WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators will announce plans to reform and bring savings to the United States Postal Service tomorrow, November 2 at 11:30am. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Maine, Federal Financial Management Subcommittee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., and Ranking Member Scott Brown, R-Mass., will unveil their compromise agreement to pull the USPS from the brink of financial failure.
Who:
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.
What:
Press Conference to announce postal reform agreement
Where:
Senate TV/Radio Gallery, S-325
When:
Wednesday, November 2, 11:30 a.m.
Update: Postcom.org has posted some details of what the bill will contain
The following are just some of the details that have been reported regarding tomorrow’s announcement of a Senate bi-partisan approach to postal reform:
- Returning the FERS overpayment to USPS; although the bill will set no numbers around how much of it has to be used for buyouts, that will be one of the goals to help incent, through added service credits or up to the federal limit of $25K per worker, 100,000 workers to retire over the next three years;
- No rate increases; underwater classes, not products, will have the same delay and study as in the Ross/Maloney Amendment in the House bill;
- Retiree health prefunding will be foregone for one year, and then reamortized for forty, saving USPS approximately $5B/yr
- Workers comp will be fixed across the face of the federal government to transition those well beyond retirement into pensions
- Saturday delivery changes will have a two-year moratorium, followed by a study by GAO on true savings in the wake of downsizing that will be further reviewed by the PRC for a final decision
- A process would be created to close facilities with a notice and comment period
- Arbitrators in postal labor negotiations would be required to consider the financial health of the USPS in any decision
- No Solvency Authority
- No breaching or overriding of collective bargaining agreements
No BRAC-style closure commission (or any closure commission)
The solution to the workers comp dilemma is to significantly decrease theabsolutely unnecessary number of accidents and physical break down of work machines made of skin and bones. Issa had just about everything wrong, but he was right on the money when he spoke up against non curve side deliveries. How many carriers are hurt by falling down steps every year? How many have their knees go out from doing the stairmaster every day for decades? How many get bitten by dogs in people’s yards? When you are holding two to three bundles plus have mail tipping your center while you try to go up and down snowy or icy steps it is pretty much a toss of a coin wether you’ll pull it off or not. Sadly some carriers are afraid to report these slips for fear or wary of the hassle involved and their bodies make them regret it weeks or months later. When their tale bones act up, or their knees begin to give frequently withhorrible pain, or their backs feel like they will collapse with just the weight of their uniform. A 44 cent stamped envelope is not worth permanent damage to a carriers body. All mail boxes should be located no further than the curve. This bill does not address these fiscally unsound and dangerous deliveries that result in losses due to over time pay that results from absence due to avoidable injuries, workers comp and the ridiculous amount of delivery time they take up.
Looks like I’ll be outta here soon!
It is just reasonable to get the money they owe the Postal Service, that it is smart, probably not. However we need to address all the loop holes in Workers comp that makes so many employees go for the easy way out that is OWCP and/or disability retirement. And yes at age of retirement, why should anyone get more than what they should on normal retirement, is not like they have one less limb or it is so unbearable that need additional compensation. No incentive needed to retire. If it is your time to go, is your time to go………..
The suggested plan to offer eary out incentives with the 6.9 billion the USPS will get back from overpayment in my opinion doesn’t go far enough. The cash incentive of $25,000 will certainly get out the people that were just hanging around for an offer any way but will fall well short of the projected number that the
Postal Service would like to take off the books. The other reform part of this is the
possible adding of one year to CSRS employee’s and two years to FER employee’s. This again will fall short of the intended projection simply because it isn’t enough years added to entice CSRS employee’s who are the intended target. The offer will be for one or the other, not both! The Postal Service needs to
take a step back and not be induced by the bipartisan committee’s suggestions
so quickly. The $25,000 is a maximum the Postal Service can use as a incentive but the added years of service is jurisdiction of the OPM and the amount of years as an incentive. It suggestes that the committee may be somewhat naive when it comes to what can be done and by whom. The last year an employee was hired under the CSRS was 1983. If this is the intended group then a much stronger offer in years would have to be made to reach the projected target in numbers to reduce the amount of employee’s from the postal service. The other concern they will have with any early out is the penalty (2%) for each year you are under the age of 55. This is certainly an issue that will prohibit employee’s from considering retirement. Let’s watch and see.
