USPS Increase Penalties For Violations Concerning Conduct on Postal Property
Thanks to PostalReporter reader Don Cheney for alerting us to this information:
POSTAL SERVICE
39 CFR Part 232
Conduct on Postal Property; Penalties and Other Law
AGENCY: Postal Service.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Postal Service is amending the Code of Federal Regulations to increase the maximum penalty for violations of the rules concerning conduct on Postal Service property. The authorized maximum penalty should allow the courts more flexibility in determining the appropriate means of promoting compliance with the regulation.
DATES: Effective Date: January 27, 2010
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The current rules governing conduct on Postal Service property establish the maximum penalty for a violation as a fine of not more than $50 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both. As revised by this notice, the maximum penalty for a
violation will be increased to a fine of not more than that allowed under title 18 of the United States Code or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both.
To promote compliance with the regulation and to maintain the deterrent effect, the Postal Service has determined it is appropriate to increase the maximum penalty allowed for a violation of this regulation. The authorized maximum penalty should allow the courts more
flexibility in determining the appropriate means of promoting compliance with the regulation.
The current regulations have not been changed for over 30 years. The current maximum fine does not reflect either the seriousness of some of the infractions, nor the effect that inflation has had over the past 30 years. This current low monetary penalty provision gives the
court little flexibility in arriving at a fair and just resolution to an infraction. The revisions to the maximum monetary penalty allow for this flexibility. Further, the revision to the maximum penalty more accurately reflects the range of conduct covered by this regulation.
List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 232
Authority delegations (Government agencies), Crime, Federal buildings and facilities, Government property, Law enforcement officers, Postal Service, Security measures.
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For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Postal Service amends 39 CFR Part 232 as set forth below:
PART 232–[AMENDED]
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1. The authority citation for part 232 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 18 U.S.C. 13, 3061; 21 U.S.C. 802, 844; 39 U.S.C. 401, 403(b)(3), 404(a)(7), 1201(2).
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2. In Sec. 232.1, paragraph (p)(2) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 232.1 Conduct on postal property.
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(p) * * *
(2) Whoever shall be found guilty of violating the rules and regulations in this section while on property under the charge and control of the Postal Service is subject to fine of not more than that allowed under title 18 of the United States Code or imprisonment of not
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more than 30 days, or both. Nothing contained in these rules and regulations shall be construed to abrogate any other Federal laws or regulations or any State and local laws and regulations applicable to any area in which the property is situated.
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Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
Postal Supervisors Alerts Congress to Possible Pay Abuse by USPS
National Association of Postal Supervisors
Postal Legislative/Regulatory Update
January 29, 2010
The National Association of Postal Supervisors has warned key Senate and House leaders of potential abuse that may occur in the Postal Service’s administration of its pay-for-performance system covering 75,000 USPS managers, supervisors and postmasters. Such abuse, NAPS projects, could result in a salary loss of at least $500 to $800 by each affected employee, effective February 5.
In letters to the chairmen of the Senate and House panels that oversee the Postal Service, NAPS President Ted Keating warned, “Based upon anecdotal information learned by our members in the field, we have reason to believe that lax enforcement by upper-level management within the Postal Service of pay-for-performance goals could arbitrarily reduce the performance assessments and salary increases of an unspecified number of management employees … Any action by the Postal Service that revises performance goals at the end of a performance period unfairly moves the goalposts and undermines confidence in the validity of pay-for-performance.”
The Postal Service on February 5 is slated to provide notification to each management employee of his or her 2009 increase in base salary, based upon the attainment of pre-set performance goals and objectives under the National Performance Assessment (the USPS pay-for-performance system) for the 2009 fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2009. Those performance goals have been set through a negotiated pay agreement reached between the Postal Service, NAPS and the two other management associations. The pay agreement conditions a management employee’s receipt of any annual salary increase upon that employee’s success in achieving or exceeding the pre-set performance goals and objectives.
NAPS is strongly encouraging all its members and other EAS employees who believe their performance goals to have been wrongly adjusted, once they receive word of their salary adjustment on February 5, to file an appeal through eRecourse, the USPS internal appeal process. For Information on eRecourse and filing an appeal, click here.
“eRecourse will be our member’s first avenue of appeal,” Keating explained. “If any improper adjustment of pre-set goals is not made right through eRecourse, we will go to Congress for correction,” he promised.
In recent letters to Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Keating noted that NAPS has “received no assurance from the Postal Service that it intends to follow-through and award salary increases based upon the previously-set performance goals — goals on which management employees aligned their sights and worked hard to attain, achieving some of the highest levels of service attained by the Postal Service.”
