Nine Drug Traffickers Charged After Mailing Cocaine From Puerto Rico To Manhattan

  Nine Drug Traffickers Charged After Mailing Cocaine From Puerto Rico To Manhattan

"...One of the defendants was a U.S. Postal Service employee who used the federal agency’s expansive distribution system as a drug delivery service. The fairly elaborate narcotic peddling scheme was foiled due to an overcommitment to retain lost goods...."

Reference: dailycaller.com  

Birmingham Postal Worker Rising in Music Industry

  The Lives and Deaths of Birmingham Hip-Hop

"...For Collins, who works for the U.S. Postal Service when he’s not running the label, founding Clockwork 247 has been “a constant headache.” “I tell everybody this is organized chaos,” he says. “”Every day, we’re constantly moving forward, but we may not know where we’re going.” Clockwork 247 might be one of the Birmingham hip-hop community’s newest members, but Collins says ..."

Reference: weldbham.com  

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #8: Contract Negotiations Extended Beyond Deadline

  Contract Negotiations Extended Beyond Deadline
As expected, a lot happened during the final days of this year’s regular bargaining period. The Postal Service and NPMHU negotiated right up until the clock struck midnight on Friday, May 20. Despite these efforts, however, an agreement on all of the outstanding terms and conditions of employment could not be reached before the deadline.

Read 2016 Contract Update #8 (pdf)
Reference: www.npmhu.org

What's going on with the APWU Contract Arbitration Hearings? Contract Arbitration Hearings Conclude for APWU

 

Decision Expected in 30 to 60 Days

Contract Arbitration Hearings Conclude

During 18 days of hearings that focused primarily on the economic provisions on the new contract, the union and management presented their positions, called witnesses, submitted evidence, and offered rebuttals.

For more information on the negotiations and the fight for a good contract, click here.

Reference: www.apwu.org  

How do other businesses treat employees during hard times? 4.8 percent pay raise for workers at VW

  Scandal-hit VW agrees to 4.8 percent pay rise for workers

"...the kind of raises that could help the 19-country eurozone lift inflation from dangerously low levels. The company said Friday that almost 120,000 workers would get 2.8 percent more on Sept. 1 and then another 2.0 percent on Aug. 1, 2017..."

Reference: www.timesfreepress.com  

Memorandum Addresses NPMHU Bidding Procedures During Bargaining

  Memorandum Addresses NPMHU Bidding Procedures During Bargaining

Employees represented by the NPMHU will be allowed to bid under the new contract, whether or not the parties reach a tentative settlement, extend bargaining, or enter into impasse procedures. Successful bids on or after May 21, 2016 will be counted towards the bid maximums established in the 2016 National Agreement.

Read the Union's memorandum and related USPS document addressing bidding procedures during the ongoing negotiations and/or in the event of an impasse. (pdf)

Reference: www.npmhu.org  

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #7

Contract Expiration Approaches - Bargaining Intensifies
NPMHU Issues Contract Update #7
With the contract expiration date nearing, bargaining has entered its final stage. The parties have launched a series of meetings at a hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. These meetings will occur with increasing regularity as the week progresses.

The NPMHU bargaining team is hard at work. Postal Service representatives also are working to ensure that the agency’s interests are represented in this new contract. Much of this work is done at the eleventh hour, however. Considerable progress is expected between now and midnight on Friday, May 20.

Read 2016 Contract Update #7(pdf)


Reference: www.npmhu.org

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #6

USPS Delivers Financial Presentation
NPMHU Issues Contract Update #6
This past week the Postal Service presented the NPMHU bargaining team with its official, on-the-record Financial Presentation. This did not include a proposed wage or benefit package for the 2016 National Agreement, but rather focused on the Postal Service’s current financial situation.

The presentation was slightly dated, primarily relying on data from Fiscal Year 2015 (ending on September 30, 2015) and the first quarter of FY2016 to reach its conclusions. It also focused on the termination of the exigent rate increase that led to a reduction in postage rates last month. However, it appears that the projections made in the presentation were fairly accurate. Outlined were the Postal Service’s views on the root causes of its financial instability, the steps it has taken thus far to deal with this financial situation, and the additional actions that it believes are still necessary to cope with the formidable financial challenges that lie ahead.

Read 2016 Contract Update #6 (pdf)
Reference: www.npmhu.org

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #5

  NPMHU Issues Contract Update #5
Bargaining is entering its final phase as the month of May 2016 approaches. With the contract slated to expire at midnight on May 20, 2016, both the NPMHU and the Postal Service have begun to draft tentative agreements.

Tentative agreements, or TAs, as they are known in the world of collective bargaining, are crucial to the practice of contract negotiation. They serve as markers of everything that is agreed upon during the period of negotiations. At the moment, both parties have signed off on only a handful of tentative agreements, but there certainly will be more to come. Read 2016 Contract Update #5 (pdf)


Reference: www.npmhu.org

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #4

  NPMHU Issues Contract Update #4
At the main table session on Tuesday, April 5, the parties reconvened after a brief hiatus to receive and discuss several counterproposals from the Postal Service. Each proposal was presented by a different member of the Postal Service’s bargaining team. At the end of each presentation, the Union had an opportunity to seek clarification and ask questions.

