2013 COLA Announced: Federal Annuities Will Rise Next Year

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) was pleased to inform its members today that federal retirees will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to their civil service annuities beginning in January 2013. Retirees in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) will receive a 1.7 percent increase to their annuities next year, the same increase given to Social Security recipients.

 

“We at NARFE are pleased to hear that retirees will receive some relief from the rising costs of everyday goods,” commented NARFE president Joseph A. Beaudoin. “NARFE continues to support strong COLAs based on fair assessments of increases in consumer prices, including medical costs, to keep federal annuities in line with inflation.”

 

To trigger a COLA for 2013, the average CPI-W for the months of July, August and September of 2012 needed to rise above the 2011 average for those same months. It did, by 1.66 percent, which results in a 1.7 percent COLA for federal annuitants covered by both CSRS and FERS.

 

Under current law, COLAs for federal retirement annuities, as well as for military retiree annuities and Social Security payments, are determined in reference to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is calculated by economists and statisticians with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPI-W is the current index used for measuring increases in the prices of consumer goods throughout the economy. It includes prices on all consumer goods, including food and beverages, housing, clothing, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, communication, and more.

 

“This is welcome news for retirees who have seen the cost of living continue to increase over the past year,” continued Beaudoin. “As Congress debates ways to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff,’ NARFE is prepared to oppose any changes to the COLA formula that would have an adverse effect on retirees.”

 

The new CPI-W figure for September 2012 was 228.184. The average CPI-W for the third-quarter of 2012 was 226.936. This is the new reference figure for determining the 2014 COLA.

APWU OF WISCONSIN 2012 FALL SEMINAR

The APWU of Wisconsin Fall Seminar is underway. Some classes started as early as 8:30 this morning with APWU Officers and members coming from all over Wisconsin and Minnesota to Neenah, Wisconsin.

Classes today consisted of:

Class Title Instructor/s

• All Level Clerk Steward Training - Willie Mellon/Marty Mater
• Maintenance Steward Training - Troy Rorman
• CSRS Retirement - Judy McCann
• FERS Retirement - Judy McCann

Training Sunday Morning, October 7^th:

• NTFTs, PSEs, and Lead Clerks - Willie Mellon/Marty Mater
• JCIM Training - Lyle Krueth
• FERS Retirement - Judy McCann

There are about 60 members in attendance.

Click Here for photos on Facebook

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

Obama, Romney Differ on Plan to Cut Medicare, Medicaid

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney sharply disagreed this week on a budget proposal by U.S. House Republicans that would dramatically change Medicare and Medicaid while lowering taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans. The GOP presidential candidate praised it as “bold and exciting,” while a White House spokesperson called it, “a recipe for destroying Medicare as we know it… it is not a plan that this President could support.” MD/DC Alliance president Frank Stella spoke at a Tuesday rally against the plan, and Alliance Executive Board member Bill Cea is joining Vice President Joe Biden today at an event in Florida to highlight the Administration’s opposition. Read some of Biden’s remarks explaining what’s at stake at http://bit.ly/GIY9Ws.

“Under the proposal, seniors would be given vouchers to either buy health coverage in the costly private insurance market, or purchase it from a Medicare program that would be made more expensive by the exodus of younger, healthier retirees,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. The plan would also cut spending on Medicaid and turn it over to cash-strapped states, jeopardizing the only way over 70 percent of seniors are able to afford long-term or nursing home care. The budget plan, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), was approved by the House Budget Committee on Wednesday and is expected to be voted on by the full House next week. Also, on the same day that Romney endorsed the Ryan plan, one of his top economic advisors, Greg Mankiw, was forced to apologize for a joke he shared on his blog about deporting seniors to lower Social Security and Medicare costs. For the Alliance’s latest fact sheet on the Ryan budget, go to http://bit.ly/GKlJVx.

Source: Friday Alert – Alliance for Retired Americans

Wisconsin Seniors Saved $38 Million With Health Reform

Average senior who hit donut hole saved $639 per year due to drug discounts

Madison, WI – Over 59,300 Wisconsin participants in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program saw their drug costs reduced by $38 million due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2011, according to new statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This is an average of $639 per participant. Nationally, 3.6 million Americans who hit the donut hole saved $2.1 billion, or an average of $604.

The donut hole is a gap in the 2003-passed national drug program and without the correction by the ACA, seniors who had drug costs between $2,900 and $7,600 would have had to have paid 100 percent of the amount in that gap. The ACA provides a 50 percent discount on brandname prescriptions drugs and a 14 percent discount on generics within the gap, and by 2020 the donut hole will be closed completely.

