DeJoy says USPS regulator’s network consolidation probe puts financial targets in ‘jeopardy’

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

Federal News Network: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is telling lawmakers that the Postal Service, facing larger financial losses than expected this year, can still achieve its long-term financial goals — if its regulator and Congress don’t interfere with plans to overhaul its delivery network. “We need to move, and we can get back on track with this. I see where … Read More

Morrison, Tenn., post office suspended over lease issue

Steve HutkinsNews

Southern Standard: On Tuesday, the United States Postal Service announced the suspension of the Morrison Post Office as of May 20. Beginning May 22,  Morrison postal consumers are encouraged to use the Manchester Post Office at 1601 Hillsboro Blvd. or Smartt Post Office at 5174 Manchester Hwy. in Smartt. Morrison P.O. Box customers will keep their existing P.O. Box number … Read More

Pay Cuts Have Rural Letter Carriers ‘Scared’ and ‘Outraged’

Steve HutkinsNews

Government Executive: Thousands of letter carriers at the U.S. Postal Service are starting to see new schedules that have reduced their hours and cut their pay, causing significant anxiety within the workforce. The changes are part of a revamping of the pay structure for rural employees, a process that has been years in the making and subject to a series of … Read More

Rural Letter Carriers Complain About Dramatically Reduced Pay

Steve HutkinsNews

David Dayen, The American Prospect: A new payment system that is estimated to reduce base pay for most rural letter carriers, for some by thousands of dollars, has led to widespread threats of quitting and concern about whether the mail will get delivered in rural America. The U.S. Postal Service intended to begin implementing the new system, known as the … Read More

The bank crisis is the latest argument to expand Postal Service banking

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

APWU President Mark Dimondstein: The recent bank crisis set off by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has exposed a reality about how U.S. banking really works. The system’s very existence — for example, insuring deposits, loan guarantees and setting interest rates — depends entirely on the federal government. Since the government is already in the business of supporting the … Read More

GAO says Action Needed to Improve Credibility of USPS Cost Assumptions for Next Generation Delivery Vehicles

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

GAO: The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) cost estimate for acquiring the next generation delivery vehicle followed most leading practices for a comprehensive, well documented, and accurate estimate. However, USPS did not fully use practices related to credibility from GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, such as including a sensitivity analysis of how different assumptions affected the underlying cost estimate. … Read More

APWU to hold Post Office rally on May 1 in Spokane WA

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

Save Our Postal Workers is holding a rally at the Riverside Station Post Office, 904 W Riverside Ave., Spokane, WA 99204 May 01, 2023 • 11:30am If you or anyone you know has had a delay in mail services, come rally and tell de joy what you think!! Join the American Postal Workers Union and speak up!!

U.S. Postal Service squeezes the free press

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

Seattle Times: The U.S. Postal Service is increasing rates again, and it’s targeting newspapers and other periodicals for extra-high rates. It’s outrageous that the Postal Service, which was created in part to support the free press, is helping kill it. The Postal Service has proposed increasing rates across the board, pending rubber-stamp approval. Newspapers delivered by mail will take one of … Read More

PRC report on the feasibility of restoring service standards of 2012 and 2021

Steve HutkinsBlog, Featured, News

As part of the 2022 Appropriations Act, Congress directed the Postal Regulatory Commission “to analyze the feasibility of restoring service standards for market-dominant products that were in effect on July 1, 2012, including an examination of the resources and structural and operational changes needed, and the impacts on market growth and revenue.” Congress also directed the Commission to “conduct a … Read More

Don’t Expect to Charge Your Electric Vehicle at the Stations USPS Plans to Build

Steve HutkinsNews

Government Executive: There are too many hurdles to allow the public to use the U.S. Postal Service’s forthcoming charging stations to juice up their own electric vehicles, according to the agency and a federal watchdog, even as the agency plans to add the capacity to tens of thousands of its facilities. USPS should, however, create plans to allow its own … Read More

Rural Carriers to Protest Against Unfair Pay Cuts

Steve HutkinsNews

Thousands of United States Postal Service Rural Letter Carriers nationwide are facing huge pay cuts under a new pay evaluation system, the Rural Route Evaluated Compensation System (RRECS), set to go into effect later this month. Rural Carriers will be protesting these proposed pay cuts and their implementation without the promised transparency and access to the data by the workers … Read More

GAO: Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: USPS Should Plan for Potential Workplace Charging

Steve HutkinsBlog, News

GAO: The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) facilities, such as post offices, could potentially provide the public and postal employees with electric vehicle chargers. For example, publicly-accessible chargers could serve community members without a charger at their home. Additionally, five of the 13 stakeholders GAO interviewed said employees would most benefit from chargers at USPS facilities, given the time available … Read More

How a Texas judge banned the abortion pill by invoking the Comstock Act prohibiting mailing obscene material

Steve HutkinsNews

How an old law found new life in lawsuit seeking to revoke approval of abortion pill Anti-abortion advocates are trying to revive the long-dormant 1873 Comstock Act, which banned mailing of anything related to abortion or contraception, in a lawsuit about mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug. In an Amarillo courthouse last week, lawyers seeking to move abortion medication off the market … Read More

CPWU Spring 2023 newsletter

Steve HutkinsNews

The Spring 2023 newsletter from Community and Postal Workers United (CPWU) has articles about protests in Portland, OR, and Minneapolis, MN, about staff shortages, overwork, and mail delays; reports of residents not receiving their mail in mountain communities in Colorado; and Safe Passage routes for Illinois postal carriers who they say have been victims of violent crime. Read the newsletter … Read More