"...sizable uptick in the number of phishing scams targeting U.S. Postal Service (USPS) customers. Here’s a look at an extensive SMS phishing operation that tries to steal personal and financial data by spoofing the USPS, as well as postal services in at least a dozen other countries. ..."
'...Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. ...'
"...USPS has notified the Postal Regulatory Commission of mailing services price changes to take effect Jan. 21, 2024. The proposed adjustments, approved by the governors of the Postal Service, would raise mailing services product prices approximately 2 percent. The proposed changes include..."
"The defendants used fake shipping labels and special delivery procedures to ensure the illicit chemicals went undetected...The Chinese companies demonstrated past success delivering a stable supply of product to clients in Mexico for years...Florida charged three Chinese companies and four officers and employees with fentanyl trafficking, synthetic opioid trafficking, precursor chemical importation, defrauding the U.S. Postal Service, and making and using counterfeit postage."
"
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Wednesday that aims to stop other states from prosecuting doctors and pharmacists who mail abortion pills to patients in places where the procedure is banned. ...The new law goes further by forbidding authorities from cooperating with out-of-state investigations into doctors who mail abortion pills to patients in other states. ..."
"With election season around the corner, USPS is reminding employees of the do’s, don’ts and not-while-in-uniform rules of the Hatch Act, which limits political activity among the federal workforce...Postal Service employees may never: Use their title or position or wear their uniform or any item identifying USPS or their position while engaged in political activity; Invite subordinate employees to political events or encourage their involvement in political activity;...While on duty, in uniform, in a postal vehicle or on postal or other federal property, USPS employees may not: Wear partisan political buttons, shirts, hats and the like; Post, like, tweet or retweet partisan political content; Place a partisan political bumper sticker on a vehicle delivering mail; or Express opinions at work that are directed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office or partisan political group. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has more information about what federal employees can and cannot do under the Hatch Act."
"... For months, American mail carrier Hachikosela Muchimba allegedly ran an elaborate scheme and stole nearly $1.7 million (£1.4 million) from the US Treasury and the people living along his delivery route. Then, he tried to flee to his native country of Zambia. But on Wednesday, it all ended when the mailman was arrested by federal authorities and charged with two felony counts of mail theft and bank fraud, court documents reveal — just as he prepared to board his plane. ..."
"...The business began with Van Leeuwen and the founders buying old post office trucks and turning them into ice cream trucks. They would receive ice cream at a freezer in the Bronx, and Van Leeuwen would load the product into his car and then quickly drive it to the trucks before it melted. They were excited to have fast success and quickly grew a following..."
"
"United Auto Workers (UAW) members made history when they walked off the job in targeted strikes after their contracts with the “Big Three” (Ford, General Motors and Stellantis – the parent company of Chrysler) expired without new negotiated union contracts. ...“I urge every postal worker to support this critical struggle. Their just fight to overcome years of concessionary “giveback” bargaining: to restore lost COLA, remove divisive two-tier pay and benefit scales, ensure good retirement benefits for all auto workers and a shorter work week with no loss in pay, are fair demands,” said President Mark Dimondstein. “I encourage all our members to participate in rallies in support of the auto workers, join the picket lines in your areas, and sign the “All in” petition below, and spread it through social media. When auto workers win their just demands, it will be a victory for all workers." For more information, visit https://uaw.org/standwithus/."
"...The commemoration honors the cultures and contributions of people of Spanish, Mexican, Central American, South American and Caribbean ancestry. Approximately 13 percent of USPS employees report Hispanic ancestry. ...The National Hispanic Heritage Month website has more information. ..."
"...competition from video streaming — including Netflix itself — led to a sharp decline in demand for DVD rentals, both from the company’s mail service and from neighborhood video stores.
Neflix’s DVD subscribers fell to 2.1 million by 2019, the last year the company reported that figure in public filings.
In 2019, the company celebrated shipping its 5 billionth DVD through the U.S. Mail.
Netflix will mail its final discs on Sept. 19. ...
"
Article Title: In Memorial to the Saudi Attack on America Sept. 11, 2001
"...The mother of a 15-year-old fatally struck by a Kansas City postal van in 2020 was awarded a $3 million wrongful death judgment on Tuesday. Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr., of the Western District of Missouri, determined U.S. Postal Service employee Xxxxx XXXXX acted negligently when she crashed into 15-year-old Tony E. White, who was on his bicycle across the street from Kansas City’s East High School. ..."
