The great big Postal Service lie

  The great big Postal Service lie

"...look out, because a cabal of corporate predators and Koch-headed ideologues are scheming to take "public" out of this pubic agency and strip "service" out of the Postal Service by spreading a diabolical Big Lie. Their bogus claim is that this essential public service is a hopeless money loser, sucking billions from taxpayers every year. Unfortunately, our lazy media establishment..."

Reference: Federal Employee News  

Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Open Season: September 1 - 30, 2016

  Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Open Season: September 1 - 30, 2016

Take advantage of the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Open Season. For the first time in 12 years, as a FEGLIeligible employee you can enroll in or increase your FEGLI coverage for yourself and eligible dependent family members – without answering any medical questions or having a physical examination. All career employees are eligible to participate.

Almost everyone needs life insurance; how much is for you to decide. Through the FEGLI Program, you have several choices in selecting the amount of life insurance that’s right for you. FEGLI offers:
• • Basic Life — Provides the first level of financial protection. Unless waived, all eligible Federal employees will receive Basic term life insurance in an amount equal to your salary, rounded up to the next $1,000, plus $2,000. If eligible, the Federal Government pays one-third of the cost of your Basic insurance. You must have Basic Insurance before you can enroll in Optional Coverage.
• • Option A — Standard, in the amount of $10,000.
• • Option B — Additional, in an amount from one to five times your annual rate of basic pay after rounding your salary up to the next $1,000.
• • Option C — Family, one to five multiples of coverage for your spouse and each of your eligible dependent children under age 22. Each multiple is equal to $5,000 for the death of a spouse and $2,500 for the death of each eligible dependent child. Generally, only unmarried dependent children are eligible for coverage under Option C.

Protect your family from the loss of your income. When considering the amount of coverage you need, think about the funds your survivors might need in addition to funeral expenses. Examples are: mortgage, rent, credit card debt, school loans, uncovered medical costs, taxes and attorney’s fees.

Find out what coverage you currently have:

Review your Life Insurance code on your Earnings Statement. Log on to liteblue.usps.gov, go to Employee Apps – Quick Links and click on ePayroll. There will not be a line for Basic coverage because the Postal Service pays the full amount. You cannot have Optional coverage without Basic. If you are not sure whether you have Basic only, check your most recent PS Form 50.

Determine the right amount of coverage for you and your family:

Use the FEGLI Calculator or MetLife's Coverage Calculator to estimate the coverage needed. The FEGLI Calculator computes premium amounts based on the coverage you select. You can also see how much your coverage will cost in retirement. MetLife's Coverage Calculator helps you evaluate your needs and identify an appropriate coverage amount.

The FEGLI Open Season brochure provides additional information about Open Season and what FEGLI offers.

Ready to make changes to your FEGLI coverage?

Complete the SF 2817, Life Insurance Election. Sign for all of the coverage you want, even if it includes coverage you already have. Any coverage not signed for, will be cancelled on the effective date of your Open Season election. The effective date of your Open Season election will be October 14, 2017, provided that you are in a pay and duty status. If you are in a nonpay status, your new coverage will become effective upon your return to pay and duty status.

Mail your completed SF 2817 to:
HR Shared Service Center
ATTN: FEGLI Open Season
PO Box 971300
Greensboro NC 27497- 1300

There is a one year delayed effective date for coverage elected through the FEGLI Open Season. Elections will take effect on the first day of your first pay period that begins on or after October 1, 2017, provided you are in pay and duty status. If you do not want to wait, you can elect coverage without a delayed effective date by providing satisfactory medical information on the Request for Insurance form, SF 2822.1 You can also elect basic and optional coverage within 60 days of a qualifying life event (e.g., marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, birth/adoption of children).

Don’t forget to name a beneficiary!

During this Open Season, we encourage you to verify, add or change your beneficiary elections to ensure that your benefits will be paid according to your wishes. Updating your beneficiary designation is completely voluntary. If you do not name a beneficiary, your benefits will be paid according to the order of payment set by law. If you want to update your designation, you can complete a Designation of Beneficiary (SF 2823, available at www.opm.gov/life) and submit it to your human resources office or shared service center.

Additional material available for download:
2016 FEGLI Reference Guide (pdf)
2016 FEGLI Brochure (pdf)
SF2817 Life Insurance Election (pdf)

Reference: www.npmhu.org  

Mail Handler Contract Update

  Mail Handler Contract Update

What's the latest on the mail handler contract update? The big question for most mail handler's is what is going to happen with the new contract? The answer to that question is unknown. The last contract update was in May on the national site. Will we finally garner a decent wage increase or will the arbitrator simply follow the arbitrator in the APWU arbitration and receive a tiny 1% increase for career employees while incomes of typical Americans rose in 2015 by 5.2 percent? Sadly, as parcel growth increases exponentially, the postal service continues to cry poor-mouth, especially at contract negotiations time. Will mail handlers garner wages to catch them up to somewhere close to that of other crafts or will health insurance costs continue to drive down any wage increases while mail handlers struggle to survive while middle class incomes see the first significant boost to middle-class pay since the end of the Great Recession and the fastest increase ever recorded by the federal government? Only time will tell if we continue to slide economically while the rest of the nation reaps the benefits of an improving economy. Stay tuned for more and hope you will be rewarded for your hard work and loyalty.

Reference: npmhu317.blogspot.com