CONGRESSIONAL PANELS VOTE TO KEEP SIX-DAY DELIVERY -  Two congressional panels voted on July 29 to approve spending bills that would require the Postal Service to continue to provide mail delivery six days per week. The two bills — one in the Senate and one in the House — still have a long way to go before they could become law, however.  “These are important steps, but we must clear many more hurdles in order to stop the Postal Service from eliminating Saturday delivery,” said APWU Legislative & Political Director Myke Reid.  more...      

  CONGRESSWOMAN SEEKS STAMPS HONORING ANTHRAX VICTIMS -  Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) urged Postmaster General Potter and the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Council to approve a commemorative postage stamp honoring the lives of two APWU members killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks.  Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. died after being exposed to anthrax in the attack at the Brentwood Mail Processing Facility in Washington, DC in October 2001. The facility has been renamed in their honor.   more...      

  HR 5746:  ONE STEP CLOSER TO SOLVING THE FINANCIAL "CRISIS" -  By an 8-1 vote, the House postal oversight subcommittee approved H.R. 5746, the United States Postal Service’s CSRS Obligation Modification Act of 2010, introduced by the panel’s chairman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA).  If passed, OPM would be required to recalculate how much the Postal Service should have paid into the CSRS fund.  Any overpayments, which have been estimated as being between $55 and $75 billion, would be transferred into the Postal Retiree Health Benefit Fund fully funding it, as well.  This would end the required $5+ billion yearly payments. more...      

BURRUS TO CONGRESS: "We should not even engage in serious discussion" ON 5-day delivery -  Predicting that mail volume will grow in 2012, APWU President William Burrus told lawmakers June 23 that slashing service will not solve the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties.  "No service-oriented business can grow by reducing service,” Burrus told the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, and the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia.   more...      

SEN COBURN TRIES TO PULL A FAST ONE -  Conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) tried to pull a fast one at a joint hearing sponsored by Senate and House postal subcommittees on Wednesday.  Coburn, who authored the anti-labor amendment to a Senate bill (S. 1507) to require arbitrators to consider the financial health of the USPS when ruling on collective bargaining agreements, remarked that arbitrators are currently prohibited from considering USPS’ economic circumstances.

Of course, that is patently false. Arbitrators are free to consider the financial state of the USPS when issuing their decisions, and have routinely done so. . .more...

MAILER'S ALLIANCE DEMAND POSTAL WORKERS TAKE PAY CUTS - The Alliance for Affordable Mail says that workers should endure a reduction of 33.9 percent of their pay and benefits.  The Alliance demands that postal management attack employee wages and benefits to bring them in line with non-union workers, many of whom are forced to accept any employer demands simply to remain employed.    more . . .

OSHA EXPRESS ROLLS ON:  MORE USPS FACILITIES FINED FOR HAZARDS - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has continued its review of postal facilities.  In most cases, the USPS is found to be guilty of "serious and willful" safety violations and the penalties keep piling up.  The most recent office to fall under the OSHA eye have been:  Boston, MA fined $357,000,  White River Jct, VT fined $420,000, Capitol Heights, MD fined $272,000

USPS FINED FOR ELECTRICAL SAFETY VIOLATIONS IS PORTLAND, OR - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards at the Portland, Ore., Processing and Distribution Center. An OSHA inspection conducted in response to employee complaints resulted in a total of $77,500 in fines.  more . . .

OSHA HITS USPS FOR SAFETY VIOLATIONS IN PITTSBURGH PROCESSING PLANT - OSHA issued the USPS four counts of “willful” violations, one repeat violation and two “serious” violations at the Pittsburgh P&DC.  The fines, totaling $299,500  These charges bring the Postal Service’s total OSHA fines to nearly $1.5 million.  more . . .

USPS CITED FOR OSHA VIOLATIONS IN PHILLY - OSHA issued the USPS six counts of “willful” and “serious” violations at the Philadelphia P&DC.  The fines, totaling $217,000 were in addition to similar fines issued at the Philly BMC. These recent charges bring the Postal Service’s total OSHA fines to nearly $1.5 million.
 more . . .