From USPS News Link:

Last year’s sales figures from Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) were so encouraging the Postal Service has set far grander plans for the product this year.

Introduced by the Postal Service last April, EDDM already has grown to a $270-million-a-year product. Vice President, Sales, Cliff Rucker has stated USPS is aiming for $1 billion in 2012 EDDM sales. Rucker said the $1 billion mark would be reached by focusing on the following sources:

• Sales to national and regional franchises
• Alliances with printers
• New product development, including new mail sizes to appeal to businesses who don’t want to print new menus, and new route options, such as delivering only to commercial customers.
• New strategies, such as targeting political campaigns and local businesses
• New sales generated by 100 additional sales associates who will contact new customers

Rucker stressed that USPS can reach its EDDM sales goal only if employees remain committed through training and engagement with the product.

via USPS News Link Story – Race to riches.

Va. Rep. Gerry Connolly Offers Proposal To Help The US Postal Service Battle Deficit: MyFoxDC.com

"We’re being presented with false choices," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D – Virginia).

Connolly believes Congress should roll back its mandate, imposed in 2006, that requires USPS to pre-pay 100 percent of its anticipated retirement costs.

"No other federal entity is required to pre-fund at 100 percent," he said. "The Government Accountability Office says that costs an extra $5 billion a year."

via Va. Rep. Gerry Connolly Offers Proposal To Help The US Postal Service Battle Deficit.

72-Year-Old Postal Employee Makes Shocking Confession to FOX 26: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

HOUSTON – While postal inspectors gathered evidence, 72-year-old Karen Samford sat in a folding chair, wondering what was to become of her 36-year career with the US Postal Service."People can have mental issues," Samford said. "It doesn’t make them crazy; it doesn’t make them insane. It makes them stupid."For the past 10 years, Samford has been stealing bulk mail, mail that was going to be destroyed anyway, from the Pearland Post Office.She said she stole enough mail each year to fill up a big box truck.

Read more: 72-Year-Old Postal Employee Makes Shocking Confession to FOX 26.

A coalition of federal and postal worker organizations has written a letter to Congress asking that it defeat legislation that would pay for an extension of the payroll tax holiday by taking the money from federal workers:

On behalf of the nearly five million federal and postal workers and retirees represented by the national member organizations of the Federal-Postal Coalition, we respectfully urge you to reject proposals to finance the extension of the Social Security payroll tax holiday by reducing federal and postal pay and benefits. The House-approved legislation, H.R. 3630, would finance the extension by extending the two-year federal pay freeze for a third year and require all federal and postal employees to contribute more for their retirement benefits. A measure previously considered in the Senate, S. 1944, would finance the payroll tax holiday by other alternatives, without unfairly placing the financing burden on the backs of federal and postal workers and retirees.

Federal employees are facing the possibility of job losses based on funding cuts mandated in the debt ceiling agreement, and as a result, agencies are having difficulties delivering the services the American public needs and wants now more than ever. Reducing the size of the federal workforce will only exacerbate these problems, especially in critical service areas including law enforcement, public health, national defense, and the delivery of care and benefits to veterans, the elderly and the disabled. Moreover, in many areas, government agencies collect revenues that help to pay their operational costs. Staffing reductions likely will reduce those revenues. Similarly, postal employees are continuing to endure several years of workforce cuts caused by reduced mail volume and the economic recession. Additionally, the United States Postal Service (USPS) plans to reduce mail delivery, close or consolidate thousands of post offices and postal plants, and reduce service standards. Not only will this reduce mail service for the American public, but these cuts will eliminate tens of thousands of jobs at precisely the wrong time for the American economy.

Federal-Postal Coalition letter

From the US Postal Service:

In today’s world, dogs are more than just best friends — frequently, they’re also superb coworkers. The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the enduring partnership between dogs and people with the Dogs at Work issuance. This set of four stamps depicts four hard-working canines: a guide dog assisting a woman who is blind, a tracking dog on the trail of a scent, a therapy dog visiting an elderly woman in her home, and a search and rescue dog standing in a field, ready to tackle the next assignment.

For thousands of years, dogs and humans have shared a special bond. While the earliest dogs helped human hunters bring home prey, today’s pooches excel at a variety of jobs. Currently, some 10,000 guide dogs in the U.S. and Canada serve as an extra set of eyes for people who are blind. Therapy dogs, chosen for their friendly dispositions, bring comfort and joy to the elderly and the ill. Dogs that work with police and military personnel are trained to detect drugs, guns, and explosives. Search and rescue dogs speed up search efforts, increasing the odds of survival for disaster victims.