"...Hachikosela Khose Muchimba, at the Friendship Post Office Officials believe the amount may be less than half of the total amount of fraudulent deposits made across eight bank accounts ..."
"...Letter Carrier Bradley Waddell, who works at the DuBois Post Office, had a conversation with a customer who was shipping with another carrier. He then submitted a lead. ..."
"Edwin Cuadrado Jr., 37, allegedly attacked the victim on Aug. 25 in the parking lot of a USPS mail processing and distribution facility on Rancho Carmel Drive. A criminal complaint filed in San Diego federal court states that the stabbing arose from an earlier altercation between Cuadrado and a USPS supervisor..."
"The APWU has won a grievance concerning the implementation of the Sorting & Delivery Center in Utica, New York. Describing management’s position as “plainly illogical and self-contradictory,” the arbitrator has canceled all current and future excessing at the “spoke” post offices for the Utica S&DC. The clerks who had been excessed will be returned to their positions and post offices. The ruling is here...."
"...The Combined Federal Campaign — the federal government’s workplace charity drive — begins Sept. 1. All Postal Service employees, contractors and retirees are welcome to take part. This year’s theme is “Give Happy.” The campaign, also known as the CFC, allows individuals to easily review thousands of charitable organizations in the United States and around the globe at participants’ fingertips. Pledges are accepted online, on paper or through a mobile app. ..."
"...The homeowner, who doesn’t want to be identified, told us this has been going on for a while. She initially noticed her parcels were ending up in strange places months ago. “They would be in the middle of the driveway, right by the rain gutter, leaning against the garage and I thought that was really odd because normally packages are delivered to our porch,” she said. So, she started checking her camera footage. ... "
"On behalf of our 200,000 members, I salute and congratulate the 340,000 Teamsters who work for UPS on the ratification of their solid new union contract, which delivers much-needed gains for these workers within the same industry as APWU members. ..."
Re: Retroactive Salary Adjustments Delayed (pdf)
We were just notified that there will be a delay with retroactive salary adjustments in connection with the implementation of the 2022 National Agreement.
As a result of the ratification of the 2022 National Agreement, there was a 1.3% GWI effective November 19, 2022. That wage rate was implemented at the start of PP09-23 (April 8, 2023). Accordingly, the retroactive payment is due for the time period from 11/19/22 to 4/7/23. There is also a retroactive payment due for the March COLA for the time period from March 11, 2023 (when the COLA was effective) until April 7, 2023. Like the November 19, 2022 GWI, the March COLA was implemented at the start of PP09-23 (April 8, 2023).
These retroactive payments were to be included in PP19-23 paychecks. The Postal Service has now stated that they will be delayed. The USPS claims the reason for this delay is due to EAGAN programing issues. They hope to resolve these issues soon. As soon as we receive an update from EAGAN, we will let you know.
For information purposes only, the amount of the retroactive pay for a top step Mail Handler who worked full time (without consideration of any changes to pay, e.g., leave without pay or overtime) is estimated as follows:
- Level 4: $364.08
- Level 5: $369.85
The $978 COLA scheduled for PP19-23 will continue to be implemented in PP19-23.
"As set forth in the attached letter, the Postal Service has determined that all jurisdictional assignments on the HOPS will be awarded to the Mail Handler craft except for..."
"Mail theft victim Joe Croce says it was infuriating watching the same thieves open up his neighborhood postal relay box and make off with huge bags of mail, including credit cards, bank statements and government checks. "Broad daylight every time," Croce said. "I couldn't believe it at first and then you start to believe it after the 10th time that, you know, it just keeps happening."..."
Soon after the 2010 contract was signed, the Union and the Postal Service disagreed over what the 600 PVS routes meant. The Postal Service took the position that the contract required it to provide 600 duty assignments made from work contracted out to HCR operators. The APWU disagreed, believing that the bargain was for the Postal Service to insource 600 HCR routes or contracts which was likely to generate at least but probably more than 600 PVS jobs. The APWU initiated a dispute which was arbitrated last year over three days of hearing before Arbitrator Brent. In his Award, Arbitrator Brent ruled in favor of the APWU, finding that the Union advanced the “more persuasive interpretation” of the term “PVS routes. Read the full award online here.
