Negotiated Incentive Plan Designed to Save $500 Million
WASHINGTON — In a decision to save hundreds of millions of dollars in labor-related costs, the U.S. Postal Service negotiated an agreement with two of its employee unions to offer select employees a financial incentive to retire or resign before the end of the fiscal year.
The one-time offer is a strategic move to accelerate targeted staffing reductions for employees represented by either the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) or the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU).
Advances in mail processing technology and the continuing recession have led the Postal Service to more aggressively match work hours with work load. The majority of employees eligible for the incentive work in mail processing facilities.
Because the number of addresses grows by 1.5 million each year, letter carriers represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association were not extended this offer.
The incentive provides eligible employees $10,000 to be paid during the first three months of Fiscal Year 2010, creating salary and benefit savings for the next nine months. The same employees will receive a second payment of $5,000 in Fiscal Year 2011. Fiscal Year 2010 starts Oct. 1, 2009.
As many as 30,000 employees could take advantage of the incentive offer. Savings to the Postal Service could be as much as $500 million next year.
The employee incentive offer is the latest in a series of cost reductions the Postal Service has made this year. Cost savings during 2009 are expected to total more than $6 billion, including the following actions:
– Cutting more than 100 million work hours, the equivalent of 57,000 positions;
– Halting construction of new postal facilities;
– Closing six district offices;
– Negotiating an agreement with the National Association of Letter Carriers that adjusts letter carrier routes to reflect diminished volume;
– Instituting a nationwide hiring freeze;
– Reducing authorized staffing levels at postal headquarters and area offices by at least 15 percent;
– Selling unused and under-utilized postal facilities;
– Adjusting Post Office hours to better reflect customer use; Consolidating mail processing operations; and
– Freezing salaries of all Postal Service officers and executives.
“This decision reflects our desire to provide a fair and equitable opportunity for some of our longest-serving employees,” said Anthony Vegliante, chief human resources officer and executive vice president. “It is important to the Postal Service that we take appropriate measures to address our current financial situation.”
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
The structure and staffing of the USPS is a long way from being efficient and streamlined. The USPS needs to bring in some efficiency experts to cut the waste and show them where the workhours can be cut without adversely impacting Service and Productivity.
After reading what William Burrus (APWU) president had stated regarding advertisement; I began to look at things a little differently. Radio and television are nothing but advertising machines. They were not implemented for our viewing pleasure, but to advertise products. We often feel we are so inundated with commercial after commercial, ad after ad while watching our favorite movies or lisening to our radio programs. The show is only to hold us there while we are an audience to the ad. The ad’s are the bread and butter to “air” the show. We all knew that, sponsors. But it is the advertisers perfect scenerio and in every household. Why arent we using the PO in the same fashion? Since the “Big Mailers” are the bread and butter of the USPS, not the average citizen. Why arnt we being creative enough to let our company (USPS)be used in the same fashion? ie, printable, stamps with “ads”, everyone can utiize this. Get your personal message across, download and print your stamps to say what you want. Got a business taking off? got a message to share? Want to put YOUR face out there? print it and send out your mailings. The format for the PO is at every corner of the nation going to each mailbox, we must be utilized to the fullest most creative (other than delivering just bulk mail) and a few personal correspondence. Dont wait until its (USPS) disassembled and come up with a great idea, its almost to late now. Lets get thinking!
I think this is what privitizing is going to do. Lets not let them take it from us.
Instead of cutting jobs (Craft) the Postmaster General should be keeping the work force intact and advertise better (truly), keeping our face clean and presentable, vehicles should appear spotless, mail collection boxes should be in good repair bearing time schedules legible and our eagle logo (which the PO spent millions, only to get sued over it… another great investment!) at least it must be recognizable,supervisors must wear professional looking clothes, (including the women) like shirts and ties and slacks … ALWAYS! and last but not least our Mail Carriers should all look professional and in complete uniform. In a business like ours that we are out there serving The American People, we should take the pride to be and look 100% professional, so our dear customers (our Bread and Butter) can be confident to trust us with their Business.
One of the first items in line to cut costs should be to stop the implementation of the FSM (Flat Sequencing Machines) they are too costly to purchase, maintain, and operate. These machines are so big that buildings have to be erected or remodeled in order to acomodate these huge monsters that must be running 24 hours in order for them to be cost effective … and how about the declining mail volume ??? Is the Postal Service going to have enough mail influx for these machines to be a good investment? Would it be the first time that the Postal Service gets out of a contract? … Please Mr. Potter let’s save America from another calamity and truly trust the people that know how to save our Postal Service – Your Work Force !!!
In our plant, we have a maintenance manager (EAS-25) and two manager of maintenance operations (EAS-21) WORKING UNDER HIM. Eliminate this two level 21 and have the maintenance manager do his job instead of delegating his job to this two level 21, while he goes away to play golf.
In other cost cutting measures to be included, jack potter has announced that he will start using cheaper call girls.