“I’m thrilled to see the statistics bear out what we’ve been hearing from seniors across Wisconsin – that health reform is making prescription drugs more affordable,” said Leon Burzynski, President of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans.

Over half of Medicare enrollees made less than $22,000 in 2010, and enrollees in general spend a disproportionate share of their income on health expenses. This means the ACA drug discounts are benefiting Medicare enrollees even more as a percentage of their income.

The ACA is more commonly known as health insurance reform. Besides the donut hole drug discounts, ACA also offers many preventive services for seniors without co-pay or deductible and also extended the solvency of Medicare due to fighting waste and fraud and focusing on preventive care.

The original release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can be found at http://www.dhhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/02/20120202a.html. County and zip code-specific breakdowns of the information can be found at http://www.cms.gov/Plan-Payment/. More on the Affordable Care Act at www.healthcare.gov.

APWU Health Plan’s Blueprint to Medicare

This guide is designed to help you understand how APWU Health Plan works with Medicare. Dealing with one health insurance company is complicated enough, having to deal with another can be overwhelming. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for individuals:

     • Over 65 years of age
     • With certain disabilities
     • Who have end-stage renal failure
     • Lou Gehrig’s disease

Click Here for Medicare Brochure

National Call-In Days: July 14-15

TELL YOUR SENATORS DON'T CUT SOCIAL SECURITY

Your Social Security benefits are under attack by politicians in Washington. They want to: Cut Social Security's Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) to reduce the deficit. But Social Security doesn't contribute a penny to the deficit. Raid Social Security by using your contributions to give a tax break to Wall Street banks, Big Oil and other corporations. They shouldn't get another taxpayer handout. Social Security belongs to you. You pay for it in every paycheck. Don't let them cut it or raid it! Call your Senators on Thursday and Friday, July 14-15, at 1-866-251-4044. Tell them: NO cuts to Social Security! NO cuts to Social Security's COLA! NO Social Security payroll tax holiday! Contact WI Alliance for Retired Americans 6333 W. Bluemound Road Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53213 414-771-9511 wiara@att.net

RETIREMENT PLANNING - TRICK OR TREAT?

By Tammy Flanagan, National Institute of Transition Planning - October 29, 2010

The secret is finally out: the Office of Personnel Management still processes retirement claims in 2010 much the same way it did in 1920. The process remains paper-based, requiring a human being to sift through the paperwork documenting an employee's career to be sure that he or she is receiving the proper retirement benefit. [Full Story]

Source:GovernmentExecutive.com

Second Early Out Payment Scheduled for Oct. 29

APWU Web News Article 116-2010, Oct. 19, 2010

Former postal employees who retired or separated from the Postal Service in 2009 as part of the negotiated Early Out Incentive agreement are entitled to receive an additional $5,000, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 29, 2010.

Those who participated in the retirement incentive program received $10,000 as part of the agreement in 2009. The final $5,000 payment is scheduled to coincide with the Pay Period 22 payroll.

Checks will be mailed with other paychecks from the Postal Data Center to the local office where eligible retirees were employed. Those who choose to retrieve their checks in person should contact the office in advance to determine where they should report. Those who prefer to have checks mailed to their current address should provide a written, signed request to the highest-ranking postal official at the installation where they were employed.

Retirees are encouraged to join the APWU Retirees Department to stay in touch with postal friends and retirees; learn more about retiree benefits and issues, and assure and protect benefits. To join, visit the Retirees Department Web page for an enrollment form, or download one at www.apwu.org/dept/retiree/retjoinform.pdf.

eRetire

The following is a "Service Talk" provided to Offices in the Lakeland District:

The Lakeland District has been selected by Headquarters to serve as the initial site for a new employee self-service application called eRetire. To use the program employees must be eligible for optional retirement within the next five years.

Optional retirement means you meet the minimum age and service requirement for retirement. Eligible for CSRS employees are those who have attained 55 years of age and 30 years of service. Eligible for FERS employees are those who have attained their minimum retirement age and have at least 10 years of creditable service and are eligible for an immediate, reduced annuity.

With eRetire, eligible employees can start the retirement process on LiteBlue. eRetire also has capabilities for Disability Retirement and Voluntary Early Retirement, but those options are not currently available.

On eRetire, you can immediately:

• View/print annuity estimate of eligibility date;
• View/print annuity estimate of eligibility date plus 6 months; or
• View/print annuity estimate of eligibility date plus 1 year.

Employees within 180 days of retirement can:

• Enter a custom date and receive an annuity estimate within 24 hours of your request; and
• Print or order a retirement application.