"U.S. Postal Inspector Patricia Mendoza said on Tuesday that an investigation is underway on the sticky substance that had been applied to the inside of the mail collection boxes. When mail cannot fully drop inside the box it could potentially be pulled back out by those wanting to steal mail, authorities have said. ..."
"in its Second Year Progress Report on the Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service explains that it’s “modernizing” the national network, “region by region.” That’s not a general remark about proceeding gradually, first one part of the country, then another, rather than doing the whole network all at once. It’s a specific reference to the new regional configuration of the processing-and-distribution network. In the new network, the country is divided into..."
Effective August 26, 2023 (Pay Period 19-2023), all career Mail Handler craft employees are scheduled to receive a cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment as outlined in Article 9.3 of the 2022 National Agreement. This is the second of six possible COLA increases under the terms of the current agreement. This COLA increase is based on the upward change in the relevant Consumer Price Index (CPI) following release of the July 2023 Index, using the July 2022 CPI index as a base. The resulting calculation provides an annual increase of $978 for all Steps in Table 1 and for Step P of Table 2. The remaining Steps in Table 2 will receive the proportional COLA increase percentages as outlined in Article 9.3 of the National Agreement.
Reference: NPMHU via NPMHU Local 317
"The whole thing was caught on camera, but that employee is still on the job. He works the front desk at a post office in Orange County. The postal worker, Pedro Camacho, has already appeared in court. So how is he still allowed to interact with customers at USPS?..."
"...PostNet is launching a robot delivery service in Northlake, Texas, alongside autonomous delivery provider Clevon. ... Clevon will provide its Autonomous Robot Carriers (ARCs) to deliver parcels to PostNet customers in Northlake, following successful tests of the service over a few weeks. ..."
"The amount of money a postal worker makes in retirement depends on their age and how long they worked as a postal worker or government employee. A postal worker who retired in 2023 with 25 years of service would make a monthly basic annuity between $1,447-$1,478. ..."
"A U.S. Postal Service plan to insource all line hauling of mail and parcels between hubs and local delivery units, which had been handled by contractors, will be completely phased in by 2025, according to a source with knowledge of meetings with USPS officials. As part of the 10-year Delivering for America network overhaul plan..."
"...Maryland – Breanna Lee Cartledge, age 28, of Clinton, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to defraud financial institutions by creating fake checks using information Cartledge intercepted as a Clerk with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The guilty plea was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland and Acting Special Agent in Charge Peter Brown of the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG). According to her guilty plea, Cartledge utilized her position as a USPS employee to wrongfully access USPS money orders and individual mail...Cartledge admitted that she abused her position as a USPS Clerk to facilitate the commission or concealment of the offense. "
"...Cedric Lodge, manager of the school’s morgue, allegedly took body parts home as well as allowed others into the morgue before working to sell parts of the cadavers online and in person through Maclean's store, Kat's Creepy Creations in Salem, Massachusetts. ...The Harvard thefts are connected by a mutual buyer to another similar scheme perpetrated by Candace Chapman Scott, who is also alleged to have stolen and sold remains from a Little Rock, Arkansas, mortuary and crematorium before she was indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas."
"The Postal Inspection Service has signed on to the 30×30 Initiative, a nationwide effort to advance gender equity in law enforcement. The initiative aims to increase the number of women in police recruitment..."
"...As part of the Delivering for America plan, USPS has committed to invest $40 billion to refurbish facilities and design a new operational model. “The network we are now building will rival that of our most sophisticated competitors,” Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says in the publication. The new network is a system of connected nodes that will manage the flow of mail and packages. Sixty regional processing and distribution centers (RPDCs) will eventually be created as the primary nodes across the nation. The first RPDCs have been built near Atlanta; Charlotte, NC; and Indianapolis. Retrofitting or groundbreaking has started at more sites. ..."
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Please find enclosed a copy of the above-reference USPS issues updates for User Guide and FAQs to Enroll and Sign in to LiteBlue with Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
According to the Postal Service, maintaining the privacy of the employees' personal data is a shared priority of the Postal Service. Your private information stored online is a target for criminals who seek to compromise this data for their financial gain. As an additional safety measure, the Postal Service has deployed multifactor authentication (MFA) on LiteBlue.
