Durbin again asks for new USPS audit regarding consolidations

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has sent a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe urging him to adhere to a provision – included in the Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations passed last month by the Senate Appropriations Committee – that would require the Postal Service to conduct a new audit that shows cost savings before moving forward with plans to close or consolidate facilities that were recently found to be efficient.

 See Full Story  (Quincy, IL News)

BREAKING NEWS! Senate Vote on Postal Bill

(Note: Received in a recent e-mail.)

The United States Senate has Passed the United States Postal Service Bill "21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012" (S1789) by a vote of 62-37.

The Amendment voting results (as I have it) are recorded as either withdrawn, passed, or failed, are posted below.

(R) McCain #2001 Management substitute amendment WITHDRAWN

(D) Tester #2056 Amendment to modify the process of closing or consolidating Post Offices and Postal Facilities. PASSED

**(R) Coburn #2060 Amendment to provide transparency, accountability, and limitations of government sponsored conferences. (not germane to bill) PASSED

(R) McCain #2033 Amendment to establish the Commission on Postal Reorganization (in HR 2309) FAILED

**(D) Wyden-(D) Feinstein #2020 Amendment to require the Postal Service to consider the effect of closing or consolidating a postal facility on the ability of the affected community to vote by mail and to provide Post Offices and Postal Facilities to protect the ability to vote by mail. PASSED

**(R) Coburn #2058 Amendment to alternatives to Post Offices. PASSED

(R) MaCaskill-(D) Merkley #2031 Amendment to prohibit the closing of a rural Post Office unless certain conditions are met and to establish a 2 year moratorium on the closing of rural Post Offices. PASSED

(R) Coburn #2061 Amendment to require retirement eligible employees of the Postal Service to retire. FAILED

(R) Snowe #2080 Amendment to improve, sustain, and transform the United States Postal Service (closures) PASSED

(D) Udall #2043 Amendment to strike the limitations on changes to mail delivery schedule, with an offset. FAILED

**(D) Durbin #2082 Amendment to improve, sustain, and transform the United States Postal Service (closures) PASSED

(D) Akaka #2034 Amendment to replace provisions that would be financially devastating to thousands of Postal workers and Federal employees who were injured on the job and who receive compensation from the OWCP. FAILED

**(D) Bennet-(R) Blunt #2047 Amendment to establish citizen's service protection advocates in each state with respect to facility closures. PASSED

(R) Corker #2083 Amendment negatively impacts six day delivery and Collective Bargaining FAILED

**(D) Mikulski #2003 Amendment to prohibit the USPS from closing any postal facility without certification from the Governor of the state in which the Postal facility is located. WITHDRAWN

(D) Akaka #2049 Amendment to clarify consultative rights of Postmasters and Supervisors FAILED

(R) Paul #2025 Amendment to end the mailbox use monopoly FAILED

(D) Manchin #2079 Amendment to improve, sustain, and transform the USPS (closures) FAILED

**(R) Paul #2026 Amendment to provide merit pay for the PMG and limit the authority of the USPS to award bonuses WITHDRAWN

**(D) Bingamin #2076 Amendment to require that state liaisons for states without a district office are located within their respective states. PASSED

(R) Paul #2027 Amendment to close Post Offices in the Capitol complex PASSED

**(D) Cardin #2040 Amendment to prohibit the closing of a Postal Processing Plant if the nearest Postal facility is more than 50 miles away. WITHDRAWN

(R) Paul #2028 Amendment to establish a pilot program to test alternative methods for the delivery of Postal Services. FAILED

(D) Carper #2065 Amendment to provide for temporary authority to adjust the first class mail stamp rate. WITHDRAWN

**(R) Paul #2029 Amendment to require the USPS to take in consideration the impact of regulations when developing a profitability plan. PASSED

(D) Carper #2066 Amendment to limit the compensation of executives of the Postal Service PASSED

(R) Paul #2039 Amendment to eliminate Collective Bargaining FAILED

(D) Casey #2042 Amendment to maintain current delivery time for market dominated products for 4 years. FAILED

(R) Paul #2038 Amendment to end the Postal Service monopoly on First Class Mail and mailbox use WITHDRAWN

