The US Postal Service announced today the resignation of Robert Bernstock, President of Mailing and Shipping Services. Bernstock came under fire from critics when the Federal Times revealed in January that he had steered $1.3 million in no-bid contracts to friends and former business associates. In March the paper found an additional $4.5 million sole source contract awarded to yet another of Bernstock’s friends.

According to the Federal Times story, federal contracting experts found Bernstock’s jusifications for the no-bid deals “weak”:

“This sounds like another example from the top to steer a contract to the friends of senior government officials, which isn’t appropriate,” said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight. “This is the type of contracting that’s known to be risky, and the Postal Service can’t afford.”

Neal Couture, executive director of the National Contract Management Association, said the Tatum sole-source justification “is weak.”

“This fails the test of [not having] the appearance of a conflict of interest,” Couture said. “Whether the postal executive has decided to award the contract to someone who’s appropriate or not is almost irrelevant. This doesn’t meet most agencies’ definition of a sole-source requirement.”

Postal Service spokesman Gerald McKiernan said Bernstock was unavailable for an interview.

The Office of the Inspector general began an investigation into the contracts in March- today’s Federal Times reports that “IG spokesman Wally Olihovik said the IG’s investigation is ongoing and will be finished in early summer.”

Here is the USPS press release announcing Bernstock’s departure:

Postmaster General John Potter today accepted the resignation of Robert F. Bernstock as president of Mailing and Shipping Services, effective June 4.

Bernstock will pursue opportunities in the private sector.

Bernstock joined the Postal Service as president of the newly created Mailing and Shipping Services in June 2008, agreeing to work with the Postal Service for an initial period of two years.

“Bob led the effort to rethink and redesign the USPS customer experience. His talent, creativity and extensive business experience have benefitted the Postal Service, our customers and our employees,” Potter said.

As president, Bernstock was responsible for all product management, product development, retail and commercial products and services, as well as commercial sales. The division is responsible for more than $65 billion in annual revenue.

Among Bernstock’s achievements during his tenure at the Postal Service are:

* The Summer Sale and other groundbreaking pricing incentives that successfully generated incremental mail volume and increased revenue.

* The Priority Mail Flat Rate Box integrated marketing campaign, “A Simpler Way to Ship” that engaged employees across the country, provided consistent and unified messaging across all retail channels and led to record growth.

* A complete reimagining and revenue-focused redesign of the Postal Service website, usps.com. When complete this fall, customers will find a 21st Century system architecture that is easier to navigate, with customer-friendly interactive features making it even easier to do business with the Postal Service.

* The first Postal Service mobile applications launched earlier this year are part of ongoing efforts to channel technology for customer and business benefits.

* The first Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) “app” that allows customers to buy greetings with postage included for one price. “Postage Paid Greetings” uses a unique IMb on each card included in a package of cards. The business customer pays the postage expense when the cards are mailed.

“Bob’s work will have long-lasting, positive impact on the Postal Service and its customers,” Potter said.

via USPS News Release: Postmaster General Announces Leadership Change.

Sustainability Annual Report Released

WASHINGTON, May 11 — The U.S. Postal Service released its 2009 annual report on sustainability performance in which Postmaster General John E. Potter credited postal employees for the agency’s environmental achievements.

“Quite simply, we want to be the best — best neighbor, best business partner and the best place to work when it comes to sustainable practices,” said Potter. “As the first federal agency to publicly report its greenhouse gas emissions, we’ve established an invaluable baseline to guide us as we work to scale back these emissions by 20 percent by 2020.”

The Postal Service has set aggressive goals to reduce energy use 30 percent by 2015, petroleum fuel use 20 percent by 2015 and greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. In 2009, the agency reduced its total facility and vehicle energy use 9 percent, as it increased its alternative fuel use 26 percent.

In 2009, Postal Service employees reduced the amount of municipal solid waste generated by 7 percent compared to the year before. Postal employees also increased the amount of recycled or reused electronics by 73 percent in the same timeframe. The 2009 sustainability report is available at the Postal Service’s green website, usps.com/green which shows customers how to “skip the trip” by using free carrier pickup, Click-N-Ship and other online services. In 2009, online transactions increased 13 percent, meaning fewer trips to Post Offices, saving customers time and fuel and reducing their carbon emissions, too.

