National Association of Postal Supervisors Legislative and Regulatory Update - July 31, 2008

House Approves FERS Sick Leave and Thrift Savings Reforms

The House of Representatives has approved legislation that would give employees covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System largely the same retirement credit for unused sick leave as already applies to workers covered under the older Civil Service Retirement System. Also included in the House-passed measure are improvements to the Thrift Savings Plan. The conferral of FERS sick leave credit has been a legislative goal of the National Association of Postal Supervisors.

The FERS sick leave approach approved by the House last night is more generous than that originally proposed in FERS sick leave legislation introduced earlier this year by Rep. James Moran (D-VA). Under the measure approved by the House, FERS employees who retire within three years of the bill’s enactment would receive service credit, in the computation of their pension, for 75 percent of their accrued sick leave at the time of retirement. Those who retire three years after enactment would receive 100% credit for all of their unused sick leave. Moran’s original proposal would have provided a cash payout to FERS employees of up to $10,000 for unused sick leave.

Delighted with the more generous approach approved by the House, Congressman Moran in a statement said, “Our current use-it or lose-it sick leave system for FERS employees hurts productivity and increases training costs.” “We need to be incentivizing the accrual of sick leave, not encouraging people to call in sick in the weeks leading up to retirement. With today’s passage, we’re putting FERS employees on par with their CSRS colleagues, replacing a flawed approach to sick leave with one proven to work in everybody’s favor.”

The FERS sick leave provisions were included in a larger measure approved by the House that would grant the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products. The bill, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1110), was approved by a 326-102 vote. It would require the FDA to regulate the labeling and advertising of tobacco products and ban flavored cigarettes excluding menthol.

The tobacco measure also includes provisions that would improve the Thrift Savings Plan, including the automatic enrollment into the TSP of of newly-hired eligible federal and postal employees and members of the military. It also would authorize the Federal Thrift Retirement Investment Board to establish a Roth contribution plan and self-directed investment options within the TSP. It is the addition of the Roth contribution plan option that, under Congressional budget scoring rules, would provide additional federal revenue, making possible the more generous, CSRS-like FERS sick leave formula. The Roth revenue also offsets the loss of federal tobacco taxes from an anticipated decline in smoking.

The tobacco bill, including the FERS and TSP provisions, now moves to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain. The bill enjoyed wide bipartisan support in the House, but few days remain in the legislative calendar, and Republican leaders and the Bush administration are opposed to the tobacco provisions. The White House has threatened to veto the bill, arguing that it would disproportionately tax low-income Americans, through user fees assessed against tobacco companies to raise funds to underwrite FDA’s regulatory efforts. The Postal Supervisors and other postal and federal employee groups will continue to push for enactment.

Bruce Moyer
Legislative Counsel, National Association of Postal Supervisors

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following is a statement from Change to Win Chair Anna Burger regarding recent speculation that union-busting FedEx CEO Fred Smith is on presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s short list for vice-presidential picks.

“Recent reports that FedEx CEO Fred Smith is being considered by John McCain as a potential vice-presidential pick are beyond disturbing. As a well-known lifelong union buster, Smith has a disgraceful record of stripping workers of their most basic rights to organize and fight for a living wage. It is disheartening, although not surprising, that John McCain would consider picking such a notorious enemy of hard working men and women to be his running mate.

“In the 35 years that Fred Smith has been the CEO of FedEx he has repeatedly fought against workers joining together to have a voice on the job, openly stating that he ‘doesn’t intend to recognize any unions at Federal Express.’ Less than 2% of the 200,000 American workers at FedEx are in a union. In contrast, UPS unionized workers make nearly 30 percent more than they non-union counterparts at FedEx. Despite organizing efforts, FedEx has filed appeal after appeal to deny their workers the right to bargain collectively, and has sought national legislation to thwart union organizing.

