NALC: Republican slips anti-union provision into FAA bill
Anti-union forces are using every angle they can find in their attempts to weaken the labor movement—even counting votes that don’t exist.
This week, Rep. John Mica (R-FL) quietly slipped an amendment into a routine Federal Aviation Administration bill that would turn back the clock on union rights. Mica’s amendment would count any railroad or airline worker who doesn’t cast a vote in a union representation election as a “no” vote. Mica is chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over the FAA.
It’s a bit like declaring that all the eligible voters who don’t show up to the polls on Election Day count as Republican votes.
It may astonish you, but that’s how it worked for many years when railroad and airline workers voted on whether they should be represented by a union. That ended last year when the National Mediation Board sensibly changed the rules so that a simple majority of workers who cast votes would prevail. Mica wants to overturn that decision and stack the deck against unions again.
“I expect this is only the beginning,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate’s labor committee and opponent of Mica’s provision. “I think we’ll see a lot of amendments this year—probably on every bill we consider—that will chip away at the basic rights and protections that help middle-class working families get by.”
The House is expected to vote on the bill today, and it could strip Mica’s amendment from the bill before passing it. The AFL-CIO is calling on union members to contact Congress now to oppose this measure.
The White House said yesterday that Obama would veto the bill if it passed with the anti-union provision.
source: NALC Activist Alert!
USPS Dangling Incentive For APWU Members To Vote YES On Contract
From a PostalReporter reader: Name withheld upon request
from withheld
to Lucille Caldwell
date Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 1:17 AM
subject PSE’s Health Insurance
Did you notice this unusual health insurance provision in the proposed USPS-APWU Tentative National Agreement, buried on pages 173 to 174? The Postal Service is dangling this as an incentive for APWU members to vote YES on the proposed contract.
After an initial appointment for a 360-day term and upon reappointment to another 360-day term, any eligible non-career PSE employee who wants to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program on a pretax basis will be required to make an election to do so in accordance with procedures to be published as soon as administratively practicable. A previous appointment as a transitional employee will count toward qualifying for participation in FEHB, in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations. The total cost of health insurance is the responsibility of the PSE employee, except as provided below.
The Postal Service will make a contribution in the amount of 75% of the total premium for any eligible PSE who selects the APWU Consumer Driven Health Plan.
Only an APWU member can belong to this FEHBP health plan. Isn’t that clever? Under this proposed contract a Postal Support Employee that doesn’t join the APWU will lose an employer-contribution of $6,817 annually on his/her family health insurance enrollment or $3030 on a self only enrollment [see APWU attachment based on 2011 rates].
USPS OIG Recommends Use Of Part-Time “Delivery Unit Assistants” For Carrier Duties
USPS OIG Report: Management Advisory – Benchmarking Mail Distribution to Carriers
A few excerpts:
The Postal Service and industry carriers are similar in that individuals perform some sorting of volumes for delivery, load their own vehicles, and assume additional delivery points when a colleague is absent or mail volumes require it. However, the Postal Service is unique among the companies we visited in that carriers deliver a more varied mix of mail, including letters, flats, and parcels; and must comply with a Universal Service Obligation. If the Postal Service incorporated the assignment of some delivery unit activities to part-time employees, additional savings could be achieved.
Workforce Flexibilities
The Postal Service may have opportunities to improve operations by adopting some industry best practices for distributing mail to carriers. We noted commercial delivery businesses have staffing flexibilities, such as the ability for employees to work across craft assignments, which allow managers to more efficiently match workhours with workload and offset overtime by using more part-time employees. See Appendix B for our detailed analysis of this topic
Flexible Delivery Unit Assistants
Postal Service city delivery carriers have office time allowances built into their 8-hour days to case and prepare mail for their route. Based on workload trends, vacancies,absences, and mail volume, the carrier may perform these activities for other routes. A small percentage of delivery units use full-time carrier craft “routers” to case and prepare the mail for delivery exclusively; Postal Service management stated the use of routers is declining. Routers typically case and prepare the mail prior to the assigned carrier’s arrival; routers may or may not perform street duties later in the day, depending on need. See Appendix B for our detailed analysis of this topic.