“It’s our goal to make sure every letter and package mailed is a greener experience for the people who use our services,” said Sam Pulcrano, vice president, Sustainability. “Reduce, reuse, recycle is more than a slogan — it’s a way of doing business throughout the Postal Service. We are reducing energy and fuel use, our carbon footprint is growing smaller, and our employees and customers are benefiting from our environment-friendly practices.”

Pulcrano attributes other sustainability successes to the Postal Service’s inclusive “culture of conservation.”

Highlights from the sustainability report include:

* 10.8 trillion — reduction in British thermal units (Btu) in facility energy use since 2005

* $400 million — savings in energy costs since 2007

* $314 million — savings due to reduced contracted transportation fuel use

* 10 million — saved sheets of paper through Human Resources online initiatives

* 2 cents — cost per mile to operate three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles

According to Pulcrano, “The Postal Service is making good progress in achieving its sustainability goals and continues to lay a solid foundation for a sustainable future for our organization, our employees and our customers. As federal agencies begin to ‘green the government’ the Postal Service continues to step up and take action."

The Postal Service has won more than 75 environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle, 10 Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Partner of the Year, Climate Action Champion, Direct Marketing Association Green Echo, and the Postal Technology International Environmental Achievement of the Year, 2009.

The following information was released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota:

US Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Brandon G. Novak, age 42, of Yankton, appeared before US Magistrate John E. Simko on May 5, 2010, and pled guilty to one count of an indictment that charged him with five counts of Theft of Mail by a Postal Service Employee. The maximum penalty upon conviction is five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

Brandon G. Novak was a full-time United States Postal Service employee, having been so employed since 1996. Novak was a rural mail carrier assigned to deliver mail on Rural Route 7 in Yankton, South Dakota. Between July 1, 2009 and October 15, 2009, Novak came into possession of correspondence and other mail items intended to be conveyed by the United States mail. Included within this correspondence and mail were items containing gift cards and coupons. On several occasions, Novak would take out store coupons and gift cards from mail and use them to buy personal items for himself.

The investigation was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General – United States Postal Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Dennis R. Holmes. A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date has not yet been set. The defendant was released on bond pending sentencing.

CHICAGO. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service with three alleged willful violations at its Bedford Park, Ill., processing center. The Postal Service faces a total of $210,000 in fines, for electrical and protective equipment hazards, following an OSHA inspection conducted in response to employee complaints.

OSHA’s inspection, which began in November 2009, found that the Postal Service failed to provide required electrical safety training for its workers; to ensure workers used safety-related work practices while working on electrical equipment; and to provide workers with appropriate personal protective equipment while working on energized equipment. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

“These sizable fines reflect the severity and ongoing nature of these hazards,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The Postal Service ignored long-established safety standards and knowingly put its workers in harm’s way.”

Within the past five years, OSHA has conducted more than 900 inspections at USPS facilities across the country and has issued more than 600 citations. The Bedford Park location has more than 800 employees and has received several OSHA citations during the past four years.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Calumet City Area Office; telephone 708-891-3800. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that on Friday, April 30, 2010, Tonia M. Anderson, 54, of Akron, Ohio, was convicted by a federal jury of four counts of mail fraud, eight counts of worker’s compensation fraud, and two counts of making false statements to federal officers. The jury returned a not guilty verdict as to one count of making false statements to federal officers. The guilty verdict was returned after a five day trial before U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan. The charge arose out of Anderson’s employment as a postal distribution clerk with the U.S. Postal Service and worker’s compensation payments Anderson received between August, 2005 and February, 2006.

