Bronx, N.Y., workers, community fight to save postal jobs

Members of the South Bronx Community Congress joined postal workers on the steps of the Bronx General Post Office at 149th Street and the Grand Concourse on May 23 to demand that officials of the United States Postal Service suspend plans to move Bronx mail-processing services to Manhattan.....MORE

Savings from 5-day mail delivery are exaggerated, commission finds

Ending most Saturday mail delivery would save the U.S. Postal Service far less money than the agency is predicting, a five-member oversight body concluded in an advisory opinion released Thursday.

In the long-awaited opinion, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) stopped short of taking a pro or con position on the Postal Service's bid to go to five-day delivery. But its analysis concluded that the move would save a net of $1.7 billion annually, well below the Postal Service's $3.1 billion estimate. The proposed change would also cause an average of 25 percent of first-class and Priority Mail to be delayed by two days and particularly hurt customers in rural and other remote areas, the PRC found.

"A decision to change the existing patterns of postal communications and delivery should be made with care," Commission Chairwoman Ruth Goldway said in a news release.

In a statement, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe defended the $3.1 billion savings estimate, saying it was based on extensive market research.

"We remain convinced of our findings," he said.

The ultimate decision rests with Congress, which every year since 1984 has added language to appropriations legislation prohibiting any shift from six-day delivery. But the commission's analysis likely will arm Capitol Hill critics of the Postal Service's bid to curtail service.

"Sure it will," said Tony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, which has "reluctantly" endorsed the five-day plan as an alternative to raising postage rates. "Not only are the savings less," Conway said, "it also suggests that other elements of the proposal could be suspect, too."

The advisory opinion "raises many of the same questions that I have posed over and over," one such critic, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement. "These consequences simply must be addressed before consideration of such a significant service reduction." Under the USPS plan, post offices would stay open Saturdays and mail delivery to post office boxes would continue, but delivery to street addresses and mail pickup from the standard blue collection boxes would end.

"We'd like to keep six days; the problem is we can't afford it," Donahoe told Federal Times editors and reporters earlier this month. The Postal Service last year lost a record $8.5 billion and expects to run out of cash by this September if it has to make a legally required $5.5 billion pre-payment for retiree health care.

By law, the Postal Service must ask the PRC to weigh in on any proposal that would have a national effect on service. It filed the request for the advisory opinion last March.

Police investigate postal carrier robberies

BRONX (WABC) -- Police in the Bronx are investigating the robberies of four postal carriers. The suspects, who are said to be either black or Hispanic, display a weapon and forcibly throw the mail carrier to the ground, and then steal their property.

Incident #1 happened in University Heights on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 11:15 a.m. at 175 Zeiser Place.

Incident #2 happened in Mt. Eden on Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. at 1340 Morris Avenue.

Incident #3 happened in Mt. Eden on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 2:15 p.m. at 200 Marcy Place.

Incident #4 happened in the Concourse section on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 12:45 p.m. at 265 McClellan Street.

The sketch provided is from the fourth incident. The suspect there is described as a black man, age 18-22, approx. 5'6" in height, 175lbs, with black hair, and wearing a dark jacket.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

You can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting your tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.

APWU, USPS Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract

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Myths about the U.S. Postal Service fly fast and far these days. For instance, you have may have heard that there are 36,000 post offices in the U.S., which is more retail outlets than Wal-Mart, Starbucks and McDonald's combined. In addition, many of these post offices are labeled "money losers."

These statements, made more to shock than inform, are not accurate. Let's look at the facts....MORE

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester says the lawmakers who oversee the budget of the post office will block a proposal to reduce mail deliveries to five days a week.

The Montana Democrat said eliminating Saturday deliveries would be a hardship on people living in rural areas without producing major savings for the Postal Service.

The post office has proposed the change as one of several steps to reduce its expected $7 billion loss this year.

The agency also wants to raise rates starting in January, to close or consolidate offices and to avoid annual prepayments for future retiree health care costs.

The Postal Service does not receive tax funds for its operations, but must follow the direction of Congress, which annually stipulates that services cannot be cut without its permission.

Tester, a member of the Senate Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a statement Wednesday that he was able to assure that provision will be continued.

Associated Press writer Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont. contributed to this story

While labor costs are a major cause of financial woes at the Postal Service, five-day mail delivery and further workforce reductions are not certainties, officials told lawmakers on Thursday....more

Letter Carriers union assails Postal Service for lobbying public to end Saturday delivery
Rolando says only Congress can authorize cutback NALC launches "5-Day is the Wrong Way" website to keep public informed.....more

The U.S. Postal Service this week used e-mail as the means to inform regulators of its plans to cut Saturday mail delivery, a move that might seem to go against the grain for an agency tasked with delivering snail mail.

Postmaster General John E. Potter told reporters that the Postal Regulatory Commission requires him to submit his plans electronically. But the whole thing seems about as silly as auto executives flying to Washington to talk up the viability of the auto industry. (Oh wait, that actually happened...)

$75 billion over-charge for pension liabilities

WASHINGTON - Fredric V. Rolando assumed the presidency of the 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO) today, following the retirement of William H. Young after more than 6 1/2 years as head of the postal union.

Rolando, 56, a member of Sarasota, Florida NALC Branch 2148, moved up from his position as the union’s executive vice president under terms of the union’s constitution.

The new president began his postal career 31 years ago as a letter carrier in South Miami, Florida. Holder of a degree in criminology and psychology from Florida International University, he became active in the union because of what he said was the antagonistic way management treated letter carriers.

Recently, Rolando has focused on working with officials of the U.S. Postal Service to restructure delivery routes of mail carriers in a manner that protected their contractual rights as employees while allowing the Postal Service to have flexibility to meet the financial challenges posed by changing communications technology and the economic crisis.

He was first elected to national office as Director of City Delivery by acclamation at the 2002 NALC Convention in Philadelphia, having been appointed to that post in February 2002 by former President Vincent R. Sombrotto to fill a vacancy.

As a member of South Florida Branch 1071, his first union post was as a shop steward in South Miami where he worked. When Rolando relocated to Sarasota in 1984, he soon became chief steward there, and in 1988 was elected president of Sarasota Branch 2148. Rolando later served as director of education for the Florida State Association of Letter Carriers and as a full-time Regional Administrative Assistant for NALC’s Atlanta Region before coming to Washington as a national officer.

The current language in Item 2-B remains the same. Management and the NALC must mutually agree to schedule changes that require a Carrier to work additional Saturdays during the course of a year.

Management tried to have the above language removed and be able to change schedules without an agreement.

Headquarters / Headquarters-Related EAS & PCES; Motor Vehicle; Maintenance (excluding Electronic Technicians); Rural Carriers; City Carriers

The Postal Service recently received approval from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to offer voluntary early retirement to eligible employees nationwide.

Automation and technological advances coupled with mail volume reductions has the Postal Service continuing to look for ways to voluntarily reduce its workforce while maintaining excellent customer service.........more

The Office of Personnel Management is strongly objecting to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s proposal to convert the federal government to a four-day workweek,

The next regular cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) under the 2006-2011 National Agreement will be $1,498 annually, based on the Consumer Price Index for July. The COLA, effective the pay period beginning August 30 (pay date September 19), is the third of eight COLAs included in the 2006-2011 contract.

The new COLA is equivalent to 72 cents per hour, or $57.60 per pay period.