APWU Assails USPS Inspector General On Custodial Subcontracting Recommendations
APWU News
APWU President William Burrus has strenuously objected to a recommendation in a recent audit by the USPS Office of the Inspector General that “blatantly urges postal management to seek an end to restrictions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement on custodial subcontracting.”
The report on Custodial Maintenance operations in the New York District (DA-AR-09-007 [PDF]) “does not respect the legally required bargaining process,” Burrus said in a June 4 letter [PDF] to Inspector General David Williams. In addition to suggesting changes to the outsourcing provisions of the contract, it also “encourages management to arbitrarily adjust cleaning frequencies.
“This reflects a level of ignorance of the bargaining process, which requires mutual agreement,” the union president said. “The American Postal Workers Union looks forward to participating in bargaining and discussing a wide range of proposals to improve efficiencies and reward employees.”
Although the objective of the report was to “determine whether the Postal Service uses its custodial maintenance resources in the most effective and efficient way in the New York District,” Burrus noted that the USPS ignores many opportunities for more efficient use of it resources.
“We fail to understand postal management’s refusal in previous negotiations to apply a cost-benefit standard to all decisions on subcontracting,” he said. “We also fail to comprehend any justification for rate discounts that far exceed the postal costs avoided” for large mailers who pre-sort their mail.
Burrus pointed out that the union has asked the OIG to investigate these “contractor-friendly” practices, and noted that “The OIG has repeatedly declined this invitation, choosing instead to intrude in the bargaining process.”
“This and other circumstances reveal that your office is selective in its identification of cost savings,” he said.
“I look forward to the 2010 contract negotiations, during which each party will advance proposals favorable to their respective interests. I suspect that you will not be present,” he told the Inspector General, “as that is not within your portfolio of responsibilities.”
OPM Issues Proposed Changes To Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program
From the Office Of Personnel Management via Federal Register
The U. S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing proposed regulations on changes in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP). We are amending the regulations to authorize retroactive enrollment changes when an enrollee has lost his or her spouse through death or divorce or the enrollee’s last eligible child dies, marries, or reaches age 22. We are also amending the regulations to add that an individual may enroll 31 days before the enrollee or an eligible family member loses other dental and/or vision coverage. We are also amending the regulations to clarify the reference to excluded positions in 5 U.S.C. 8901(1). We are also including in the regulations certain Senate restaurant employees who are employees of the Architect of the Capitol as individuals who are eligible to elect to continue enrollment in FEDVIP if they are eligible and elect to continue their retirement coverage.
House Subcommittee Hearing On Postal Operations Postponed
Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia -United States House of Representatives
“The Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia’s business meeting on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. in room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building, to markup H.R. 22 and H.R. 1345, has been postponed until further notice.”
Don’t sweat EEOC complaint after discipline if you can prove process was fair
“Recent case: Kent Neely, who is black, worked for the U.S. Postal Service handling mail. Neely, however, struggled with attendance; he was late or absent 83 times one year. When he was warned he could be terminated if his attendance didn’t improve, he filed a discrimination complaint, alleging his female supervisors were harassing him because he turned down their romantic overtures.
Shortly after, the post office fired Neely, and he sued.
But the court said he couldn’t prove that he had been terminated in retaliation for complaining or that anyone else with a poor attendance record had been treated more favorably. (Neely v. U.S. Postal Service, No. 08-1473, 3rd Cir., 2009)”
USPS Agrees to Slow Down District Consolidations
Update: The USPS provided NAPS with a copy of a revised timeline on April 2, 2009. NAPS has not agreed with all of the elements of the latest timeline and continues to pursue its consultative rights on this reorganization and downsizing. 04/03/09 . USPS Revised Timeline, 04/02/09
The Postal Service, as a result of discussions with the NAPS Executive Board on April 2, has agreed to modify the timing of the consolidation of six district offices, announced on March 20.
The district office consolidations are part of a series of measures responding to the economic recession that has rocked Postal Service revenues. As a result of the recession, mail volume will likely plunge from 212 billion pieces in 2007 to 180 billion pieces by September 30, the end of the current USPS 2009 fiscal year.
