APWU Wins 5-Year Contract at Detroit MTESC
Workers at the privately-operated Mail Transportation Equipment Service Center in suburban Detroit overwhelmingly ratified a five-year contract Feb. 24. The APWU membership at the Pittsburgh MTESC will vote on a separate and similar agreement on Feb. 28. APWU News
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Department of Labor and USPS Reach $6.5 Million Back Wage Agreement
The USPS will pay more than $6.5 million in back wages to almost 900 pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers who worked on several USPS contracts and subcontracts to transport mail by air between January 1996 and August 2001. DOL Press release
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USPS detains journalist, keeping his videotape
"The U.S. Postal Service last week detained a Washington, D.C.-based journalist for a German television network, releasing him only after he agreed to turn over his videotape of news footage taken at a New Orleans mail pick-up center for victims of Hurricane Katrina." Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
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APWU victimizes family of Goleta victim
"The postal union established a memorial fund for five employees killed in Goleta -- but gave a cold shoulder to the sixth worker slain there. To the American Postal Workers Union, Maleka Higgins is apparently a nonperson." Santa Barbara News-Press
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PRC sets dates for consideration of USPS realignment plans
The Postal Rate Commission has set March 17 as the deadline for interested parties to intervene in the USPS request for an advisory opinion on service changes resulting from its proposed network realignment plans. Federal Register Click here to go directly to the PRC's index for docket N2006-1.
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Opening the can of worms?
The APWU tries to widen the focus of the PRC's review of USPS service changes. postalnews blog
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Postal service completes Aberdeen survey
"Clem Felchle had the tall task Thursday of trying to convince community leaders that possible changes to local postal service will largely benefit the Aberdeen area." Aberdeen (ND) American News
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USPS: We're Working on Fixing Service Problems
"A postal official acknowledged yesterday that there have been several service problems around the country but said the agency is working to fix them." DMNews.com
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Justices Allow Postal Customers to Sue
"The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Postal Service can be sued by a woman who tripped over mail left on her porch." Associated Press
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White House veto threat looms over postal bill negotiations
"Postal lobbyists and aides predicted the White House would ultimately convince lawmakers to use at least part of the escrow account to pre-fund health benefits and expected the Postal Service to pick up the tab for part of its military pensions obligations... lobbyists and aides say [the Postal Service] relinquished a good portion of its negotiating posture when it came out against the bill last month." Government Executive
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Hartford Courant puzzle pokes fun at postal murders
"Postal workers were shocked and outraged by the Cryptogram published in your newspaper on Feb. 5. The offending [Cryptogram solution] was: 'Postal employees grab your gun, shoot fellow workers one by one, look you got them on the run, tell N.R.A. about your fun.'" Letter to the Editor of the Hartford Courant from APWU President Bill Burrus If you'd like to share your reaction directly with the Courant, you can send a letter to the editor, or email the Courant NE Magazine editor, Jenifer Frank, at jfrank@courant.com.
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A Stranger In Your Queue
If your Netflix movies take too long to arrive, you may be sharing your subscription with your mail carrier. New York Magazine
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- "... the bills call for a rate ceiling tird to the CPI... but do not give the Postal Service any additional flexibility or authority to reduce costs."
- "... the proposed legislation goes too far in transforming the regulator [i.e. the current PRC] by giving it powers that will limit even further, rather than increase, the ability of the postal service to operate like a business"
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Bush Budget Proposal Addresses Postal Reform
"The two proposals the administration opposes [the 'escrow' and military pension provisions] are among the few that were embraced by all the major stakeholders in the postal reform debate. They are supported by labor unions, large business mailers, and the Postal Service." APWU News
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Friday, February 10
Postal endgame
also: 2007 Budget Spares Postal Employees e-NAPUS Legislative & Political Bulletin
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Senate Passage Sends Postal Reform to Conference
"Rep. John M. McHugh, R-NY, the main sponsor of the House bill, said the differences lie not between the House and Senate, 'the bigger challenge lies with resolving the issues raised by the administration.'" DMNews.com also: It's Unanimous: Senate Passes Postal Reform Bill It "remains to be seen how the Postal Service itself will factor in the ongoing legislative process- if at all. With its Jan. 24 letter to the Senate opposing S.662, [Lobbyist Ben] Cooper says, 'they all but closed the door to the negotiating room and locked the door behind them.'" Multichannel Merchant Senate Passes Long-Awaited Postal Reform Bill DIRECT
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FedEx agrees to penalize companies that ship cigarettes
"FedEx... agreed to take disciplinary action against companies that violate FedEx policy and ship cigarettes directly to consumers... New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer called Tuesday for the U.S. Postal Service to follow suit." bizjournals.com via Yahoo
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New Mexico's laws allowed killer to buy gun
"... as ever-more stories of [Jennifer Sanmarco's] odd behavior surface- and evidence of a potential grudge against her former workplace emerges- people are asking how she ever got a gun. The answer lies between two states, California and New Mexico, separated by some 800 miles on a map but worlds apart when it comes to gun laws. In California, she could not have bought one legally, but in New Mexico she could- and did, easily." Santa Barbara News-Press
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Briefing on the Future of Mail
The Postal Rate Commission will host a presentation by Pitney Bowes on the future of mail on February 22. Federal Register
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Postage Is Due for Companies Sending E-Mail
"Companies will soon have to buy the electronic equivalent of a postage stamp if they want to be certain that their e-mail will be delivered to many of their customers." New York Times
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Sessions and DeMint 'holding' S. 662?
According to Postcom, "Sens. Sessions and DeMint are maintaining their hold on S. 662. Both, we are told, are demanding that S. 662, either in the bill or in conference, be budget neutral. In other words, the Senate must accede to the Administration's position on the treatment of the released CSRS escrow money and the payment of the military obligation."
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Jobs Resume After Postal Carnage: Funds Set Up To Help Families
South Coast Community Federal Credit Union is accepting donations for all six families. Checks may be made out to Families of Goleta Postal Center and sent to the credit union at 5784 Calle Real, Goleta CA 93117.
Community West Bank has set up the Goleta Post Office Memorial Fund, which will funnel money to the families through Hospice of Santa Barbara. Checks may be mailed to the bank at 5827 Hollister Ave., Goleta CA 93117. Friends of Charlotte Colton, one of the victims, may also send checks to the Community West address for the Charlotte Colton Memorial Scholarship Fund, set up on behalf of her three sons.
The mail may get through, someday
A letter carrier shortage, equipment problems and closure of a Marina del Rey mail processing facility are responsible for a spate of late and misdirected mail deliveries in the South Bay, Postal Service critics contend. Daily Breeze
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Sixth shooting victim dies
"The wounded survivor of an ex-postal worker's shooting rampage died Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to seven, and authorities were trying to determine if a one-time neighbor also was a victim." Associated Press
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Postal meeting to be private
"A public meeting between Las Cruces residents, city officials and the U.S. Postal Service isn't going to happen as city officials had expected." Las Cruces Sun-News
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