Postal Employee Donates $2.2 Million for Scholarships

Two Guilford Collge Grads Give $2.2 Million For Scholarships '... Frank Werner graduated from Guilford College in 1934. He was a postal worker for 34 years. Ava Werner graduated in 1933, and worked for Blue Bell. ...' [Reference: www.digtriad.com]

Stamp Machines in Pensacola

[Pensacola, Florida] Post offices replacing stamp machines '... U.S. Postal Service is replacing older, cash-only, stamp vending machines with new, automated kiosks — Automated Postal Centers. However, the only Automated Postal Center in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties is at the Nobles Station post office on Tippin Avenue in Pensacola ...' [Reference: www.pensacolanewsjournal.com]

Stamp Machines in Huntsville

[Huntsville, Alabama] No stamps in stamp machine frustrate Huntsvillians '... "I went to the one on Wynn Drive, the one on Mastin Lake, the one on Clinton Avenue, then the one on Governor's Drive, then the one on Whitesburg." ... The Post Office tells us they only have two people certified to work the machines, and one of them is out of commission too. ...' [Reference: www.waff.com]

Note: You can order stamps by phone or over the internet:

Buy Stamps On the Internet at: www.usps.com

Print Postage from Your PC at: stamps.com

Put your photo or your favorite photo on your stamps at: photo.stamps.com

Updated Mailhandler Pay Scale / Schedule

The National Postal Mail Handlers Union has posted an updated pay scale that includes the cost-of-living adjustments to be paid to all mail handlers under the 2006 National Agreement. The new wages are effective March 15, 2008, and will be reflected in paychecks on April 4, 2008 (PP 07-2008). The COLA of $479 equates to an increase of 23 cents per hour.

NEW Mail Handler Pay Schedule

Mail Underpayments

U.S. Postal Service Undercharged Countries for Mail '... If auditors hadn't caught the errors, the facility would have undercharged foreign agencies $12.5 million over two years, the report said. ...' [Reference: www.bloomberg.com]

The Sick Leave Debate

Mike Causey from Federal News Radio writes an excellent article on the "sick leave" debate that rages on in the Federal workforce: CSRS -v- FERS.

Sick Leave: Insurance or Entitlement?

Dothan, AL: Woman Embezzles Money form APWU

Dothan woman pleads guilty to embezzling money from union "... A former employee for a Dothan-based postal union pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $11,000 of the union's money. ..." [Reference: www.al.com]

2008 USPS CPI Increase / Mail Handler COLA / APWU COLA

2008 USPS CPI Increase / Mail Handler COLA / APWU COLA / postal cola

The upcoming Cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment for NPMHU and APWU represented postal employees will be $479 annually. This calculates to $.23c per hour, and is effective March 15, 2008 (reflected in the April 4, 2008 pay check).

Visit the APWU and NPMHU articles:

APWU

NPMHU

reusable envelope approved ...Go Green

US Postal Service approves first reusable envelope "... Used for internal office mail for years, the reusable envelope is now set to make its debut nationwide in the US, after ecoEnvelopes announced this week that its reusable envelope has received official approval from the US Postal Service ..." [Article Reference: www.businessgreen.com]
[Product Reference: www.ecoEnvelopes.com]

Custodial Employees To Receive Arbitration Payment

Some Custodial Employees To Receive Arbitration Payment This Week "... The agreement, finalized on Jan. 29, settled the remedy portion of a national-level grievance. It is the culmination of a Nov. 16, 2006, arbitration victory in which Shyam Das ordered the USPS to rescind Handbook MS-47, Housekeeping Postal Facilities, issued in 2001, and to reinstate the 1983 version. The 2001 handbook had revised custodial staffing procedures. ..." [Reference: www.apwu.org ]

What makes a postage stamp valuable

Treasured for their flaws "... Much of coin, currency and stamp collecting, in fact, is based on glorious goofs — everything from inverted images to double and triple strikes in coins to misalignment, fold or crease errors with stamps, Holland says. Take the 1918 24-cent U.S. Airmail stamp with an inverted center showing an early biplane upside-down, for instance. The "Inverted Jenny" is one of the best-known examples of an "invert." ..." [Reference: www.capecodonline.com]