If the Postal Service used part-time delivery unit assistants to perform most in-office work, these employees could absorb all carrier morning activities except loading and driving delivery vehicles. Having part-time employees case and prepare mail within delivery units could result in annual reduced workhour costs between $621 million and $2.3 billion and greater flexibility for the Postal Service. Additional savings could be generated from carrier route adjustments resulting in longer routes and less office time for the carriers. See Appendix C for our analysis of monetary impacts.
We recommend the vice president, Delivery and Post Office Operations:
1. Pursue a delivery unit assistant initiative to have transitional employees or part-time flexible employees perform in-office activities including casing and preparing mail for carriers.
Management disagreed with the recommendation because of the complexity of labor relations and existing contractual issues with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Management further stated that the Postal Service is currently working with NALC to examine how city delivery routes might be structured in the future. The parties are working on a test that will attempt to separate the casing and delivery functions to the extent possible while operating within the current work rules.
USPS OIG: Benchmarking Mail Distribution to Carriers
APWU President To Testify At House Committee Hearing
APWU President Cliff Guffey has been asked to testify about the union’s tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose powerful chairman has publicly condemned the new agreement and said it is too generous to postal employees.
Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said the April 5 hearing will “examine the sustainability and affordability of the postal workforce, in light of the USPS’s looming insolvency and poor financial outlook.” Contract renewals present the best chance for the USPS to find savings, Issa said, but the Tentative Agreement “looks like a missed opportunity.”
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), chairman of the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy, also expressed “serious concerns” about postal employees’ pay.
The union president was undaunted. “Postal workers are part of the great American middle class. Political leaders should find ways to create new and better jobs – they should not try to knock ours down,” Guffey said.
“The Tentative Agreement is an example of the benefits of collective bargaining – even in difficult economic circumstances,” he added. “The proposed contract is good for postal workers and good for the USPS.
“The union’s main goals were to preserve jobs and to lessen the hardships associated with excessing. The Tentative Agreement will help accomplish those objectives. The USPS is seeking to reduce costs and increase workforce flexibility. The agreement will help management meet its objectives as well,” he said.
Not the First Time
The April 5 hearing will not be Rep. Issa’s first incursion into the APWU’s collective bargaining process. In September 2010, during negotiations, he wrote in a guest editorial in the Washington Times that, “No union has or ever will lobby for a layoff, so it’s up to USPS management and Congress to demand concessions.”
Citing the USPS’ financial difficulties, Issa said in September that the “postal lobby” would seek a “bailout” of the USPS, and he implied that employees are the source of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Guffey said. “As we have pointed out many times, the requirement to pre-fund future retiree healthcare liabilities is the cause of the USPS economic crisis.
Fight Back!
Vote on the Tentative Agreement
These attacks on postal workers demonstrate how important it is for APWU members to cast their vote on the Tentative Agreement, Guffey said.
“I urge you to take the time to study the proposed agreement and cast your ballot,” Guffey said. “It is more important than ever that we protect our jobs, wages, and benefits.”
Ballots will be mailed to all eligible members April 8-11, and are due in the return post office box in New York City by 9 a.m. on May 10. For more information, please see www.apwu.org.
“This unique and unreasonable requirement of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) is pushing the Postal Service toward insolvency,” he said. No other federal agency or private company is required to make such payments, which cost the USPS more than $5 billion annually for 10 years.
“The Postal Service does not need a bailout, and no one has requested one – not the USPS, not its customers and not its unions,” Guffey added. “In truth, the USPS is bailing out the federal government.”
