Burrus Update 12-2010, July 21, 2010 In a series of recent Updates for union members, I have pointed out that the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties are the result of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), which imposed on the USPS the onerous burden of pre-funding future retiree healthcare liabilities — in […]
APWU Web News Article 069-2010, July 19, 2010 The APWU is praising a bill introduced by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), which is designed to restore financial stability to the Postal Service. The legislation (H.R. 5746) would modify the formula for funding the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), and would rectify overpayments to the CSRS […]
From National Public Radio: For decades, the U.S. Postal Service has provided many communities of color with a reliable career option with steady benefits. But proposed budget and service cuts — including eliminating Saturday deliveries — threaten the livelihoods of many career postal workers. To get a sense of how communities of color will be […]
Postcom.org published the following response to its accusation that postal workers were “sitting idle in holding rooms refusing to do work because contract agreements said they didn’t have to.”(7/14) : We sit idle on the clock because management orders us to do so. There are employees asking to leave without pay and they are not […]
APWU Web News Article 068-2010, July 15, 2010 To strengthen the fight against the Postal Service’s harsh National Reassessment Program (NRP), the APWU is encouraging limited-duty and permanent-rehabilitation employees to complete a questionnaire sponsored by a law firm that has filed a class-action complaint against the USPS. The complaint alleges that the NRP discriminates against […]
The Postcom.org EdNote below is in response to this article from APWU President William Burrus. [EdNote: Well, the last I checked, it wasn’t mailers who were sitting idle in holding rooms refusing to do work because contract agreements said they didn’t have to. Talk about ‘immeasurable’ damage. And, the last I checked, those who pushed […]
In Run-Up to Postal Reform, They Championed Annual Increases Burrus Update 11-2010, July 13, 2010 The APWU often criticizes the cozy relationship between large mailers and postal management, but we understand that without the major mailers there would be insufficient mail volume to maintain the Postal Service’s national network and to employ 600,000 workers. “Non-household […]
We have decided not to challenge the pilot program with Office Depot, which allows USPS services to be offered side-by-side with UPS products at Office Depot stores. President Burrus made the decision after an extensive review and discussion with Clerk Craft officers. Although we are always concerned about the possible loss of jobs, we concluded […]
Attempt to Shift the Burden to Postal Employees Burrus Update The Postal Service has filed a request to increase postage rates effective Jan. 2, 2011, and is proposing to raise the price of first-class, single-piece letters from 44 cents to 46 cents. Increases for other mail classes would range from 5.4 to 8 percent. As […]
APWU Web The Department of Labor filed a complaint [PDF] against the Postal Service on July 6 for ongoing and systemic violations of safe electrical work practices, marking the first time the department has sought an “enterprise-wide” remedy. “When the same safety violation is discovered in multiple locations of an organization, we need an enterprise-wide […]