(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Postal Service has temporarily suspended acceptance of inbound international mail originating in Yemen effective Saturday, Oct. 30.

The service suspension has been issued in response to the potential threat posed by suspicious packages arriving in the U.S. aboard international flights originating in Yemen.

The Postal Service has also heightened awareness among its employees, and remains vigilant in ensuring its security processes are adhered to in the acceptance of international mail arriving in the U.S.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service continues to monitor the situation as part of its mission to protect the Postal Service, its employees and its customers.

From the National Association of Postal Supervisors:

SWC Update 10/29/10

The resident officers have completed discussions with the Postal Service that were previously initiated by the executive board during our recent board meeting. The discussions concerned the use of the automated SWC for Customer Services and the immediacy with which the Postal Service was implementing staffing changes. It was NAPS’ position that the automated SWC data may be incorrect and deserved an additional review.

NAPS has been successful in achieving the issuance of instructions by the Deputy Postmaster General of the Postal Service to have a 30 day review period following a SWC review performed in a Customer Service operation that results in the loss of an EAS position in an office.

Based on the attached letter from the Deputy Postmaster General, Patrick Donahoe, there will be a 30 day period, prior to the ultimate reassignment of an impacted supervisor, where our local NAPS officers can review the automated SWC calculations and complete the manual SWC forms to determine the accuracy of the automated SWC completed by management.

There are two documents attached:

1. Letter dated October 28, 2010 authored by DPMG and COO Patrick Donahoe

2. Instructions for local NAPS branches to conduct a review of the Management initiated SWC evaluation

NAPS, at the local level, should initiate a review of any automated SWC that results in the reduction of an EAS position. Local branch officers should follow the instructions that are attached to this message. If you have any questions, direct them to your respective NAPS
Area VP.

NAPS Headquarters

Donahoe Supervisor Workload Credit Ltr 10-29-10

SWC Instructions to Field 10-29-10

Last Friday the US Postal Service filed an appeal of the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision in the exigency rate case. Yesterday the DC Circuit Court of Appeals set November 29 as the deadline for motions and document submissions by the parties in the case, and December 13 as the deadline for motions for summary judgment. The court has not set any dates for oral arguments or submission of briefs.

Petition for Review 10-1343

Clerk’s Order 10-1343

WASHINGTON — The international postal sector is the first services industry worldwide to commit to reduce its carbon dioxide CO2 emissions, according to the International Post Corporation IPC. The U.S. Postal Service and 21 other postal operators in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region — all members of IPC — have pledged to measure CO2 emissions and collectively reduce them by 20 percent by 2020, under IPC’s Environmental Measurement and Monitoring system EMMS.

“The U.S. Postal Service continues to build on our long history of green innovation, and we’re proud to work with our global postal partners to reduce the size of our industry’s carbon footprint,” said Sam Pulcrano, vice president, Sustainability. “Collectively, the 21 EMMS participating posts manage more than 100,000 facilities, 600,000 vehicles, and deliver more than 80 percent of the world’s mail. Our joint effort to reduce CO2 emissions will have a major positive effect on the environment.

”The Postal Sector Sustainability Report 2010 recently published by the IPC announced that the global postal industry has already cut CO2 emissions by greater than a half million metric tons — more than one-third the goal — since 2008.

The IPC developed EMMS to provide a common carbon measurement and reporting framework. The EMMS tool measures carbon management proficiency CMP across 10 areas, including:

• Management and strategy
• Employee engagement
• Measurement and verification
• Disclosure and reporting
• Value chain management

In 2009, the global postal sector had an average CMP score of 61 percent. One of the Postal Service’s goals for this initiative was to improve its score and exceed the industry average, according to Pulcrano. The Postal Service met this objective by increasing its score from 53 to 73, a 38 percent improvement, and 18 percent higher than the industry average.

Another USPS goal is to lead the adoption of sustainable business practices, which includes encouraging suppliers to produce Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM products that have a reduced impact on the environment. Pulcrano said, “We are the only Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM mailing and shipping company worldwide, and we work with our suppliers to help improve their sustainability performance.”