End Saturday delivery. Layoff management accordingly. Carriers will have mote than enough time to squeeze in excess weekend mail if something is done to end none curve side deliveries once and for all. How much ate these upstairs, downstairs, on the side deliveries costing the USPS in time wasting over time, dog bites, accidental slips and falls. The only time a carrier should have to physically enter a property is to deliver a parcel or accountable item. Billions spent on unnecessary workers comp due to wear and tear on the knees, back and wrists of carriers not to mention that after about fifteen years a carrier just cannot take it anymore physically and has to give up blocks when he or she could take on more with an all flat curve side route.
It has to be monetarily convenient to someone out there to keep wasting money the way we are on all of this avoidable nonsense or else why has no one done anything about it.
$25K? OR A YEAR ADDED? That comes out to less then 6 months pay.
thats all folks…congress.
Dem/Rep working together oh my! Just like the old days with Thomas Jefferson and it looks like they came up with something positive!
How bout a lawsuit on behalf of all the FERS employees to return the $6.9 overpayment to them instead of the USPS and CSRS employees eligible for retirement. Seems it came out of their checks to begin with.
Offer 5 yrs added onto service time and all of the remaining CSRS employees will take the out. That would enable the ones needed a few years to be able to retire, getting rid of the top-pay employees.
Let me get out my magnifyglass so i can see that little thing?
Man they need to get a bigger carrot to tangle.
A years pay plus 2 thousand for every year worked with 5 years added on.
It can be done,work it out .Big Carrots
Get ready boys, here comes the offer to go soon!
TIP:
The 25K may be subject to tax deferment if the cards are played right.
Work it out with HR, it can be done.
The one thing that will happen.When we finally go under the banks will charge 50 cents for every online transaction. It is all about the banks and Joe Lieberman’s true cause. The State of Israel.
Of course no talk of getting rid of management and stupidvisors. This is y the po is sinking
Steve and the rest of you asswipes we didnt start this shit, but we will finish it.
Issa/Ross shot off there big mouths offs about laying off the senior employees now all this other shit is being said about THEM and buying em out.
Man Funk You asswipes keep your cheep ass buyouts and shut your funking pieholes.
OUR DREAM HAS FINALLY, MEANING SOMEONE HAS FINALLY PUT TOGETHER A MEANINGFUL PACKAGE WITH REAL INCENTIVES TO LET THE ONE’S THAT CAN RETIRE TO RETIRE. THE POST OFFICE WILL FINALLY BECOME SOLVENT AND EVERYTHING WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL ONCE MORE IN POSTAL LAND!! ANOTHER FEATHER IN PRESIDENT OBAMA’S CAP. THE GREATEST PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME. THIS IS KING TWEETY SIGNING OFF
USPS has been in dire straights for years this just did not blum overnight. Now here is sometrhing to consider that I have not seen put out there. Why are Federal and State Agencies using private mail carriers at a premium rate? Aren’t all Federal and State Agencies mandated to use the most economical means in all expense items?
If so they should all be using the USPS to comply with using the most economical service available. It is a real horror to see Federal and State buildings frequented by the more expensive private carrirs when it should be USPS.
Forcing all Federal and State Agencies to use the Delivery Services provided by the USPS should help the bottomline not only for the USPS but also for every Agency paying top dollar with private mail carriers. Just food for thought.
It’s easy for management and the gov’t to want the ‘consider the financial health of the post office during arbitration’ part in the agreement. It’s easy now because the post office is in the red. They figure they’ll screw the unions over.