Artist John M. Thompson created original paintings for the stamps, which were designed by art director Howard E. Paine. The Dogs At Work stamps are being issued at a 65-cent denomination, which is the price for single-piece retail First-Class Mail weighing more than one ounce and up to and included two ounces.

via Dogs At Work | Stamp Issue | USA Philatelic.

The Washington Post reports today that Republicans are back to their effort to punish tax delinquents- but only if they work for the federal government. According to the IRS, federal employees owed over a billion dollars in unpaid taxes as of 2010:

The figures are “totally unacceptable and disrespectful to hardworking American taxpayers,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “If you’re on the federal payroll, the very least you can do is pay your taxes.”

Fair enough- but what’s so special about being “on the federal payroll”. Why don’t the Republicans want to fire everybody who owes taxes? I think it’s safe to assume that people who work in the private sector owe far more than a billion, since there so many more of them!

But that’s probably the reason the GOP likes to target federal workers: they are a very small minority of the population, and the perception is that they are doing better than the average American. It would be reprehensible to target an ethnic group this way, but it seems perfectly acceptable to target federal workers.

That’s something you might expect Jason Chaffetz to understand. He happens to be Jewish, and represents a state largely populated by Mormons, another minority religion that has been singled out for persecution in the past.

Why is it “class warfare” when Democrats ask fat cats like Mitt Romney to pay their fair share of taxes, but it’s OK for people like Chaffetz to demonize middle class working people who can’t afford teams of lawyers and offshore private bank accounts?

via Federal employees owe $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes – The Federal Eye – The Washington Post.

• Volatile Organic Compounds: 2,705 lbs.
• Carbon Monoxide: 10,627 lbs.
• Oxides of Nitrogen: 77,865 lbs.
• Particulate Matter: 1,642 lbs.
• Carbon Dioxide: 24,683 tons

BOSTON – A Boston man and former postal employee was sentenced in federal court for stealing mail from his postal route.

Andrae Wilson, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Young to four months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. Wilson was also ordered to repay over $9,000 he spent using a stolen credit card. Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of mail theft by a postal employee in October 2011.

Had the case proceeded to trial the Government’s evidence would have proven that the defendant was employed as a Part-Time-Flexible Letter Carrier in Roxbury beginning in November 2004. In January 2007, a Roxbury resident complained that a credit card had been stolen from her mail and used to purchase thousands of dollars of goods and services. All the purchases were made during the month of December 2006. After reviewing surveillance video from one of the stores where the stolen credit card was used, it was determined that Wilson was the one using the resident’s credit card. A review of delivery records indicated that Wilson was the mail carrier assigned to the route that included the resident’s address.

A grand jury meeting in Topeka, Kan., returned the following indictment:

Debra L. Blasko, 58, Glendale, Calif, is charged with theft of mail by an employee of the U.S. Postal Service. The indictment alleges that Blasko was an employee at the Downs Branch of the U.S. Postal Service in Downs, Kan., when on three occasions in 2010 – July 2, July 5 and July 9 – she stole packages of the pain killer hydrocodone.

If convicted she faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The U.S. Postal Service investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard is prosecuting.

via USDOJ: US Attorney’s Office – District Of Kansas.

(January 20, 2012) National negotiations between the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the U.S. Postal Service over the terms of their 2011 National Agreement have stalled, and the parties have been unable to agree to another extension of the deadline for their bargaining. (Two prior extensions previously had changed the original November 20, 2011 expiration of the National Agreement to December 16, 2011 and January 20, 2012, respectively.)

The parties at the National level are still discussing how they will proceed from this point forward, pursuant to their joint authority to establish dispute resolution procedures; the terms of the 2011 National Agreement will remain in effect until the completion of those procedures. Under the statute that governs postal negotiations, if both sides agree, the parties may first engage in mediation and, if unsuccessful, go to binding interest arbitration. As noted, the parties currently are discussing how they will proceed.

The National Office of the NPMHU appreciates the patience and support of the membership. More information will be shared with the Local Unions next week.

via CONTRACT TALKS STALL: Impasse Declared – National Postal Mail Handlers Union.