Employees ready to begin the retirement application process can schedule a retirement counseling session.

eRetire is available to eligible employees through the Lakeland District LiteBlue Web site. When you finish using the eRetire, you will be asked to complete a survey. You will also be provided a dedicated email address where you can send questions and comments. Your input will be evaluated prior to the national rollout of eRetire.

This program is open to Lakeland District employees who are eligible to retire within the next five years to participate. eRetire will be available beginning August 2 and we ask that you complete the survey by August 31.

Crucial Postal Bill Clears First Hurdle

APWU Web News Article 071-2010, July 22, 2010

Legislation to restore financial stability to the Postal Service cleared its first hurdle July 21 when the House postal oversight subcommittee approved H.R. 5746. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) on July 15, would alter the methodology for allocating the Postal Service’s share of pension costs for employees whose careers spanned the former Post Office Department and the USPS.

“This is an important first step,” said Myke Reid, APWU Legislative and Political Director, “but we still have a long way to go.” The bill must be considered by the full Oversight and Government Reform Committee before it can be voted on in the House.  (Full Story)

Early Retirement Rumors:

Again, APWU Says: Don’t Go!

Burrus Update 07-2010, April 8, 2010

Rumors about Voluntary Early Retirement offers are once again circulating throughout the Postal Service, and employees are evaluating the possibilities.

Let me state plainly:

• There have been no discussions with postal management about offering new monetary incentives as an enticement for retiring.
• If incentives are contemplated at some future date, the law says they must be negotiated with the union.
• Any rumor that monetary incentives are under consideration is false.

In recent years the Postal Service has offered Voluntary Early Retirements (VERs) — without monetary incentives — without the union’s involvement. Management may do so again in the future.

The APWU has challenged these VER offers in the appropriate forums. As we noted in grievances protesting non-incentive VERs, the National Agreement requires the payment of severance pay to employees who voluntarily terminate their employment through early retirement.

We await final disposition of the dispute. In the meantime, it is very likely that postal management will pursue further reductions in the employee complement through Voluntary Early Retirement offers.

The union repeats the advice we offered regarding prior VERs without incentives: Don’t Go!

William Burrus
President

Join Us in Las Vegas to Build Retiree Power

by Barbara J. Easterling

I hope you will consider joining me April 5-8 in Las Vegas for Building Retiree Power, the 2010 national convention of the Alliance for Retired Americans. We will offer a wide array of education and training opportunities to improve your skills as a grassroots activist and as a leader of a local or state retiree group.

It may be a new year, but many of last year’s challenges – health care, retirement security, and a lingering recession – still remain as great as ever. The future of our retirement, and what will be there for the generations that follow us, will be dramatically affected by what our leaders do this year.

I’ve heard experts say that in this November’s elections older voters will make up over one-third of the turn-out. If the health care debate has been any indication, retirees will be the object of a lot of attention – and a lot of misinformation. We must do our homework on the candidates and the issues, and educate our neighbors so they will be able to separate fact from fiction come election time.

The Alliance convention will feature noted speakers and training workshops on topics such as health care reform, Social Security, community organizing, fund-raising, and using new on-line communications tools such as Facebook to reach more retirees in your area.

For more information about the Alliance for Retired Americans national convention, to be held April 5-8 at Bally’s Las Vegas, visit www.RetiredAmericans.org or call 888/373-6497.

Hope to see you in Las Vegas!

Barbara J. Easterling is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. She was previously the secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America.

OIG Says USPS Overpaid Federal Government $75 Billion

A Stunning Announcement:

Burrus Update 03-2010, Jan. 20, 2010

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has issued a stunning announcement [PDF]:
The USPS has been overcharged $75 billion in contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension fund.

After an in-depth investigation, the OIG has concluded that an inequitable system for computing the Postal Service’s CSRS pension responsibility has caused the dramatic overpayment. The OIG study [PDF] was conducted in conjunction with the Hay Group, a well-known economic consulting firm.

The funding error follows two previous findings that the Postal Service had been required to overfund its pension obligations. In 2002 it was determined that the Postal Service was on track to overfund CSRS by $78 billion, and in 2003 the USPS was overcharged $27 billion for CSRS military service credits. The earlier overpayments were corrected by legislation adopted in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

The newest overfunding debacle, if corrected, would more than offset the Postal Service’s deficit from Fiscal Year 2009 and the expected shortfalls in FY 2010 and 2011. The doomsday predictors of the imminent demise of the Postal Service must now find a new rationale for their efforts to dismantle postal services.

