January 30, 2012

Addressing the National League of Postmasters on Monday at a conference in Crystal City, Va., Sen. Bernie Sanders  was greeted with a standing ovation from local officials who welcomed his effort to block widespread closings of post offices and processing plants.

Sanders said he hopes legislation slated to come before the Senate next week will protect 100,000 jobs that are in jeopardy under a plan to close facilities around the country, including 15 post offices and two mail sorting centers in Vermont. Sanders also wants Congress to preserve overnight delivery of first-class mail and maintain Saturday mail service, both of which could fall under the budget ax as a result of drastic cost-cutting measures the Postal Service is considering.

Under an agreement with the Postal Service worked out by Sanders and other senators, closures and job cuts under study by the Postal Service were delayed until May 15 to give Congress time to consider reforms.

One of the bills before Congress is one introduced by Sanders last November. It would establish a blue-ribbon commission to create a new business model for the Postal Service and examine ways to expand services and boost revenue. He suggested, for example, letting postal workers make copies for customers, notarize documents and provide check-cashing services, all things that are now against the law.  He also said post offices could work with states to sell hunting and fishing licenses.

Letter carriers go to 150 million households and businesses across the United States six days a week. “Are there other services that they could be providing to bring in revenue for the post office in addition to just delivering the mail? I believe that there are.”

Instead of a strategy of “cut, cut and cut” advocated by the Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Sanders called for a business model that acknowledges first-class mail is declining because of e-mail and the digital revolution

“The Postal Service must change,” he told the postmasters, “but it will be a major step backward for our economy if we begin a death spiral for the Postal Service by making mail delivery slower and less efficient.”

Sanders’ legislation also would waive what he called “an incredibly onerous requirement” that the Postal Service set aside billions of dollars over a 10-year period to fund health care benefits for the next 75 years. He also would let the Postal Service recoup billions of overpayments to its pension funds.

Postal Service files for final rule with regard to 39 CFR Part 241

On Wednesday, October 26 the Postal Service filed a final rule with the Federal Register amending regulations with regard to Post Office closings. This final rule adopts changes to the staffing of Post Offices and to the definition of “consolidation”. The proposed changes would be effective December 1, 2011.

This is a very serious amendment to regulations impacting Postmasters and Post Offices. The LEAGUE and NAPUS has been in contact with our legal counsel and they are reviewing the proposed change. We will be discussing all options available to us. As more information becomes available we will bring you up to date.

The following is the history of the proposed rules changes.

April 28, 2011 the two organizations sent a letter to the PRC expressing our views on the proposed changes along with a legal opinion letter from Hal Hughes former General Counsel to the Postal Service…

May 23, 2011 the LEAGUE and NAPUS two retired Postmasters filed a formal complaint before the Postal Regulatory Commission PRC…

July 14, 2011 – Post Office issues Publication on Final Rule on Retail Discontinuance Actions…

via National League of Postmasters – Homepage.

RIF Avoidance and minimization strategy actions listed in the ELM 354.23 include voluntary early retirements, voluntary early retirement incentives, voluntary reassignments and other actions that can be considered for impacted employees. The two presidents reminded Ms Brennan that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said that he would work with the Postmaster organizations as he had worked with other RIF impacted employees. For more information on this and other important news from President Rapoza, click here http://www.napus.org/president-rapozas-updates/.

We have received several inquiries from Exempt status Postmasters who lost employees as a result of Delivery Unit Optimization (DUO) and are re-classified to non-exempt if they manage less than two full-time equivalent employees, but the Form 50 isn’t processed to change them to the correct status for several months. Listed below is the USPS Headquarters response to the FLSA status question and their response on when salary protection begins for Postmasters who are downgraded as a result of DUO.

When staffing conditions in a Post Office do not meet criteria for FLSA-exempt status, the Postmaster’s FLSA status becomes non-exempt. If the FLSA status of the job changes, this should be brought to the attention of the appropriate management authorities promptly so that FLSA status may be adjusted timely, within one or two pay periods of the Postmaster no longer meeting the criteria of an exempt status. We recommend that Postmasters coordinate closely with their supervisors to ensure that work beyond 40 in a pay week is authorized expressly. This will help prevent potential problems. Postmasters should document overtime hours they work since DUO implementation. They should also document the dates such hours are worked, and they should furnish this material to local management for review and determination if there are concerns about pay.