This means that, in addition to providing your Employee Identification Number (EIN) and Password, you will be required to provide a second security factor (MFA), such as Push Notification approval from Okta Verify, Google Authenticator, One-Time Passcode (OTP) SMS Text, One-Time Passcode (OTP) Phone call or E-mail verification (default).
After January 15, 2023, employees are required to set up MFA to access LiteBlue.
After March 20, 2023, employees must have MFA enabled to access LiteBlue and their Self Service Profile (SSP).
"The Postal Service is requiring managers at sites that use Voyager credit cards to update the profiles of their drivers in the Fleet Commander Online (FCO) system. Incomplete FCO driver profiles will be deactivated, and the drivers’ fuel card PINs will no longer work after Aug. 3. ..."
"...after contract talks between UPS and the union representing 340,000 of its workers broke down, UPS said it will begin training nonunion employees in the U.S. to step in should there be a strike, which the union has vowed to do if no agreement is reached by the end of this month. ...the Teamsters said Friday. “UPS should stop wasting time and money on >b?training strikebreakers and get back to the negotiating table with a real economic offer.”..."
"...The mediation period for collective bargaining between the Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will end on July 19. ...NALC represents more than 200,000 employees nationwide."
"The International Brotherhood of Teamsters have vowed to strike Aug. 1, after their current contract expires, if an agreement isn’t in place by then. Negotiations over economic items like pay and benefits recently hit a roadblock. No single carrier can absorb all of UPS’ volume in the event of a disruption..."
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can keep a mail courier from their route. But, as it turns out, hawks can. ...It's one of several recent hawk attacks in Central Texas. ...Wildlife Department receives several calls — typically regarding territorial red-shouldered hawks — each year."
"You don’t want your final resting place to be a dead letter office, but unfortunately that’s where 452 people have found themselves, spending eternity as undeliverable mail with the U.S. Postal Service. ...The USPS is the only legal way to ship cremated remains. At least in theory, the USPS has strict procedures for handling such sensitive and irreplaceable packages. Remains must be shipped via Priority Mail Express and have a giant orange sticker attached to the side of the box (the sticker used to be teal). They are also supposed to be handled differently than other Priority Mail Express packages. However, the OIG report found some or all of these procedures are not done between 28 and 50 per cent of the time, which could go some way towards explaining how 452 cremated remains boxes ended up in the USPS’s warehouse for lost packages. ..."
"Jeffrey Harris, who works at the Washington Street Station in Hartford, was handling a large pickup of packages when the customer told him he was looking to reduce shipping costs. After getting the customer’s contact information, Harris submitted a lead. ..."
"UPS workers, as evidenced by a 97 percent strike authorization vote last month, are ready to fight. But that is the last thing that the Teamsters bureaucracy, led by General President Sean O’ Brien, wants. ...the bureaucracy is working desperately behind the scenes in order to get a sellout deal done. One of the clearest indications of this is the Teamsters’ constant promotion of the “support” from Congress, which voted last year to ban a strike by 120,000 railroaders and impose a pro-company contract. ...mostly members of the Democratic Party, voted in favor of House Joint Resolution 100 to ban the strike on the railroads. ... The Teamsters did not inform workers that Khanna voted against the rail strike, nor did it feel compelled to admit that within the last year, per Capitol Trades, Khanna had purchased between $32,000 and $130,000 in UPS stock. Khanna is one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress. ...Democratic Socialists of America members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman (New York), Cori Bush (Missouri) and Greg Casar (Texas). All these fake socialists voted with right-wing Republicans to ban the rail strike."
"On Wednesday, the Teamsters said UPS "walked away" from negotiations over a new contract. ..."I don't have any information on increased administration involvement, but certainly we remain in contact with both parties," Jean-Pierre said. ...Su recently helped negotiate a crucial contract deal between U.S. West Coast seaport employers and a union representing 22,000 workers."
"...The Postmaster General replied that “it’s our position that the Postal Regulatory Commission has overstepped its authority” — which, in a nutshell, is the argument put forth in the Postal Service’s motion opposing the public inquiry (more on that here and here). The PMG went on to make this comment: “We’re an independent organization, and we are charged with the mission of saving the organization, not the Postal Regulatory Commission. The Postal Regulatory Commission sat over and watched the destruction of the organization over the last fifteen years and actively participated in the destruction of the organization over the last fifteen years. What we’re trying to do is save the organization. What goes on and why they do the things they do I am yet to figure out, and I’m a pretty smart guy.”..."