Two independent auditors have concluded that the Postal Service has overfunded its Civil Service retirement fund by $50 billion to $75 billion. If the USPS were permitted to apply those overpayments to the Postal Service’s future retiree healthcare obligations, the agency’s financial crisis would be resolved. The Federal Employees Retirement System is also overfunded by approximately $9 billion.
“Postal workers did not cause the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” Guffey said, “but our Tentative Agreement has features that will help the Postal Service address them.
“Across the nation workers are being stripped of the right to collective bargaining,” he said. “We will not stand idly by and let the American dream slip away.”
NALC Presidents Meeting Notes – New JARAP 2011 Coming Out
A New Joint Alternate Route Adjustment Process (JARAP) is coming out. The JARAP is an agreement between USPS and NALC to jointly evaluate and adjust routes to as near as eight hours as possible.
A few highlights of the meeting:
A new agreement will be announced on Wednesday. It will be called JARAP 2011. It will again only involve zones that either party requests. There will be joint training at all levels. We are going to have the right to have a COR tech in the room. There will be COR training jointly and separately. They may work as a co-COR tech or as the DEAT. New language concerning 3999′s. No mandate to do a follow-up. Either party can request a follow-up. The new agreement will start May 1 in some cases and June 1 in others.
Fred: Art. 12. There is a misunderstanding concerning consolidation of offices. Management has been doing some things wrong. There will be an MOU coming out next week concerning consolidations and “DUO’s”. The issues are seniority. A consolidation triggers Art, 30 and LMOU’s. Another issue is branch affiliation. We have several issues pending dealing with this issue. In some cases we have had a coexistence of the two branches.There have been some mergers. There may be a partial transfer of some members between branches
Fred: There will be a new MEMO next week on route structure. It will be a voluntary local initiative to develop different alternative route structures. These will then be sent to the national level for approval. There will be some guidance on how to proceed with this process from the national.
Fred: In JARAP 2011 (April, May) management will be required to post the previous days volume on a daily basis.
NALC Committee of Presidents Notes March 27-28-2011
USPS Reprise For Fuel Surcharge TV Commercial
In 2008 — the last time Americans faced a spike in the cost of gasoline — the Postal Service launched a television ad to let customers know that unlike the competition, USPS wasn’t going to add surcharges to its pricing to offset rocketing fuel charges.
Today, with uncertainty still surrounding fuel costs, USPS has brushed off its ad of 3 years ago and once again is airing it on national TV. It begins with a question: “With the rising price of fuel, guess which way shipping costs are going.” Anticipating consumer angst, the ad informs viewers “The Postal Service has no fuel surcharges.”
Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products, knows rising fuel prices also are hitting shippers in the pocketbook (Link, 3/22). “Our competitors already have increased their pricing with fuel surcharges,” he said. “We want to work with customers, helping them get through this difficult period in exchange for their confidence and continued business long after fuel costs have stabilized.”
Reblin said USPS will do everything it can to encourage customers to continue shipping with USPS. “It worked in 2008, and it’ll work again in 2011,” he said.
source: USPS News Link – March 31, 2011.
Accenture Adds Digital Mail to Postal Portfolio
Mail volumes expected to decline by more than 40 percent by 2020; digital mail, delivered to a secure online mailbox, to become important new revenue stream for global posts
LONDON; March 30, 2011 – Expanding its line of postal services, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced it will enable postal agencies worldwide to offer digital mail – a digital version of printed mail securely delivered to an online mailbox – to their customers to recapture lost revenue from a steady decline in mail volumes and to compete against a growing number of independent operators currently offering digital mail direct to consumers.
Accenture works with more than 20 postal clients around the globe, including some of the world’s largest posts, and its systems help deliver more than 50 percent of the world’s mail. According to the company’s research, presented today at the European Postal Conference in London, mail is estimated to decline by 44 percent by 2020 (165.2 billion pieces) compared to 2009 volumes (297.2 billion) for the 26 postal agencies included in its High Performance Post Study. While rates of mail decline will vary by geography, the postal industry should expect an average year-over-year decline of at least 5 percent for the foreseeable future.
