Not long after the U.S. Postal Service announced last summer that it was considering closing nearly 3,700 post offices across the country, including four in Northern Virginia, Elaine Mittleman made her regular walk to the Pimmit Hills branch, just east of Tysons Corner. There, she learned from one of the longtime postal clerks that her […]
Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe urged lawmakers to take postal employees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) at a House hearing on March 27, claiming such a move would save the USPS $7 billion annually. The PMG said the Postal Service should be allowed to develop and run a separate health insurance […]
March 27, 2012 — Should we call H.R. 2309 the Issa-Ross (So-Called) Postal Reform Bill—or could we realistically call it the Issa-Donahoe (So-Called) Postal Reform Bill? Today, during a hearing of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe was asked by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) about […]
The Senate is expected to vote on postal legislation in mid-April, following a congressional recess, APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid has reported. The postal bill, S. 1789, is expected to be the Senate’s first order of business when lawmakers return to the Capitol on April 16. The APWU has been sharply critical of […]
President Bob Rapoza welcomed NAPUS Postmasters to the Leadership Conference. He said the speakers may tell them what they want to hear, but make no mistake: Postmasters’ titles and future employment are at stake—and the stakes are much higher than they were 12 months ago. He said NAPUS must change with the changing times; some […]
The Postal Service’s recent attempt to justify the decision to keep market research secret is misleading and inaccurate, the APWU has charged. The research, which was conducted in August and September 2011, indicates that revenue losses from the USPS plan to degrade service standards could eliminate any potential savings from consolidating or closing 223 mail […]
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) announced Monday evening that the Senate would not be taking up consideration of S. 1789, the 21st Century Postal Reform Act, until sometime in mid-April after Congress’ Easter recess. Lieberman is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and one of the co-sponsors of S. 1789, along with […]
Computerized bidding is undoubtedly here to stay, but until recently, problems with the Postal Service’s Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) have thoroughly frustrated employees, local union representatives and national officers alike. Since the Shared Services Center opened five years ago, almost all personnel services have been centralized in the Greensboro NC office. The computerization […]
President Bob Rapoza opened Friday morning’s Executive Board meeting by saying he thought his first term as national president was tough, but it was nothing compared to the first three months of this year. He thanked board members for coming into town earlier in the week for their strategy session. This session helps board members […]
USPS Market Research on Consolidations: Revenue Losses Could Wipe Out Savings In testimony before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on March 21, a USPS witness made a startling admission: The Postal Service’s initial research on the network consolidation plan indicated that it could result in revenue losses of $5.3 billion, with net revenue losses as […]