Salary protection for DUO impacted Postmasters begins on the Form 50 effective date of the downgrade.

Next week, members of the two Postmaster organization pay talks teams will resume discussions with Postal Service representatives. The meetings will include discussions on pay, benefits, leave and changes to the ELM that may impact Postmasters. The Postmaster organizations and the Postal Service agreed to extend the October 5, 2011 deadline.

Charlie Moser

October 5, 2011

via NAPUS.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — "Enough is enough. Congress must act. The time to act is now and the action to take is to allow the Postal Service’s pension overpayments to be transferred to its retiree health benefit fund," said LEAGUE President Mark Strong in a Statement submitted today in the Senate hearing on the Postal Service Crisis. "This would allow the Postal Service to stop closing rural post offices and stop devastating thousands of small rural communities," he added.

Today’s hearing, chaired by Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT), was before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Entitled "U.S. Postal Service in Crisis: Proposals to Prevent a Postal Shutdown," today’s hearings focused on the current conditions of the Postal Service and the fact that Congress will not let it use its pension overpayments to prefund its retiree health benefit obligations.

"Allowing the Postal Service to use those overpayments, calculated by actuaries to be as much as $75 billion, to prefund the retiree health benefit obligation would relieve the Postal Service’s current financial stress and allow it to calmly refocus on the future," said Strong. "It would also help the economy and help prevent a double dip recession," added Strong. "Ideas such as withdrawing from the Federal Employee Health Plan are terrible ideas, should not be taken seriously, and simply reflect the frustration that top Postal Service management feels," he concluded.

"Because of the way the law is written, the Postal Service must make more than $8 billion per year in pension and retiree health benefit payments, despite pension overpayments of up to $75 billion. While the Postal Service has been losing billions of dollars each year since the recession started, if the overpayments were officially recognized and credited towards the retiree health benefit obligation, and current payments stopped, it would be running in the black," said Robert Brinkmann, the League’s Legislative Counsel. This "crisis" is a crisis that, while precipitated by the recession, has been created by Congress, and it is a crisis that only Congress can resolve.

The National League of Postmasters has been representing active and retired postmasters throughout the country since the later part of the 19th Century.

September 2nd, 2011

Representative from NAPUS and the League met with USPS Headquarters officials for the third time yesterday to discuss pay, benefits, ELM changes, and leave for Postmasters. The next meeting is scheduled for the end of this month and future meetings are planned for early October. Details cannot be provided until the pay talks are completed. See this and other information on the President’s Update on the NAPUS website.

The NAPUS National Office continues to receive questions about coverage for retail operations in EAS 15-18 offices with less than 3 clerks and have been assigned PSEs who are not permitted to work the window. Coverage for PTF clerk positions is problematic because PSEs aren’t contractually allowed to perform the window duties in these offices and Postmasters are limited on the amount of bargaining unit work they can perform. This issue has been placed on the agenda for the upcoming NAPUS/USPS Consultative Meeting at the NAPUS National Convention next week.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is scheduled to address Postmasters at next week’s convention and his remarks will be posted on the NAPUS website.

via NAPUS.

The National league of Postmasters fully recognizes the gravity of the financial position the Postal Service finds itself in, but is extremely concerned about the Postal Service’s radical notion to abandon the Federal retirement system and the Federal Health Benefit Plan, the most efficient and effective set of health care plans in the United States. Not only would such an action throw postal employees to the wolves, but withdrawal of postal employees from the Federal Plans could put the continued health and stability of those plans into jeopardy.

We have recently seen action by certain elements in the government that have taken the notion of federal government irresponsibility to a new high. Not surprisingly, we have seen the disgust of the American public with that type of irresponsibility also reached a new high. Suggestions such as these by the Postal Service fit into the same category and should not even be considered.

Were the Postal Service a private business, it would stop prefunding a pension plan that was already overfunded, and it would be allowed to transfer the existing surplus from its pension funds to its retirement health benefit funds. But, because it is a federal government entity, it is not allowed to do that because such actions would disrupt the smoke and mirrors that the government has used for years to make itself look good.

It’s time for Congress to do the right thing. Stop forcing the Postal Service to make payments into a fund that is already overfunded, and start allowing it to use the surplus in its pension funds to prefund its retiree health benefits. Were those actions to be allowed, this nonsensical talk of withdrawing from the federal pension system and from the federal health benefit system would disappear, and some semblance of rationality could once again begin to creep back into policy discussion in Washington, D.C..

via National League of Postmasters – Latest News Briefs.