"Starting Sunday, the cost of the first-class “forever” stamps will jump from 63 to 66 cents. The latest price comes just months after forever stamps climbed from 60 to 63 cents in January, following a series of similar increases in recent years. When announcing its intention to raise forever stamp prices to 66 cents earlier this year, the USPS cited rising “operating expenses fueled by inflation” and the impacts of “a previously defective pricing model” — noting that changes to mail service costs “are needed to provide the Postal Service with much needed revenue.”..."
"In a decision that many residents and former post office owner Jeff Nichols described as shocking for the affluent and growing area, the United States Postal Service will allow the downtown post office to close. ...Most downtown Franklin businesses have P.O. boxes in the post office, Nichols said. Families have used the post office in the city-owned Five Points building — which was built in 1924 — for generations. Nearly 800 boxes were in use, he said, when the facility closed last month. ...The statement did not answer Tennessean questions asking why the Postal Service chose not to pursue another lease. ..."
RE: U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Groff v. DeJoy (pdf)
On Thursday, June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the lawsuit Groffv. DeJoy.
The case was brought by Gerald Groff, who delivered mail as a Rural Carrier Associate (RCA) from 2012 to 2019 in central Pennsylvania. Groff is a Christian who observes Sunday as the Sabbath. Citing those religious beliefs, Groff consistently refused to work on Sundays. For several years, Groff and the Postal Service attempted to find workarounds, such as having volunteers take over his Sunday slots. Eventually, however, the Postal Service began disciplining Groff for his refusal to work on Sundays, and in 2019, Groff resigned. After resigning, Groff sued the Postal Service. He argued that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act , the Postal Service was required to reasonably accommodate his religious beliefs by exempting him from Sunday work.
Before turning to the specifics of the Court's decision, we note at the outset that the Court's decision leaves in place the longstanding recognition that it would be an "undue burden" to provide an accommodation that would violate a seniority system in a collective bargaining agreement, like the National Agreement between the NPMHU and the Postal Service.
The Court's decision did proceed to answer two principal questions:
On the first question - whether the Court should disapprove the "more than de minimis cost" test for determining whether a religious accommodation was an undue hardship - the Court disapproved of the "more than de minimis cost" language. In its place, the Court held that an employer can show that a religious accommodation creates an undue hardship under Title VII if that accommodation causes a substantial burden in the overall context of the employer's business. The Court held that this is a fact specific inquiry. "Courts must apply the test to take into account all relevant factors in the case at hand, including the particular accommodations at issue and their practical impact in light of the nature, size, and operating cost of an employer."
As to the second question - whether an employer may demonstrate undue hardship under Title VII by showing burdens on co-workers - the Court held - using language consistent with the position the NPMHU took in its amicus brief to the Supreme Court, that impact on coworkers is relevant to the extent those impacts affect the conduct of the business. The Court acknowledged that "an accommodation's effect on co-workers may have ramifications for the conduct of the employer's business, but a court cannot stop its analysis without examining whether that further logical step is shown in a particular case."
The Court concluded by sending the case back to the lower court to consider Groff's claim in Iight of the standard described above.
As we wrote to you previously, the NPMHU supports employees' rights to receive reasonable accommodations for their religious beliefs and practices, and will continue to urge the Postal Service to provide those accommodations consistent with the terms of the National Agreement.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the National CAD.
"...Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, an EV advocate, approves of the plan and will monitor how the USPS uses its funds. “I have long pressed the Postal Service to purchase more American-made and union-made electric delivery trucks, and I applaud today’s announcement that they will acquire new safe and efficient electric trucks that will be built by the Ford Motor Company and members of the United Auto Workers,” he said in a statement...."
"...The Postal Service recently expanded a pilot program offering in-person identity proofing services for Login.gov at more than 18,000 Post Offices across the United States.
USPS began the pilot in February 2022 in seven locations in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.
Login.gov is a shared service used by several federal agencies, including USAJobs and the Small Business Administration.
When using a Login.gov account, users can access applications from participating agencies. ..."
