USPS Adds PayPal Payment Option for Click-N-Ship Customers
PayPal now available for Click-N-Ship customers
USPS has added PayPal as a payment option on its Click-N-Shipapplication, joining credit cards and Bill Me Later.
PayPal is highly secure, allowing customers to pay without sharing financial information, and provides flexible payment options — including PayPal account balances, bank accounts, credit cards and promotional financing.
“Our customers have told us they would like more payment options when shipping online, and that’s why we’re excited to announce we’re now using PayPal,” said Kelly Sigmon, VP, Channel Access.
Customers can select PayPal as their payment choice when checking out after completing a shipping label.
The addition of PayPal is one of several enhancements to Click-N-Ship and part of a broader redesign of usps.com intended to make online shipping and shopping more flexible and convenient for customers.
source: USPS News Link
USPS List of Post Offices To Be Upgraded under POStPlan
From the National League of Postmasters:
The Postal Service has provided the list of offices that will be upgraded to level 18 under the POStPlan process. Each incumbent Postmaster will receive a letter from the Postal Service informing them of this upgrade. Salary raises will follow current Postal Service policy. Postmasters whose salary is not at the minimum of a level 18 will be slotted in at the minimum of the level 18 pay scale. Postmasters above the minimum salary of the level 18 will receive a 2 percent raise.
Click to view the list of upgraded offices (Excel)
Video: State of the Postal Service: Targeted Incentives and VER Will Be Offered
In the video Postmaster General says,”Targeted incentives and VER will be offered. Information now being finalized.”
State of the Postal Service Postmaster General Pat Donahoe will have an update on network consolidation plans. And, he will recap plans for Post Offices in rural areas.
“As the PMG explained, with the May 15 moratorium now past, consolidation activities will start this summer. After a break from September through December for election and holiday mail seasons, this first phase will resume in January 2013. A second phase will then continue beginning in February of 2014 unless our circumstances change.
As a result, staffing adjustments will be necessary. Actions taken will comply with collective bargaining agreements, Postal Service regulations and policies, and other applicable law. At facilities where consolidation activity will move forward this summer, employees will receive additional notifications starting May 21.”
As we heard in the video, the Postal Service is working with its unions regarding an employee incentive offer and will announce details when final decisions are made.”
Senator Lieberman: USPS Assured Us That No Mail Processing Centers Will Close This Year
Lieberman Reacts to Postal Service Announcement
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., Thursday issued the following statement in reaction to the U.S. Postal Service announcement that it would delay closing mail processing plants until 2013.
“I appreciate that the Postal Service is moving forward with its downsizing in a way that is consistent with the Senate-passed 21st Century Postal Service Act. The PMG assures us that no mail processing centers will be closed this year, which means the House still has time to pass a bill so it can be reconciled with the Senate-passed bill. While the PMG is moving cautiously now, the financial condition of the Postal Service continues to deteriorate, and he will not be similarly restrained next year. Congress must approve legislation as soon as possible to return the postal service to solid financial ground before essential services are lost for millions of people.”
Sen. Carper Reacts to PMG’s Announcement on Further Cost-Cutting Measures
WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service and co-author of the 21st Century Postal Service Act, released the following statement reacting to the Postmaster General’s announcement that the Postal Service would begin closing select mail processing centers in an effort to save approximately $1.2 billion annually:
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“Today’s announcement comes a week after the Postal Service announced that it lost a staggering $3.2 billion in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2012. In fact, the Postal Service is hemorrhaging money at a rate of at least $25 million a day and is on track to lose far more over the course of this fiscal year. Given these dire circumstances it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Postmaster General is moving forward to reduce costs with the limited tools at his disposal, but the reality is that efforts of this scale are not enough to fundamentally fix the Postal Service’s financial problems.
“For example, today’s proposal does not address the Postal Service’s two upcoming payments of $5.5 billion for its future retiree healthcare fund, its past overpayments of $11 billion into the Federal Employee Retirement System, or the need to significantly downsize the postal workforce. Only comprehensive, long-term reform of the Postal Service can address these and other serious issues facing this American institution, and that reform can only come from Congress. The Senate has recognized that need and last month passed a comprehensive, bipartisan bill that would modernize the Postal Service, allowing it to right-size and become competitive in the 21st Century. Now it’s up to the House to pass a bill. In the three weeks since the Senate acted, the Postal Service has lost over $500,000,000 – already wiping out nearly half of the savings today’s plan would achieve annually. Clearly, the Postal Service can’t afford to wait any longer for Congress to pass a comprehensive plan. I hope that my colleagues in the House will recognize the urgency of this situation and announce when they intend to act to save the Postal Service.”
USPS Moves Ahead with Modified Network Consolidation Plan
9-Month Implementation; $1.2 Billion in Cost Reductions
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today announced plans to move ahead with a modified plan to consolidate its network of 461 mail processing locations in phases. The first phase of activities will result in up to 140 consolidations through February of 2013. Unless the circumstances of the Postal Service change in the interim, a second and final phase of 89 consolidations is currently scheduled to begin in February of 2014.