“While all postal managers and supervisors are deeply concerned about the Postal Service’s financial condition, the same concerns did not dissuade the Postal Service from awarding significant salary increases — in the tens of thousands of dollars — to many of its executive-level employees during the past year,” Keating added.
President Obama Nominates Two To USPS Board of Governors
President Obama announced on January 29, 2010 his intent to nominate the following individuals:
Paul Steven Miller, Nominee for Governor, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service for a term expiring December 8, 2016, vice Carolyn L. Gallagher, term expired. Paul Steven Miller is the Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law who is an expert in workplace and employment law. He has spent his career moving between academia, public service, and law practice. Most recently, Professor Miller spent the first nine months of the Obama Administration as a Special Assistant to the President in The White House. Prior to joining the University of Washington faculty in 2004, Professor Miller had been one of the longest serving commissioners of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency which enforces employment discrimination laws. He has also served in The White House as Liaison to the Disability Community and as Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs during the Clinton Administration. Earlier in his career, Professor Miller was the Director of Litigation for the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and a lawyer at the Los Angeles law firm of Manatt Phelps and Phillips. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude, and the Harvard Law School.
Dennis J. Toner, Nominee for Governor, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service for the remainder of the term expiring December 8, 2012, vice Katherine C. Tobin, resigned. Dennis J. Toner has directed policy, public and political affairs for over 30 years for then-Senator and now-Vice President Biden. He most recently served as Finance Director for Biden for President and Citizens for Biden. He spent the 30 years prior to that working for then-Senator Biden in his Senate office. He last held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for the Senator from 1995 to 2005. He has also previously launched his own business, Horizon Advisors, which provides guidance and advice to private clients and non-profit organizations. He received his B.A. from the University of Delaware.
The League takes Postmasters working condition issues to Congress
Issue:The Abusive Treatment Of Postmasters And The Inefficient And Ineffective Post Office Management Practices Of Upper Level USPS Managers
Mr John Potter
Postmaster General
US Postal Service RM 10022
475 l’Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20260
Dear Mr. Potter,
This letter will serve to inform you of our intention to take our Postmaster issues to Congress. These are the
same issues over which the National league of Postmasters has been unsuccessfully attempting to positively
engage the Postal Service for the last 3 X years. You know the issues; they include Postmasters putting in
horribly long work weeks due to the Postal Service’s failure to properly staff supervisors, clerks and carriers
and to properly budget work hours, the caustic workplace environment in many districts, a failed pay for
performance system, and the Postal Service’s failure to fill level 16 and below Postmaster positions. Manyof
your Postmasters have reached the point of physical and mental exhaustion, their health and personal lives
jeopardized. These are dedicated, loyal, professional Postmasters who deserve better from the organization to
which they’ve given their all. We are hopeful that we can get to a place with the Postal Service where we can make some meaningful progress on our Postmaster issues.
The league of Postmasters knows full well of the financial challenges that continue to face the Postal Service,
but that cannot be used as an excuse for the poor treatment of your Postmasters, especially in light of the fact that most of our issues began before the Postal Service fell into the economic downturn..
read remainder of letter here
Postal Clerk Waived Appeal Rights So MSPB Upholds Removal
The following is a summary of the decision- click here to read the entire case.
PR note: This case illustrates why employees must be very careful when entering into Last Chance Agreements:
Appellant: Gary Donnell Rhett
Agency: United States Postal Service
Decision Number: 2010 MSPB 21
Docket Number: AT-0752-09-0408-I-1; AT-0752-09-0484-I-1
Issuance Date: January 27, 2010
Appeal Type: Adverse Action by Agency
Action Type: Removal
The appellant petitioned for review of two initial decisions that dismissed his appeals for lack of adverse action jurisdiction. Effective September 5, 2008, the agency removed the appellant from his position based on alleged attendance-related misconduct. While a grievance of that action was pending, the parties entered into a last?chance settlement agreement (LCSA), under which the appellant returned to work. The LCSA also provided that the appellant could be removed for any attendance-related misconduct for a period of 18 months, and that he waived his right to appeal to the Board for any action taken for such misconduct. During the 18-month period, the agency removed the appellant from his position for his alleged breach of the LCSA. The appellant filed appeals of both removal actions. As to the first removal, the administrative judge considered and rejected the appellant’s arguments that the LCSA was invalid, and found that the appellant could not appeal this removal because he had settled it without expressly reserving his right to file a Board appeal of the action. As to the second removal, the administrative judge again found that the LCSA was valid and enforceable, that the appellant breached the agreement when he was absent from work on 5 occasions, and that the appellant could not appeal the second removal because he had waived his appeal rights in the LCSA.
