USPS to start campaign encouraging Postal Employees to become Letter Carriers
Filed under: APWU, postal, postal employees, postal news, usps
Reassignment Opportunities to the City Carrier Craft
January 3, 2012
Mr. Cliff Guffey
President
American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
1300 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005-4128
Dear Cliff:
As a matter of general interest, the Postal Service will initiate an awareness campaign regarding bargaining unit reassignment opportunities to the city letter carrier craft. The program is intended to provide career clerk, mail handler, maintenance, and motor vehicle craft employees with information on volunteer reassignment opportunities to the city carrier craft. Read more
Video: Postal Service Employees Outraged At Texas Meeting
Filed under: post office closings, postal employees, postal news, usps, videos
KBTX.com -Bryan/College Station, TX Texas
A few concerned residents and some postal employees attended a hearing tonight to hear a proposal to move Bryan’s mail processing center to Houston or Austin as a cost saving measure.
“We are looking at every area within our organization of ways that we can consolidate and become more efficient, cut costs by still providing universal service,” said Dionne Montague with the US Postal Service.
Some postal workers say they believe the decision has already been made internally.
“This [meeting] is a show to make everyone think that management cares about our opinion. I don’t think that management cares about our opinion. I think they are going to do it anyway, so we are basically wasting our time here,” said one US Postal Service employee.
“Let the people know this is going on. This is a farce,” said another angry employee.
USPS Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period
Penalty Overtime Exclusion
As referenced in Article 8, Sections 4 and 5, of the USPS–NALC and USPS–APWU national agreements, the December period (during which penalty overtime regulations are not applicable) consists of 4 consecutive service weeks. This year, the December period begins Pay Period 26-11, Week 1 (December 3, 2011), and ends Pay Period 01-12, Week 2 (December 30, 2011).
Oakland: USPS Changes to Positions Held by Postal Employees Over 40 May Be Age Discrimination
The following is a message sent out to Postal Employees by APWU Oakland (California) Local #78 regarding Non-Traditional full-time (NTFT) duty assignments.
ATTENTION MEMBERS 40 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER
It appears that the October 26, 2011, reposting of the manual units’ traditional duty assignments as non-traditional full-time (NTFT) duty assignments is a ploy by management to frighten , intimidate, harass and coerce the senior employees who presently hold bid assignments in the manual units into bidding on the NTFT assignments to avoid being assigned
to an automation unit where the most physically challenging work is performed. This would be a constructive change to a part-time regular and a reduction in pay and benefits for the senior employees who successfully bid on these assignments out of fear of not being allowed to continue to work in a manual unit if they opted not to bid.
Accordingly, if you presently hold a manual unit duty assignment that is being reposted as a NTFT assignment, the APWU encourage you to file a grievance within 14 days of the posting and an EEO complaint within 45 days of the posting alleging age discrimination.
If you have any questions regarding this announcement, contact your steward.
Fredric Jacobs
President
Video: Jon Stewart: Layoff 220,000 Postal Workers – What Could Go Wrong With That?
Filed under: politics, postal, postal employees, postal news, usps, videos
Postbusters| Jon Stewart Daily Show -A hot new trend called bankruptcy has taken America by storm, and it’s now as close as the corner mailbox. Read more
Ohio Postal Employee indicted for mail theft
Press Release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District Of Ohio
Rural Carrier Associate indicted for mail theft
June 2, 2011 – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Joni R. Smith, age 35, of Mogadore, Ohio, with theft of mail by a postal employee and unauthorized opening of mail by a postal employee, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment alleges that on February 23, 2011, Joni R. Smith, a Rural Carrier Associate assigned to the Rootstown Post Office, Rootstown, Ohio, opened and stole 63 first-class letters and their contents which had come into her possession to be conveyed by mail.
The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Sassé after investigation by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Part-Time Flexible Postal Clerk indicted for misappropriation of funds
June 2, 2011 – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Carey Burlinski, age 47 of Chesterland, Ohio, with making false entries in postal records by a postal employee and misappropriation of funds by a postal employee, Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today.