The research also illustrates, however, that high-performing postal agencies embrace a revenue diversification strategy and are leveraging technology by offering digital mail, e-commerce and other electronic services. Accenture’s digital post services enables postal agencies to immediately compete in the digital market by converting, delivering and storing traditional mail, such as utility bills, as digital mail in a postal customer’s secure online mailbox. Mail recipients can organize and store their digital mail and, as with physical mail, postal customers will not have to pay for this service.
Unlike other players in the digital mail market, Accenture is partnering with postal agencies to help them offer digital post services to citizens. “Accenture is launching digital post services to help postal agencies expand their trusted relationship as the secure gateway between business, government and their valued customers,” said Brian Moran Accenture’s lead executive for its global postal business. “We are focused on enabling global posts to leverage new technology to drive revenue and compete against a growing number of independent digital mail start-ups.”
Just like the cost of postage, postal agencies may charge fees for delivering mail digitally, creating an important new revenue stream. Accenture estimates that the majority of traditional mail can be converted to digital mail, making up for some of the revenue lost to decreased mail volumes.
“With digital mail, postal agencies can now offer business mailers a choice on how they would like their mail delivered – hard copy, digital or both,” said Moran. “This new multi-channel capability will help posts adapt to the changing technology environment by giving citizens the option of receiving mail in their letter box or on their smart phone.”
Important postal customers will also benefit. High-volume mailers, such as banks and utilities that opt for digital mail, can realize significant cost savings on paper, production and staff hours. They can offer consumers a choice while still being confident that their important correspondence is being delivered securely by the country’s official postal system.
Accenture is currently in discussion with several postal agencies to add digital post services to the portfolio of services it provides.
source: Accenture
Zumbox and 3i Infotech Partner to Help Companies Increase Electronic Billing Adoption
Agreement Further Expands Bill Delivery Options for 3i Infotech’s Corporate Clients, Addresses Consumer Desire for Digital Postal Mail Aggregation
Edison, NJ and Los Angeles, CA – March 30, 2011 – 3i Infotech, a global information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company, and Zumbox, the leader in digital postal mail services, announced today a partnership to enable 3i Infotech clients to send electronic bills and other customer communications via Zumbox. Among other valuable benefits, the partnership will assist 3i Infotech clients in driving electronic bill adoption, promoting print suppression and cutting costs.
The partnership between 3i Infotech and Zumbox creates an especially compelling solution for utilities, insurance, financial services companies and others who need to accommodate changing preferences in how customers choose to receive and pay their bills. The relationship between the two companies is part of 3i Infotech’s expansion of its electronic billing and payment services, also announced today preceding the upcoming NACHA Payments conference on April 3-6 in Austin, TX.
“As consumer billing and payment preferences shift between paper, web and mobile methods, 3i Infotech is dedicated to helping companies manage this evolution while reducing costs, overhead and infrastructure requirements,” said Kathy Hamburger, Chief Executive Officer and President, 3i Infotech, BPO & Developed Markets. “Zumbox’s unique approach of providing a central, digital mailbox will increase consumer adoption of online billing and assist our clients in moving more rapidly from paper to electronic communications.”
Digital postal mail is an exact facsimile of paper mail, created from a diversion of the print stream before it reaches a large mailing system. Zumbox archives and presents mail to consumers in a secure, central online environment, instead of on paper. Zumbox has created a digital mailbox for every street address in the United States, connecting large transactional, financial and government mailers to consumer households for the protected, on-time delivery of postal mail online. Ultimately, Zumbox gives consumers increased flexibility in where and how they receive, manage and store their postal mail.