Holdings: The Board denied the appellant’s PFR, reopened the appeals on its own motion, and affirmed the initial decisions as modified, still dismissing both appeals for lack of adverse action jurisdiction. In agreeing with the administrative judge’s conclusion that the last-chance settlement agreement was valid, the Board noted that the agency had failed to inform the appellant in connection with the first removal action that, as a preference-eligible employee, he had the right to appeal his removal to the Board. The record showed, however, that the appellant knew or should have known that may have had Board appeal rights at the time he entered into the agreement.
The last-chance settlement agreement further provided:
I, [the appellant], have read and understand the conditions and restrictions set forth in the above agreement. I am mentally and physically fit so as to be able to understand this agreement in its entirety. . . . I know and understand that I have waived my appeal rights through any and all forums and avenues, including, but not limited to, the Merit Systems Protection Board, . . . for any removal action initiated against me for violation of this last chance agreement during this two-year period.
APWU: Springfield Area Local Reaches Contract Agreement With Alan Ritchey,Inc.
APWU News
After seven months of negotiations, the Springfield (MA) Area Local reached a tentative agreement with Alan Ritchey, Inc. on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will cover all 90 members employed at the Mail Transport Equipment Service Center (MTESC). The agreement contains significant improvements in seniority and in the day-to-day operations at the plant.
“Our main objective in this round of negotiation was to gain improvements in the seniority language for day-to-day operations of the Springfield MTESC,” said Bill Manley, director of the APWU Support Services Division.
If the contract is ratified in early February, postal workers at the facility will be awarded jobs and granted vacation requests based on seniority. Layoffs, if they become necessary, will also be based on tenure. Previously, management could lay off employees without taking seniority into consideration; hiring was based on arbitrary criteria; and vacation requests were at the sole discretion of management.
The changes in the tentative agreement were based on extensive input from APWU members, Dan Kuralt, president of the Springfield Area Local, said in a statement.
If approved, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement also will include an across-the-board increase in hourly pay rate for employees as follows: A 25-cent per hour raise will be implemented immediately following ratification of the contract, as well as on Jan. 2, 2011, and on Aug. 28, 2011.
Members of the Springfield Area Local employed at the Alan Ritchey MTESC will be provided a copy of the tentative agreement and a ballot for ratification the second week of February. If the agreement is approved, each bargaining unit employee will receive a $250 ratification bonus.
Employees had been working under the prior contract, which expired in November 2009. The new two-year agreement will run from Oct. 31, 2009, through Oct. 28, 2011.
Postal Service Updates Consolidation Initiative – 162 Post Offices Remain On List
No final decisions have been made
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today filed an update with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) indicating that 162 offices remain under review for possible consolidation under the station and branch consolidation initiative. That is six fewer from the last update in December. No final decisions have been made regarding specific office consolidations.
Today’s filing with the PRC updates a review process begun last summer that initially examined about 3,300 stations and branches in urban and suburban areas, focusing on facilities in relatively close proximity to one another where consolidations might be feasible without compromising customer access.
“Consumer behavior is changing. It is important for the Postal Service to adjust to the shift,” says Dean Granholm, vice president of Delivery and Post Office Operations. “We will continue to provide easy access, but changes to our retail network are essential to our ability to continue to provide the safe secure and fairly priced postal services that Americans have counted on for 234 years.”
With more than 36,000 Post Offices, stations, branches, contract and community post offices, the Postal Service has the largest retail network in the United States. Always on the lookout for convenience, though, many Postal Service customers are choosing to access postal services and purchase stamps via alternative access – locations other than a Post Office.
More than 56,000 locations such as supermarkets, drug stores, and other retailers sell postage and selected postal services. Nearly 18,000 ATMs dispense sheets of stamps. It is the online alternative at usps.com, where you can get shipping information, purchase and print postage 24/7, that customers find most convenient. In 2009, nearly 30 percent of postal retail transactions were conducted in locations other than a Post Office.
The Postal Service receives no tax subsidy to operate the nation’s mail service. Revenues from the sale of postage, products and services fund its operations. Last year, the Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion. A number of new initiatives have also been undertaken to build revenue, including Flat Rate Priority Mail pricing and the introduction of greeting cards for sale at about 900 select Post Offices.
As part of the consolidation process, the Postal Service has filed periodic updates with the Postal Regulatory Commission identifying the retail stations and branches that remain under consideration. Today’s filing does not represent a final decision on consolidation. No facility-specific final decisions have been made as a result of this initiative.