The case was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Teresa L. Dirksen and Phillip J. Tripi. The investigation preceding the indictment was jointly conducted by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

Eastern Area Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth A. Farcht, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, stated: “The majority of U.S. Postal Service employees who collect federal workers’ compensation benefits have legitimate claims due to on the job injuries and are truly unable to perform any work. A small percentage, however, abuse the system and cost the Postal Service millions of dollars in fraudulent claims. This conviction should put those who choose to defraud the system on notice that our Special Agents with the USPS Office of Inspector General will aggressively investigate these cases, and present them to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution when appropriate. You can also help by contacting the USPS Office of Inspector General at www.uspsoig.gov or 888-644-8398 if you know a postal employee who is faking an injury or defrauding the Postal Service.”

Sentencing for the defendant is scheduled for August 10, 2010, at 11:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON, May 7 — Letter carriers across the country will collect non-perishable food donations Saturday May 8 as they deliver mail along their postal routes in the nation’s largest one-day effort to Stamp Out Hunger.

Donations will be collected along postal routes in more than 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the District of Columbia.

The 18th annual Letter Carriers’ National Food Drive is being conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers NALC with the assistance of rural letter carriers and other postal employees and volunteers. The postal union is seeking to exceed last year’s record 73.4 million pounds of food delivered to community food banks and pantries. It also anticipates breaking the one billion-pound mark in total donations since the humanitarian effort began in 1993.

NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said the donations from postal customers will help millions of American families who have been hurt by the nation’s lingering economic difficulties. The drive is especially important at this time for families with children who rely on school lunch programs for nutrition, since most of them are suspended during the summer months.

“Food banks and pantries are in dire need this year as more and more families seek assistance to provide sufficient food for their dinner table,” Rolando said. “Many are working families who find that their income simply will not stretch enough to meet all their housing, clothing, medical and nutritional needs.”

The public should leave non-perishable food donations – such as canned meat and fish, soup, cereals, pasta and rice – in a bag near their mailbox on Saturday before their letter carrier arrives. Glass containers and items with expired dates should be avoided. In New York City, residents are asked to take their donations to their local post office.

Over 126 million postcards, sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company and the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail, have been mailed to postal customers to remind them of the drive. Other national partners are the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, Valpak, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO and the Feeding America food bank network.

Newman!

A Brooklyn postal worker allegedly pulled a stunt worthy of the unscrupulous mailman from "Seinfeld" when he was caught red-handed hiding hundreds of undelivered letters in the trunk of his car, officials said.

Letter carrier Peter Ramsdal, 26, who works out of the Dyker Heights Post Office, had stashed the bags of mail in his 2008 Mazda during a trip to the Catskills on April 21.

via Brooklyn postal carrier caught with sacks of undelivered mail, cops say – NYPOST.com.

A United States Postal Service (“USPS”) employee has been indicted in federal court in Minnesota for allegedly stealing money and gift cards from the mail he delivered.

The indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court on May 4, 2010, charges George William Chumbley, age 56, of Jordan, with one count of theft of mail by postal employee. Chumbley made his initial court appearance today in St. Paul.

Chumbley, a rural mail carrier, allegedly removed items from the mail he was delivering on November 21, 2009. He subsequently used those items for his personal benefit.

If convicted, Chumbley faces a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison for his crime. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service–Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin S. Ueland.

WASHINGTON, May 5 — The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has issued the following news release:

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown D-OH wrote to the U.S. Postal Service USPS to urge them to reverse a decision to close the Mail Transport Equipment Service Center MTESC in Jeffersonville.”The closing of this facility will result in the loss of dozens of jobs and will wreak havoc on the financial stability of the employees and their families,” Brown wrote in a letter to John E. Potter, Postmaster General and CEO of the U.S. Postal Service. “As with any plant closing there is a multiplier effect that reaches beyond the wallets of these men and women, negatively affecting the small businesses in Fayette County that depend on patronage by MTESC employees.”

USPS announced plans to end its contract with Computer Sciences Corporation CSC, which runs the Mail Transport Equipment Service Center MTESC in Jeffersonville. Reports have indicated that the facility would close in June, with voluntary layoffs to begin as early as May 13, 2010.