Zumbox will be offered to 3i Infotech customers through 3i Infotech’s Global Billing & Payments Center of Excellence (CoE). The CoE leverages the company’s deep domain expertise and global resources to best serve companies interested in optimizing their entire billing and payment lifecycle. The inclusion of Zumbox gives 3i Infotech customers a powerful tool in their drive to provide electronic billing options and reduce their use of paper bills, including an easy implementation process that allows billers to maintain their unique brand identity on their electronic documents.
“As the largest outsourced remittance processor and one of the largest billers in the US, 3i Infotech is a recognized leader in revenue chain optimization,” said John Payne, CEO of Zumbox. “With this partnership, 3i Infotech can provide their clients with a valuable tool for reaching consumers through the Zumbox digital postal system, while also offering a clear path to paper suppression and postal cost alleviation.”
About 3i Infotech
3i Infotech (www.3i-infotech.com) is a global information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company which provides technology solutions to customers in more than 50 countries across five continents. The company provides IT services and BPO to markets such as banking, financial services, insurance, government, manufacturing, retail, telecom, education, healthcare and utilities. 3i Infotech is a member of the FinTech 100 and the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces.
About Zumbox
Zumbox is the world’s first paperless postal system. It connects large transactional, financial and government mailers to consumer households for the delivery and storage of digital postal mail via the Internet. Digital postal mail is an exact facsimile of paper mail created from a redirection of the print stream originally intended for large mailing systems. For every U.S. street address, there is a corresponding Zumbox – a digital mailbox – enabling mail and other content to be sent as digital files and received online. Zumbox represents a more cost-effective, convenient and environmentally responsible way to deliver postal mail. As a closed system of known, verified mailers and recipients, Zumbox provides bank-level security and complies with PCI, HIPAA and BITS security standards. For more information, visit www.zumbox.com
source: 3i Infotech
Minnesota Postal carrier indicted for stealing cash and gift cards from mail
The following is a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota:
A federal indictment, unsealed earlier today in St. Paul, charges a postal carrier with stealing approximately $4,000 in cash and gift cards from the mail she delivered.
The indictment, which was filed on March 16, 2011, charges Michelle Lynn Bressette, age 43, of Jordan, with one count of theft of mail by postal employee. The indictment was unsealed following Bressette’s initial appearance in federal court. The indictment alleges that from December of 2009 through October 21, 2010, Bressette, an employee of the Prior Lake Post Office, stole money and gift cards from the mail.
If convicted, Bressette faces a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge. This case is the result of an
investigation by the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Y. Aanstad.
An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by a defendant. A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.
Editorial: Voice of the U.S. Postal Service Employee Survey
Writing is a great way to have a meeting with my readers. No I’m not crazy, but we all can get a little cuckoo from the same o’ same o’ VOE survey results. If I could read the mind of the postal boss that exhibits the tough guy image as they pass by laborers on the workroom floor their thought bubble about us emanating above their head would read “I’d like to pay them what I think they’re worth, but lucky for them there’s a minimum-wage law.”
One of the Postal Service strategic goals is to improve employee engagement. According to USPS strategic planning the Voice of the Employee (VOE) survey is one of the largest employee surveys in the nation and recent index questions have changed to shift focus from conditions of work place to employee engagement. With all the workplace changes, complement reductions, and reassignments due to mail volume declines it would be a much more productive survey if there was adequate writing space for employee opinion comments. Instead we prefer the five-level Likert bipolar scaling method known to avoid extreme responses resulting in more favorable outcomes for the surveying organization.
Recent outcomes (Quarter 1, FY 2011) resulted in 54 percent of those surveyed responding. That’s not good! I wouldn’t want to score a 54% out of 100 on anything. Sixty-four point six percent of those who responded replied favorably? Is there a gimmick here? 64.6% of 54%, and the word “favorably.”
The majority of our employees understood the Postal Service’s strategic direction and how their work affects the organization’s success. Most responses should be favorable to this question, or is that query designed to compensate for some other lower scoring questions that might follow later on? Seventy-five percent (of 54%) of employees said they are proud to work for the Postal Service. I sure would like to know what the other 25% (of 54%) are thinking. Seventy-nine percent (of 54%) are aware of the security measures in the workplace, and the same percentage believes they have been properly trained to do their jobs. The main analysis of the entire low scoring survey should revolve around achieving maximum participation and high end results.
