Postal Service launching digital enterprise- The "digital solutions" group is intended to better explore growth opportunities in the digital space, and to translate those opportunities into new streams of revenue, enhance the value of our current offerings, and improve customer experiences. (05/15)

House plans to delay action on postal reform, then take another vacation- While the Senate has approved a postal reform bill, there is no rush in the House, as no postal reform legislation is on the schedule again this week. And since the House will be taking another 10 day break at the end of this week, no postal legislation could even reach the floor until June. (05/14)

Postal worker says mystery package made him ill- A postal worker says a mysterious leaking package from Yemen has left him seriously ill, but the U.S. Postal Service denies the package ever existed. The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, in a story printed in Sunday's Miami Herald and The Ledger of Lakeland, reported that Jeffrey A. Lill suffers from extreme fatigue, tremors, and liver and neurological problems. The symptoms are consistent with toxic exposure, problems that he said began after he handled the leaking package on Feb. 4, 2011. (05/13)

Mail processing plant cuts to proceed this summer, Postmaster General says- Although no wholesale closures are immediately in the works, "we’ll have some consolidations in the summer, the majority after the first of the year." Donahoe said. "From a fiscally responsible standpoint, we have to move ahead on this. We’ve lost too much [mail] volume and we have to address the infrastructure." (05/09)

USPS offering $20,000 voluntary retirement incentives to 21,000 postmasters - Appears US postal service preparing HUGE shift from full time employees to part time employees. To staff 1000s of “part-time” offices (05/09)
› (National Leauge of Postmasters) PMG Announces POStPlan at Media Briefing - Voluntary retirement incentive
› Post Office Seeks to Scale Back Closures

It's All Your Money: Taxpayers may be on hook for US Postal Service losses (FoxNews)- The U.S. Postal Service is often the butt of jokes, but there's nothing funny about the agency's bottom line. The USPS is losing up to $25 million dollars a day. Until now, taxpayers have not been on the hook for its mounting losses, but that could be about to change. A bailout recently approved by the Senate would appropriate $34 billion in federal money. (05/08)

Looking back on postal reform: Where were you in 1976?- Perhaps it’s time for some members of Congress to think about taking a page out of history. Maybe they should consider filing a lawsuit against the Postal Service to stop the closing of those 230 post offices and prevent the Postal Service from starting in on the 3,650 RAOI post offices. No one has mentioned the idea, but it worked in 1976, and it could work again. That would certainly be an interesting turn of events, and one for the history books. (05/07)

APWU, USPS Agree On New Lead Clerk Jobs- The APWU and USPS agreed to job descriptions for new Lead Clerk positions on May 4, and agreed to the process for posting and bidding the new positions. (05/04)

Senators lobby both sides of postal moratorium- With a Postal Service moratorium on closing facilities set to expire in less than two weeks, senators have lobbied the agency this week to both slow down and press ahead with its consolidation efforts. (05/04)

APWU, USPS Settle Dispute On Covering Custodial Absences- The APWU and Postal Service have settled a grievance regarding the proper procedure for covering absences of custodians. (05/01)

Thrift Savings Plan: Groups ask about retirement benefits changes- While If federal employees are forced to contribute more toward their civil service retirement benefits, many might have to cut back on their investments in the Thrift Savings Plan, employee organization officials said Monday. (05/01)

The Case Against Consolidation: Rebuttal testimony challenges Network Rationalization- While the week's postal news was dominated by the Senate vote on postal reform, something else important was going on. Opponents of the Postal Service's plan to consolidate the processing network submitted their rebuttal testimony to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). (04/29)

PMG on C-SPAN- Patrick Donahoe talked about options for restructuring the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which was losing $20 million per day. (04/27)

Letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe – It Is Time to Resign- Dear Mr. Donahoe, You are actively presiding over the demise of one of our country’s greatest founding institutions. The U.S. Postal Service is an institution that was conceived by Benjamin Franklin and which has succeeded brilliantly over the generations to service, connect, and allow the people of our land to communicate with each other anywhere at a common rate regardless of whether they live in urban, suburban, or rural areas. (04/26)

Senate Approves Amended Postal Bill, Next Up: The House of Representatives- The Senate passed an amended version of the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789) on April 25 by a vote of 62-37. "Although the bill is flawed, the amended version is far better than the original," said APWU President Cliff Guffey. (04/25)
› NALC disappointed, but determined, as Senate passes S. 1789
› NPMHU - Senate Adopts Amended Postal Reform Bill: Focus Turns to Action in the House
› Statements from the Board of Governors and the Postmaster General on Today's Senate Action
 Bernie Sanders on The Ed Show: Senate Passes Postal Reform

