Chicago Mail Delivery Now Ranks among Nation’s Best
Consumer Advocate Praises Continued Performance Improvement
CHICAGO, IL—Despite continuing economic challenges, the U.S. Postal Service continues to deliver high levels of service – and the Chicago District has become a major contributor to that success. The district continued its outstanding recent record of service performance in fourth quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2009, from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2009.
The district’s score of 96 percent for on-time two-day delivery of Single-Piece First-Class Mail tied four other districts for the best score in the nation. The district’s 96 percent score for on-time overnight delivery of Single-Piece First-Class Mail and 94 percent score for on-time three-day delivery matched the national average in both categories.
“Last year the Chicago District reached progressive and sustained levels of performance,” Delores J. Killette, Postal Service Vice President and Consumer Advocate, said in announcing the scores November 13. “This year they exceeded those levels. Well done Chicago!”
In addition to achieving record high levels of service performance, the Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency by the Ponemon Institute for five consecutive years.
“We are committed to providing customers with the trusted, reliable service they’ve come to expect,” said Chicago District Manager/Postmaster Gloria Tyson. “Our quarterly service performance measurement is our ‘report card’ and I am pleased to see that when it comes to serving our customers, we’re meeting and exceeding the national standards.”
Since 1990, the Postal Service has contracted with an independent company to measure First-Class Mail service performance. IBM Global Business Services tracks First-Class Mail from the time it arrives in a collection box or lobby mail chute until it is delivered to a home or business, allowing the Postal Service to monitor performance and improve service for customers.
“Despite noticeable improvements and record service performance results, the Postal Service remains focused on raising the bar,” said Tyson. “We’re the only company where every American is our customer, and service isn’t just in our name, it’s our commitment.”
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
source: USPS
APWU Files Dispute Over Consolidation of USPS Districts
The APWU has appealed to arbitration a dispute over the Postal Service’s unilateral consolidation of six USPS Districts. By letter dated May 12, 2009, the union was informed that six district offices had been consolidated and that effective July 4, 2009, the casual reports used by the Union to monitor compliance with Article 7.1.B.5 will reflect the new structure as specified in the letter. On July 1, 2009, the union challenged the authority of the Postal Service to make this unilateral change as contrary to the 2006-2010 National Agreement, which applies the casual limitations to the Districts as defined on the effective date of the agreement. It is the union’s position that this is a mid-term modification of the collective bargaining agreement, prohibited by Article 5, that allows the Postal Service to evade the casual caps and thereby employ more casuals than it otherwise might have under the pre-existing district structure.
source: APWU
USPS Closing Six Districts, Eliminating 1,400 EAS Positions And Offering Early Retirement
Organizational Changes – March 20, 2009
• The Postal Service is closing 6 of the 80 district offices, eliminating 521 positions across the country and offering early retirement to nearly 150,000 employees nationwide (excluding Electronic Technicians, MPE Maintenance Mechanics, Part-time Postmasters)
• For the remaining 74 districts across the country, there will be a 15% reduction in administrative staffing.
• More than 1400 mail processing management positions are also being eliminated in nearly 400 facilities around the country.
District Closings
• Massachusetts District – 116 impacted employees (105 are eligible to retire)
Boston District and the Connecticut District (Hartford CT) will assume the
operations.
• New Hampshire/Vermont District – 75 impacted employees (68 eligible to retire)
Northern New England District (Portland ME) will assume operations.
• Erie District – 63 impacted employees (44 eligible to retire)
Western Pennsylvania District (Pittsburgh PA) will assume operations.
• Central Florida District – 104 impacted employees (79 eligible to retire)
South Florida District (Miami FL) and Suncoast District (Tampa FL) will
assume operations.
• Spokane District – 71 impacted employees (52 eligible to retire)
Seattle District and the Salt Lake City District will assume operations.
• Central New Jersey District – 92 impacted employees (63 eligible to retire)
Northern New Jersey District (Newark NJ) and the South Jersey District
(Bellmawr NJ) will assume operations.
It will take approximately 5 months to close down the functions performed at the impacted districts. We expect this to be finalized by the end of August 2009.
Impacted employees will be given 5 months notice to look for a placement within the Postal Service. If unable to do so, the employee will be given a RIF notice on June 24, 2009. Once the RIF notice is received, the employee then has 60 days before their employment status with the Postal Service will end on August 28, 2009.
