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| The Postmaster General (USPS) |
"...A Staples announcement on July 14 indicating that the company is terminating its no-bid deal with the U.S. Postal Service and replacing it with an “approved shipper” program is a ruse. Staples and the USPS are changing the name of the program, without addressing the fundamental concerns of postal workers and postal customers. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
The Staples announcement and a letter from the USPS dated July 7 make it clear: They intend to continue to privatize postal retail operations, replace living-wage Postal Service jobs with low-wage Staples jobs, and compromise the safety and security of the mail...."
"...36, of Birmingham, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Hopkins to five years of probation, including six months home detention, for his guilty plea to six counts of theft of U.S. Postal Service money orders and one count of theft of government property. ..."
"...The Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment Authority, also known as buyout authority, allows agencies that are downsizing or restructuring to offer employees lump-sum payments up to $25,000 as an incentive to voluntarily separate. When authorized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), an agency may offer VSIP to employees who are in surplus positions or have skills that are no longer needed in the workforce who volunteer to separate by resignation, optional retirement, or by voluntary early retirement, if approved. By allowing employees to volunteer to leave the Government, agencies can minimize or avoid involuntary separations through the use of costly and disruptive reductions in force (RIFs). Agencies such as the Department of Defense that have been granted agency-specific VSIP authority are not required to seek OPM approval for their use of this option...."
"...measures for Priority Mail, Express Mail and Parcel Select," but that the agency did not meet any of those goals in fiscal 2013. ..."
"...The Postal Service is offering buyouts and early retirement options to more than 3,000 postmasters before it proceeds with a reduction-in-force (RIF) in early 2015...."
"...“I believe the decision to resume plant closures is a purposeful attack by the Postmaster General, who is retaliating because he could not get five-day delivery. He’s also frustrated by the union’s powerful campaign against the deal between the USPS and Staples,” Szeredy said.
Ignoring the Possibilities
The Postal Service claims the plant closures will generate $750 million in annual savings. “Yet he is ignoring a report by the USPS Office of Inspector General that says the Postal Service could generate $9 billion by offering basic financial services without any cuts to traditional postal service,” Szeredy said. “Something is wrong with this mentality.”
“The Postmaster General also neglects to mention that the USPS earned a profit from operations in fiscal year 2013 and in the first two quarters of 2014,” she added.
Donahoe claims that there have been steep declines in first-class mail, Szeredy pointed out, “yet he fails to tell the public that the USPS has already given away 60 percent of first-class mail processing to Pitney Bowes and other pre-mail sort houses.”..."
After recently announcing a two year moratorium on plant closures, the PMG has recanted that idea and has again announced a return to shuttering hundreds of much needed mail processing facilities. The PMG cited a three year decline in first class mail volume as well as exigent price increases or a lack thereof as the reasoning. In a short video to employees, the PMG OFFERED NO DETAILS on what impacts the new closures will have on employees. It appears the postal service is unsure of what it is going to do, but they are going to do it anyway. Stay tuned for an update when more details are available.
"...The Postal Service’s propaganda machine has been working overtime in recent months, with workers forced to watch videos featuring Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe spewing falsehoods about “the state of the business” and the deal with Staples.
APWU President Mark Dimondstein takes on the PMG’s claims in a new video that every postal worker should see.
But while management can require employees to view his message while they’re on the clock, the union can’t. So make sure your co-workers hear the truth! Please show the video in swing rooms, cafeterias, at union events, and wherever postal employees get together...."
"...a budget accounting trick that would finance road projects by preventing a future bailout of the U.S. Postal Service. But the top postal official says he couldn’t be more pleased. “We not only need five-day delivery,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said..."
"...The new designation reflects that the employees were hired as career employees on or after Jan. 1, 2013, and are covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) as Revised Annuity Employees (RAE).
In accordance with the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, career employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2013, pay more for their retirement benefits than their predecessors. ..."
"...APWU National Business Agent Shirley Taylor challenged the re-election of Robert Sulentic to Staples’ board of directors, noting that he has an apparent conflict of interest. Sulentic is also CEO of CBRE, the giant real estate firm that holds an exclusive contract to sell post offices and other USPS facilities...."
"...House Republicans are constructing a proposal to keep thousands of road and transit projects from grinding to a halt this summer by transferring funds into the nation's nearly depleted Highway Trust Fund from the already money-losing U.S. Postal Service...."
"...May 21, 2014 - The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members passed the latest postal bill offered by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), which would end “door delivery” for 15 million postal customers. The vote, which passed along party lines 18-13, occurred less than 48 hours after it was introduced." title="Committee Passes Controversial Issa Bill ..."
"...FedEx Corp.’s recent decision to incorporate package size in the pricing of its ground service will result in a significant boost in shipping costs – but it could also open up competitive opportunities for the U.S. Postal Service...."
"...The American Federation of Teachers Michigan (AFT Michigan) voted at its convention on May 17 to endorse the boycott. Citing “a common battle against privatization” of public services, delegates voted unanimously to take their business elsewhere. “Members of our union want safe, secure, high-quality service when we go to the post office – not a low-wage, high turnover operation where employees have little or no training and no qualifications to handle sensitive letters and packages,” said David Hecker, president of AFT Michigan. “And nobody understands better than teachers, staff, and faculty how much we all have to lose when essential public services – like schools and post offices – are put in the hands of private companies with lower standards.”..."
"...There was a more recent postmark on the letter -- from Minneapolis 2013 – printed over the old. "We think somebody put it back into the mail stream," Rowe said. A vintage sealing material..."
"...The positive balance sheet continues the steady progress in the finances of the Postal Service, which has been operating at a profit since October 2012. A dramatic increase in online shopping has sparked an explosion in package volume and revenue, while a gradually rebounding economy has stabilized letter revenue.
“All of this good news exposes an ugly truth,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Postal management’s zeal for cutting service and outsourcing operations in a thinly-veiled attempt at piecemeal privatization.”..."
"...Customers can sign up for a six-month trial for free, unlimited deliveries. Otherwise, there is a $4.99 per store fee. There’s no minimum purchase and Google says it will not raise item prices. Orders can be placed online or via mobile apps...."