THE BULLETIN BOARD
December 2005
[December 31st]Happy New Year!
[December 30th]USPS Ends 2005 With Remarkable Results
The results are in - the U.S. Postal Service ended 2005 with a record sixth consecutive year of growth in productivity, wiped out its debt and delivered fifty percent more mail to 32 million more homes and businesses than it did 20 years ago while doing it at 1985 staffing levels. These results are highlighted in the just released 2005 Annual Report of the U.S. Postal Service. The report is available online at http://www.usps.com/history/anrpt05/.
"These remarkable results reflect the strong efforts throughout the entire organization to remain focused on the transformational strategies we identified in 2002," said Postmaster General John E. Potter and Board of Governors Chairman James C. Miller III.
[December 26th]What is AMP? What is in store for craft workers during the "Transformation?"
AMP is what Postal Brass is calling "Area Mail Processing." Though Pittsburgh will not be affected at this time (beyond having Greensburg folded into its operations,) it's important to be aware of plant consolidations nationwide.
Here is how the USPS defines AMP:
AMP is the consolidation of selected processing functions, typically from several facilities into one centralized facility. It eliminates excess capacity and makes better use of space, staffing, equipment, and transportation. AMP will result in some consolidation of mail cancellation and outgoing distribution. Consolidation among existing facilities will also be identified for processing of First-Class Mail 2- and 3-day service areas. Consolidating mail from multiple plants improves productivity, increases mail density in containers, and achieves better utilization of transportation capacity. The role of airport mail centers will also be re-examined, case by case, to determine if high-cost on-airport facilities can be reduced and better coordinated using third-party facilities.
Again, from the USPS, this time on Mail Processing Operations:
Integrated operating plans will improve mail processing performance and reduce process variability between tours and among plants and Post Offices. These plans, to be implemented nationally in 2006, will set critical entry and clearance times by operation to ensure service targets are met consistently. The Postal Service will further standardize equipment and floor layouts at plants and Post Offices to reduce mail flow inefficiencies.
To further capture the benefits of automation, the Postal Service has set a target to reduce manual letter distribution volume to 10 percent and manual flat distribution volume to 45 percent in 2007. Mail processing activities will continually be reviewed and refined in all plants and operations in conjunction with the introduction of new technologies and equipment. BPI will also be employed to replicate successes from the top-performing plants to those plants that are performing at a lower level.
[December 16th]Christmas Cookies for PMAPWU Members
GMF: Beginning on Tour 3, Thursday, December 22, 2005 following through Tour 1 and Tour 2, Friday, December 23, in the steward's area.
BMC: Beginning Tour 2, December 22, 2005 following through Tour 3 and Tour 1, in the steward's area.
REC: Beginning Thursday afternoon, December 22, 2005 in the lunch room.
[December 15th]2005: Financially, USPS best year since '70s
From the FederalTimes.com
Talk of a "death spiral" at the U.S. Postal Service has been dropped, at least temporarily, in favor of refrains from "Happy Days are Here Again."
At the Dec. 6 Board of Governors meeting in Washington, Postmaster General John Potter proudly announced that the agency is, financially, in "the best position we've been since 1970s."
"We kept our focus on the customer for the past four years," Potter said. "It has paid off in record revenues, record volumes and positive customer satisfaction."
The Postal Service finished fiscal 2005 with a net income of $1.4 billion, or $1.7 billion above what the agency had planned at the beginning of the fiscal year, on revenues of $70 billion.
Net income is down from $3.4 billion the previous year, but the significant point is that for the last two years the Postal Service has finished with overall surpluses even when taking into account its debt burden, said Postal Service Chief Financial Officer Richard Strasser. This year and last are the only two years the Postal Service has had years with overall surpluses since the agency was reorganized in 1971, Strasser said.
Read the entire article at FederalTimes.com
[December 9th]Informational Picketing For The Pittsburgh Musician's Union
The Pittsburgh Musician's Union is engaging in Informational Picketing to protest the use of pre-recorded music during live performances at the Benedum Center, Heinz Hall, etc.
Anyone interested in joining our Brothers and Sisters can do so at the Benedum Center, Downtown Pittsburgh, 1 hour prior to the following performances:
- Saturday, December 10th, 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday, December 11th, 4:30 p.m.
- Thursday, December 15th, 7:00 p.m.
- Friday, December 16th, 7:00 p.m.
- Saturday, December 17th, 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday, December 18th, Noon & 4:30 p.m.