The Postal Service’s 2010 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan describes the agency’s objectives and initiatives and summarizes milestones, including:

• a 10.8 trillion reduction in Btus British thermal units in facility energy use since 2005.
• $400 million in savings in facility energy costs since 2007.
• $314 million in savings from reduced contracted transportation fuel use in 2009.
• 10 million saved sheets of paper through online initiatives in 2009.
• Testing three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles that cost only 2 cents per mile to operate.

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.

iPod, Google Search, Nintendo Wii, Disney Parks and JetBlue. In a recent survey, consumers ranked them among the brands they like best.

That may not be surprising. But in the 2010 survey — conducted by marketing research firm NewMediaMetrics — consumers say USPS is 15th-ranked among brands they find the most attractive. The Postal Service was unranked in 2009.

Nestled between BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows 7, USPS is named one of the top 60 products and services in the firm’s “Leveraging Emotional Attachment for Profit” (LEAP) Index. In an online survey, NewMediaMakers asked 3,500 Americans between the ages of 13 and 54 to rank on a scale of 0-10 the companies they liked based on their “emotional attachment.”

Consumers gave iPod — the LEAP Index top-scoring brand — a rating of 61.5 percent. The Postal Service received a score of 47.5 percent and is the only company among its competitors that cracked the list of top 60 brands.

“The most interesting aspect of this survey is it names brands that consumers say they are the least willing to give up,” said Kent Smith, manager, USPS Strategic Business Planning. “Considering that this was an online survey that included people as young as 13, we may still have opportunities to strengthen our connections with these market segments.”

via USPS News Link – Oct 28, 2010.

JOHNSTON, R.I. — The police in Johnston are accusing a mail carrier of stealing money from greeting cards he was supposed to deliver.

On Tuesday, the police arrested Richard E. Fiske, 44, of 5 Ennis Place, Warwick, and charged him with larceny under $500. Fiske was arraigned later Tuesday in District Court, Warwick.

“We don’t know how many people were affected by this,” said Deputy Chief David M. DeCesare. “We know of a few. We suspect it could be more.”

“There were some complaints received by the Post Office that mail had not been received or gotten to its destination,” DeCesare said. “An investigation by the Post Office narrowed it down to one mail carrier’s route.”

The Postal Service contacted the Johnston Police Department after conducting its own investigation, which included surveillance of Fiske. The Postal Service reported seeing Fiske opening cards on his route, taking greeting cards from the trays of other carriers and removing a bag containing greeting cards from the trunk of his car, according to a Johnston police report.

Full story: Johnston mail carrier charged with taking cash from mail – Projo 7 to 7 News Blog | Rhode Island news | The Providence Journal.

A supervisor at the Rochester post office is the second person charged in connection with the theft of several gift cards from the U.S. Postal Service distribution center.

Rebecca Winans Joslin, 50, of Kasson, is charged in Olmsted County District Court with eight felony counts of mail theft and allegedly has admitted taking several gift cards over the past year that were loose in the mail. A summons has been issued for her to make her first court appearance Nov. 22.

Last week, Michael Ray Holder of Kasson, a mail handler in the same post office, was charged with two counts of felony mail theft.He also makes his first court appearance Nov.22.

Full story: Postbulletin.com: Another postal employee faces mail theft charges – Tuesday, October 26, 2010.

MOBILE, Ala. — A Gulf Shores man last week became the latest in a string of Mobile-area postal workers to be sentenced in federal court for stealing or trashing mail.

Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Butler Jr. sentenced Christopher R. Smith, 26, to two years’ probation.

Investigators used a test birthday card with a marked $20 bill in November to trace the missing money to Smith, who confessed his conduct and told agents that he had rifled through greeting cards since July 2009, according to court documents.

Smith, who had worked as a substitute rural mail carrier for about a year, told investigators that he had opened about 20 birthday and greeting cards. About half of them had cash, totaling about $100.

Full story: Stealing money from greeting cards gets postal carrier 2 years probation | al.com.