"...These discussions have resulted in an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) “Re: General Principles on Sorting and Delivery Centers.” The MOU, dated June 20, 2023, was signed by Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino and APWU President Mark Dimondstein. The MOU makes it clear that no retail operations (window or box sections) will be reduced or closed due to the implementation of management’s S&DC plans and confirms that customers will still be able to pick up their certified mail, held mail, etc. at their local post offices. In addition, the MOU clarifies that distribution duties in the S&DCs will be categorized as function 4 operations. ..."
'...the letters containing a suspicious white powder appeared to be targeting GOP officials. ...Carrie Rahlfeldt, the communications director for the Kansas Speaker of the House, told local news station KMBC that several members of the Republican caucus received letters containing the suspicious powder. State Sen. Molly Baumgardner told the station she received a letter. "We're using our finest resources and it's being squandered because someone - or a group of people - are very deliberately trying to make a point...'
"Postal Service retail locations will be closed, and there will be no regular mail delivery except for holiday premium Priority Mail Express on Monday..."
"...The Border Patrol’s Santa Teresa Station Anti-Smuggling Unit received a tip about the plan, with agents and state troopers stopping vehicles, two of which were outfitted to look exactly like typical white FedEx vans. Officials arrested four smugglers involved in the scheme, as well as apprehending the 26 migrants, who were from Mexico and Guatemala, on June 8. Border Patrol sources told The Post there is a FedEx facility very close to the border in Santa Teresa, New Mexico..."
"...Agency’s strategy of using middlemen to cut its rates raises questions about highway safety..."
"...Each of them will serve five years of supervision once released and they were ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. Postal Service for the money taken in the robbery and to the postal carrier for medical costs associated with injuries he received, federal prosecutors said. ..."
"...The Postal Service wants employees and contractors to watch out for phishing emails designed to con recipients into revealing their security clearance information. Employees at several government agencies have received phishing emails in recent weeks, according to the FBI. USPS employees also have been targeted. ..."
Reference Source: www.govinfo.gov
"The agency is creating the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program as a separate entity from the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, as required under the Postal Service Reform Act signed into law last year. ...Dimondstein, however, said there’s been some “angst” among current retirees unaware that they are exempt from a requirement for all future retirees to enroll in Medicare Part B.
“Retirees who are not in Medicare B now, are not going to be forced to be in Medicare B once this law matures, but some people don’t know that,” Dimondstein said.
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is asking OPM to prevent as much disruption as possible in moving nearly 2 million FEHB enrollees to new health care plans offered under PSHB."
The Congressional Budget Office estimates postal enrollees in PSHB could also see slightly lower premiums since postal retirees will primarily be covered under Medicare Parts A and B. However, some USPS employees and retirees remain wary about their premiums under a new plan.
A USPS retiree told OPM that, “When I made my decision to retire, I was never told that someday I’d be forced into a different insurance plan that might cover less and cost me more.”
“We base our decision to retire on what’s available to us at the time and should never be forced to accept anything less,” the retiree wrote.
"...The rules mainly address two concerns: when former employees can interact with USPS on behalf of new employers, and how current and former employees may interact with each other. Post-employment ethics considerations include..."
"...A trafficking operation that used Pokémon art cases to ship in cocaine from Puerto Rico was busted in New Bedford, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday. Two New Bedford men were arrested Tuesday after a United States Postal Service inspector and New Bedford police detectives coordinated a controlled delivery of a package to an apartment on Viall Street. An undercover postal inspector posing a mail carrier brought the package to the porch. ..."
"...the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program... They will not be able to enroll in or continue with FEHB plans. To continue with a PSHB plan, Medicare-eligible annuitants who have retired will have to enroll in Medicare Part B, medical insurance. ...Why is the government doing this? ...this change could save the Postal Service $5.6 billion through 2031 while adding $5.5 billion in costs to Medicare during that span"
"“We’ve had two or three cases now where we have mailed a vendor a check and it’s taken four or five weeks to get to their location,” one storeowner said. ... “They just say ‘look, your regular mail carrier is out. We don’t know where your mail is at this point but we’re trying to track it’,” Nywening said. That seems to be a constant across the Mid-South. A Southaven resident still awaiting a passport on June 2, for a trip beginning June 3, made a Facebook post about her issues. ..."