The indictment alleges that on February 23, 2011, Carey Burlinski, a part time flexible clerk at the Chagrin Falls Post Office, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, converted postal funds to his own use and made false record entries relating to his window stamp sale transactions.
The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Sassé after investigation by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
USPS Aging Workforce?
Filed under: Articles, postal, postal employees, postal news, usps
Update: Deadtree Edition updated his article after reading my post and reading a USPS report (a retired postal manager helped lead him to the report) on active postal employees that has been published for years. But my point still remains the same. The age of the USPS workforce has no bearing on its financial woes. As one reader pointed out:
The companies may not have a high rate of older employees due to salaries or benefits. Older people need job security and higher wages to take care of their families. The study absent salaries, benefits and throw in geographic location is practically useless in comparing to any company, govt or private.
Like I have mentioned on the frontpage of PostalReporter.com. Deadtree Edition normally writes insightful articles about issues facing the USPS. However, I believe this article is does not truly reflect the purpose of the Retirementjobs study nor does it accurately compare the average age of Postal Workers to employees of Fortune 500 companies.
Oh, by the way, the HAT report says the average age of postal employees is 49 yrs. old. This includes temporary and non-career employees. The average years of USPS service is 16 years which is certainly not enough years to equal the 30-year requirement for retirement of most employees. Now, let me leave this issue alone before I get more “gray hairs”
Deadtree Edition recently wrote an article with the title, “USPS Workforce Has More Gray Hairs Than the Fortune 500. The article is an analysis of a study by RetirementJobs.com and a news article from US News and World Report. The purpose of the RetirementJobs.com study is to highlight:
It is helpful to age 50+ job seekers and existing employees to understand which companies and industries tend to employ a disproportionately high or low percentage of mature workers,” said RetirementJobs.com Founder and CEO Tim Driver.
Just because a company employs a large number of older workers doesn’t necessarily mean it’s hiring older workers. In many cases, companies have long-tenured employees who have aged on the job, says Bill Coleman, vice president of research and certification at RetirementJobs.com and author of the report. But the study “does give a sense of where older workers are and where many of them would be most comfortable,” he says.
But Deadtree Edition has taken the study a little bit further and compared it to USPS Workforce.
Deadtree Edition says:
The U.S. Postal Service apparently has a larger share of employees who are over 50 than any Fortune 500 company, a new study indicates.American Airlines leads the big companies, with a workforce that is 39.1% over 50, estimates the RetirementJobs.com study, based on public records.The number of postal workers over 50 does not seem to be publicly available, but the data that are available suggests USPS has the private sector beat in the older-worker category.
First of all, it is absolutely erroneous to compare Fortune 500 companies to the U.S. Postal Service. As the US News and World Report pointed out:
Companies without many older workers aren’t necessarily making a deliberate effort not to hire them, says Coleman. “The reason those companies rate low on the list is because of the nature of what they do or the nature of their organizations,” he says. “Places like Goldman Sachs have large numbers of young employees because they bring in large pools of people just out of college or just out of business school.” Logistics company C.H. Robinson.
In a recent USPS report it states that there are approximately 351,409 postal employees over the age of 50. But the report is not broken down as to how many are CAREER employees within USPS. Nonetheless, it doesn’t matter how many employees are over th age of 50. Why? because it does not mean over 50 employees will be eligible for retirement in less than 10 years as the point Deadtree Edition is alluding to in his article on USPS.
RetirementJobs.com also pointed out :
Internal research within leading retail companies now ties the prevalence of older employees directly to higher revenues, due to higher satisfaction rates when a customer (of any age) interacts with an older associate. Finally, companies addressing high turnover rates strategically recruit and emphasize retention of mature employees since these age 50+ employees turn over at one third the rate of their younger (under age 50) peers.
USPS, unlike its competitors has a very low turnover percentage. However, reduced and/or lower wages, reduced workhours and benefits will more than likely drive that percentage to an all-time high.. Can USPS operate efficiently and effectively with a revolving and younger workforce? Only time will tell in the upcoming years as “older” workers retire. But for now, writing articles or trying to force out retirement eligible postal employees is not the answer to curing USPS financial woes. Deadtree Edition should be careful when writing about employees over 50. One would tend to think he is bias against ‘over 50′ employees in the workforce which includes our nation’s military veterans. Or better yet should Morris Wilkinson retire because he is eligible for retirement and over 50? 91-year-old postman Morris Wilkinson stamps 70 years of service I don’t think so.
