Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission today submitted to Congress, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the United States Postal Service, an independent actuarial report on the allocation of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefits paid to former Post Office Department employees.
The Postal Service asked for an independent review of current allocations. The Commission report finds that an adjustment of $50-$55 billion in favor of the Postal Service would be equitable.

“The Commission is pleased to provide this expert and timely perspective to assist Congress and OPM as they work to resolve an issue that has far-reaching consequences for the financial health and viability of the Nation’s universal mail system,” said Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway.

By law, OPM, which is responsible for calculating the Postal Service’s CSRS pension liability, must now reconsider its calculation of the Postal Service’s pension assets in light of this report, and submit the results of its reconsideration to the Commission, the Postal Service, and Congress.

The Commission finds that the report, prepared by The Segal Company, provides a persuasive statement of how generally accepted accounting principles should be used to develop the current postal pension assets.
The Commission suggests that Congress may wish to alter the schedule established in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) for potential transfers from the Postal Service Retirement Fund to its Retiree Health Benefit Fund. Currently, such transfers may not take place before September 30, 2015.

The full report, Civil Service Retirement System Cost and Benefit Allocation Principles, is available on the Commission web site, www.prc.gov.

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned an indictment charging Kenneth M. Dugan, Jr., age 41, of Cleveland, with one count of Theft of Mail Matter by an Officer or Employee of the United States Post Office. Dugan is a former letter carrier at the United States Postal Service’s Midpark Station in Cleveland, Ohio. The indictment alleges that Dugan stole coins and coupons from mail that he was supposed to deliver.

If convicted, Dugan’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel J. Riedl after an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

From Postcom.org:

Stock Markets Review has reported that “Monday, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) announced various appointments in its new and expanded districts. Earlier, the company had announced that it was going to reduce the number of U.S. Districts from 46 to 20.” [EdNote: And the Postal Service with its "more than it needs" district structure? What about the Postal Service? Well...it's still sittin' around just whistlin' Dixie. Besides, why worry? It is about to ask to have its customers pay.]

via PostCom: Postal News and Information from Around the World.

The Associated Press reports that OSHA plans to fine the US Postal Service $210,000 for knowingly endangering employees at the Eagan MN Processing and Distribution Center. According to a running tally maintained by the APWU, that brings total OSHA fines against the USPS to almost $2.7 million.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration claims an Eagan postal office knowingly put workers in harm’s way.

It issued $210,000 in fines for “severe and ongoing” electrical and protective equipment hazards following an OSHA inspection prompted by employee complaints.

OSHA classifies a willful violation as one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement.

In an e-mail Tuesday, spokesman Pete Nowacki wouldn’t comment on how the postal service would respond. But he said employee safety is a top priority and they would review OSHA’s concerns and make necessary adjustments.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service for alleged willful and repeat violations of safety standards following an inspection at the Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Scarborough, Maine. The Postal Service faces a total of $430,000 in fines, chiefly for exposing workers to electrical hazards.

"These citations and sizable fines reflect the Postal Service’s failure to equip its workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely work with live electrical parts," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "The Postal Service knew that proper and effective training was needed for the safety of its workers but did not provide it."

OSHA’s inspection, which began Dec. 29, 2009, in response to a complaint from workers at the Scarborough facility, found employees working with or near live electrical equipment without adequate training or qualifications, personal protective equipment, safety-related work practices and warning signs.

These conditions exposed the workers to electric shock, arc flashes and arc blasts and resulted in OSHA issuing six willful citations, with $420,000 in proposed fines, to the Postal Service. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

In addition, OSHA found that access to electrical panels was blocked in several instances by materials being stored adjacent to them. This situation resulted in one repeat citation, with a $10,000 fine, since the Postal Service had been cited in November 2007 for the same type of hazard at a Toledo, Ohio, postal facility.

The Postal Service has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Augusta Area Office; telephone 207-626-9160. 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.

As we predicted earlier this month, the Postmaster General has confirmed the appointment of Tim Haney to be the new Area Vice President for the Capital Metro Area. The Washington Post reported last week that reports of the appointment had raised concerns among employees in the capital area who remember Haney’s performance as manager during the anthrax crisis at the Brentwood processing center. The PMG also announced that Jordan Small, currently Vice President, Network Operations, will take Haney’s place in the Northeast. Here is the text of the announcement: Read the rest of this entry »

The US Postal Service posted a net loss of $642 million in May, including $458 million in funds allocated to a Congressionally mandated “trust fund”, according to documents the USPS filed with the PRC late Friday. That brings the year to date net loss for the USPS to $2.9 billion. If the USPS did not have to set aside money for the trust fund, it would be showing a net profit year to date of over $760 million. Congress enacted the trust fund requirement in order to be able to count that portion of postal sales revenues as tax receipts, artificially making the federal budget deficit appear smaller.

Revenue was actually up slightly from the same period last year (SPLY) by a tenth of a percent, thanks mainly to a 4.6% increase in shipping services volume. Mailing services volume on the other hand, continued to decline, although the drop may be slowing. The decline in May was less than one percent, compared with a 2.1% decline year to date.