The trouble with that kind of language in negotiations is that it’ll come back to bite them in the azz later once USPS is back in the black and rolling in profits. Then when the unions want big raises, COLA, etc., the post office will have to fork it ALL over BECAUSE of the ‘financial health of the post office’. It works both ways you know! Those idiots will never see it coming. Poor management and gov’t boys. They never think about the future. *snicker*
And for those of you who are bragging about getting paid off to leave and retire..good luck in your struggles. That petty cash will dry up fast. And i’ll be here. Young, lazy, and making HUGE money. How much did you LOSE when the market crashed, bub? Alot more than you’re being paid to leave, i’ll bet. And my car is probably worth more than your house these days. *points and laughs*
all this drama and no one is calling for po mismanagement to cut themselves 50%…..all uneducated, cronyism, nepotism, corruption riddled po mismanagers should be RIFed-only fair as the low IQ posers ran the place into the dirt.
unions have been real quiet on this issue and are featherbedding and not doing their fudicary due diligence for the membership…….maintaining the status quo with po mismanagement is corrupt and evil of Cliff Goofy Guffy! Viva Las Vegas Goofy!
they both think things will go back to normal once they get some cash from congress….little do they know that in 5 years the place will implode into the ash bin of history due to advances in the internet. snail mail is so getto.
don’t like all of it but it is a reasonable compromise
Just fire scab freeloading dick sucking toadies and send them to the unemployment line, even as they rant against it for being “socialism”!
Hey This is a start if it slows down closing of some offices then good I’m not saying that some should remain open but they are doing this way to fast most of the plants they want to close are not geographically feesaible!
People wake up and stop thinking of just yourselfs. Me, me, me and me and oh yeah me. This bill sounds good to me it will slow down closings, lay offs, inprove delivery standards. Over all not to bad, better than a lot of other government officals. What I do really hate, is when I keep hearing “GIVE ME MONEY TO RETIRE”. Srew you, you greety F, people you. Hows this if they need to get rid of employees offer only time. Then if you want to go then go if not I will see you at work.
there is no market for those with education or skills
Dont you watch the news dumb ass.
50K & 80% frankI love you long time
Just fire 200,000 union slugs and that would fix it. 99 weeks unemployment then starve as there is no market for those without education or skills.
Why is it that you people are never happy. Union greedy greedy. Never enough. 5 years and 50k. You think you are actually worth that. Get a life. The postal service will survive and we can keep working. Oh thats right union people want the money they just don’t want to work for it. I hope this goes thru all the way to the presidents signature. By the way if you don’t like “still working” for the postal service just leave. They will let you go, gladly let you go.
Revenue generation to cover operation evidently does not matter. Radical reform is necessary for USPS to operate cost effective with declining mail volume resulting in decreasing revenue. Demand for Postal products and services will continue to decline as electronic mail diversion via Internet, social media Facebook-twitter, government agencies mandating direct deposit on treasury checks as well as business rewarding customer to go paperless. Basic economic laws of supply and demand make it necessary to operate cost effective by consolidating office needs that have changed due to changing demographics over time. Sat., 6 day, mail street delivery is a total waste as the primary product is bulk business mail which is high distribution cost and low revenue generator.
Management levels must be reduced from headquarters STAPH to local officies.
Chasing number to meet pay for performance goals was/is a disaster as money is wasted to meet a goal that affects pay for performane bonus.
Postal customers should pay for postal products and services not tax payors who use other means to communicate personal and business data.
Politicans, unions, management must use common cents in determining cost effective services to survive in todays competive market or is USPS a nonused service that is too expensive based on cost structure.
\
gimme ten years and a hundred grand.
issa/ross have the best plan and saves the most taxpeyer money.
and i don’t even work here.
over 31 years of service in your “just hanging around” management. I work 70+ hours a week in operations and have always busted my butt to make the postal service what it is supposed to be, a sevice. Now with less than a year and half to go to retirement, I would gladly take 25K and some age or years credit and move on to the next phase in my life, while wishing all my fellow Postal employees all the best. I feel for the people who started in the past 10 years because my Postal Service and yours will be worlds apart.
Give up your job for $25k and give back thousands in taxes in these economic times?
Hmmmmm!
another plan… another 2 year study…another nothing .
I’ll be leaving and be ENJOYING MY LIFE after the P.O. You poeple who are unhappy with the Post Office can stay around and enjoy the POSTAL TEAT.
What about the fers program that pays the supplemental social security at 56 and stops paying when you reach 62 years of age? I’m 51 now with 30 years of service. How can any of this help me to retire earlier than 56? I may aswel wait 5 more years and get a whole lot more. $25,000 after taxes will not go very far. Think about your decision before you sign on the dotted line. Hmmmm!