The Postal Service agreed to announce on April 28, 2009 its Phase One postings in connection with the abolishment of District Office positions and to identify all positions available for bidding prior to that date.
The Postal Service also agreed to comply with all legal requirements of the reduction-in-force (RIF) process, including notice to all impacted employees in the RIF- avoidance and RIF processes. The Postal Service also committed to provide NAPS with sufficient information and briefing as these actions move forward.
National Association of Postal Supervisors NAPS Legislative & Regulatory Update
April 2, 2009
House Confirms Support for FERS Sick-Leave Credit
APWU News
For the second day in a row, the House of Representatives approved legislation that would provide sick-leave credit to employees covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).
The “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” (H.R. 1256), introduced by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), incorporates the provisions of H.R. 1804, which was adopted on April 1. The new bill also would provide the Food and Drug Administration with greater authority to regulate tobacco products. It passed 298-112, with 21 members not voting.
In addition to the tobacco provisions, the merged bill would:
- Give credit for unused sick leave to FERS employees;
- Provide automatic enrollment for new employees in the Thrift Savings Plan;
- Establish a “qualified” Roth contribution program, and
- Permit separated former employees to redeposit retirement contributions they withdrew in order to qualify for past service credit.
(For more information, see the article, “House Approves Bill to Give Sick-Leave Credit to FERS Employees).
Senator Snowe Calls on Postmaster General To Consider Small Businesses When Reviewing Six Day Delivery Options
Filed under: mail delivery, postal, press releases, Uncategorized
Press Release
March 20, 2009
U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today sent a letter to John E. Potter, the Postmaster General of the United States, urging him to consider the impact on small businesses of reducing the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) delivery week from six days to five. Snowe cited the potential negative consequences such an action could have on America’s roughly 27.2 million small businesses.
“America’s small businesses depend on reliable and consistent service from the USPS, and they could suffer significant setbacks by a shortened mail delivery week, such as lost sales, order backlogs, and job cuts,” said Senator Snowe. “While I understand the Postmaster General’s desire to reduce costs, it is imperative that his actions not have a detrimental effect on consumer spending or the small businesses that make up the backbone of our economy.”
Postmaster General Potter announced the possibility of shortening the USPS’s delivery week in late January, citing his agency’s potential $6 billion deficit this fiscal year and the difficult economic climate. The United States Postal Service, which is the nation’s second-largest employer, is the only mailing service that delivers to every address in the country.
The text of the letter is below:
Mr. John E. Potter
Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer
United States Postal Service
Dear Mr. Potter:
In light of your recent announcement that you are considering cutting postal delivery by one day per week, I am writing to request that you consider the potential harmful impact this action could have on America’s 27.2 million small businesses.
A six-day delivery week is essential to ensuring that our nation’s small businesses are able to reach their customers in an appropriate and well-timed manner. According to the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) website, on average the USPS delivers to 9 million businesses each day your trucks are operating. As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I am concerned that reducing your delivery week by one day may have devastating consequences for mail-order and internet-based businesses, newspapers, and the millions of small companies that utilize the USPS for timely mail delivery.
In my home state of Maine, thousands of businesses – large and small – depend on reliable and consistent service from the USPS. From retail clothing and outdoor specialist L.L. Bean to the dozens of Maine fishermen and lobstermen who ship fresh seafood across the world – and companies in between – Maine businesses simply must have access to a postal service that can deliver on a regular basis. These firms could all suffer significant setbacks by a shortened mail delivery week, from lost sales, to order backlogs, to job cuts.
While I understand your desire to slash costs and your overall concern given the tremendous economic crisis our country is facing, it is imperative that your actions not have a detrimental effect on consumer spending or the small businesses that make up the backbone of our economy. I hope that you will keep me informed of your findings as you weigh the consequences a shortened mail week would have on our country’s small firms.