First class mail continues to show the steepest drop, down 6.3% for the month. Standard mail was up by 5.6%, and it continues to account for the majority of the mail in the system, although piece for piece it provides less than half the revenue of first class mail.

On the expense side, the USPS continues to reduce employee workhours- they were down 3.8% in May, which is considerably less than the year to date reduction of 6.8%. Rural delivery hours actually increased 2.4% in May.

USPS borrowing costs are up 200% from last year, due to the continuing trust fund charges. Since the USPS doesn’t have $458 million in spare cash to send to the Treasury every month, it has to borrow the money from the Treasury first, paying interest on money that it then loans back to the Treasury interest free.

Walking down the street on a hot day you see someone passed out in an unusual position. What do you do? Call 911? Ask the person if he’s OK? If you’re Keith Gould of Toronto, the answer is none of the above. Rather than running for help, you run for a camera, take a picture, and send it off to a local tabloid where a smirking columnist will use your photo for some cheap laughs.

“I could tell he was okay,” said Keith. “It was pretty clear he was sleeping.”Turns out it wasn’t a short nap either because, a few minutes later on his way to the dentist, Gould saw him still counting sheep. This time he brought out his camera.“He was out cold,” said Keith. “It was pretty funny.”

Good to know that Keith was able to diagnose the carrier’s condition and see the humor in what most people would consider a possibly life-threatening situation.

To its credit, Canada Post refused to play along with the columnist, and defended the carrier:

“Instead of waiting to get appropriate information that would have produced, at the very least, a balanced story, a 20-year employee with an exemplary record was singled out as a joke for all his colleagues, friends and family to see,” said a letter to the editor from Jon Hamilton, general manager of communications for Canada Post.“I am writing to convey our incredible disappointment.”

“Thank you for your questions, but we’re not interested in supporting a further story beyond confirming he completed his route on time despite the setback at the relay box,” wrote Hamilton. “I would respectfully ask you to let it go. I’m all for supporting/defending the actions of the corporation at any time. But this is about a guy who didn’t deserve this type of treatment and certainly doesn’t deserve more.”

In a telephone interview, Canada Post spokesman Anick Losier said the carrier is a very good employee who she would “go to bat for any time” and that there were “personal” reasons why he was asleep.

“You had your fun,” she said.

Many readers agreed with that sentiment and expressed frustration in numerous comments and emails.

By way of contrast, here’s another story about someone “napping” on the job: Keith Gould would have been rolling on the floor in tears if he’d been in USPS letter carrier Frances Byrne’s shoes last week. Byrne was delivering mail in the local courthouse on Friday when she noticed a man apparently napping at his desk. Instead of whipping out her camera, Byrne tried to determine if the guy was OK- he wasn’t.

Byrne said the Veterans officer called 911 to assist with the situation. Harrison County Deputy Auditor Carolyn Lowe arrived at work around 10 a.m.

“The ambulances were here at the courthouse and a police car was there,” Lowe said. “As I walked on to the courthouse, I see all the EMTs working on Tom in his office.”

Bube was initially taken to Harrison County Hospital, but was transferred to Floyd Memorial Hospital later in the afternoon. At last report, he is listed in critical but stable condition.

I bet Keith Gould and wacky columnist Joe Wormington would have died laughing!

via So, that’s why they call it snail mail | Joe Warmington | Columnists | News | Toronto Sun.

From the Federal Register:

The Postal Service proposes to utilize mobile fueling contractors to fuel vehicles on site at selected postal facilities located throughout the United States. The program would focus on, but not be limited to, city and rural delivery units with 30 or more routes using vehicles owned by the Postal Service. Based on these criteria, it is anticipated that up to 1,100 sites may be eligible to convert to mobile fueling. Mobile fueling, also known as fleet fueling, wet fueling, or wet hosing, is the practice of filling fuel tanks of vehicles directly from tank trucks. In this scenario, mobile refueling contractors drive tank trucks onto Postal Service property to fuel parked delivery vehicles and drive the tank trucks off site when fueling is completed. At this time, the only alternative identified is the “no action” alternative of continuing to fuel delivery vehicles off-site at commercial gas stations.

It is estimated that the Programmatic Environmental Assessment will be completed by August 1, 2010.

via FR Doc 2010-14491.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 25 — The U.S. Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s office for Eastern District of California issued the following press release:

United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that June Marie Casteel, 46, of Yuba City, pleaded guilty today before United States District Court Judge Edward G. Garcia to felony theft of U.S. Postal Money Orders and theft of currency of the0020U.S. Postal Service .

According to court documents, from September 5, 2009 through September 10, 2009, Casteel, while employed as a supervisor of the Marysville Post Office, stole five U.S. Postal Money Orders. She used her position as a supervisor to gain access to another employee’s clerk drawer and point-of-sale password to issue each of the U.S. Postal Money Orders. Casteel then submitted false financial records in order to hide her theft. She asked two individuals to cash the money orders and to give her the proceeds, and then instructed them to provide false information to federal investigators. Casteel stole $4633 in U.S. Postal funds for her own use.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.

Casteel is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10, 2010. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.