Following the financial briefing, presidents of the three postal management associations requested time to discuss the impact on Postmasters and other supervisory personnel who may be impacted by the recently announced discontinuance study of more than 3,500 postal facilities. NAPUS President Bob Rapoza asked if impacted Postmasters would face layoffs and he was told that while the possibility of some layoffs may exist, the Postal Service has an obligation to provide the same protection for all employees and they would do everything possible to find landing spots for Postmasters.

Postal leaders committed to consider RIF Avoidance and Voluntary Early Outs (VER) as part of the process to reduce the need for layoffs. USPS Headquarters officials said they were committed to maintaining a good working relationship with the management organizations and would include them throughout the process.

Postmasters whose offices are on the Discontinuance Feasibility Study list are reminded that the current procedures could require several months before a post office could actually be closed. The Postal Service has introduced proposed revisions to the Discontinuance timelines which would allow the closing of a facility within 138 days, but that recommendation is not yet effective.

Postmasters who may be impacted by the Discontinuance Feasibility Study should remember that some of the offices on the review list may not be closed. Impacted Postmasters are encouraged to check the NAPUS website for updates on what will happen if their office is scheduled to be closed.

Charlie Moser

July 27, 2011

via NAPUS.

Presidents of NAPUS, The League of Postmasters, and NAPS are scheduled to meet with the Postmaster General on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. NAPUS President Bob Rapoza said that he will ask for time to discuss the impact on Postmasters whose offices were recently identified to be included as part of a discontinuance feasibility study.

A review list for the possible discontinuance of approximately 2800 post offices has raised the anxiety level of impacted Postmasters, who are concerned over what options may be available to them if they receive a Reduction In Force (RIF) notice. As stated on the NAPUS website on Friday, there is no certainty that all of the offices on the list will be closed. Additionally, the process could take as long as 7-10 months before a final decision would be made to close an office.

Impacted Postmasters are encouraged to check the NAPUS website for updates on discussions with USPS leaders about available options if a RIF notice is received. To see a list of offices under study for discontinuance click here . For information on how the review process works, please go to the NAPUS Action Guide (PDF). Additional information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.

Charlie Moser

July 26, 2011

via NAPUS.

Today The Post Office released the list of offices that will go through the review process for discontinuance. You can click on this link to see the list. We want to emphasize that this is a review list.

Coming under review doesn’t necessarily mean an office will close. The post office announced in January it was reviewing 1,400 offices for closing. So far 280 have been closed and 200 have finished the review process and will remain open. Of the 1,400 offices announced for review in January, 620 are still in the review process and 300 will move to the new review list.

We are very concerned for those impacted Postmasters and communities. The discontinuance process takes over 120 days, if appealed even longer. We will share the entire discontinuance process shortly. The Post Office will ask for an Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today which is another process that needs to be completed. We do not want to give false hope but there is a lot we can do to reduce the overall impact.

We will share more information as it is made available.

via National League of Postmasters – Homepage.

June 28th, 2011

USPS Executive Vice President of Labor Relations, Anthony J. Vegliante today announced promotional salary increase limits for nonbargaining employees. Mr. Vegliante said “The fiscal health of the Postal Service continues to be at risk and, as a result, we must remain focused on opportunities to encourage fiscal restraint.”

Effective immediately, promotional increases must be limited to the following:

• Salary increase of 3 to 5 percent for promotions
• Salary increase of no more than 8 percent if an employee is promoted more than once within 52 weeks.

All promotional increases that exceed the above guidelines must be reviewed and approved by the Chief Human Resources Officer. This applies to all Headquarters and field nonbargaining promotions, except under the following conditions:

• When a higher increase is necessary to bring the salary to the minimum of the new grade.
• For promotions to designated supervisory positions covered under the supervisory differential adjustment provision, when a higher increase is necessary to bring it to the minimum salary rate.

Requests submitted for review must provide clear justification for exceeding the above stated promotional increase amounts.

The above change eliminates the former policy of salary increases from 3 to 10 percent for the promotion of a nonbargaining unit employee and a higher level of approval for increases of more than 8 percent.

June 27, 2011