly our Priority mail…so the larger the box to zones 5-8 the larger the cost. If you are pricing incorrectly, you should get a letter of demand for the price difference and not capturing the revenue due the USPS. It’s our job…just do it.

  59. SUPERVISOR on Thu, 23rd Jul 2009 1:34 pm

    60. From the guy that is losing his job in management to the craft personnel, be happy you have a job

  60. hitler on Thu, 23rd Jul 2009 3:40 pm

    61. 3 NJ Mayors, Lawmakers Arrested in Corruption Case…

    most of them looks like typical 204b’s

  61. hopeful on Fri, 24th Jul 2009 8:26 am

    62. hopeful also someone reads some of these posts, what about the supervisor who was caught stealing from the p.o., not fired, but demoted to a clerk, and who has since gone on disability sucking the p.o. dry, not sure? investigate your own house before coming down on the hard working carriers and clerks who like their job and want to keep it.

  62. EAS WITH GED on Mon, 27th Jul 2009 7:04 pm

    63. WITH THE CONTINUING DROP IN MAIL VOLUME ….WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MACHINE SORTING POWER TO SORT THE ENTIRE WORLD’S ORIGINATING MAIL IN 2012 IN 27.2 MINUTES… HEY CLERKS, MAILHANDLERS AND ETS…HOW ABOUT A SEVEN HOUR GAME OF TEXAS HOLDEM IN THE CAFETERIA?

  63. derg on Tue, 28th Jul 2009 3:12 pm

    64. yall are all idiots dont like it leave. most of you bitchin are lowly te’s or ptf’s that gonna get cut with 5 day delivery or old farts that take 8 hours to deliver 25 stops and ask for overtime when you get 8 inches of mail. wake the hell up dumb asses the country is gone to hell and we arent protected from it. People are losing their jobs everyday and you bitchin be happy you got a job. Wake up people and do your job and quit calling your union rep everytime you take 26 stops instead of 25 jesus yall are the biggest 2 year olds i have ever listened to

  64. POSTAL ABUSE on Tue, 4th Aug 2009 2:54 am

    65. Management has to be DOWNSIZED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The POSTAL SERVICE CANNOT AND WILL NOT SURVIVE past this year. We have RETAIL SPECIALISTs doing nothing to increase revenue…BUT CARRIERS are asked to get leads and then are criticized. In most offices these specialists sit at their CUBICLES ALL DAY when NOT SMOKING ON THE PATIO. THIS IS POSTAL WASTE! IN-PLANT SUPPORT techs walk around ALL DAY looking for something to do……WHY IS THERE AN ILLUSTRATOR POSITION STILL IN HARRISBURG PA PLANT?….ILLUSTRATING WHAT??…MUST KNOW SOMEONE?

  65. DM on Mon, 17th Aug 2009 3:09 pm

    66. If the USPS don’t get some competent management, everything else that is done is a total waste.
    Also if so many carriers want weekends off, how about have casuals do all the deliveries for SAT? Then Sat. could still be delivery day, with labor costs cut to less than half for that day?

  66. babydoll on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 1:57 pm

    67. Folks go slow for more dough is a reality.The Postal Service is the only place that I know of that rewards lazyness. We just had a route adjustment and the people who ran their routes all got added on to.People running the USPS are running it in the ground with this type of standard,yall need to wake up