"...the Postal Service announced first-day-of-issue dates and locations for previously announced stamps through the end of 2023. ...Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide. For officially licensed stamp products, shop the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon. "
"Austin T. Mahan, 42, of the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township, is charged with misappropriation of postal funds. He appeared..."
"...USPS is also replacing its antiquated “arrow” locks with 49,000 electronic locks, a move that comes after the service reported that letter carriers have been targeted for their specialty keys that allow for box access. The new locks have already been installed in select cities...Customers are encouraged to report stolen mail as soon as possible by submitting an online complaint to the Postal Inspection Service at www.uspis.gov/report or calling 877-876-2455."
"...Postmaster General Louis DeJoy discusses the next phase of the Delivering for America plan, which USPS began implementing more than two years ago. “We will accelerate the pace of our improvements and will make great gains the coming years,” DeJoy says. ..."
"USPS will use 49,000 electronic locks to replace antiquated arrow and modified arrow lock keys, which criminals use to steal mail from secure mail receptacles to commit financial crimes, including altering checks to commit fraud.
• Preventing change-of-address fraud. In April, USPS implemented dual-authentication identity verification for online transactions and, effective May 31, the organization will offer enhanced in-person change-of-address transactions at Post Offices and retail outlets.
• Defeating counterfeit postage. USPS will fully exercise new authority to take possession and dispose of packages identified with counterfeit postage. ..."
"...The APWU has been working diligently with the USPS, the other postal unions, and OPM to ensure a smooth implementation of the PSHB Program. As a result of our combined efforts, two fact sheets have been developed to highlight the new program and answer questions for both active postal workers as well as annuitants.
APWU is committed to ensuring that APWU members (active and retired) have the resources they need leading up to the January 1, 2025 start date of the new program. As more information and educational items are released, we will be posting and distributing that information. ...
PSHB Employee Fact Sheet
PSHB Annuitant Fact Sheet April 2023
"
"...illegally sold keys that allowed others to open and pilfer Birmingham-area mailboxes. The indictment filed Thursday in federal court in Birmingham accuses Keaundria Janae Gresham, 30, of Pleasant Grove, a letter carrier at a local post office, of selling two keys for $3,000 each to Derrell Allen Matthews, 25, of Birmingham. What the U.S. Postal Service calls “arrow keys” open mail collection boxes. ..."
"...The growth of Netflix’s video streaming service has been slowing down over the past year, prompting management to put more emphasis on boosting profits. That focus may have also contributed to the decision to close an operation that was becoming a financial drain. But the DVD service was once Netflix’s biggest money maker. ..."
'...FedEx saw the biggest U.S. parcel volume falloff in 2022, according to Pitney Bowes’ annual index, and while overall domestic volume last year was down by 2.2%, the pandemic bump in ecommerce helped it outpace the 2019 projection by hitting the target a year ahead of schedule. Pitney Bowes forecast parcel volume growth will be cut in half from 2023-2028, from a 10.8% CAGR in the trailing five years to a “most likely” CAGR of 5%, out of three different scenarios, “driven by market normalization, inflation and economic uncertainly.”...'
"The non-service all over town was so pervasive it became the talk of the comprehensive planning meeting that night, and the talk was not civil. ..."
"...This is the first of three-scheduled general wage increases as outlined in the 2022 National Agreement. In addition to the general increases provided in Section 9.1 ..."
"...U.S. Postal Inspection Service is aware of a recent report of an employee of the DeWitt, NY Post Office possessing a firearm while on postal property. Postal Inspectors responded and are currently investigating. ..."
"The U.S. Postal Service has teams of forensic scientists who can catch the subtle differences between a real postage stamp and a fake one, however, an average person could easily make that mistake and use a counterfeit stamp, which is a federal crime. Other legitimate retailers such as Costco, Walgreens, and CVS are permitted to sell postage stamps at a discount by law, so it is possible to get postage stamps for slightly cheaper. However, the discount is always very slight, and the stamps themselves are legitimate and authorized by the U.S. Postal Service. ..."
"Did you know that more than 1,400 USPS-owned buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Or that the Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp has raised nearly $95 million since 1998? Or that USPS employs nearly 63,000 veterans? These tidbits of knowledge and more can be found in that smorgasbord of USPS history, statistics and trivia known as Postal Facts, which has been newly updated for 2023. The information can be found at facts.usps.com, a graphics-rich site you can also download as a PDF. ..."