Function 1 – EAS positions
In excess of 1400 EAS positions in more than 400 facilities will be eliminated in mail processing operations.
These positions are being eliminated based on a mathematical computation designed to readjust our management-to-craft employee ratio to factor in the thousands of craft employees who have left the Postal Service in the last several years.
An employee who is impacted by this decision will be given 4 month’s notice to look for placement within the Postal Service. If they are unable to do so, the employee will be given a Specific RIF notice on May 27, 2009. Once the RIF notice is received, the employee has 60 days before their employment status with the Postal Service will end on July 31, 2009.
Additional information on the elimination of these positions will be provided.
USPS To Announce District , EAS Staffing Changes On March 20
From the National Association of Postal Supervisors website
NAPS Headquarters was advised today that the announcements that we have been anticipating for some time on District changes will be made formally at 12:00 noon on Friday (tomorrow).
This morning NAPS Headquarters participated in two meetings with the USPS at L’Enfant Plaza. The first meeting dealt with tomorrow’s announcement of changes in EAS staffing in Plant operations. The full details of Function One changes will be provided tomorrow in a USPS Newsbreak.
The second meeting was with the Postmaster General and all of the unions and management associations. The discussion centered on current legislation which would modify the pre-funding of retiree health benefits. All of the unions and management associations are supporting this legislation. 3-19-09
USPS Announces Freeze on All Area and Districts Job Postings
From National League of Postmasters
December 10, 2008 – Freeze Announced
As information, the following message was just sent to the Area V.P.s and to the field from Tony Vegliante:
Staffing changes will be made in the Field beginning early 2009. Due to these changes, effective immediately all Area and District job postings are frozen until further notice including laterals and downgrades. Any exceptions need to come through my office by contacting Bretta Bombac, Mgr. HR Integration and Support.
Please proceed with current postings. The last date for processing PS Form 50s will be 1/16/09.
USPS Los Angeles District Gets Approval From OPM to Offer Early Outs
The Los Angeles District has received approval from OPM to offer Early Out opportunities to “CLERKS ONLY” beginning early 2008. This is a result of planned excessing of over 250 clerks from the Los Angeles District. Below is the text of the letter sent out by Yolanda Elders, President, Los Angeles APWU Local #64 to eligible members advising them of this opportunity.
Update: Mike Causey from Federal News Radio posted this message on his site:
Postal Buyout Rumor
Postal clerks in the Los Angeles area are being given the option to retire early. But the American Postal Workers Union says no financial incentives, such as a buyout or an enhanced retirement formula, go with the deal. This may be the source, at least this year, of the SuperBuyout Rumor in yesterday’s column.
More Postal Districts Implement Phase Two of NRP
Filed under: APWU, Injured On Duty, districts, outsourcing, usps
From PostalReporter.com reader:
The Postal Service continues to implement Phase 2 of the National Reassessment Process (NRP) in USPS Districts across the country. There is no set schedule that establishes a date when a particular District will begin Phase 2.
Every USPS District should have already implemented Phase 1 of the NRP, which is the “information-gathering” phase. When a District completes this initial phase, they contact Postal Service Headquarters to seek approval to move forward into Phase 2, which is the “interview and decision-making phase.”
If USPS Headquarters agrees that a District has successfully completed all of the requirements of Phase 1, they will validate the completion of Phase 1 and authorize that District to begin the implementation of Phase 2. The Postal Service will then notify the APWU national office that Phase 2 implementation has been approved for that District.
The Postal Service has informed the APWU that they do not expect more than three Districts in a USPS Area to be in Phase 2 of the NRP at the same time.
USPS Districts that have been approved for the implementation of Phase 2:
USPS District Date of Implementation
Dakotas Mar. 08, 2007
New Hampshire/Vermont Mar. 13, 2007
Westchester Late April, 2007
Salt Lake City Late April, 2007
San Diego Mid-May, 2007
(offices not in NRP pilot)
South Georgia Mid-May, 2007
Mid-America May 24, 2007
Boston Jun. 28, 2007
Caribbean Jul. 09, 2007
Honolulu Jul. 09, 2007
Cincinnati Aug. 01, 2007
Related link: More “Injured on Duty” articles