Click here for the list http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/stationbranchop.pdf
Credit Card Direct Mail Back On The Rise
Card issuers increase direct marketing as economy levels out
(Chicago- January 28, 2010) It wasn’t just holiday cards and catalogs filling your mailbox last month. Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides direct marketing competitive intelligence, reports that in Q4 2009?for the first time in three years?credit card direct mail volume increased from the previous quarter.
With a 47% increase in direct mail compared to Q3 2009, credit card issuers demonstrate increased confidence in the economy and willingness to extend more consumer credit. However, last year’s direct mail volume still pales in comparison with recent years. Mintel Comperemedia reports that the total number of credit card offers sent in 2009 falls 66% behind the number sent in 2008. Pre-recession (2004-2007), card mailings topped seven billion annually; last year, they didn’t even reach two billion.
‘Credit card direct mail volume leveled out mid-last year and finally, in the last quarter of 2009, we saw the long-awaited increase in card offers for consumers. More direct marketing is an excellent sign for the economy, because it shows issuers gaining confidence and taking a more positive outlook towards gaining new cardholders and reducing delinquencies,’ states Andrew Davidson, SVP of Mintel Comperemedia.
Next month is significant for credit card companies, as another wave of CARD Act regulations take hold on February 22. In anticipation of tighter restrictions on credit practices, many companies are trying to rebalance their portfolios. ‘In this post-recessionary environment, card issuers need to offset potential lost revenue from CARD Act regulations. We see more cards being promoted with annual fees and high purchase APRs,’ comments Andrew Davidson.
According to Mintel Comperemedia, more than a third of credit card offers sent in 2009 (36%) featured an annual fee, compared to just one in five (20%) in 2008. Purchase rates are also on the rise, despite the steadily low Prime rate. On variable rate card offers sent during Q4 2009, the mean go-to APR for purchases was 13.95%, an increase from the average of 11.80% observed during Q4 2008.
Many top credit card issuers increased direct mail volume during Q4 2009, but the biggest bumps compared to the same period of 2008 came from Chase (up 87%) and U.S. Bank (up 64%).
source: Source: Mintel Comperemedia
USPS To Postal Employees: Do Not Obliterate the Barcode
USPS reminds postal employees not to cross out barcode as mail moves through the system
The Intelligent Mail® barcode contains important data that is used to provide mailers — including the Census Bureau — with information, such as when the mailing entered the mailstream and undeliverable or address correction information. But technology cannot reliably produce this information if it can’t read the barcode.
That’s why the Postal Service™ is telling employees to make sure they don’t obliterate the barcode as mail moves through the system. Specifically, employees should not mark through, obliterate, or affix any labels over the Intelligent Mail barcode.
Also, the Postal Service wants to make sure that when employees mark up First-Class Mail® items, they use only clear space on the front of the envelope, being careful not to mark over any address or barcode information.
source: Postal Bulletin
Postal Service to Conduct Study of Mail Processing Operations in Lafayette, IN
LAFAYETTE, IN — The U.S. Postal Service plans to conduct a study at the Lafayette Processing and Distribution Facility for possible consolidation of some operations into the Indianapolis Processing and Distribution Center. The study, known as an Area Mail Processing (AMP) study, involves a review of the mail processing and transportation operations to determine capacity needs at a facility in order to increase efficiency and improve productivity.
The need for the study comes as the Postal Service faces one of the most difficult challenges in its history. The current economic downturn and continued Internet diversion have led to a drastic decline in mail volume, with the loss of nearly 26 billion pieces in the past year. Mail volume is projected to fall another 11 billion pieces in the coming year. Even when the economy fully recovers, the Postal Service does not expect mail volume to return to previous peak levels, and is projecting annual deficits for the foreseeable future.
“As a result of the volume loss, we have more facilities, equipment and people than we need to process a declining volume of mail,” said Lynn Smith, District Manager for the Greater Indiana District. “We have to reduce the size of our network because we are no longer receiving enough revenue to sustain its cost.”
“One way to do that is to consolidate operations where feasible,” Smith added. “That is why we’re doing this study. Consolidating processing operations and placing our people where we need them makes logical business sense given the economic realities. We’re only doing what any company would do when it’s hit with a 13 percent decline in its business in one year.”
If the feasibility study supports the business case for changing mail processing operations, the Postal Service will hold a public meeting to allow members of the community to ask questions and provide feedback. This input will be considered in the final proposal.
“I want to assure everyone that we will not make any changes to our operations that would cause delays in your mail service,” said Smith.
The Postal Service is soliciting the public’s input as part of the study process. Comments may be submitted to:
Consumer Affairs Manager
3939 Vincennes Road
Indianapolis, IN 46298-9631
source: USPS