The Senate has passed S. 1789 (Yea-62 Nay-37)- with those approved amendments noted... (04/25)

Voting Begins on Postal Bill, Important Votes Set for April 25- The Senate began voting on amendments to the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789) on April 24, with action on the bill expected to be wrapped up in the Senate on April 25.(04/25)

Scram, scam! Alert employees help Inspectors crack fraud case- Employees at several Post Offices in a large rural area surrounding Flagstaff, AZ, notified Postal Inspectors last August they were picking up 20 to 50 Express Mail parcels at a time from blue collection boxes. Each box had what the employees believed was counterfeit postage.(04/25)

APWU Wins Important FMLA Arbitration- The APWU won an important arbitration case on April 18, when Arbitrator Shyam Das ruled that the Postal Service cannot require employees to use forms developed by the Department of Labor (DOL) when they submit certification for leave under the provisions of the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Das' ruling overturned a Postal Service policy, announced on July 6, 2010, that required employees to use DOL forms. The decision was issued in response to a national-level grievance filed by the APWU on Oct. 4, 2010. (04/23)

› Rain, Snow, Sleet and Congress
› Republicans manufacture a crisis for the Postal Service, and too many Democrats go along
› Postal Service prompts tricky votes in the Senate

TELL YOUR SENATORS TO SUPPORT THESE AMENDMENTS TODAY!- While we oppose many of the amendments offered, and support others, the primary amendments we are concerned with are as follows: (04/20)

Senate reaches deal for voting on amendments to postal bill- Looks like the Senate’s going to be very busy next Tuesday with rapid-fire voting on more than three dozen amendments to S. 1789, the postal overhaul legislation. (04/19)

Senate to Consider Postal Bill Today, April 17- The Senate is expected to consider a revised version of S. 1789, the 21st Century Postal Service Act, on Tuesday, April 17, with proceedings broadcast and Webcast live on C-SPAN. The first order of business will be a "cloture vote" on a motion to proceed. Sixty votes are required to proceed to consideration of the bill. (04/17)

APWU, Retiree, Sue USPS, Accounting Manager- The APWU and a retired union member filed a complaint in federal court against the Postal Service and a manager in the Accounting Service Center in Eagan MN on April 2, charging they have violated the Debt Collection Act and the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. (04/16)

APWU E-TEAM WEEKLY (04/13/2012) - Congress is getting ready to come back into DC next week. When legislators return to town, postal reform legislation could be taken up any day. The APWU continues to air television ads aimed at informing the general public and members of Congress that the Postal Service doesn't cost taxpayers one cent. This ad campaign is designed to support efforts to finally resolve the Postal Service's financial crisis without lowering service standards, slashing pay, reducing benefits, and ending collective bargaining rights. (04/13)

The end of Saturday mail is coming-and Friday mail might be next- After a U.S. Postal Service announcement that financial woes may force it to discontinue Saturday delivery—a measure backed by President Obama—members of Congress are scrambling against a May 15 deadline to reassure constituents that no, they won't stop receiving their Lane Bryant catalogs and carpet cleaning circulars over the weekend. (04/13)

GONE POSTAL Documentary Trailer 2012- Uncover what brought America's most trusted institution to its knees. Get the truth behind the headlines from the men and women on the front lines. Your charitable donation will support the completion and release of a 4 year cross-country investigation of the United States Postal Service.

USPS Preparing to "Drastically Downsize" Staffing At Four Plants on 5-19-2012- USPS has informed employees at 4 plants (or maybe more) of the upcoming changes.

» How can you tell if a federal buyout is a good deal? (04/06/12) - (source: federalnewsradio.com)

Postal System for Sale? Please Say It Ain't So.- The reality is, the USPS is not broke. It has enough cash to pay its bills, if those bills are structured in a reasonable and realistic manner. We can save the USPS (our mail system pre-dates our Constitution, and is mandated therein) by re-structuring the law to allow the USPS to use the funds it has overpaid into the FERS and by eliminating the ridiculous retiree healthcare pre-payment requirement. We can save jobs, living wage jobs. According to the Postmaster General we can save 120,000 - 220,000 jobs. It will not cost us a cent. Not one penny. In this economy, why would we not do that? Is the union-busting that important?. (4/01)