PostalPEOPLE
By phone: 1-877-477-3273
Sick? Option 4
TDD/TYY: 1-866-833-8777
Internet: www.liteblue.usps.gov
Employee Identification Number (EIN)
and Postal Identification
Number (PIN) are required !
PS Form 3971
-Request for or Notification
of Absence (PDF)
Unions Reach Settlement In Lawsuit Charging USPS With Intrusions Into Employees Medical Records
Almost missed this one... The APWU and National Association of Letters Carriers (NALC) reached a settlement [PDF] with the Postal Service on May 20, 2010, ending a 2008 lawsuit in which the unions charged the USPS with “systematic and widespread intrusions” into members’ medical records. The settlement requires the Postal Service, agents of the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG), and officers of the Postal Inspection Service to provide specific documentation to healthcare providers when they request medical information about postal employees.
Come January, mailers will have to pony up more for postage. In the cards: A 2 cent hike in the price of first-class stamps -- to 46 cents each -- and up to a 5% boost in postage for magazines, catalogs and bulk mail. We expect the USPS to seek a special dispensation from the Postal Regulatory Commission in early July for what amounts to an emergency rate increase.
Highlights of Dallas Field Hearing on Five-Day Delivery
Newspaper Publisher Responds, Makes Case For Private Carrier Workforce if USPS Ends Saturday Delivery... Video: Newspaper owner says he will develop private carrier workforce and compete with the USPS for volume (at 4:07) - Many protest proposal to end Saturday mail delivery at postal hearing in Dallas
If things go his way, Saturday deliveries would end next spring, he told customers in Nashville. "The value of going to four days -- removing a second day -- is even greater," he said. Although no such plans exist, Potter said that Tuesdays are the second-slowest day of the week. (and i have some swamp land cheap!!!)
Memorandum signed on Joint Alternate Route Adjustment Process
The NALC and the Postal Service have reached agreement on the next phase of a Joint Alternate Route Adjustment Process. Included among several positive changes to the process are automatic reviews of specific forms to ensure integrity of data being reviewed. Also, rather than reviewing all routes/zones nationwide, only routes/zones requested by either party will be evaluated and/or adjusted under JARAP. Local parties may also submit locally developed alternatives for adjusting routes to the national parties for review and possible approval.
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security..Thursday, April 22, 2010 03:30 PM Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 342
Arbitrator Slams OIG OIG Agents Intended to Make a Grievant’s Life a Living Hell
Arbitrator Cannavo pointed out that the OIG agent assigned to the case testified at the hearing that she was “not happy” that the employee had been reinstated, and claimed that the OIG is “not obligated to comply with any contract or agreement” between the Postal Service and the APWU. “The Postal Service has no control over the OIG,” she added, and “Special Agents report to the Inspector General.”
WASHINGTON – Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) today announced that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on Thursday, April 15, 2010..
to examine the status of the Postal Service and recent reports on short and long-term strategies for the financial viability and stability of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The hearing titled: “Continuing to Deliver: An Examination of the Postal Service’s Current Financial Crisis and its Future Viability” will examine three recent reports on the future of the Postal Service.
5 Day Delivery not a done deal according to the PRC..
Ruth Goldway talked about how the U.S. Postal Service is adjusting to the modern era of communication and shrinking volume of letters... and its proposal to pare mail service to five days a week. She responded to telephone calls and electronic communications
March 27, 2010
News Story
What does the new health care law mean for letter carriers and their families this year?
What does the new health care law mean for letter carriers and their families this year? The comprehensive health care legislation signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, will be phased in over the next few years, which will allow the state governments to set up health exchanges similar to the FEHBP program that will let workers and small businesses choose among competing private insurance plans as well as one or two non-profit health plans
Senators challenge Postal Service's 10-year rescue plan
CSPAN: USPS Hearing (at 44 min PMG says USPS would like to negotiate cross-craft training in next contracts - at 46 min says USPS benefits out of line with other federal workers - at 49 min says if $75 billion CSRS overpayment is corrected USPS wouldn't need 5-day delivery - at 1:30 min Sen. Collins says she is troubled by prospect of the Postal Service laying off 13,000 people - Sen. Collins reiterates concern about 100% life insurance benefits for postal employees - at 1:40 min Sen. Durbin asks about 5-day pilot project in certain areas)
The Post Office cites the folling reasons for moving to 5 day delivery...Decreasing mail volumes,Increasing delivery points, Mail mix now yielding larger volumes with lower contribution margins, Existing cost cutting programs not enough.
In FY2009, the Postal Service successfully removed
more than $6 billion in costs..FY2009 operating loss = $3.8B... More operating losses forecasted
Postal Service Plans to Use More Part-Time Employees
“Annually, approximately 5 percent of employees are eligible and expected to retire. It would not make sense to replace them with full-time employees if demand is moving in a direction better suited to a part-time workforce,” the USPS says in its “Action Plan for the Future” that was released today. Most of the news-media coverage of the ambitious plan for righting the Postal Service’s finances deals with the no-surprise initiatives, like trying to eliminate Saturday deliveries. The Postal Service paid $4.8 million for four months of research conducted by Accenture, the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey and Co to gin up 50 potential options for future growth and cuts.
Postal Service Outlines 10-Year Plan to Address Declining Revenue, Volume
Facing unprecedented volume declines and a projected, cumulative $238 billion shortfall during the next decade, Postmaster General John E. Potter today outlined an aggressive plan of cost cutting, increased productivity, and an array of legislative and regulatory changes necessary to maintain a viable United States Postal Service.
Postal Service to Add Self-Service Retirement Feature to LiteBlue
The Postal Service will add a new feature (eRetire) to LiteBlue which will provide employees the option of using self-service to begin the retirement process. It is anticipated that this option will become available in late March or early April 2010.
USPS Is Accelerating Flats Sequencing Installations
Only 11 of the massive machines are up and running, which is about eight months behind the early-2009 schedule for the system that is supposed to revolutionize the handling of catalogs, magazines, and other flat mail. But another 39 installations will be complete by the end of July, postal officials said at last week’s MTAC (Mailers Technical Advisory Committee) meeting.
USPS Refuses to Sever Ties with Subcontractor
That Defrauds Drivers of Wages, Benefits
In a Feb. 12 letter, the USPS said it did. “The fact that a contractor has been debarred does not mean that we have to terminate any existing contract,” a manager for the Area wrote
Electric vehicle manufacturer Zap scored a big victory this week by landing the contract to design and build an electric mail truck for the U.S. Postal Service.
Court decides that medical documentation after the fact is unreasonable.
It may not be feasible to obtain medical documentation if the condition that justified the use of sick leave at the time did not require a doctor’s care. The Supervisor testified that he had ample suspicion prior to the dates in question that Petitioner might engage in sick leave abuse. Based on that suspicion, and short of placing Petitioner on restricted sick leave, Petitioner’s Supervisor had a number of options, many of which are identified in ELM §513.39(a)–(e). Petitioner’s Supervisor opted for none of these alternatives.
USPS Improperly Used DOIS to Set Carrier Start Times
"The Postal Service improperly utilized the Delivery Operations Information System (DOIS) figures to set the carriers' leave and return times in violation of the M-39 Handbook. In addition, the improper use of the DOIS figures created a hostile work environment for the carriers."
