What is the best career for the future?

If you are looking for a new career or assisting your children in career choices, you will find the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2008-09 Edition might come in handy. The Occupational Outlook Handbook tells you:

* training and education needed
* earnings
* expected job prospects
* what workers do on the job
* working conditions
Example: Postal Service Workers

Home Raided by Postal Inspectors

Postal inspectors raid home in identity theft probe "...Postal service officials declined to reveal who they were looking for or what they discovered with the federal search warrant. No one connected with the investigation was arrested. ..."
[Reference: www.theoutlookonline.com]

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Postal Customers Not Happy With Removal of Stamp Vending Machines

Postal Service fails us — again "...Private enterprise seems to be able to cope with the challenge of keeping vending machines, where everything from soft drinks to headache remedies can be bought, in operation. Why can’t the Postal Service?
..."
[Reference: www.messengernews.net]

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Postal Employee Retirement

Polled and Pushed on Diversity "...About 26,000 federal employees, who are paid through the General Services Administration, are in the first phase of RetireEZ. The U.S. Postal Service, with about 700,000 employees, will join the retirement modernization project next. The OPM expects that about 2,000 postal employees will file retirement claims every month and that will provide a better sense of how the new system functions, Springer said...."
[Reference: www.washingtonpost.com]

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Federal Pay Raise and COLAs

Pay Raise & COLAs "...The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 0.5 percent in January 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi or 202/691-6994). Released on February 20, the CPI-W for January is 206.7. For purposes of calculating the next COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) the index is currently 1.5 percent above the 2007 third quarter average base index of 203.6..."
[Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com]

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MILWAUKEE - Postal Workers Attacked

Two Postal Workers Recovering After Attacks "... MILWAUKEE - Two letter carriers in Milwaukee are recovering after attacks in their neighborhoods...."
[Reference: www.todaystmj4.com]

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Photo Stamps

Create your own real postage stamps with your photo of choice "...put your own picture on your stamps. Imagine sending a birthday card to your mother ...when she gets it in the mail, it has a stamp on it that is a picture of her holding you in her arms...."


[Reference: postal-edaily.blogspot.com]

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Chantilly Virginia Postal Employees Infected

Chantilly Postal Workers Test Positive for Tuberculosis "...a worker at the post office had an active case of the disease. Fairfax County health officials found that 32 of the more than 120 employees had been exposed..."
[Reference: www.washingtonpost.com]

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OPM Issues Report On Its New RetireEZ Program

New Program is permanently transforming retirement process "..."We are pleased to report the majority of cases that processed to date under RetireEZ matched the legacy calculation," said OPM Director Linda M. Springer. "In all Wave 1 cases OPM paid full retirement benefits at the payment commencement date. No longer are retirees under the new system receiving interim payments and waiting for months until their actual payment amounts are calculated. This success is directly attributable to the transformation of millions of paper records to automated data that underlies the modernization. All Wave 1 new retirees are getting better service because of RetireEZ."..."
[Reference: www.opm.gov]
www.retireez.gov

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"Canada Post" Union Busting Alleged

Roughly 170 postal workers suspended five days without pay "...Saskatoon postal workers have been suspended for five days without pay after meeting with their shop stewards during a 10-minute coffee break...."
[Reference: www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/]

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Postal Cocaine Delivery Leads to Arrest

Mailed cocaine lands man a felony charge "...Drugs had been detected in the package by a drug-sniffing police dog. The package was sent from Chicago...."
[Reference: www.hutchinsonleader.com]

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Federal Employee Pay Parity

Federal employees seek pay parity with military "...Both military support organizations and several federal workers unions are pushing for a 3.9 percent raise or higher for both groups..."
[Reference: www.stripes.com]

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WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY

On April 28, the NPMHU and the entire labor movement observes Workers Memorial Day. The day commemorates the anniversary of the enactment of the Occupation Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Act (MSHA) over three decades ago.
[Reference: www.npmhu.org]

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Continued Attempts to Reduce Workers’ FMLA Rights

FMLA: Here We Go Again "...require workers to provide more proof of illness; to present such documentation more often; and to relinquish medical information to non-medical personnel. If enacted, the new rules also would allow management personnel to contact workers’ medical providers...."
[Reference: www.apwu.org]

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Audit Identifies USPS Lax in Record Keeping

USPS Audit Reveals Unaccountable Millions "...USPS were unable to make an assurance that any of the $27.6 million in maintenance and repair expenses at facilities were actually used for that purpose. The audit said the lax approach to record keeping by supervisors left the company wide open to fraud..."
[Reference: www.hellmail.co.uk]

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USPS Vacant Address Data Table for Mailers

USPS offers data table file identifying vacant addresses "...In order to help mailers identify vacant addresses, the US Postal Service has developed a new data table file to be used with commercial address matching software..."
[Reference: www.dmnews.com]
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Gangs receive guns via mail

Illegal guns went to Puerto Rican gangs, agent says "...ship the weapons to Puerto Rico. Marilyn Quinones-Burgos, one of two women arrested so far, is accused on March 6, 2007, of wrapping aluminum foil around five guns and hiding them in a cosmetic case, then taking the package to a U.S. Post Office and mailing it to ring members on the island...."
[Reference: www.orlandosentinel.com]

File Under: Found in the Mail

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USPS workshare mailer discounts excessive

PRC Ruling Exposes Unhealthy Relationship Between USPS and Influential Mailers "... The commission ruling reaffirms the APWU’s position that workshare discounts that exceed the postal costs avoided are not consistent with the standard of universal rates for all mailers, large and small. The 2008 PRC ruling is Exhibit #1 in exposing the unhealthy relationship between postal management and influential large mailers.

The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued a strong warning that it will not permit the continuation of arbitrary “sweetheart” deals for large mailers..."
[Reference: www.apwu.org Burrus Update]

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Postal Exam Spotlight

On occasion we will "spotlight" an area (or areas) of the country where the postal service (USPS) is taking applications for postal exams. In this case we are spotlighting Huntsville, Alabama, where the USPS is excepting applications for Exam 943 -Automotive Technician. The USPS Announcement Number is 232267. We recommend visiting "How do I get a job with the U.S. Postal Service?" which is a great site for explaining the process. There are numerous other places taking applications for different exams. For example, Florida has a variety of examination openings: Custodial Maintenance (229622), General Maintenance Positions (227888), and Electronics Technicians (223515).

File Under: Huntsville Employment
Florida Postal Employment

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Postal Mail Handler Wage Increase

This information comes to us from the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU).
COLA OF $479 TO BE ADDED TO BASE WAGES

The third of ten guaranteed cost-of-living adjustments to be paid to all mail handlers under the 2006 National Agreement has been set at $479, based on changes in the National Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the period running from July 2007 through January 2008. This COLA is being added to wages effective March 15, 2008, and will be reflected in paychecks on April 4, 2008 (P07-2008). The COLA of $479 represents an increase of 23 cents per hour.

To view the new Mail Handler Pay Wage Scale Chart click the following link: Mail Handler Pay Scale

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