Rare invert stamp sells at record $1.2 Million

Philip Weiss Auction Sells Rare Invert Stamp From 1869 For Record $1.2 Million "... a rare "invert" American stamp from 1869 depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence to a record $1.2 million at Philip Weiss Auctions this past Saturday, February 9 ..." [Reference: antiquesandthearts.com]

When can workers sue against acts of retaliation by employers? Two cases slated for hearing this week

Employer retaliation cases reach U.S. Supreme Court "... Tuesday, the high court will examine whether a US postal worker can claim retaliation in a lawsuit under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act because she says her supervisor refused to let her return to her old job because he didn't like her personally. Instead, he hired a younger, less experienced worker. ..." [Reference: www.csmonitor.com]

Federal Health Insurance, Buyouts, and retirees

Mike Causey at FederalNewsRadio.com tells us, "... One of the proposals in President's budget would trim the government's share of health insurance premiums for workers retiring in the future. He made the same pitch last year and Congress ignored it. Currently the government pays an average of 72 percent of the total health premium for both federal workers and retirees. ..." You can read the full article at Federal News Radio titled: Health Insurance Premiums: Who Pays What?

What's in store for large postal facilities from the Postal Board of Governors (BOG)?

A stack of issues for postal board chief "... The board has to have the political will to force management to close large facilities ..." [Reference: www.philly.com]

USPS Medical Records Suit

Unions Sue USPS and OIG over Medical Records Over Invasion of Medical-Records Privacy: "... The suit alleges that the OIG has routinely instructed medical providers that they must submit records to the OIG and that they should refrain from notifying affected employees that the records have been requested by the OIG.

In suing the Postal Service and the OIG, the unions’ suit asserts that these practices constitute an unlawful invasion of privacy; they extend beyond the authority of the OIG; they violate postal workers’ constitutionally protected right to privacy; and they amount to unreasonable searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. ... [Reference: www.apwu.org]

Rumors of.... USPS Postal Buyout? Volunteer Early Retirement?

Plenty of rumors are floating around across the nation from postal facility to postal facility about postal early outs, USPS buyout programs and Volunteer Early Retirement (VERA). There are very few articles to be found on this subject. There is no doubt that the postal service is determined to reduce the numbers of employees substantially to justify the cost of automation as well as justifying the ridiculously low rates offered to big bulk mailers. Here are a couple of articles we have found on the subject. NOTE: None of this information has been verified, so take it with a grain of salt. The first article is from the Federal Times. This short article details the USPS' authority, or lack of authority, relative to offering a program to only CSRS and excluding FERS. The second article is from the PostalReporter.com. This article references a letter from the Los Angeles APWU detailing an upcoming Volunteer Early Retirement Authority (VERA) approved by OPM. Again, we have not verified the source. However, we speculate, if the letter is genuine, there would not be many APWU members that would take this offer, as it offers no monetary incentive. L.A., due to the size of the district, would be a great test ground to determine if the USPS would be successful without an incentive ...not going to happen for the majority since it would be costly to an employee not at Minimum Retirement Age (MRA). What do you think? If you have any paperwork that the reference can be verified, please share it with us!

2009 COLA Forecast -v- Seniors on Social Security

Newly Released 2009 COLA Forecast Would Keep Five Million Seniors Below Poverty Line "... lobbying for a change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to determine the COLA. The government currently calculates the COLA based on the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a slow-rising index that tracks the spending habits of younger workers who don't spend as much of their income on health expenditures. ..." [Reference: prnewswire.com]

Jury Scam Defrauds Postal Service

Jury Ruse Defrauds Postal Service "... At the time of the first hoax, the Postal Service was struggling with significant problems and employee anxiety at the mail distribution center. Anthrax contamination had led to the deaths in fall 2001 of postal employees Joseph P. Curseen and Thomas L. Morris. The building was shuttered and workers reported to a site in suburban Maryland. The original facility reopened in December 2003 and was renamed for those who died. ..." [Reference: www.washingtonpost.com]

Article from the APWU on USPS Payroll Software Programming Delay

USPS Notifies Union of Payroll Glitch "... There is absolutely no excuse for the Postal Service’s failure to complete this project on time,” said APWU President William Burrus. “The 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement was signed on March 29, 2007. It is unacceptable that the programming required to implement the terms of the agreement is incomplete more than 11 months later.

“I have expressed my dissatisfaction directly to the postmaster general. Apparently, his intervention was insufficient to correct the problem in the short time that remained.” ..." [Reference: www.apwu.org]