New Postal Voluntary Early Retirement VER for July 31, 2009

Postal News

Read it here: New Postal Voluntary Retirement VER for July 31, 2009

ALL EMPLOYEES except Electronic Technicians (ET); Maintenance Mechanics, Mail Processing Equipment (MPE); Part-time Postmasters.

"... Please Note: The age and years of service criteria must be met by the effective retirement date of this VERA: July 31, 2009. If you don’t meet the criteria by July 31, 2009, you are not eligible for voluntary early retirement...."  
Source: The Postal Newsgroup

 

USPS Announces VER, District Closings, Reductions

On March 20, the US Postal Service announced District Closings, Voluntary Early Retirement, and Reductions. The announcement reads as follows:

USPS ANNOUNCES ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE CLOSINGS, EARLY RETIREMENT OFFER AND
STAFFING REDUCTIONS

Today the Postal Service has announced it will close six of its 80 district offices. USPS is also
eliminating positions across the country and offering another round of voluntary early retirements.
These actions are expected to save the Postal Service more than $100 million annually.
The six offices closing — located in Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Washington State — house administrative functions and will not adversely affect
customer service, mail delivery, Post Office operations or ZIP Codes. The functions of these offices will
be assumed by 10 surrounding districts.
The Postal Service’s districts are being re-aligned as follows:
�� The Boston and Connecticut districts will assume the operations of the Massachusetts District.
�� The Northern New England (formerly Maine) District will assume the operations of the New
Hampshire/Vermont District.
�� The Western Pennsylvania (formerly Pittsburgh) District will assume the operations of the Erie
District.
�� The South Florida and Suncoast districts will assume the operations of the Central Florida
District.
�� The Seattle and Salt Lake City districts will assume the operations of the Spokane District.
�� The Northern New Jersey and Southern New Jersey districts will assume the operations of the
Central Jersey District.
USPS will reduce administrative staff positions at the district level nationwide by 15 percent. In addition,
more than 1,400 mail processing supervisor and management positions at nearly 400 facilities around
the country will be eliminated, and nearly 150,000 employees nationwide are being given the


The Mandatory Stand-Up Talk reads as follows:

Mandatory Stand-Up Talk
District Closings, Staffing Reductions and VER Announced
With the economic recession resulting in the Postal Service ending fiscal year 2008 with a loss of nearly $3 billion, we
are facing an extremely difficult financial challenge.
Streamlining operations and improving efficiency throughout the Postal Service is a constant, ongoing process. Over
the past year, we have refined this process by modifying networks, consolidating functions, adjusting delivery routes
and restructuring administrative and processing operations. Today, Postmaster General Jack Potter announced new
steps to further our efforts. These actions are expected to save the Postal Service more than $100 million annually.
First, the Postal Service is closing six district offices.
These six administrative district offices were chosen based on their proximity to other districts that could absorb the
additional workload without compromising the delivery, retail and mail processing functions of the Postal Service.
Today, more than 500 employees were notified by their area vice president and/or district manager that their district
offices were closing.
An opportunity for voluntary early retirement (VER) also is being offered.
This nationwide offer is open to nearly 150,000 employees who meet the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
conditions, and who are at least 50 years of age with 20 years of creditable federal service, or any age with 25 years
of creditable federal service. An annuity estimate will be mailed to all VER-eligible employees starting April 6, 2009.
Another step being taken is instituting a 15% administrative staffing reduction of positions in all remaining 74
district offices.
Postal headquarters already has reduced its employee complement by approximately 15% and the area offices are in
the process of a similar staffing reduction.
At nearly 400 of our mail processing facilities around the country, more than 1,400 supervisor and
management positions are being eliminated.
Reduction in force (RIF) avoidance strategies will be in place for employees impacted by district closings and staffing
reductions.
There are no signs of an early economic recovery. Financial projections call for a continued decline in mail volume and
revenue.
Now, more than ever, we all must look for ways to do our jobs more efficiently and help to continue the service
performance and customer satisfaction improvements we have gained in recent years.
By doing so, we can help ensure that the Postal Service will continue to deliver for America now and in the future.
Additional information — and questions and answers — about all of these new changes can be found under the Hot
Topics section on Blue. VER information can be found under the Hot Topics section on LiteBlue.

 

District Closings and New USPS Early Out

 

One of the members over at the FederalSoup Community has provided information on "District Closings" [information not verified or confirmed] relating to the newly announced Voluntary Early Retirement action. It includes Districts and numbers. The information is found on the 10th page, third item of this link: http://community.federalsoup.com/4/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=tpc&s=4944011921&f=7604055441&m=1831021071&p=10.
Reference: community.federalsoup.com

 

U.S. Postal Service offering early retirement to 150,000 workers

 
U.S. Postal Service offering early retirement to 150,000 workers
"...Aside from offering early retirement to 150,000 of the agency's 646,000 workers, the Postal Service said it would reduce management staff by 15%, which would eliminate more than 1,400 processing, supervisor and management posts at nearly 400 facilities...."
Reference: www.latimes.com

 

Stopper Postcard Measures Delivery Speed While Stressing Out Postal Workers

 
Stopper Postcard Measures Delivery Speed While Stressing Out Postal Workers
"...Just how long does it take that postcard to get from A to B? The Stopper postcard can tell you..."
Reference: i.gizmodo.com

 

Changes to the Rehabilitation Act

 
Changes to the Rehabilitation Act
Click below to enlarge text

Reference: www.napus.org

 

Postal Service tweaks delivery of plummeting mail count

 
Postal Service tweaks delivery of plummeting mail count
"...The National Association of Letter Carriers, a trade union, inked a deal with the Postal Service that has allowed the reorganization of deliveries to begin, and the process is expected to be completed by the middle of next month. Union representatives are examining data from postal routes and approving adjustments on a case-by-case basis..."
Reference: www.keepmecurrent.com

 

LDC-18 Classified Positions

 

USPS Telecom for dissemination to employees (Alabama):

LDC-18 positions will be eliminated in plants

Plants must be at plan on work hours

No double DPS runs on Sunday

Reassignments to other crafts after April (editor note: we believe this to be clerks to carriers as reported in the news recently)

Bids will be changed to match workloads

USPS Forecast to lose 8.8 billion this year

Reference: March 2, 2009: Alabama USPS Telecom via employee communication