Read 2016 Contract Update #4 (pdf)
Reference: www.npmhu.org

Ex-Postal Worker from Huntsville is CMA award-winning and Grammy-nominated songwriter Jim McBride

  Jim McBride returns for Arts Center show

"...continued to write songs while he was employed by the United States Postal Service. He reluctantly left the comfort of a government job for an uncertain career in Nashville in 1981..."

Reference: News-Postal  

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #3

  NPMHU Issues Contract Update #3
The NPMHU and the Postal Service have now been engaged in collective bargaining for approximately one month. During the month of March, the Union has been meeting with management representatives an average of three days per week. Some of the meetings were on the record (also known as “main table”) and some have been off the record, in the form of more informal but focused subcommittees. The meetings are expected to occur even more frequently as bargaining moves forward.

Read 2016 Contract Update #3 (pdf)
Reference: www.npmhu.org

NPMHU Issues Contract Update #2

  NPMHU Issues Contract Update #2
Bargaining is underway! Representatives from the Postal Service have now met at least three times with representatives from the NPMHU Negotiations Team for productive rounds of on-the-record meetings.

Read Contract Update #2 here (PDF)
Reference: www.npmhu.org

Did you Know? The USPS offers a 'Hold Mail Service'

  Hold Mail Service

"...If you’re going away for a while, take advantage of the Postal Service Hold Mail service. The USPS will keep your mail safely at your local Post Office™ until you return. Schedule the service up to 30 days in advance, or by 2AM CST (Mon-Sat) on the start date. Each address can have one Hold Mail scheduled at a time. All mail will be held, rather than an individual's mail. Fill the form out online..."

Reference: holdmail.usps.com  

Postal worker struck and killed in parking lot of Kearny distribution center

  Postal worker struck and killed in parking lot of Kearny distribution center

"...Dominic V. Daniels Processing & Distribution Center in Kearny, where a 54-year-old employee was struck and killed in the parking lot on Tuesday, March 22, 2016..."

Reference: www.nj.com  

How are your wages in comparison to the U.S. average hourly earnings? Not so good

  How are your wages in comparison to the U.S. average hourly earnings? Not so good

Are you curious if your wages are keeping up with the average hourly wages in America? Well, the Postal Service does not seem to be keeping up with the wage growth that the average worker is experiencing and contract negotiations with postal unions do not bode well for repairing the stagnant wages of postal workers.

Average hourly earnings increased by 0.5% to $25.39, the Labor Department said Friday. From a year earlier, hourly wages are up 2.5%, a slight slowdown from the prior month’s 2.7% annual advance, but again one of the best performances since the recession ended.

As you can see, the Postal Service wage is not keeping up by far, for example, a starting Level 4 Career Mail Handler is only $17.07/hour. Even sadder, a Mail Handler that is topped out at the level 4 rate earns only $27.03/hour ...not so much for a laborious job with odd hours and off days. All of this while the Postal Service continues to profit, yet argues against unions for even average pay raises. All of this while doing more with less. Can you expect the 2.5% average U.S. worker annual advance being garnered by others? If contract negotiations with other unions are any indication, you can rest assured you will not see it from the USPS. That is not to say the USPS will not do the right thing and provide a 2.5% increase, but it does not look likely. An arbitration agreement may provide some relief should negotiations fail to provide adequate wage increases and it comes to that.

However, in spite of being well below average in wages, the average Mail Handler continues to provide excellent service to the employer and this great country. Sometimes the only reward we get as a postal worker is the pride we feel in providing the best service available in the mailing industry for the best price and with the best attitude toward our loyal customers. All of this from a group of workers that have largely already served our country as military service men and women. We all know that serving our country is in our blood and we continue to do so with pride and quality.

Reference: npmhu317.blogspot.com  

Huntsville Union Meeting on Saturday (March 19, 2016)

  Huntsville Union Meeting on Saturday (March 19, 2016)

The National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 317 - Huntsville, will host a union meeting at the China Buffet on Highway 20 in Madison. The meeting is scheduled for noon on Saturday, March 19, 2016. The State President, James Morris, will be in attendance as well as the Huntsville Local Branch President, Alex.

Reference: npmhu317.blogspot.com  

2016 Contract Update #1

  2016 Contract Update #1

For the most current information available, please read the first of many Contract Updates produced and distributed by the NPMHU during the course of 2016 negotiations. These updates, along with the Union’s magazine and monthly bulletins, will keep mail handlers throughout the country informed and involved in the issues raised during this round of bargaining.