- Thursday, December 22nd, 7:00 p.m.
- Friday, December 23rd, 2 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
[December 9th]Good News on Mail Volume
Burrus Update #14-05, Dec. 8, 2005
Despite predictions of gloom and doom, the Postal Service has announced that total mail volume and total revenue reached all-time highs in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. First-class volume grew in 2005 as well, after three years of decline.
Only a short time ago, the avid supporters of postal "reform" predicted that mail volume, especially first-class volume, was threatened by advances in technology. Without legislative intervention, we were told, the Postal Service was destined to begin a deadly cycle of declining volume and increasing postage rates.
The American Postal Workers repeatedly cautioned that the downturn in mail volume in 2002 and 2003 was caused by a combination of an economic slump, the terrorist attack of 9-11, and the anthrax attacks.
The financial results, released Dec. 6, 2005, demonstrate that improvements in technology will not have as severe an impact as was anticipated on the use of mail.
Despite the warnings of those who began every conversation about mail volume with dire predictions, the 2005 audited financial statement looks pretty good.
[December 6th]Scholarships Available to PMAPWU Members
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Scholarship Essay Contest
- Graduating high school seniors, all post secondary students, and affiliated Union members attending institutions, are eligible.
- Academic Scholarship
- First Prize-$2000.00, Second Prize-$1,000.00, Third Prize-$500.00
- Deadline to apply is January 31, 2006.
- You can download an application at www.paaflcio.org
Vocational Scholarship
- Applicants must be a senior attending high school or other corresponding secondary school. Applicants must be a child or grandchild, including stepchild or legally adopted child of an active member, Retiree's Department member. Or deceased member of the American Postal Workers Union.
- Vocational Scholarship
- $1000.00 for three consecutive years or until completion of course, with total not exceeding $3000.00.
- Application is to be received no later than March 15, 2006.
- You can download an application at www.apwu.org.
The E.C. Hallbeck Memorial Scholarship
- Applicants must be a senior attending high school or other corresponding secondary school. Applicants must be a child or grandchild, including stepchild or legally adopted child of an active member, Retiree's Department member. Or deceased member of the American Postal Workers Union.
- Academic Scholarship
- $1000.00 for each of four consecutive years of college
- Applications are to be received no later than March 15, 2006.
- You can download an application at www.apwu.org
Patrick McShane Memorial Scholarship Program
- Applicants must be a current graduating high school senior or a college undergraduate whose parent or legal guardian is a current active member in PMAPWU.
- Academic Scholarship.
- Application must be received by May 19, 2006.
If you are interested in obtaining further information, or would like an application for these scholarships, please contact the Union Hall, (412) 321-4700.
[December 1st]Parcel Post is STILL An Option for Postal Customers
--Duplicitous Sales Practices Hurt Everyone
--(from PostalReporter.com)
We are growing rather concerned about a Postal Service sales practice that management is imposing on window clerks that is fundamentally dishonest.
Basically, USPS management is aggressively ordering Sales and Service Associates to “up-sell.” The SSAs are being told to begin their sales pitch with the most expensive service (Express Mail) and only as a last resort offer Parcel Post — and only after describing all its pitfalls.
What makes this practice doubly despicable is that Postal Service management denies the practice exists, even while a paper trail reveals that the policy is sanctioned, if not downright encouraged. Worse still, APWU members have been disciplined for violating the policy that the USPS disavows.
Please read the entire article on USPS Duplicitous Sales Practices online at PostalReporter.com.
[December 1st]REMINDER: Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Set
The annual time period during which the penalty overtime regulations will not be applicable begins Dec. 3 (Pay Period 25-2005, Week 2) and ends Dec. 30 (Pay Period 01-2006, Week 1).
There are four consecutive service weeks each year during which penalty overtime regulations do not apply. This four-week period is referenced in Article 8 (Sections 4 and 5) of the Collective BargainingAgreement.
[December 1st]REMINDER: New "Leave Year" Information
The new leave year begins January 7, 2006 with pay period 02-2006, and ends January 5, 2007 with pay period 01-2007.
You can use your new leave— if you are a full-time regular employee— during this time. Your leave will begin showing up on the paycheck for pay period 02-2006 (dated January 27, 2006.)
Employees who have to use their annual leave or lose it must do so by January 06, 2006. Craft employees are able to carry over 440 hours of annual leave.
Past Issues of the Bulletin Board
[November 2005]
[October 2005] [September 2005]
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