The cry for a new business model and legislative relief ring hollow when USPS financial difficulties could be fully resolved by returning to the Postal Service the overpayments made to date. Realigning the network, reducing employee compensation and benefits, and transferring the cost of universal service to individual mailers can now be exposed for the fraudulent exercises they represent. Instead, we can engage in a meaningful dialogue about the future of hard-copy communication and the role of postal services in the 21st century — without the looming threat of bankruptcy.

This report is good news for a beleaguered government service. USPS service standards and productivity have remained at high levels; the economy is recovering, and the black cloud of fiscal insolvency could be removed. All parties in the postal community who wish to be of assistance must join in an effort to correct the inequity and relieve the Postal Service of the unjustified funding requirement.

In the meantime, we can take a deep breath and stop the momentum for another round of harmful postal “reform.” And after the attrition of 115,000 APWU-represented positions since 2002, we would appreciate a public recognition that our members have contributed their share.

William Burrus
President

NARFE Thanks President Obama for Signing into Law Re-Employed Annuitant and FERS Sick Leave Bills; Association’s Persistence Results In Victory

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Margaret L. Baptiste today commended President Obama for signing into law the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which includes several civil service improvements long sought by NARFE.

“Enactment of this legislation to eliminate inequities, increase productivity and address the skills shortage in the civil service is a great victory for active and retired federal employees — and something that NARFE has worked for behind the scenes for a long time,” said NARFE President Baptiste. “We are happy the president has signed this important bill into law, and we are grateful to our friends in Congress who moved heaven and earth to include the civil service improvements in the final legislation.”

Baptiste praised Reps. Steny H. Hoyer, D-MD; Chris Van Hollen, D-MD; Frank R. Wolf, R-VA; James P. Moran, D-VA; Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC; Gerry E. Connolly, D-VA; John P. Sarbanes, D-MD; Donna F. Edwards, D-MD; Elijah E. Cummings, D-MD; and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-MD, for the significant role they played in this victory on behalf of NARFE and the federal/postal community. In addition, she thanked Reps. Edolphus Towns, D-NY; Stephen F. Lynch, D-MA; and Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-CT; Susan M. Collins, R-ME; Daniel K. Akaka, D-HI; and Jim Webb, D-VA, who served as the Defense bill conferees, for helping to persuade their colleagues, particularly Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-MI, and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-MO, to include the civil service provisions.

The new law allows federal agencies to re-employ federal retirees on a limited, part-time basis without offset of annuity; permits Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) workers to initially credit half, and in 2014 all, of their unused sick leave toward retirement; provides for retirement equity for federal employees in Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Territories; ends the Department of Defense’s pay-for-performance personnel system, the National Security Personnel System or NSPS, restoring employees to the federal General Schedule pay system; and includes other civil service provisions.

“During the past several years, NARFE has played a leading role, along with other federal and postal employee organizations, in overcoming many obstacles to achieve passage of these needed civil service improvements,” Baptiste said. “For example, absent NARFE’s persistence, legislation sponsored by Collins; Sen. Herb Kohl, D-WI; and Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-OH, (S. 629) to allow federal retirees to be re-employed by the government would not have been included in the final Defense bill. Many federal retirees continue to make critical contributions to our safety and well-being during this time of national need, when work force shortages have deprived some agencies of employees with critical and specialized skills,” Baptiste said.

Baptiste was particularly pleased that a compromise was reached on the FERS sick leave legislation by phasing in the allowance. “We recognize that the inequity in the treatment of accrued sick leave between FERS and CSRS has hurt productivity and increased agency costs,” Baptiste said. “For that reason, we have strongly supported the concept that all federal civilian retirement programs credit unused sick leave toward retirement.” The NARFE president specifically lauded Moran for being a long-time champion of this issue.

* * *

NARFE, one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/retiree organization, NARFE represents the retirement interests of nearly 5 million current and future federal annuitants, spouses, and survivors.

Note: APWU of Wisconsin members (especially those under FERS) may want to write letters to Senator Herb Kohl and thank him for his support.

Union Negotiates Monetary IncentiveFor Retirements, Separations

Moratorium on Excessing Through Oct. 9

APWU Web News Article #099-09, Aug. 25, 2009

APWU-represented employees who retire or separate on or before Nov. 30, 2009, will receive a monetary incentive of $15,000, in accordance with an agreement negotiated by the union. The incentive will be paid in two installments to eligible employees.

“This agreement achieves a long-standing objective of the APWU,” said union President William Burrus
.
The incentive will be offered to eligible career full-time employees who terminate their service through regular retirement, Voluntary Early Retirement, or voluntary separation. (Eligible PTR and PTF employees will receive proportional percentages of the incentive.)

To qualify for regular retirement, employees must have at least 30 years of service and be age 55; must have at least 20 years of service and be age 60, or must have at least five years of service and be age 62.

