“In the prologue of this weekend’s “This American Life” radio show, host Ira Glass talks to Paul Gereffi, a letter carrier from Ft. Lauderdale Branch 2550, who helped save the life of a stabbing victim who saw Gereffi’s mail truck and flagged him down. Because of Gereffi’s intervention, he was later named the 2008 Eastern […]
Overview * The Postal Reorganization Act authorizes collective bargaining on wages and working conditions, generally under laws applying to private industry. As the Postal Service is an essential service to the nation’s economy, Congress mandated that employees represented by unions cannot strike. Impasses in collective bargaining negotiations may ultimately be resolved through arbitration. Current Operating […]
During a November 18 House debate, North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-5th) engaged in an anti-union screed that lasted several minutes. After attacking the pay and benefits of federal workers, she said that they also have too much job security. “Short of shooting up a post office,” Foxx said, “government workers rarely get fired or […]
Not $8.5 Billion On November 12, the U.S. Postal Service released a report that stated it had lost a staggering $8.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2010, which ended September 30. Media coverage of the report predictably focused on its negatives—the historically high figure is undeniably a headline-grabber—and news stories, shying away from the somewhat harder […]
The following are excerpts from two APWU Regional Coordinators addressing the issue of USPS excessing: It is no secret that low mail volume has led to massive excessing. The APWU has responded by fighting relentlessly to protect our members’ rights. The battle is complicated enough without the addition of other parties. Recently, however, the installation […]
America’s letter carriers wish Jack Potter a long and healthy retirement. Although we have had profound strategic differences with Jack in recent years over the best approach for securing the long-term viability of the Postal Service, we had a good working relationship with him and his team. He was an honorable partner in collective bargaining […]
2010 Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Set For Postal Workers (10/22/10) The December period referenced in Article 8, Sections 4 and 5, of the National Agreement, during which penalty overtime regulations are not applicable, consists of four consecutive service weeks. (See Why Is the Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Only 28 Days?) This year the period begins […]
On August 18, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Sharron Dixon Haynes, aka Sharron A. Haynes, former election candidate of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 217 (located in Jackson, Miss.), was indicted on three counts of making and causing to be made, and using and causing […]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 – James Dupont had just finished delivering mail on his rural Arkansas route when he saw a truck and car collide head-on. The veteran letter carrier pulled the driver from the truck and, as the vehicle caught on fire, saved a passenger engulfed in flames. He then managed to bend open the […]
A federal judge in Texarkana denied a request to certify a civil suit filed by seven U.S. Postal Service mail carriers as a class action lawsuit.The suit alleged the carriers had been forced to work more than 40 hours per week without overtime compensation, had timecards altered to their detriment by a supervisor, been forced […]