Here is a link to the update:

• 2016 No. 1 – March 10, 2016 (PDF)

Reference: www.npmhu.org  

Postal employee deaths at Pontiac facility raise questions

  Postal employee deaths at Pontiac facility raise questions

"... This site is considered a brownfield. Brownfields are former industrial or commercial sites where future use is affected by environmental contamination. Brownfield sites are converted into usable space under the supervision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)..."

Reference: www.clickondetroit.com  

Mail handler fired following work-related injury at Postal Service facility

  Mail handler fired following work-related injury at Postal Service facility

"...“The Postal Service terminated this employee for working unsafely, despite statements from co-workers and witnesses contradicting that story,” said Nick Walters, regional administrator or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Chicago. “No worker should be subject to such treatment. The department will do everything to prevent this type of unlawful retaliation.” The department’s lawsuit alleges..."

Reference: www.norwalkreflector.com  

Negotiations Kick-off with First Main Table Bargaining Session

  Negotaiations Kick-off with First Main Table Bargaining Session
March 01, 2016 - The National Postal Mail Handlers Union and United States Postal Service bargaining teams met for the first of many main-table negotiations. President Hogrogian presented the Union's first packet of non-economic proposals to the Service.
Reference: www.npmhu.org

NPMHU and USPS Present Opening Statements as National Negotiations Begin in Washington D.C.

  NPMHU and USPS Present Opening Statements as National Negotiations Begin in Washington D.C.

"...The return of normal growth in the American economy and operational surpluses for the Postal Service should mean a return to more normalized collective bargaining. ...to integrate the postal health care system into Medicare; to expand the mailing and other services that the Postal Service offers to the American public; and to stop the unwise closings and consolidations of mail processing facilities ..."

Reference: www.npmhu.org  

Addendum to MOU Re: Filling of Residual Vacancies Signed

  Addendum to MOU Re: Filling of Residual Vacancies Signed
February 9, 2016- In a memorandum to all Local Presidents, President Hogrogian and CAD Manager T.J. Branch report that the NPMHU and the Postal Service have signed another MOU about the filling of residual vacancies, this one supplementing the earlier August 2015 MOU on this subject.

Through this February 8, 2016 agreement, the parties have executed an Addendum to the MOU Re Filling Residual Vacancies in which they mutually agree to change item 6 of the original MOU – governing the filling of vacancies based on the MOU Re Transfers, with the following language (new language underlined below):

“Based on the MOU Re: Transfers, all qualified bargaining-unit applicants without priority consideration, on a first-in, first-out basis. These reassignment (transfer) requests will be made with the normal considerations contained in the MOU Re Transfers. All residual vacancies will be posted in eReassign. The number of career reassignments allowed under this paragraph is limited to one in every four full-time opportunities filled in offices of 100 or more work-years and one in every six full-time opportunities filled in offices of less than 100 work-years.

As the new, underlined language makes clear, upon reaching item 6 in the MOU Re Filling Residual Vacancies, all residual vacancies will be posted in eReasign, and career employees from other installations may be transferred based on that system, with upside limits of 1 in every 4 full-time positions in offices with at least 100 work-years and 1 in every 6 positions in smaller facilities.

Copies of this new Addendum, as well as the original MOU, are available at this link.


Reference: www.npmhu.org

Huntsville woman arrested in mail theft case

  Huntsville woman arrested in mail theft case

"...Madison Police arrested a Huntsville woman Thursday in connection with recent mail thefts and destruction of mail from residential mailboxes, according to a press release..."

Reference: www.enewscourier.com  

Leighton post office drug shipment seized; meth and marijuana seized, two arrested

  Drug shipment seized, ICE and marijuana seized, two arrested

"...LEIGHTON Post Office — Working with the U.S. postal inspector’s office, state agencies and local law enforcement helped the Colbert County Drug Task Force arrest what they describe as a “major” drug dealer..."

Reference: www.timesdaily.com  

NPMHU 2015 Year in Review

  NPMHU 2015 Year in Review

NPMHU 2015 Year in Review

"...As the NPMHU officers and members prepare for what surely will be a busy 2016, we wanted to share a look back at some of our events from 2015..."
Reference: www.npmhu.org

2016 Federal Holidays

  2016 Federal Holidays
"...copy of the official listing of the 2016 Federal Holiday dates. This list is from..."
Reference: federalholidays2016.blogspot.com

Huntsville will pass Birmingham as Alabama's largest city

  Projection claims Huntsville will pass Birmingham as Alabama's largest city within 10 years

"...According to AL.com, demographers project Huntsville – with a population that has been trending up for years and some recent huge wins on the economic development trail – will eclipse Mobile in two years, Montgomery in four years and Birmingham by 2022..."

Reference: www.bizjournals.com  

Valpak targets Huntsville market for brand expansion in 2016

  Valpak targets Huntsville market for brand expansion in 2016

"...'Alabama is a hot spot for us right now, as we near the end of 2015 and gear up for aggressive expansion in the coming months,' said Greg Courchane, Valpak's director of franchise sales..."

Reference: www.al.com