To qualify for early retirement, employees must have at least 20 years of service and be 50 years of age or must have 25 years of service at any age. (The annuity is reduced for employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System [CSRS] by 2 percent for each year employees are under age 55.)

Employees who do not qualify for regular or early retirement but wish to receive the incentive may resign.

Not covered by the agreement are employees who were issued a notice of discharge on or before Aug. 24; MPE 9s, ET 10s, and ET 11s who cannot be replaced without training; Operating Services employees; employees in the Accounting Services section of the IT/ASC bargaining unit, probationary employees, and Transitional Employees.

Eligible full-time employees may, at their option, end their service on or before Sept. 30, or they will be assigned a date of Oct. 31 or Nov. 30 by management, based on operational needs. Employees will be paid $10,000 within two pay periods after separation, and will receive an additional $5,000 on Oct. 29, 2010. Part-time employees will be assigned a date of Nov. 30.

Negotiations over the agreement, which was finalized Aug. 24, took two months, Burrus said. “Our goal was an incentive of 50 percent of a year’s salary. Because of the difficult economic times, however, the agreement had to be structured to avoid adding to the deficit. Nonetheless, we feel that the settlement will provide a modest incentive to employees to end their service.

“The USPS financial condition is precarious,” Burrus said. “The congressionally-imposed obligation to pre-fund the retirees’ health insurance fund has caused tremendous deficits over the last two years, and without legislative relief, improvement is not in the forecast.

“Management has been forced to reduce costs, but unfortunately, the cuts have been applied disproportionally to bargaining-unit employees, especially to those in mail processing,” the union president said.

“Because our contract prohibits layoffs, the only means for cutting work hours have been to reassign full-time employees and to reduce the hours of PTFs,” Burrus noted. “Excessing and work-hour cuts cause severe hardships for our members,” he said, “so finding a way to make voluntary complement adjustments became an urgent matter.”

There will be a moratorium on excessing from Aug. 24 through Oct. 9 to allow time to assess the vacancies created by the retirements and separations. During this period, excessing notices that have already been issued will be reviewed.

If more than 25,000 employees indicate they wish to accept the offer, the parties will discuss implementation, based on a proportion of the number of employees in the complement of the APWU and Mail Handler crafts. Mail Handlers are expected to receive an offer virtually identical to the APWU-negotiated agreement.

The agreement includes the following:

• There will be a $10,000 payment to eligible full-time employees who terminate their service through regular retirement, Voluntary Early Retirement, or voluntary separation, to be paid as soon as administratively possible, but no later than two pay periods after separation;
• Each full-time employee who terminates employment also will receive a $5,000 payment on Oct. 29, 2010;
• Part-Time Regular and Part-Time Flexible employees who terminate their service will receive a proportional percentage of the $10,000 and $5,000 incentive, as follows:

Number of Paid Hours ...................Percent of Incentive Payment

Under 520...............................................................................25
520 and under 1020...............................................................50
1020 and under 1520..............................................................75
1520 and over............................................................................100

The agreement applies to all non-probationary career postal employees in the APWU bargaining unit employees, including employees in the Clerk Craft, Maintenance Craft, Motor Vehicle Services Craft, mail equipment shops, material distribution centers, occupational health nurses, with the following exceptions or limitations:

• Employees who were issued a notice of discharge on or before Aug. 24, 2009, are excluded;
• MPE 9, ET 10, and ET 11 employees will be eligible if the residual vacancy created as a result of their retirement or separation can be filled by a qualified employee who does not require additional training to fill their vacancy;
• Operating Service employees are not eligible;
• Employees in the Accounting Services section of the IT/ASC Collective Bargaining Agreement are not eligible.

For the full text of the agreement, click here [PDF].

FERS and CSRS Disability Retirement: Common Principles to Follow

By Robert R. McGill

[Full Story]

Senate to Consider Legislation Giving Sick Leave Credit to FERS Retirees

APWU Web News Article #050-09, April 27, 2009

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has placed on the Senate calendar legislation that would give retirement credit for unused sick leave to postal and federal employees enrolled in the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS). The legislation is part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256), which passed the House of Representatives on April 2, by a vote of 298-112.

[Full Story]

USPS ‘Clarifies’ Some Early-Retirement Deadlines

APWU Web News Article #048-09, April 23, 2009

The Postal Service has informed the APWU that the deadline for eligible employees who wish to apply for Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) effective June 30 or July 31 is June 19. The USPS has also designated June 19 as the “irrevocable” date, by which employees who have applied for retirement but wish to withdraw their applications must do so. [Full Story]

When Is Your Ideal Retirement Date in 2009?

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1951/