"...Through wiretapping, DEA agents say they listened to calls and read texts between Garcia and Cruz where they arranged for deliveries. Cruz lives in Worcester, and neighbors say they are shocked to hear the quiet postal worker was involved in such an elaborate scheme. "I knew he was a postal worker..."
"...suspicion of trafficking methamphetamine on their mail routes. Lake County Sheriff Don Bell says 62-year-old..."
"...took mail from his rural postal route in Louisiana to his home in Pitkin, where from Dec. 1, 2016 to May 1, 2017, he burned at least 20 tubs of mail..."
"...According to charging documents filed with the Circuit Court in Riverton, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) International Mail Facility at LAX Airport in Los Angeles, California intercepted a mail parcel declared as “beauty products” on December 23, 2017. A “more intrusive examination” was then performed and resulted in the discovery of bottles marked as Proviron, Dianabol, and 16 vials marked as Tren-Mix 200. All items are known to be Anabolic Steroids..."
The Postal Service is making a Voluntary Retirement Offer to eligible mail handler and clerk employees. However, much to the chagrin of workers, there are no incentives to entice employees to make a move in that direction. This has left employees questioning the move as they see their federal employee brothers and sisters last year being approved by congress for a pilot program that increased Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay (VSIP) for DoD civilian workers to $40,000 for one year. The typical VSIP is maxed out at $25,000. However the Postal Service has consistently offered much less in their last three offers and now an offer of no incentive.
The current USPS offer begins Jan. 8. There will be three (3) effective dates in which eligible employees may choose in the Vonluntary Early Retirement offer. Those dates are: Jan. 31, Feb. 28 and March 31. Eligible employees should receive letters making the offer soon. To read more on the offer go to the following URL: https://link.usps.com/2018/01/04/voluntary-early-retirements/
The Voluntary Early Retirement offer with no incentive leaves one to question the intent of an offer that will most likely only derive a very small number of takers. Some may question whether this is simply an offer that is made to satisfy union obligations to reduce numbers with the least disruption to employees in the event of more consolidations/closures should something like that take place in the future. However, it is highly unlikely a no-incentivized offer would satisfy any union requirements with an offer that would seem unrealistic in generating much movement out the door. If you would like to follow the conversation or join the conversation, Federal Soup offers a great forum for doing so at: https://forum.federalsoup.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=79888
"...At the time, pay raises for postal workers were almost unheard of: After 21 years on the job, noted The New York Times, a letter carrier would only earn $2,266 more than their starting salary. Though unionized, postal workers were forbidden from negotiating for pay raises due to cost of living. There was no chance to earn overtime, and many workers had to find a second job to make ends meet..."
"...Amazon regularly uses the Postal Service to complete what’s called the “last mile” of delivery, with letter carriers dropping off packages at some 150 million residences and businesses daily. It has a network of more than 20 “sort centers” where customer packages are sorted by zip code, stacked on pallets and delivered to post offices for the final leg of delivery. While full details of the agreement between Amazon and the Postal Service are unknown -- the mail service is independently operated and strikes confidential deals with retailers..."
"...UPS had to supplement those workers this year by calling in employees from various desk jobs with little notice. Some are delivering packages using their personal vehicles. A shift to online shopping coupled with a tight market for seasonal workers left gaps in manpower across the delivery network..."
"...Police say a naked United States Postal Service employee shot a supervisor to death early Saturday morning at a post office before attacking and killing another supervisor at her home..."
"...Shipping giant UPS announced this morning that it has pre-ordered 125 all-electric Tesla Semi trucks. The order is the largest yet for the truck, trumping last week’s order of 100 vehicles from PepsiCo. It adds to a growing list of big-name companies who have signed on for the truck..."
"...Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) acknowledged that the Republican drive to cut taxes for the wealthy is the prelude to a larger attack on Social Security and Medicare. On Wednesday, he told a group of lobbyists that hiking the deficit with the GOP tax bill is the first step in dismantling the programs. Responding to a question from Politico interviewers about how to address the federal deficit, he replied, “We have to do two things. We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future...Sen. Rubio may have just told a secret that he was not supposed to spill,” said Joseph Peters, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “The GOP strategy of increasing the debt and then saying we need to cut Social Security and Medicare usually flies under the radar..."
"...United States Postal Services worker died after being shot in the head Monday night, Channel 2 Action News reported. The shooting occurred outside a post office..."
"...Specifically, Amazon officials have told several food brands that the USPS had delivered an unreliable experience to customers with too many late or missed deliveries, according to people familiar with the discussions. With no other good delivery options for fresh food in these areas, Amazon decided to shut down the service..."
"...almost impossible not to be amazed at how cheaply China-based merchants are selling products for: xlr cables for $.99, a necklace for $.78, 10 watch batteries for $.78 -- all with postage included. Perhaps you may feel a little suspicious or even a touch indignant about these low prices, as you know that ..."
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| NLRB charge |
"...Each year, Veterans' Day is celebrated on Nov. 11. For 2017, the holiday falls on a Saturday. There has been some confusion about when the Postal Service will observe the holiday because it has a six “business” day week. For clarification, USPS Retail and Delivery will be closed on Saturday, November 11, 2017. It will be business as usual on Friday, November 10, 2017...UPDATE: Veterans’ Day is not one of the negotiated holidays PSEs receive pay for..."
"...The nearly two-thirds of enrollees covered by a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan will pay $7.17 more per biweekly pay period next year than last year for self-only coverage; $17.04 more for self plus one other person and $17.72 for self and family coverage..."
"...elimination of supplemental payments to employees who retire before age 62; A switch to a defined contribution pension plan for new federal employees; reduce the G fund’s rate of return..."
"...The family of mail carrier Ed McDaniel, who was shot in West Charlotte on August 31st while just doing his job..."
"...In accordance with the 2015-2018 Collective Bargaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a 13 cents per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) effective September 2. The increase is the result of an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). The increase will appear in paychecks dated September 22, 2017 (Pay Period 19-2017), and will total $270.00 per year..."