“We revised our network consolidation timeline to provide a longer planning schedule for our customers, employees and other stakeholders, and to enable a more methodical and measured implementation,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the Postal Service.
“We simply do not have the mail volumes to justify the size and capacity of our current mail processing network. To return to long-term profitability and financial stability while keeping mail affordable, we must match our network to the anticipated workload,” said Donahoe. “Our current plan meets our cost reduction goals, ensures seamless and excellent service performance throughout the implementation period, and provides adequate time for our customers to adapt to our network changes.” Read more
NALC Grieves NTFT Clerks Excessed into Letter Carrier Craft
The 2011 APWU National Agreement created a new category of clerks called non-traditional full-time (NTFT) clerks. Many of these NTFT clerks have a regular schedule of fewer than 40 hours per week. Management has begun to excess some of these clerks into full-time letter carrier jobs. The NALC believes that a clerk who works fewer than 40 hours can only be excessed into another part-time regular position, not into a full-time letter carrier position.
Part-time regular letter carriers are considered to be a separate category. Seniority for assignment and other purposes shall be restricted to this category. They may not bid on preferred full-time duty assignments. On February 22, 2012, the NALC notified the USPS that a case scheduled for regional arbitration out of Westerly, RI, concerning this issue was interpretive. Read more
Senator Schumer: The Buffalo Processing Facility Will Be Open For At least 3 Years
Filed under: politics, post office closings, postal, postal news, usps
In Personal Conversation with the Postmaster General, Schumer Secures Commitment that Williams St. Processing Center For At Least Three Years, Preserving 700 Facility Jobs & Overnight Mail in Western NY
Throughout Postal Reform Debate, Schumer Lobbied Postmaster General to Keep Buffalo Processing Facility Open, Which Could Have Closed As Early As May 15th
Schumer: The Buffalo Processing Facility’s Doors Will Be Open For Years To Come
Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Williams Street Processing Center, which would have been eligible for closure when the current post office and facility moratorium expires on May 15th, will remain open for at least three years. Throughout the postal reform debate, Schumer lobbied the Postmaster General to keep the processing facility open, in order to preserve overnight mail service in Western New York and the facility’s 700 jobs. In a personal conversation with Postmaster General Patrick Donohue, Schumer secured a commitment that the Williams Street center will remain open for the next three years.
“Western New York businesses, residents, and senior citizens rely each and every day on the Williams St. Processing Center for timely and reliable mail service that delivers everything from paychecks to Social Security payments at their door. The Buffalo processing facility is simply too important to the Western New York community, and its 700 employees, to be shut down, and I’m thrilled to announce that the Postmaster General agrees,” said Schumer. “While I recognize the importance of making cost-saving reforms in order to preserve Post Office’s vital services, I lobbied the Postmaster General to keep the Williams Street facility open, in order to prevent the loss of hundreds of jobs at the facility and hardship for families and businesses in Western New York. Today’s news means the Buffalo processing facility’s doors will be open for years to come, providing Western New Yorkers with the timely mail delivery that they deserve.”
Following news in September 2011 that Buffalo would be one of eight facilities to be studied for closure or consolidation within New York State, and throughout the postal reform debate in April, Schumer pushed to keep the Buffalo Center open. In February, USPS announced that the Buffalo facility was included in the closure and consolidation moratorium which would have ended on May 15th, when the Postal Service planned to transfer the operations of the William Street facility to Rochester. Schumer’s effort will keep the facility open for at least 3 years.
More Than 100 Members of Congress Seek Extension of Moratorium on Mail Processing Facilities
APWU Web News Article 57-2012, May 11, 2012
More than 100 U.S. representatives have signed a letter to Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe [PDF], urging him to extend the moratorium on the closure of post offices and mail processing facilities, and asking him to refrain from cutting hours at rural offices.
“We write to urge you to extend the May 15 moratorium on post office and mail processing facility closures until the Congress has completed action on postal reform legislation, including any action that would result in cuts to rural postal services such as cutting back hours at rural facilities,” the May 9 letter said.
The passage of a postal reform bill in the Senate “is evidence that Congress is moving toward putting the United States Postal Service on a path to sustainability,” 107 House members said. “We understand that the USPS cannot sustain itself under its current system, and we agree it is up to Congress to act,” they wrote. Read more
NAPS: When Will the House Take Up Postal Reform?
NAPS Leg/Reg Update: 5/10/2012
The plans announced on Wednesday by the Postal Service to keep open thousands of rural post offices has neutralized one of the most controversial provisions in the House postal measure, backed by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and awaiting floor action. Numerous problems with the House legislation yet remain, and Republican House leaders have not yet signalled when they intend to bring the Issa legislation to the floor, but it could come next month.
House GOP hesitancy to bring their bill (HR 2309) to the floor has been caused by the some of the same rank-and-file concerns about facility closures that Senate backbenchers initially raised about the Senate bill in January that Democrat leaders had planned to bring to the floor. That pushback resulted three months later in passage of a revised and improved Senate measure. A similar backlash by Republican House lawmakers in recent months, many of them from rural districts, has turned against the Issa bill and especially against the closure of post offices during an election year. The Issa bill had proposed significant post office closures through a base-closure like commission approach. Read more