Brown urged USPS to reverse this decision, or consider an alternate proposal that would maintain jobs in the region. Brown highlighted a proposal presented by the Mayor of Wilmington, and supported by the Ohio chapters of the American Postal Workers’ Union, that would redevelop the Wilmington Airpark for use as a consolidated operation for sorting and MTE coordination. The Airpark, within a 1.5 hour flight to anywhere east of the Mississippi, features a nearly unlimited industrial water supply, an aerospace-trained workforce, and an entire Cat III airfield that is capable of handling some of the largest aircraft in the world. Additionally, it houses aircraft maintenance and repair facilities.

A full copy of Brown’s letter can be found below:

May 5, 2010

John E. Potter Postmaster General & CEO
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20260-3500

Dear Mr. Potter:

I am writing to urge that the United States Postal Service USPS reconsider its decision to in Jeffersonville, Ohio. It is my understanding that the Mail Transport Equipment Service Center MTESC in Jeffersonville is scheduled to close at the end of June, with voluntary layoffs to begin as early as May 13, 2010. The closing of this facility will result in the loss of dozens of jobs and will wreak havoc on the financial stability of the employees and their families. As with any plant closing there is a multiplier effect that reaches beyond the wallets of these men and women, negatively affecting the small businesses in Fayette County that depend on patronage by MTESC employees.

While I am well aware of USPS’ financial condition and understand that urgent action is required for it to regain solvency, we must consider options that will preserve jobs. The dedicated employees at the MTESC in Jeffersonville are not just numbers to be checked off on the way to a savings target. These are men and women who have given years of their lives to CSC, Ohioans whose families are depending on a steady paycheck. Between the devastation experienced by the auto industry collapse and the loss of major employers like DHL and NCR Corp., Ohio cannot afford to lose more jobs. There has to be another way.

Before closing the MTESC and firing dozens of workers, USPS should consider a proposal suggested by the Mayor of Wilmington, Ohio and supported by the Ohio chapters of the American Postal Workers' Union. Specifically, I urge USPS to consider redevelopment of the Wilmington Airpark for use as a consolidated operation for sorting and MTE coordination. The Airpark features a nearly unlimited industrial water supply, an aerospace-trained workforce, and an entire Cat III airfield that is capable of handling some of the largest aircraft in the world. The Airpark is in a prime location, within a 1.5 hour flight to anywhere east of the Mississippi. Additionally, it houses aircraft maintenance and repair facilities. This is a globally unique supply point that could certainly house USPS’ MTE operations on a scale that has not yet been considered.

As I stated above, we must act quickly to improve the USPS’ financial condition. However, we must act with an eye toward preserving as many jobs as possible. I will call you to follow up on this letter, and look forward to discussing alternatives to ending the jobs of dedicated employees of the MTESC.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown United States Senator

APWU Web News Article 039-2010, May 5, 2010

Five days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued citations and fines of more than a half-million dollars to the Postal Service for safety hazards in Providence, RI, the agency charged the USPS in Denver with similar violations. The Postal Service willfully exposed workers to serious and potentially fatal hazards, including shock and electrocution, at the Denver BMC, OSHA said. The agency issued additional fines of $217,000.

The safety violations [PDF] in Denver mirror the hazards found at the Providence facility, and support APWU claims regarding the Postal Service’s failure to adhere to OSHA electrical safety standards.

In four “willful” violations, inspectors found postal employees working on equipment they were not familiar with and properly trained to maintain; on machinery with exposed, live parts that were not de-energized; in areas with potential electrical hazards; and without protective equipment for the eyes and face, exposing them to injury from electric arcs, flashes, or flying objects. These violations accounted for $210,000 in fines.

The remaining $7,000 fine was associated with a serious safety violation in which safety signs, symbols, or accident prevention tags were not used to warn employees about potential electrical hazards.

OSHA inspections of the facility were conducted between Nov. 2, 2009, and April 22, 2010, after the APWU Denver BMC Local filed a complaint. The local acted in response to a request from Industrial Relations Director Greg Bell, who urged local presidents to file complaints with OSHA regarding the Postal Service’s failure to comply with electrical safety regulations.

The APWU expects more safety violations to be issued by OSHA in the coming weeks. Check www.apwu.org for updated information.

via OSHA Cites USPS for Safety Violations in Denver.