THE BULLETIN BOARD
January 2009
[January 28th]PMG Potter Asks to Cut Saturday Delivery
excerpted from CNNMoney.com
The U.S. Postal Service may be forced to eliminate a day of mail service because the economic downturn has led to plummeting volume and revenue, the postmaster general said in Senate testimony Wednesday.
Postmaster General John E. Potter told a U.S. Senate subcommittee he wanted to eliminate the requirement to deliver mail six days a week to every address in America.
If the recession continues to hammer at USPS revenue, six-day delivery may not be possible, Potter said. Federal law has mandated the six-day schedule since 1983.
He also asked Congress to change the payment schedule for funding its retirees' health benefits. In 2008, total retiree health benefits costs came to $7.4 billion - almost 10% of the annual operating budget, Potter said.
Read CNNMoney's entire article.
[January 27th]Significant Changes Expected
excerpted from Burrus Update #02-09
"In the near future, the Postal Service will implement modifications to postal operations that are unprecedented in the 230-year history of this great institution. Change will take place, and the changes will affect employees.
"When I receive official notification about the course of action management intends to pursue, I will be in a better position to inform APWU members of the contractual provisions and employee protections that apply. Any plan that is adopted will include work-hour reductions, which has been at the very core of management's response to reduced volume and financial deficits.
"But when work-hour reductions are implemented, they should not be applied disproportionally to bargaining unit employees. Staffing is based on workload and responsibility, so if the number of employees must be reduced, reductions should be made across-the-board, including all craft employees, supervisors, postmasters, managers and contract employees."
Read President Burrus' entire article at www.apwu.org
[January 15th]Ask President Burrus: Rumors
excerpted from APWU.org's January 16, 2009 edition
"Over recent months I have informed the membership of significant changes that will be made in response to the economic slump and the corresponding reduction in mail volume, which has produced massive USPS deficits.
"Certainly, the APWU and the other unions will vigorously enforce all negotiated agreements, and we will engage the public and elected officials in the preservation of postal services; but until the economy recovers and volume returns to its former level, there will be significant changes. Postal management has very few options.
"Approximately 3,500 APWU-represented employees are exposed to the possibility of layoffs. The remaining APWU-represented employees are protected, but other changes will affect them, including relocations and reassignments.
"Until mail volume returns to previous levels, postal employees should anticipate that many, many changes will be imposed. The union will apply the contractual standards to each change, but many will be beyond the contractual limitations."
Read President Burrus' entire response at www.apwu.org
[January 1st]Happy New Year!
May it be a prosperous and healthy New Year for you and your loved ones!
[January 1st]Deadlines Extended For Health Plan Selections
Postal workers will be able to make FEHB elections using PostalEASE employee self-service through Jan. 13, 2009, the Postal Service has announced. These extended-deadline elections through PostalEASE are not available by phone.
"Postal employees can use PostalEASE employee self-service on LiteBlue, Blue and at employee kiosks," according to a Dec. 31 USPS News Link story, "to make some belated open season elections for the [FEHB] and Flexible Spending Accounts programs."
Employees will be able to make decisions after Jan. 13, but they will have to mail or fax a completed FEHB Worksheet to the Human Resources Shared Service Center (HRSSC) to do so.
Read about the Belated Elections at www.benefeds.com
[January 1st]Scholarship Available to PMAPWU Members
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Scholarship Essay Contest
- Type: Academic Scholarship
- First Prize-$2,000.00, Second Prize-$1,000.00, Third Prize-$500.00
- Graduating high school seniors, all post secondary students, and affiliated Union members attending an accredited institution, are eligible.
- Deadline to apply is January 31, 2009.
- You can view all the details and download an application from the PA AFL-CIO website.
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.
- Type: Vocational Scholarship
- $1,000.00 for nine months each year, up to three consecutive years of school, with total not exceeding $3,000.00..
- Application is to be received no later than March 16, 2009.
- You can download an application at the APWU's scholarship information page.
The E.C. Hallbeck Memorial Scholarship
- Type: Academic Scholarship
- $1,000.00 for each of four consecutive years of college
- 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.
- Applications are to be received no later than March 15, 2007.
- You can download an application at the APWU's scholarship information page.
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