More than 81% (of 54%) say they understand how their work impacts the service the Postal Service provides. At least 77% (of 54%) feel personally responsible for helping USPS succeed as a business. More than half (is that 51% of 54%) believe USPS promotes diversity of backgrounds, talents and perspectives.
It’s time to focus on how to strengthen the VOE dimensions of communications, diversity, and respect to get more participation in the organizational climate survey. Fifty-four percentage points for participation implies that employees don’t care, or believe filling out the assessment will make no difference.
54% prepared is not “ready” as a performance score if it really matters! Does it matter? Ready for battle scores would best be indicated by a number with a “9” in front of it. No time to celebrate low percentages but maybe time to tie low standards and inadequate performance scores to promotions or demotions. Then our leaders will seriously understand “What’s in it for you,” better known as WIIFY.
Here are a few ideas for the boss’ responsible for suggesting “The numbers don’t lie, and that’s where they come in:
Conduct regular periodic town halls with employees. State the ground rules and get-it-on. Don’t give a one-way “wind-up” doll presentation demonstrated by hiding behind a slide show for 55 minutes and thinking 5 minutes for Q&A will satisfy hearing what is on the mind of hundreds of employees. We heard your agenda, mow hear ours. With the advent of social media today employees don’t have to wait for the wizard on the stool, or behind the curtain to call on a raised hand in the crowd to speak. Bring your top management team on stage and let them be on the panel with you as you invite employee feedback in person. You just might raise an eyebrow from some of the favorable thoughts, unfavorable apprehensions, and facial expressions from the redundant yes-men/woman surrounding your highness. You got to believe in people if you want to be in leadership!
Bosses at all levels owe their success or failure to the employees that hold the ladders that ascended them to the level of the dance floor. Look out below shouldn’t signal I’m about to drop the hammer. Try traveling around the agency, corporation, or business and remain audible ready for the people who are doing the job every single day so that the team can be triumphant. We know what is wrong, and we need your leadership to fix it. It is common knowledge that senior management always take a long time to discover things because they refuse to come down deep and savor the reality of the people bringing the numbers up from the basement. Get out of that comfort zone, hoss! There will never be a better time than the present to get some genuine criticism from the people driving the delivery vehicles, cleaning the bathrooms, prepping the mail, and keeping the paperwork on point. Our perspective is as personal as you handwriting a first class letter. It’s the opportunity that presents the kind of attention that will undoubtedly support you in positively re-doing the corporate DNA. Don’t be the cartoon character that runs of the edge of the cliff and suddenly realizes there is no ground underneath to break your fall. If you engage us properly, we won’t let you drop down.
You have to listen! It’s easy to talk about and harder to do. So what if you hear thoughts like; we don’t trust leadership, and managers are arrogant. We realize it’s probably lonely at the top, but you should remember it’s even lonelier at the bottom. We are counting on you to treasure and absorb critique. Hear us loud and clear, and through your charisma prove to the masses you are really listening.
I believe at the U.S. Postal Service we have one of the world’s greatest brands originating from a long successful history. There is a quote by an unknown author that suggests “When the magician believes in his or her own magic, they’re really in trouble.” We are overdue for a change in the company leadership profile. Big bosses need to challenge little bosses, and little bosses need to challenge big bosses to stay connected making each other no-nonsense folks. Let’s prepare for a shift in generational thinking to go along with the diversifying demographics of this service-oriented workforce. I’m sure we spend a lot of money on developing products and services but we need to invest a lot more wealth in the people “delivery” system which is the only way to get the business off the ground and keep our competitive advantage among the stars.
Ronald Williams
written exclusively for PostalReporter.com