Responding to news of the retirement of Postmaster General John E. Potter, APWU President William Burrus issued the following statement:

The announcement of Postmaster General John Potter’s retirement comes with shock and disappointment. We have had disagreements on a variety of issues – most notably, the cozy relationship he fostered with major mailers, and the policy of granting them excessive postage discounts. But Potter has always considered the impact his decisions would have on postal employees. Having begun his career as a distribution clerk, he has never overlooked the contribution of workers.

During Jack Potter’s tenure as Postmaster General, postal workers have faced tough challenges. The uncertainties arising from the expanded use of electronic communication, which has eroded mail volume; the subsequent reassignment of employees, and the restructuring of the postal network have caused severe hardships for many union members. However, Potter’s decisions were driven by changing conditions, and in each instance, he considered the consequences for employees.

In prior years, the union has asked for the resignation of postmaster generals who we identified as anti-worker bureaucrats. But in spite of the many decisions in recent years that had adverse effects on our members, I refrained from projecting blame on John Potter, knowing that his business decisions were made without malice, and that the fallout on employees was unavoidable. The union insisted that the contract be adhered to, and when disagreements arose, we arbitrated our differences.

The most progressive Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated in the history of the Postal Service bears the signature of John Potter: The 2006 contract resulted in the conversion of all part-time flexible employees in large offices to full time; pay increases; consecutive days off for workers in large offices; upgrades for all APWU employees, and numerous other benefits that were achieved with his approval. I seriously doubt that any other past or future Postmaster General would agree to such sweeping changes.

I have no inside information about the reason for Potter’s decision, and no reason to believe that his retirement was demanded by the Board of Governors; but if it was, the Board has made a terrible mistake. The Postal Service is at a crossroads, and its relevance in American society is being questioned. The U.S. Postal Service needs a leader like John Potter to ensure its continued viability.

The Board of Governors has announced that Deputy Postmaster General Patrick R. Donohoe will succeed Potter. I choose not to prejudge his policies regarding employees or his ability to lead the organization at this pivotal period, but filling Potter’s shoes will be a major challenge. Postal workers are losing a strong advocate for the USPS and its employees.

As I enter the final weeks of my career, it is disheartening to know that I leave President-Elect Cliff Guffey and his team with the unsettling fact that they will inherit a new group of postal offi cials whose employment policies have not yet been tested.

Contract negotiations must now be viewed in a different light: It is highly unlikely that Potter will commit the next PMG to contractual provisions that are acceptable to the union. As I have said in many forums, in 2010 a negotiated agreement will require innovation and new ideas. I am very disappointed that Jack Potter will not have the freedom to join Cliff Guffey in finding the pieces that can lead to such an agreement.

The APWU has interacted with Pat Donohoe over the years and we begin the new relationship with an open mind. He should be judged by his decisions as Postmaster General, and that story has yet to be written. He faces major challenges, but I can assure him that APWU will be a strong ally if workers’ concerns are included in his agenda.

via Burrus Shocked, Disappointed by Retirement of PMG Potter.

The following information was released by Delaware Senator Tom Carper:

Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement in response to Postmaster General John E. Potter’s announcement that he will retire on Dec. 3, 2010:

“I was saddened to learn today of John E. Potter’s decision to retire as U.S. Postmaster General and CEO of the U.S. Postal Service after 32 years of service at the U.S. Postal Service. Jack has served admirably in this position for nearly 10 years, enacting key reforms to modernize the Postal Service and put it on a more sustainable financial path. His tenure as Postmaster General has been marked by a number of important accomplishments, including streamlining postal operations, eliminating billions of dollars in expenses, and utilizing technology to increase efficiency and productivity. Jack has managed to lead the Postal Service with distinction during some of the most challenging times in its long history, including the anthrax terrorist attack following 9/11 and the Great Recession of the past two years. I have been honored to work closely with Jack as we have sought to build a brighter, more promising future for the Postal Service. I wish Jack and his family all the best as he concludes this chapter of service and begins the next chapter in his life.

“I also want to offer my sincere congratulations to Deputy Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe on being named Jack’s successor. I look forward to working with him as we continue our efforts to build a stronger Postal Service for the 21st Century.”