THIS IS MUCH BETTER THAN ISSA’S PROPOSAL. SOME OF YOU WOULD COMPLAIN NO MATTER WHAT WAS POSTED. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE BETTER ALSO, BUT AT LEAST THEY ARE TALKING OF SOME POSSIBLE INCENTIVES, AS WELL AS PROVIDING THE SERVICE WITH SOME RELIEF OF THE HUGE PREPAYMENTS.
I am PRAYING these idiots do the right thing and offer up some cash,lump sum, no “we’ll give you a little here and there” crap! Also, some extra years would be nice. Please make it soon as my back is going downhill fast, and I probably won’t be able work!
we need 5 day delivery soon
The fact that the people on Worker’s Comp have been draining our government while they are already retired is totally unbelieveable!!! Wow! Those people have been living high on the hog at the expense of everyone!!! So, obviously, that is not a bad thing to get those people off the gravy train they are on, but that apparently is something that is being done in all the federal sectors. If they give a $25K VERA, I’m outta here! I couldn’t qualify before, but I will soon. What about charging the customers for the additional services they enjoy at the expense of everyone right now? Like the mail forwarding system that costs huge amounts of money for only some people who use (and abuse) it? What about making the lawmakers pay for their own postage instead of getting it for free right now? The lawmakers raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaign to get their jobs, yet can’t pay for their official postage. What about charging all the attorneys and law enforcement people who send thousands and thousands of requests for information and don’t even pay for the postage, much less pay for the time it takes to research and fill them all out and send them back in a USPS envelope with USPS postage on it? What about the additional cost to let some person claim they need to have their mail at their door instead of at the curb like it is suppose to be – but they can mow their large lawn? (I’ve got pictures of one.) And if you tell the person they don’t qualify to have the box at their door, their congressman/woman forces you to do it because, I guess, they’re afraid of not getting that vote? I could go on and on about what I consider to be atrocities that have been going on because everybody thinks the post office “owes them.” Why don’t we just start charging for all the above-mentioned services, make everyone either have curbside service – or maybe even make everyone get a P.O. box?!!! There’s some ideas for you guys.
Thank god congress is taking its hands out of postal pockets. Still 30 percent overstaffed in management. Now vote the knumbnut republican obstructionists out of office. They have voted !60 times in the house this year to get rid Of the E.P.A.
Guess they think we need more Love Canal,Lake Erie on fire,and Deep Water Horizon enviormental disasters.They are also complaining that there are too many people on food stamps, one in eight people. How about a jobs bill you morons.
Well, the only one in the group who seems to have a brain at all is Senator Lieberman. Even though I have previously embraced the Republican party and agreed with more of them than the Democrats, Susan Collins has proven to me that she just throws out stupid ideas and comments showing that she knows nothing of what she is talking about when it comes to the USPS. It is embarrassing to me – as a woman who prefers to support and uplift other women that Ms. Collins has any type of influence in this regard. It should be REALLY interesting to see what these people are going to come up with because every lawmaker and politician in Washington D.C. has sat on their hands for over 2 years while they take the money from the USPS and spend it on other things than it was even meant to be spent on – which is the prefunding of the “future retirees” of the USPS. Well, I am a real employee who is employed with the USPS who WAS suppose to retire in the not too distance future, but that is all gone, along with the dreams of my future…just like the money that just disappeared from my monthly retirement annuity. But don’t worry, folks, Potter sure got his HUGE retirement even while claiming the Postal Service was in dire straights, and I’m sure that good ‘ol Donahoe will get his share of the pie. The rest of us are just gonna be left hanging after years and years of REAL work, HARD work, the kind of work these people know nothing about.
It’s easy:
1. Offer early out $50K plus 5 years service to those 50-60 employee.
2. Reduce 60% management staff plus salary. They do nothing but just hang in there.
3. Force 30 years up employee to retired.
4. Hire 60% temporary employee.
If none of the above can not resolve and save the postal financial crisic, then sell it,put it on the shares stock market.
Here we go! Welcome to the unemployment line, everyone!