“Americans have already suffered through seven years of a White House that places corporate interests before the interests of America’s working families and we’ve seen the results – millions of homeowners facing foreclosure, gas prices at record levels, and skyrocketing health care costs. Workers cannot afford another lobbyist-dominated administration. A vice-president Fred Smith would be bad for America, and bad for workers. Working families need leadership in the White House that will help them reclaim the American Dream, not a third Bush term.”

About Change to Win
Change to Win is a six million member partnership of seven unions founded in 2005 to represent workers in the industries and occupations of the 21st century economy. Change to Win committed to restoring the American Dream for a new generation of workers – wages that can support a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement, and the opportunity for the future. The seven affiliated unions are: Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers’ International Union of North America, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and United Farm Workers of America.

WAVY TV Virginia Beach

From WXII TV, Greensboro-Winston-Salem NC:

SAN JOSE, CA - July 23, 2008 – VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced it has been awarded a multi-year dollar contract valued at up to $10 million to provide the U.S. Postal Service with electronic payment solutions for use across the U.S.

VeriFone will provide the Vx 570 countertop payment solution with dual communications capabilities to provide both traditional dial modem and Internet-based connectivity for 18,000-20,000 customer windows. The countertop solution will include the PINpad 1000SE for debit card PINs and the company will also provide thousands of the VeriFone Vx 610 portable powerhouse, including both CDMA and GPRS versions, for mobile, remote and disaster recovery purposes.

“This is a tremendous affirmation of VeriFone’s capabilities as the premier electronic payment solutions provider and one of the most significant competitive wins of the year worldwide,” said Bud Waller, VeriFone executive vice president, Integrated Solutions.

VeriFone’s payment platforms provide the USPS with PCI PED (Payment Card Industry PIN Entry Device) support and conform to the most stringent security standards around the world. VeriFone will develop a customer interface to a payment gateway that the U.S. Postal Service will operate to ensure it has access to the lowest cost credit and debit processing services.

VeriFone payment card acceptance systems will provide USPS customers with fast and secure processing of credit and both PIN debit and signature debit payments. The wireless Vx 610 will enable the USPS to set up remote promotions where phone lines and Internet connections are unavailable and will provide back-up capabilities in the event of a disaster that interrupts local phone services.

National Association of Postal Supervisors
Legislative and Regulatory Update - July 22, 2008

In This Issue:

* USPS Announces Early Out Details for Some Supervisor Positions
* House Hearing Will Examine USPS Network Realignment Plans
* PRC Universal Service Study Could Moot Congressional Inquiry on 5-Day Delivery
Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON, DC —Postmaster General John E. Potter has named Pritha Mehra vice president of Business Mail Entry and Payment Technologies and Maura Robinson vice president of Pricing. These newly created positions are the latest in the Postal Service’s reorganization efforts to leverage competitive opportunities resulting from recent changes in federal law.

On July 1, Potter announced that he had created two new divisions, Shipping and Mailing Services and Customer Relations, and strengthened another, the Office of Intelligent Mail® and Address Quality. All are intended to position the Postal Service to meet the challenges ahead.

Mehra will be responsible for an end-to-end, mail flow visibility strategy as well as for a seamless process for mail acceptance, payment, and delivery using standardized Intelligent Mail barcodes, continuous tracking, and mail-quality feedback in real time. She will report to Tom Day, senior vice president of Intelligent Mail and Address Quality.

Robinson’s duties will include pricing all postal and non-postal products and services, and providing analytical support and evaluation of all contract pricing and new product initiatives. She will report to Stephen Kearney, who was recently promoted to senior vice president of Customer Relations. Kearney served previously as vice president of Pricing and Classification.

“Pritha and Maura have both demonstrated their abilities to identify and understand the needs of our customers in a changing environment,” said Potter. “Their leadership skills will be invaluable as we continue to make the strategic changes necessary to help us improve service and increase market share.”

In her previous position, Mehra served as manager of Marketing Technology and Channel Management, where she led significant technological changes in business mail acceptance processes. She began her Postal Service career in 1990 as a computer programmer.

Formerly, Robinson was manager of Pricing Systems and Analysis, where she was instrumental in management of the Postal Service’s price changes and the transition to a new regulatory environment. She began her Postal Service career in 1998 as an economist.