**(D) Landrieu #2072 Amendment to determine the impact of certain Postal Facility closures or consolidations on small businesses PASSED

(R) DeMint #2046 Amendment to cut union income FAILED

**(R) McCaskill #2030 Amendment to improve FECA PASSED

(R) Coburn #2059 Amendment to allow the USPS to close unprofitable Post Office Facilities. WITHDRAWN

**(D) Pryor #2036 Amendment to express the sense of the senate to place a moratorium on Postal Facility closures and consolidations until enactment. PASSED

**(D) Rockefeller #2073 Amendment to clarify retirees cannot be required to enroll in Medicare. PASSED

**(D) Rockefeller #2074 Amendment to ensure the Postal Service Health Benefits Program be comparable to the FEHBP PASSED

(D) Schumer #2050 Amendment to maintain door to door delivery point services PASSED

**(D) Tester #2032 Amendment to limit the pay of Postal Service Executives. PASSED

(D) Warner #2071 Amendment to require reporting regarding retirement processing and modernization. PASSED

I hope the above information has been helpful.

Sam Wood www.swfloridaapwu.org

President - Southwest Florida Area Local / APWU

Legislators Must Apply Pension Overpayments to Pre-Funding Bill

APWU News Bulletin 09-2011, May 17, 2011

Guffey to Senate Subcommittee:

In testimony before a Senate Subcommittee on May 17, APWU President Cliff Guffey urged legislators to take immediate action to restore financial stability to the cash-strapped agency.

“This is not a request for a subsidy or bailout of the Postal Service,” Guffey said at the hearing before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security.

“The Postal Service is very capable of dealing with the challenges it is facing because of declining mail volumes and a shift to electronic transmissions,” the union president said. “What it cannot sustain is the burden of the unique and unreasonable requirement that it pre-fund its retiree health benefits over a 10-year period.” No other government agency or private company bears this burden.

The hearing was called to examine management plans and legislative proposals to address the USPS financial crisis, including an updated version of a bill introduced last year by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the subcommittee.

A Mixed Bag

Guffey praised provisions of Sen. Carper’s “POST Act” that would permit the USPS to use overpayments to its pension accounts to meet the pre-funding obligations, noting they would “give the Postal Service more than $5 billion in breathing room each year.”

But he also criticized several negative aspects of the bill. The proposed legislation would give the Postal Service authority to close post offices solely for financial reasons, and would require arbitrators to consider the financial health of the USPS when contract negotiations end in arbitration, he pointed out.

Guffey objected to proposals to allow management greater freedom to close small post offices, saying consideration must be given to the availability of postal services in these communities.

“We are sensitive to the cost and the possibility of deficits in small postal offices,” the union president added. “In our new National Agreement, we have agreed to flexible schedules and to the use of lower-wage and temporary workers in small facilities where such savings might increase the viability of small postal facilities.” Cutting service is not the answer to USPS financial difficulties, Guffey said.

Postal Workers Get the Blame

The union president also expressed the APWU’s “unalterable opposition” to proposals that would change the standards for arbitration when contract negotiations end in an impasse.

“The draft legislation we have seen would destroy the fairness of postal bargaining in several ways: It would put an arbitrary time limit on interest arbitration; it would make postal employees pay the price for congressionally-caused deficits employees have been powerless to prevent or alleviate, and it would place a cap on increases in postal wages.

“These provisions would gut free collective bargaining by postal employees, and the APWU is adamantly opposed to them,” Guffey said.

The APWU appreciates Sen. Carper’s leadership is addressing the pre-funding requirement and the overfunding of postal pension funds, Guffey said. “We will help in any way we can to support sensible legislation that does not seek to address postal financial problems at the expense of postal employees.”

APWU members are encouraged to contact their local legislators and urge them to support bills to correct the USPS financial crisis. “We must make legislative action a priority,” Guffey said.

Postal Service Denies Plans for Oshkosh Town Hall Meeting

By Chris Hrapsky

Postal workers in Oshkosh say a town hall meeting will take place in November to discuss the potential closing of the mail processing facility in the city. It's a claim the U.S. Postal Service denies.

