THE BULLETIN BOARD
July 2011
[July 1st]Postal Service Cancels Execs' Bonuses, Performance Awards
excerpted from an article by Sean Reilly, federaltimes.com
In its latest cost-cutting move, the U.S. Postal Service has halted bonuses and other performance awards for managers and administrators, the agency's chief human resources officer confirmed in a Friday memo.
Effective immediately, USPS officials are barred from spending any money on cash awards, gift certificates, event tickets and other tokens of employee recognition, Tony Vegliante wrote in the memo. The "temporary policy change" will continue until further notice, Vegliante wrote, and will apply to all Executive Administrative Service and Postal Career Executive Service employees.
The move is expected save some $7 million for headquarters functions, USPS spokesman Mark Saunders said in an email.
Compensation for postal officers and executives under the agency's pay-for-performance program will also be frozen until further notice, Saunders said in a separate news release.
The Postal Service is on track to lose more than $8 billion in fiscal 2011. Late last month, the agency indefinitely suspended its share of contributions into the Federal Employees Retirement System in another bid to conserve cash.
[July 1st]Postal Jobs, Pay, Benefits Threatened by Congress
excerpted from APWU News Bulletin 14-2011
The Postal Service is in danger of financial collapse, and could close its doors as early as July 2012. A battle is raging on Capitol Hill over what to do about it, and one thing is clear: Our jobs, our pay, and our benefits are in jeopardy! Two very different plans are under consideration in the House of Representatives.
House Resolution 1351:
A bill introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA), the ranking Democrat on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, would address the cause of the USPS financial crisis without cutting pay and benefits, eliminating collective bargaining rights, or slashing service.
- Allow the USPS to use billions of dollars in pension overpayments to meet its financial obligations — including the congressional mandate to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees.
- Leave workers collective bargaining rights intact. It would make no changes to wages, benefits, or protection against layoffs.
House Resolution 2309:
A bill introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (CA), the Republican chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and co-sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ross (FL), the Republican chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy, would:
- Do nothing to correct USPS overpayments to its pension accounts.
- Do nothing to correct the congressional mandate that requires the USPS to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees. (No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS $5 billion annually.)
- Force postal workers to make up the difference:
- Ensure that Postal wages are "comparable" to the private sector. (Rep. Ross claims postal employees enjoy a "compensation premium" of 34%.)
- Empower a board to unilaterally cut wages, abolish benefits, and end protection against layoffs.
- Create a commission that would order:
- $1 billion worth of post office closures in the first year, and
- $1 billion worth of facility closures in the second year. Would that include your office or your facility? Would that wipe out your job?
- Increase employees' costs for healthcare and life insurance, and eliminate the right to bargain over these crucial benefits.
"We can't win the battle to defend the Postal Service and protect jobs without you! We are asking local union officers to organize APWU members to visit their U.S. representatives to discuss our concerns with them," APWU President Cliff Guffey says. "If you don't hear from your local officers, ask them why."
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