APWU President wants you to have the option to retire early, but he doesn’t think you should exercise it?

With news that eligible employees will soon be receiving notice from the Postal Service about an offer of Voluntary Early Retirement (VER), APWU President William Burrus is advising union members to delay making a decision as long as possible.

“The decision about when to retire is a personal one that is influenced by family obligations and lifestyle,” Burrus said. “But the attractiveness of ending a career early should be weighed with consideration of factors that may not be readily apparent.”

Burrus to VER-Eligible Employees: ‘DON’T GO’.

NCR Press release:

NCR workstations to be installed at 16,000-plus post offices utilizing NCR POS ONE software platform

DAYTON, Ohio –The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has selected NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) as the exclusive provider of retail point-of-service (POS) hardware for thousands of postal counters across the United States.

Under the three-year, multimillion-dollar contract, the USPS will install NCR RealPOS™ 80XRT workstations at larger, high-traffic post office locations currently running the NCR POS ONE postal software solution. This comprehensive solution from NCR, designed to deliver improved operational efficiencies and streamlined customer service, is expected to be installed beginning in the second half of 2008. NCR will also provide services, including help desk, project management and maintenance.

“This contract is an affirmation of the successful relationship NCR has shared since 1996 with the world’s largest postal service,” said Jim McMullen, president of NCR Government Systems, LLC. “NCR’s industry-leading solution is delivering dramatic improvements in performance and efficiency, enabling the USPS to better manage expenses while enhancing the customer experience.”

The NCR RealPOS 80XRT is NCR’s most advanced workstation. Employing next-generation architecture, this device delivers industry-leading power, scalability and systems management capabilities to the point of service. Coupled with the NCR POS ONE software, NCR’s solution allows the USPS to focus on accommodating customers with faster service and better information during visits to local post offices.

National Association of Postal Supervisors
Legislative and Regulatory Update — July 7, 2008

In this Issue:

* Postal Service Seeks Early Out Authority as Restructuring Plans Emerge
* Congress Pursues Pared-Down Agenda
* House Panel Approves Five-Day Delivery Study
* NAPS to Urge Preservation of Universal Service

Postal Service Seeks Early Out Authority as Restructuring Plans Emerge

The Postal Service reportedly has requested Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) — more commonly known as “early out authority” — from the Office of Personnel Management, to seek permission to temporarily lower the age and service requirements to increase the number of USPS employees eligible for retirement.

Details on the VERA request are sketchy, but the pursuit of VERA is not surprising, given the need for the Postal Service to pursue significant cost-cutting moves to offset falling First-Class mail volume and rising costs, especially as soaring gas prices flatten USPS profits.

VERA theoretically encourages more voluntary attrition in order to permit an agency to pursue downsizing and restructuring with minimal workforce disruption. Acceptance rates by Postal employees to early-out offers in past restructuring efforts has been mixed at best.

According to unconfirmed reports, the Postal Service will target the next round of early-out offers to specific areas, but without the aid of buyouts or additional financial incentives to sweeten their appeal.

The Postal Service also recently announced plans to continue efforts to reorganize its processing and transportation networks, potentially leading to the elimination of significant numbers of jobs, starting at airport mail centers (AMCs), and continuing to mail processing plants and bulk mail centers. In a “network rationalization report” released to Congress on June 20, the Postal Service revealed few details on which facilities would be identified for further consolidation, indicating it planned to continue to asses the feasibility of of further restructuring through the use of “recently enhanced” AMP guidelines.

The USPS also announced in the report that it would continue to explore the potential of outsourcing the processing and transportation of mail in the Bulk Mail Center network through its Time-Definite Surface Network program. As Federal Times recently reported, the Postal Service also may outsource some BMC sorting functions to private companies, reportedly to free up space to install Flats Sequence System equipment.

The Postal Service indicated it could take up to two years to further solicit expert and public opinion to decide which plants and BMCs to realign. Read the rest of this entry »