The U.S. Postal Service is investigating the local letter carrier accused of embezzling funds from the Hazleton branch of the letter carriers union.

William Wyda, 51, of Hazleton, a letter carrier and secretary-treasurer for the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 253 in Hazleton, admitted to embezzling $14,081.51 while serving as an officer between January 2007 and March 2009, according to documents from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

USPS officials would not comment on whether Wyda is still employed by the postal service.

via Postal service probing city postal carrier – News – Standard Speaker.

Commission’s findings bolster the NALC campaign to save Saturday service

March 24, 2011 — The Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent federal agency charged with overseeing USPS operations, issued an opinion today sharply critical of key aspects of the Postal Service’s proposal to eliminate Saturday delivery. The Commission embraced many of the criticisms of the plan expressed by the NALC in our year-long campaign to preserve six-day delivery and 25,000 letter carrier jobs.

“Thanks to the hard work of thousands of letter carriers who rang the alarm bell on the potential loss of Saturday delivery for citizens and small businesses all over America, and thanks to our hard-working staff and team of attorneys, Congress now has all the evidence it needs to conclude that ‘5-day is indeed the wrong way,’” NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said.

The three Republicans and two Democrats on the Commission agreed that the Postal Service overstated by $1.4 billion how much it would save each year by delivering mail only five days per week. In particular, the Commissioners found that USPS grossly overestimated — by more than three-quarters of a billion dollars — the savings it would achieve from its letter carrier workforce.

The bipartisan Commission also concluded that USPS underestimated — by hundreds of millions of dollars — how much revenue it would lose when customers, faced with no Saturday postal delivery, look to alternatives to get their messages and packages delivered.

The Commission’s independent analysis determined further that ending Saturday service would delay the delivery of 25 percent of all First-Class Mail and Priority Mail — almost all of it by two days.

Federal law requires the Postal Service to ask for an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission whenever it seeks to make a nationwide change in its operations. The PRC’s opinion on USPS’s five-day plan is purely advisory; only Congress has the authority to permit USPS to drop Saturday delivery.

USPS filed its request for an opinion from the Commission last year, in March 2010. The PRC proceeded to conduct extensive hearings on the Postal Service’s plan over the course of several months, both in Washington and in locations around the country, soliciting the views of economists and other experts, as well as those of mailers, small-business owners, community newspaper publishers, business executives, local government officials and ordinary citizens.

NALC participated actively in all the proceedings. President Rolando testified forcefully against USPS’s plan at the Washington hearings, while other letter carriers expressed their opposition at the field hearings. NALC also enlisted the help of a pair of leading postal economists from Rutgers University and the University of Pennsylvania to explain to the Commission the faulty assumptions in the Postal Service’s plan.

All five Commissioners endorsed one joint opinion that pointed out major flaws in USPS’s projections, but this joint opinion expressed no ultimate view on whether Saturday delivery should be eliminated. Four of the Commissioners wrote their own separate opinions.

In her separate opinion, PRC Chair Ruth Goldway (D) announced her view that “eliminating Saturday delivery does not conform to the Nation’s postal policy.” She explained that with five-day delivery, Americans would pay the same postage but receive a lower level of service. She also noted that this reduction in service would be “particularly felt in remote and rural areas.”

Commissioner Nanci Langley (D) wrote that cutting Saturday delivery would diminish USPS’s “competitive advantage in the package delivery sector” and “forfeit the significant competitive advantage” that USPS now enjoys with six-day delivery. Even Commissioner Blair (R), while otherwise supportive of USPS’s plan, noted that it would “unduly impact” those mail users who are dependent on Saturday delivery, including community newspapers, customers who receive pharmaceuticals by mail and those in remote areas. He concluded that the burden is on USPS to show that a reduction in delivery days will “help, not hurt, its future financial viability.”

NALC argued in the hearings before the Commission that USPS grossly overestimated the savings it would achieve by going to five-day delivery. The Commissioners in their joint opinion agreed, noting that even with recent declines in mail volume, city carrier routes are generally at capacity and that overtime hours have recently risen. Squeezing the same amount of mail delivery into fewer days will mean USPS will have to create more routes, to keep within the 8-hour standard, increasing labor costs.

