APWU President to Testify Before Senate Committee
APWU President Cliff Guffey will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Sept. 6 about the financial crisis facing the Postal Service and what Congress must do to address it.
“I will tell members of the Senate Committee that the future of the Postal Service is in their hands. They have a solemn duty to save the nation’s mail system, which is the nerve center of a $1 trillion industry” the union president said.
Guffey is the only union president that was invited to testify; therefore, the four postal unions have agreed that his oral statement to the committee will represent the views of all bargaining unit employees. All of the unions will submit written testimony. In addition to the APWU, the postal unions are the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association.
The APWU president has been asked to focus his testimony on USPS proposals for legislation that would abrogate the union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. The USPS is asking Congress to enact laws that would separate postal workers from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and from federal retirement plans and that would allow the agency to lay off 120,000 employees. Read more
Maryland Postal Worker Sentenced To Prison For Theft of Mail
Baltimore, Maryland – (August 30, 2011) U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake, sentenced James M. Russell, age 49, of Brandywine, Maryland, today to six months in prison, followed by six months of home detention and two years of supervised release, for theft of mail while he was employed by the U.S. Postal Service. Judge Blake also ordered Russell to perform 100 hours of community service. Read more
Arbitrator: Testing positive for alcohol is not proof Postal Worker drinking while on duty
This is a summary of Regular Panel Arbitrator Margo R. Newman in cases C06T-1C-D- 09046953 and C06T-1C-D 09064186 regarding and Emergency Suspension and Discharge of the grievant for “Improper Conduct”. The arbitrator sustained the Union’s grievances ; she properly ruled the Postal Service did not establish just cause for grievant’s Emergency Placement or removal; she ordered the grievant be reinstated and paid back pay in the amount agreed to by the parties as a result of a joint review of the pertinent records for the relevant period of time. Read more
APWU: Locations Announced For 740 New Jobs in the Motor Vehicle Craft
Filed under: APWU, motor vehicle services, postal, postal news, usps
In accordance with the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the USPS has agreed to establish 740 new assignments in Vehicle Maintenance Facilities. Read more
Senate SubCommittee to Hold Hearing On USPS September 6
U.S. Postal Service in Crisis: Proposals to Prevent a Shutdown
Live video will not be available until approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled hearing start time.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
02:00 PM
Dirksen Senate Office Building, room SD-342
NALC, Labor and Other Unions to picket Rep. Issa’s Main District Office Sept. 1
Filed under: Congress, NALC, pickets, postal, postal news, press releases, usps
The San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council (CLC) has unanimously voted to picket Congressman Darrel Issa’s main district office in Vista, California (just north of San Diego) on Thursday, Sept 1.
NALC President Fredric Rolando has decided to make this a much larger action, and he has sent out a statewide E-Activist. The NALC will be joining several other unions and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council to personally protest Issa’s failure to represent working families and his continuing attacks to destroy the United States Postal Service Read more
Iowa Rep., Senators Ask USPS To Delay Consolidation of Sioux City Mail Processing Facility
Washington, D.C.- Congressman Steve King (R-IA), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) announce that they have formally requested that the United States Postal Service delay the implementation of its plan to consolidate mail processing operations in Sioux City with a mail processing center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The request was made in a letter sent by the three Members of Congress to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe this afternoon. The letter notes that a delay in the final implementation of the consolidation proposal is warranted and necessary because the USPS has spent weeks stalling the release of information sought by Sioux City officials attempting to prepare a counter proposal in advance of the September 16 deadline. Read more
Deputy PMG Reassures Stakeholders: “We aren’t going away”
With potential USPS insolvency in the news, approximately 200 Southern California mailing industry leaders gathered in Anaheim to hear DPMG Ron Stroman discuss the state of the Postal Service.
Stroman expressed optimism while emphasizing the need for change: “The decisions we make today will determine our future 10 years from now.”
He congratulated attending Pacific Area Vice President Drew Aliperto and area district leaders for their successful efforts to improve service and reduce costs, but stressed the decline in First-Class Mail volume makes congressional action essential to the Postal Service’s fiscal health.
Stroman reiterated the need for Congress to resolve the mandate to pre-fund Retiree Health Benefits by $5.5 billion annually, allow USPS to access its overpayment to the Federal Employees Retirement System and give USPS authority to determine delivery frequency. He also discussed proposals such as reducing the workforce and accelerating consolidation of the processing network.
“I’m here to remind you how important you are in sharing our message with your customers and with decision-makers,” Stroman declared. “We aren’t going away, we’re making the tough decisions and there’s a bright future ahead if we pull together.”
source: USPS News Link
OWCP Cant’ Pay Injured Federal Employees If USPS Defaults on Upcoming $1.2B Payment
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fund that compensates federal employees for work-related injuries will run out of cash in the last quarter of 2012 if the U.S. Postal Service defaults on an upcoming $1.2 billion payment, according to the Labor Department.
The mail carrier, which has been losing billions of dollars each year, has more than 560,000 full-time employees and is the largest employer of workers covered by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. Read more
USPS Announce Public Meetings for Proposed Post Office Closings In 3 States
Filed under: post office closings, postal, postal news, press releases, usps
The following is a combination of press releases from USPS announcing scheduled public meetings for proposed post office closings in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
From USPS:
A review of business activities of the Post Office at this location revealed that the office workload has declined. This reduced workload suggests the maintenance of an independent Post Office here may no longer be warranted. Read more