National Association of Postal Supervisors
Legislative and Regulatory Update – September 18, 2008

In this Issue:

* NAPS Celebrates Its Centennial at Successful Convention in Louisville
* PMG Potter Warns of “Perfect Economic Storm”; USPS May Lose $3 Billion by Year’s End
* GAO Says Pay for Performance Should Emphasize Delivery Indicators

NAPS Celebrates Its Centennial at Successful Convention in Louisville

The National Association of Postal Supervisors held a successful national convention in Louisville, Kentucky last week, attended by nearly 1,500 NAPS members, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the association and addressing a variety of business issues.

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), whose Congressional district includes the Louisville area, congratulated NAPS convention delegates at the NAPS 100th anniversary banquet and inserted his congratulatory remarks in the Congressional Record.

With the excitement of the 2008 Congressional elections building, NAPS delegates contributed nearly $56,000 to the Supervisors’ Political Action Committee, one of the highest totals ever achieved at a NAPS convention. So far this year, NAPS has contributed over $100,000 to 90 House and Senate candidates who support NAPS and a strong postal system. A big THANK YOU to all who contributed to SPAC.

Results of NAPS elections for national, regional and area officers are here. Other daily convention bulletins and other convention information are here.

PMG Potter Warns of “Perfect Economic Storm”; USPS May Lose $3 Billion by Year’s End

Postmaster General Jack Potter, in his address at the NAPS convention last week, reported that the Postal Service will lose more than $2 billion by the approaching end of the USPS fiscal year. “We are struggling,” Potter said, pointing to declining mail volume and a weakening economy. “We’re in a dynamic situation, with greater losses in volume than we’d expected.”

Potter’s remarks to NAPS were similar to those he delivered in a Public Customer Council broadcast yesterday, warning of a “perfect economic storm” that threatens to deteriorate mail volume further. Citing fluctuating oil prices, inflation in paper prices and strife in financial markets, Potter described the impact of economic conditions upon USPS as the most difficult since the 1960s, along with the impact of email and questions about mail’s environmental impact that have led to a volume decline of 9 billion pieces this year.

“But the economy will bounce back,” Potter predicted optimistically, “and we have to be ready to adapt,” Potter added.

The Postal Service reported a net loss of approximately $960 million in August, according to recent reports filed with the Postal Regulatory commission. While year-to-date revenue is slightly above the same period last year, revenue for August was about ten percent below August 2007 in spite of a 2.9% increase implemented in May.

Pointing to a “vigorous debate” going on right now at USPS headquarters on 2009 mail volume projections, Potter said that those numbers will influence craft staffing levels, and in turn supervisory staffing. He noted the possibility of movement to 4-day/ten-hour shifts, but continued to insist that USPS will not offer financial incentives coupled with VERAs. “We have to be prudent. In 1992, we paid 46,000 employees a half-year’s salary to go, then ended up rehiring 70,000,” Potter maintained.

More details on the Postal Service’s financial situation and possible reorganization will likely be released during next week’s meeting of the USPS Board of Governors.

GAO Says USPS Pay For Performance Should Emphasize Delivery Indicators

In a report last week to Congress, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the Postal Service incorporate delivery performance indicators in its pay for performance system.

Pay for performance determines the annual salary increase for approximately 72,000 EAS and PCES managers and supervisors, who do not receive the cost of living and “step” increases added to bargaining unit employee salaries.

GAO recommended that USPS add new delivery performance indicators to PFP, since existing delivery indicators, like EXFC, apply to less than one-fifth of mail volume.

GAO said, “As USPS implements requirements of the postal reform law for measuring delivery performance, it will have opportunities to incorporate new indicators into its PFP program, notably for timely delivery of Standard Mail (49 percent of mail volume in fiscal year 2007) and bulk First-Class Mail (25 percent of volume). Once new delivery performance measurement systems are fully implemented and mailers’ participation is sufficient to generate representative data, USPS will be able to incorporate new delivery performance indicators into its PFP program.” To read the report, click here.

Bruce Moyer
Legislative Counsel to NAPS

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