USPS Abandons Plan to Outsource BMC Network
APWU News
Management to Revamp BMC Network
The Postal Service has abandoned plans to outsource the work performed at 21 Bulk Mail Centers, and instead will revamp the BMC network, the USPS Senior Vice President for Operations told the APWU on March 10.
The change in strategy was prompted by the nation’s financial crisis and the subsequent drop in the volume of flats. “The world changed under our feet,” William Galligan explained in a briefing at union headquarters for APWU leaders at the national and local level. “It would be foolhardy to proceed with a plan that was based on flat volume growth.” In July 2008, the Postal Service announced plans to outsource work performed at the BMCs, and informed the union of plans to locate Flat Sorter Sequencing (FSS) machines at the facilities.
The revised plan calls for a three-tiered network in which some facilities would distribute only local and destinating mail. The renamed Network Distribution Centers (NDCs) would continue to process standard mail, packages, and some periodicals. Significant changes also are planned for transportation within the network.
According to the plan, which is scheduled to begin in mid- to late-April:
Tier 1 NDC facilities will be responsible for local and destination standard mail, periodicals and package services. They also will perform STC containerization and dispatch operations for outgoing and incoming mail.
Tier 2 facilities will be responsible for all Tier 1 activities, plus distribution of outgoing standard mail, periodicals, and package services to the network.
Tier 3 facilities will perform all the Tier 1 and 2 functions and also will acts as a consolidation point for less-than-truckload volumes from Tier 2 sites.
Phase 1 will begin in the northeast corridor, and will affect the Springfield (MA), Philadelphia, and New Jersey BMCs. Staffing is expected to decrease in Tier 1 and 2 sites, and to increase in Tier 3 facilities.
“We are pleased that the Postal Service has decided against contracting out BMC operations,” said APWU President William Burrus, “but we withhold any endorsement of the new plan until we are able to determine its impact on service and on employees represented by the APWU.
“We will monitor the progress of the new plan closely, and we will vigorously enforce the Collective Bargaining Agreement as it is implemented.”
To view a copy of the USPS presentation, click here.
NAPUS President Supports Removal of Senior Postal Officials
Filed under: NAPS, NAPUS, postal managers, Postmasters, Uncategorized, usps
From the National Association of Postamasters of the United States
NAPS President Ted Keating wrote a letter to Pat Donahoe, Deputy Postmaster General & COO on February 11, 2009 requesting the immediate removal of Western Area Vice President Sylvester Black and Dakotas District Manager Clem Felchle for inappropriate and inflammatory remarks on Telecoms last week. At the Feb. 11 meeting where all three management presidents met with the Deputy Postmaster General, NAPUS President Dale Goff stated that he was in full support of NAPS President Ted Keating’s request for the immediate removal of these employees. This type of conduct by senior officers cannot be tolerated. The full letter can be found on the postal blog.
Related link: Area VP Sylvester Black’s “Zero Tolerance” Letter to Employees
Final U.S. Department Of Labor FMLA Regulations
Press Release
U.S. Department of Labor final rule will expand FMLA for military families and clarify rules for workers and employers
Final rule brings two-year public process to close with common sense reforms for modern workforce
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will publish a final rule on Nov. 17 to update its regulations under the 15-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) — a measure that will help workers and their employers better understand their rights and responsibilities, and speed the implementation of a new law that expands FMLA coverage for military family members.
“This final rule, for the first time, gives America’s military families special job-protected leave rights to care for brave service men and women who are wounded or injured, and also helps families of members of the National Guard and Reserves manage their affairs when their service member is called up for active duty,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “At the same time, the final rule provides needed clarity about general FMLA rights and obligations for both workers and employers.”
“This common sense, balanced rule is the product of a two year-long transparent process involving about 20,000 public comments and reflects the careful consideration of the views of FMLA’s stakeholders,” said Victoria A. Lipnic, assistant secretary for the Labor Department’s Employment Standards Administration.
Provisions in the final rule call for increased notice obligations for employers so that employees will better understand their FMLA rights, while revising the employee notice rules to minimize workplace disruptions due to unscheduled FMLA absences. The final rule also contains technical changes that reflect decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts. Read more