Postal Service workers in Oshkosh fear their plant is one step closer to shutting down for good. [Full Story]

Source: WBAY TV Green Bay, WI

Senator Collins’ remarks on USPS from yesterday’s Senate session

Senator Collins’ remarks on USPS from yesterday’s Senate session
Source: postalnews blog

Postal Service Relies on Incomplete Data, Discriminates Against Underserved Communities

APWU Testimony on Station Closings

APWU Web News Article #135-09, Oct. 29, 2009

An analysis of the postal stations and branches being considered for closure shows that the USPS study process “discriminates against communities with high percentages of low-income, minority and transit-dependent residents,” according to recent testimony submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) by the APWU. In addition, the union asserts, the Postal Service uses incomplete data to support its conclusions.

In testimony submitted to the PRC on Oct. 21, economist Anita B. Morrison and APWU steward Michael T. Barrett enumerated significant deficiencies in the Postal Service’s methodology in selecting stations for closure. The national union has intervened in proceedings before the commission, which is preparing to issue “an advisory opinion” on the station-and-branch initiative.

Morrison’s testimony [PRC 10-21-09 Morrison - PDF] provided statistical evidence that the USPS plans would most severely impact communities where the postal services are needed the most — low-income neighborhoods where computer use is relatively low and where residents are especially dependent on public transportation.

More than three out of four stations — 287 of 371, or 78 percent — under consideration for closure have median household incomes below the national average, Morrison testified, and 41 percent have incomes below $20,000. These households are most likely to be affected by the inconvenience and cost of accessing more distant post offices, she said.

Pointing out that post offices in more well-to-do areas were less likely to be considered for closure, Morrison wrote: “This suggests that the process favors postal stations in more affluent neighborhoods.”

She also noted that “closure of a branch post office can have significant negative impacts on local business districts,” particularly in walkable neighborhoods that are critical to reducing America’s dependence on cars.

Morrison criticized the Postal Service’s procedures for gathering public input. “USPS currently gathers information from interested stakeholders without a specified forum for sharing initial feedback with the public,” she wrote. “In addition, the feedback represents a reactive rather than pro-active approach. Expanding the methods of soliciting feedback and adding other affordable feedback options could greatly improve this process.”

Incomplete Data

Testimony by Michael Barrett, of the Buffalo (NY) Local, [PRC 10-21-09 Barrett - PDF] asserts that the USPS uses incomplete data to support its conclusions, and overlooks information that would offer a more accurate indication of cost savings and the impact of closures on nearby stations and branches.

“The current analysis of cost savings performed by the Postal Service is cursory at best,” Barrett said. Many transactions currently performed at stations slated for closure will migrate to other postal facilities, he said, and so will the costs associated with them.

In addition, he noted, “The Postal Service calculates the total salary and fringe benefits costs associated with employees of stations or branches under study and considers this entire total to be savings to the Postal Service.” These costs will continue at other facilities, he said, and must be considered in USPS evaluations.

The data necessary to more accurately measure these costs is readily available to the USPS using current resources, Barrett testified.

USPS studies fail to accurately analyze the ability of nearby facilities to accommodate the migrating business, he said. “Where a neighboring station or branch does not have sufficient space for a separate box section dedicated to the closed station or branch,” Barrett’s testimony noted, “the closing will initially turn the entire volume of arriving box mail into Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) mail. ... It is obvious from the UAA costs reported [by the USPS] that these additional processing costs are not insignificant.”

This should be accounted for in each USPS discontinuance study,” the APWU steward testified. “Yet despite the ready availability of the information needed to determine the additional processing costs,” the Postal Service does not appear to consider them at all.

Commenting on the testimony, Assistant Clerk Craft Director Mike Morris said, “Barrett and Morrison made important points about the consequences of USPS plans to close hundreds of stations and branches. We should share these conclusions with elected officials and other community leaders.”

Morris and APWU Vice President Cliff Guffey are coordinating the APWU’s response to the Postal Service’s Stations and Branches Initiative. A “tool kit” [PDF] to assist locals fighting the closure of stations and branches is available in the “Members Only” pages at www.apwu.org.