The Commissioners rejected USPS’s notion that it could “absorb” the mountains of mail that would accumulate on Mondays without any significant increase in letter carrier hours. They explained that office time would rise since carriers would have to spend more time sorting the mail. They also explained that there would be an increase in street time: “There are limits on how much mail can go in a carrier’s satchel, and how much mail can be relayed at any one time … Volume directly affects how much time a carrier spends fingering mail on the street, sorting it into cluster boxes, or sorting mail into banks of apartment mailboxes.” The resulting increased work hours, the Commissioners concluded, would eat into the savings USPS projects from its five-day proposal.

The Commission also criticized the Postal Service’s conclusion, based on a survey it conducted of mail customers, that its revenue loss from cutting Saturday delivery would be minimal. NALC argued at the hearing that USPS put its thumb on the scale by asking survey respondents to give their best estimate of how much less they would use the Postal Service if Saturday delivery were cut, and then reducing the answers it received by a so-called “likelihood” factor. The Commission took USPS to task for such statistical game-playing.

Although the Commission’s opinion is not binding, and although the Commissioners reached no unanimity on whether to give USPS’s plan the thumbs up or thumbs down, its findings that USPS’s projections are seriously flawed will help Congress and the general public understand what a serious mistake it would be to eliminate Saturday delivery.

Latest News | NALC reacts to PRC report.

March 24, 2011: The National Association of Letter Carriers is gratified by the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision not to recommend a shift to five-day-a-week mail delivery. Such a drastic move would inconvenience millions of Americans, including many who count on being able to get prescription medicines on Saturday; it would damage small businesses for which Saturday is an important workday; and it would have an inordinate impact on rural areas.

“We need to strengthen our only truly national communications network, not dismantle it,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. He noted that the PRC’s advisory findings carry weight with Congress.

Read the rest of this entry »

We have received the Commission’s advisory opinion on our proposal to move to a five-day delivery schedule. We have been awaiting the document and look forward to studying the views expressed by the Commissioners. Five-day delivery is an integral part of our action plan for the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

From 21st Century Postal Worker:

March 23, 2011

APWU Members

As the former President and a continuing union member, I agreed to the posting of my previous open letter fully anticipating that responses would be both positive and negative. I do not engage in the many forms of electronic communications, other than those union members who have contacted me directly. I have not personally read the responses or shared my views on comments to my previous post and I respect those who agreed and those who disagreed. I did not solicit advance approval for the content of my letter because I reserve the same rights as all members to voice my opinion and reject any assumption of an ulterior motive. My posting was intended to serve as voice for future postal employees who will be negatively affected and will have no vote in the ratification.

It is anticipated that those who defend the tentative agreement would challenge the points of my letter to reject the conclusions, but the facts speak for themselves. Employees yet to be hired will be affected but they will not be provided the opportunity to engage in the ratification debate. No one will ask them if the contractual changes are equal to a 20% reduction in wages. Would a current member willingly accept a 20% wage reduction for the contractual changes? All members who say yes, please raise your hand. Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe today announced a newly redesigned Postal Service, one that is better positioned for growth, reflects further alignment within the organization to achieve core business strategies and, when fully implemented, will help realize approximately $750 million of annual cost savings.

“I am confident that we have developed a strong plan that takes a key step toward a leaner and less bureaucratic structure. One that is fair to our employees and one that will meet the future needs of our customers and the mailing industry,” Donahoe said.

About 7,500 positions will be eliminated across the organization through the redesign that also includes the closing of seven district offices and offers limited financial incentives to those who meet specific qualifications.

The seven district offices that are closing are Columbus, South East Michigan, Northern Illinois, South East New England, South Georgia, Big Sky and Albuquerque. District offices house only administrative functions and do not affect customer service, mail delivery, Post Office operations or ZIP codes. The functions of these seven districts will be assumed by district offices within close proximity.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued its long awaited advisory opinion on the US Postal Service’s proposal to do away with Saturday delivery. The opinion doesn’t make a yes or no recommendation, but in 211 pages of testimony and analysis, suggests that some of the postal service’s estimates of cost savings are over-estimated, while service impacts are sometimes under-stated. Read the rest of this entry »

The US Postal Service is expected to provide details today of its previously announced reorganization of its administrative structure. That has led some to suggest that layoffs are imminent- the Washington Post reported this morning that “Thursday’s anticipated announcement is especially significant, because USPS is using layoffs for the first time since posting the historic financial losses of recent years.”

In fact, today’s announcement is not expected to include anything about layoffs- the USPS has already outlined its plans to reduce 7,500 positions, some of which are already vacant, using the same RIF (Reduction in Force) and RIF avoidance processes it has used in previous reorganizations. What is expected today are the details of which district offices and positions are to be eliminated.

Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced in January that the USPS would be eliminating administrative positions, and up to ten district offices. As the Post reported at the time,

Donahoe’s plans include a reorganization of the executive ranks he unveiled last week, closing up to 10 district offices nationwide and cutting about 7,500 positions through attrition as eligible workers retire. (emphasis mine)

Yesterday the USPS provided details of a $20,000 retirement incentive it was offering to employees who may be affected by the reductions. Once the affected district employees are notified, later today, the USPS will initiate what it calls “RIF avoidance”, a process that seeks to find vacant positions for anyone whose job is going away, but who isn’t ready to retire. Once the deadline has passed for accepting early retirements on April 25, the USPS will determine which, if any of the affected units may still need to conduct a Reduction in Force (RIF).

On May 25, any employees still in affected positions will receive what’s called a “Specific RIF” notice: “The notice advises employees that they are either placed in a different position in the new organization of the competitive area…, OR that they did not receive a placement offer and will be separated from the Postal Service.”

Even that notice, however, is not a “pink slip”, since affected employees would still be eligible to apply for vacant positions in two additional rounds of job postings. Only those employees, if any, who have not retired or been placed by September 9 would actually be separated. And those employees would have the option of remaining on the rolls in a non-pay status for 30 days to continue trying to land a new position. Separated employees would also have the option of reinstatement if a job they’re qualified for becomes available within two years of separation.

It’s certainly possible that some employees will find themselves without a position- but it’s far from certain that anyone will actually be let go involuntarily. The bottom line is that big changes are coming, but we’re still a long way from layoffs.

2011 Organizational Redesign Information – At-A-Glance.

By the way- someone in the USPS web team needs spell check:

Postmaster General Pat Donahoe today announced a newly redesigned Postal Service, one that is better positioned for growth, reflects further alignment within the organization to achieve core business strategies and, when fully implemented, by March 2012, will eliminate almost $750 million in costs to the organization.

“Over the past 8 weeks, we have been taking a careful look at our internal structure — the way we position our people — and determining the best way to align the organization to succeed in a more competitive world,” said Donahoe. “We also have been making some tough but necessary decisions that will enable us to better meet the needs of our employees, our customers and the American public.”

Donahoe said a strong plan has been developed that will result in a leaner, less bureaucratic structure that creates greater efficiencies among managerial and administrative functions.

The announced redesign reduces administrative layers and achieves a 20 percent reduction in authorized administrative office complement and Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) positions.

Seven districts will be closing. A general announcement identifying the districts will be made March 24, after employees in those districts are notified.

Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) and financial incentive programs will be offered to eligible career non-bargaining employees in targeted groups at Headquarters, Headquarters-related Field Units, Area Offices and Customer Service District Offices (Administrative).

* The incentive program is $20,000 and is offered on a first come, first-served basis to eligible employees who choose to leave on the May 31, 2011, effective date through a VER, optional retirement or voluntary resignation. The incentive will be paid in two equal payments of $10,000 distributed in November 2011 and November 2012.

* To be eligible for the incentive, employees must begin the optional retirement process or submit voluntary resignation by the deadline of April 25, 2011. The same date, April 25, also is the irrevocability date for employees who accept the VER offer.

* Disability retirements and Federal Transfers are not eligible for the incentive. Employees in a probationary status as of March 23, 2011, are not eligible.

* Employees already in progress as of March 23, 2011, for optional retirement or voluntary resignation with a scheduled retirement or separation date on or before May 31, 2011, will be permitted to retire or separate on the scheduled date and be eligible for the incentive.

* Further details of the VER and incentive programs will be available on the Organizational Change website.

Donahoe said employees will be given comprehensive information to help them make the best decisions about their future. “I know change can be challenging,” he said. “I thank all of our employees for their continued dedication and focus on continuing to provide high levels of customer service while the organizational redesign proceeds.”

Efforts in the coming weeks and months will help the Postal Service become a leaner, faster and smarter organization, Donahoe said. “The redesign will improve our financial situation, ensure that we are better able to compete for customers, and provide greater value and service to the American public.”

via USPS News Link – MARCH 23, 2011.

For more, see the USPS Organizational Change web site.

PMG Pat Donahoe speaks to National Association of Postal Supervisors members at the 2011 Legislative Training Seminar.