USPS has reduced its workforce by at least 100,000 employees over the last few years and it is still in financial trouble. But yet pundits and some lawmakers are forever pushing for USPS to cut its workforce even more. USPS is in the business to serve the American people and not to the whims of anti-union forces or lawmakers seeking to score political points with the competitors, businesses and the mailing industry. This is one factor that seems to get lost in discussions about the future and stability of the U.S. Postal Service.
Editorial: USPS Memorial Day
Filed under: Articles, postal, postal employees, postal news, stamps, usps
From birth dates to death dates when we think of Memorial Day most of us think about our military veterans who have given their lives in defense of America. Of equal importance is the Workers Memorial Day celebrated one month earlier. Today, I would ask that you also think about this day with high regard for all postal employees. Read more
Five More South Carolina Postal Employees Charged With Filing False Claims for Unemployment
Filed under: postal, postal employees, postal news, press releases, usdoj
Columbia, SC—–United States Attorney Bill Nettles announced the indictment of five additional United States Postal Service employees. Mr. Nettles added that these indictments follow five indictments from the Florence area and are part of an ongoing sweep targeting fraud by Postal workers in claiming unemployment benefits.
Lisa Hawkins, age 46, of Eutawville, South Carolina, was charged in a 2-count Indictment with theft from the United States government, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 and false statement on an application for unemployment insurance benefits, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1919. The maximum penalty Lisa Hawkins could receive is 10 years imprisonment. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson, of the Columbia office for prosecution.
Felecia Mack, age 35, of Bowman, South Carolina, was charged in a 2-count Indictment with theft from the United States government, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 and false statement on an application for unemployment insurance benefits, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1919. The maximum penalty Felecia Mack could receive is 10 years imprisonment. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson, of the Columbia office for prosecution.
Emma Talford, age 42, of Blackstock, South Carolina, was charged in a 2-count Indictment with theft from the United States government, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 and false statement on an application for unemployment insurance benefits, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1919. The maximum penalty Emma Talford could receive is 10 years imprisonment. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson, of the Columbia office for prosecution.
Eulinda Willis, age 39, of Bowman, South Carolina, was charged in a 2-count Indictment with theft from the United States government, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 and false statement on an application for unemployment insurance benefits, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1919. The maximum penalty Eulinda Willis could receive is 10 years imprisonment. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson, of the Columbia office for prosecution.
Kimberly Watkins, age 40, of Vance, South Carolina, was charged in 2-count Indictment with theft from the United States government, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 and false statement on an application for unemployment insurance benefits, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1919. The maximum penalty Kimberly Watkins could receive is 10 years imprisonment. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson, of the Columbia office for prosecution.
“These indictments represent a collaborative effort between the South Carolina Employment Securities Commission, the Department of Labor Inspector General, and the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG),” according to Joanne Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge of the OIG’s regional office. “The Postal Service prides itself in its dedicated and professional employees and their ability to provide the service our customers have come to expect. The employees identified today are a very small percentage of the thousands of South Carolina postal workers entrusted with processing and delivering the public’s letters and parcels every day.”
Mr. Nettles stated that the charges in these Indictments are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
source: United States Attorney’s Office, District of South Carolina
Related link:
Five South Carolina Postal Workers Indicted For Unemployment Fraud
Congressman Issa Asks: Can USPS Survive Paying Higher Wages While Workload Decreases?
Filed under: Congress, politics, postal, postal employees, postal news, usps
On March 23, 2011, Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-R), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced “a full committee hearing on United States Postal Service (USPS) pay and benefits on April 5th. The Committee expects to hear from the Postal Service on their tentative agreement offered to their largest union, the American Postal Worker Union (APWU), last week. The agreement has yet to be signed.” “The Postmaster General, the President of the American Postal Workers Union, and two members of Postal Board of Governors are expected to testify.” The hearing will bed shown online at http://oversight.house.gov Read more