THE BULLETIN BOARD
February 2007
[February 1st]Consolidations, Tech Efficiencies Expected to Pare Work Hours
(excerpted from the FederalTimes.com article by Dan Davidson)
Progress in increasing efficiencies was so good in 2006 and the prospects for more of the same in 2007 are so promising that the U.S. Postal Service hopes to reduce work hours dramatically during the next 12 months.
The goal, revealed in the Postal Service's Annual Progress Report, released this month, states that new efficiencies will eliminate as many as 42 million work hours – or the equivalent of about 21,000 full-time workers. "It's a lot," said the Postal Service's vice president of strategic planning, Linda Kingsley. "There's only been one year in which we have achieved that before."
About two-thirds of that decrease will result from the use of recently introduced and new technologies, and from further standardization, consolidation and streamlining, Kingsley said. The remainder can be achieved by more effectively controlling the time spent on certain tasks by both office and nonoffice workers.
The remaining 28 million work hours will be cut by more extensive and better use of technologies.
The four-state bar code, for example, which allows tracking of mail from beginning to delivery point will be expanded in 2007, as will efforts to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed mail, which alone costs the agency $1 billion a year. Part of that effort will be the expansion of the postal automated redirection system (PARS), which allows forwarded mail to be sent directly from sender to new address without a first stop at the previous address's post office, Kingsley said.
Also this year, the Postal Service will move to extend the letter-forwarding process to flat mail – large envelopes, magazines and catalogs. In addition, the Flats Sequencing System (FSS), which arranges flat mail in the order in which it is to be delivered, was satisfactorily tested in March and will be deployed in the Northern Virginia district this summer. A national rollout of 100 FSS systems will occur by 2010, Kingsley said.
These plans will result in no employee layoffs, Kingsley said. Much of the work hour cuts will greatly reduce overtime and the remaining will be handled by natural attrition, Kingsley said.
» Read the entire article at the FederalTimes.com website.
[February 1st]Scholarships Available to PMAPWU's Children
Reposted from January's Bulletin Board Announcement
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 three consecutive years or until completion of course, with total not exceeding $3,000.00..
- Application is to be received no later than March 15, 2007.
- 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.
Patrick McShane Memorial Scholarship Program
- Type: Academic Scholarship
- $500.00 for one year, or per award.
- 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.
- Application must be received by May 18, 2007.
If you are interested in obtaining further information, or would like an application for these scholarships, please contact the Union Hall, (412) 321-4700.
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