Birmingham postal inspector says someone local tried mailing thousands of counterfeit checks

  Birmingham postal inspector says someone local tried mailing thousands of counterfeit checks

"...BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Local postal inspectors are warning of a mail scam that could be on it’s way to your mailbox. Earlier this week, local US Postal Inspector, Tony Robinson, found four tubs filled with thousands of counterfeit postage and checks... “Inside is a letter that says ‘congratulations’,” Robinson said. “A lot of times it may be like a..."

Reference: www.wbrc.com
 

The Official and Final Version of the 2021-2024 APWU-USPS Collective Bargaining Agreement Has Been Published

  APWU Contract 2021-2024

"The official and final version of the 2021-2024 APWU Collective Bargaining Agreement has been completed. The linked PDF is being made available for immediate use. The file is fully searchable and bookmarked. ..."

Reference: apwu.org
 

2022 NPMHU Contract Update #2

  2022 NPMHU Contract Update #2

2022 No. 2 – June 23, 2022

You are reading the second Contract Update produced and distributed by the NPMHU during the course of 2022 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.

On June 22, 2022, representatives from the NPMHU Negotiations Team and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) met for the first session of main table bargaining at Postal Service Headquarters in Washington, DC. Both groups entered into the meeting with sincere optimism for positive and productive negotiations in the coming sessions. The purpose of these meetings at this early stage of the proceedings is to introduce and explain all of the parties’ official bargaining proposals.

During this first substantive meeting, each side discussed their objectives and priorities. The NPMHU and the Postal Service finalized the written ground rules governing this round of collective bargaining, the nature of the subcommittees and their respective leadership, and the best ways to facilitate an efficient and fruitful round of contract negotiations.

Both parties are eager to present their proposed changes to the current contract. Acting in his capacity as chief spokesperson for the NPMHU, National President Paul Hogrogian reiterated some of the changes that the union will seek in the new contract:

Fixing the broken wage scale for new career employees that worsens with every Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
Addressing the issues surrounding Mail Handler Assistants, including conversion, pay, and insurance Curtailing subcontracting, outsourcing, and privatization
Minimizing the use of temporary supervisors and other unnecessary details
Who’s at the Table?

Members of the NPMHU Negotiations Team include President Hogrogian; Secretary-Treasurer Michael Hora; National CAD Manager Teresa Harmon; National CAD Representatives Neil Ryan, Thomas Ruther and Eugene Horton; and our legal team from the NPMHU General Counsel’s office. USPS management was represented by chief spokesperson Patrick M. Devine, as well as a dozen other representatives and legal counsel.

What’s Next?

Main table negotiations will continue on June 29, 2022, when representatives of the USPS and the NPMHU will meet at NPMHU Headquarters for a full day of presenting and explaining proposals to amend the National Agreement. At that time, both parties hope to begin their discussions on a host of topics with a full exchange of ideas. The parties also have formed several subcommittees, which will meet in their own sessions. These meetings are off the record and focus on particular portions of the National Agreement, considering any related proposals as a group. Several subcommittees have so far been formed, including subcommittees on Articles 11, (Holidays), 12 (Principles of Seniority, Posting, and Reassignments), 32 (Subcontracting), Mail Handler Assistants, and Memoranda of Understanding and Letters of Intent (MOUs and LOIs).

On-the-record bargaining sessions will be routinely scheduled throughout the summer. Behind the scenes, the NPMHU Negotiations Team will be caucusing constantly to ensure that all the issues and proposals being prioritized in this round are carefully considered.

Future editions of this Contract Update will outline some of what’s being discussed this year, highlighting developments in negotiations as they occur. Please check your bulletin boards, the mobile app and npmhu.org for more bargaining information throughout the coming weeks and months.

2022 No. 2 – June 23, 2022 (pdf)

Reference: NPMHU via NPMHU Local 317
 

2022 Contract Negotiations Update for the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU)

  2022 Contract Negotiations Update for the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU)

2022 NPMHU Contract Update #1

You are reading the first Contract Update produced and distributed by the NPMHU during the course of 2022 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.

Bargaining has officially begun! By the time this is posted, representatives from the NPMHU Negotiations Team and the Postal Service will have met for the Opening Session of this round of bargaining taking place on Friday, June 10, 2022.

The Field Negotiating Committee meetings in February and this month’s meetings of the National Executive Board have produced a final package of proposals—the majority of which were submitted by members from across the country—to amend or create new provisions throughout the NPMHU National Agreement. It is our hope that these improvements will be considered, understood, accepted, and implemented by the USPS for the betterment of all mail handlers. Over the course of the next three months, our bargaining team will present each of these proposed changes during negotiations.

During Friday’s session to officially open 2022 bargaining, NPMHU National President Paul Hogrogian and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy gave opening statements setting the foundation for this year’s bargaining process. Excerpts from these statements will be available on the NPMHU website, npmhu.org, in the coming days.

Who’s at the Table?

This year’s Negotiations Team for the union will consist of President Hogrogian; Secretary-Treasurer Michael Hora; Manager of the Contract Administration Department Teresa Harmon; National CAD Representatives Neil Ryan, Thomas Ruther and Eugene Horton; and our legal team from the NPMHU General Counsel’s office. USPS management will be represented by Vice President of Labor Relations Thomas J. Blum and chief spokesperson Patrick M. Devine, as well as a host of other representatives and and legal counsel.

BARGAINING OVERVIEW

Our current National Agreement is set to expire on September 20, 2022. The goal is to obtain a tentative National Agreement, subject to membership ratification, by that date, but previous rounds of bargaining have often been extended to allow the parties to continue meeting to finalize their collaboration. However, if no final agreement is reached, and the parties reach impasse, there are alternative dispute resolution procedures to determine the changes to the National Agreement through final and binding interest arbitration.

Looking back on prior rounds of negotiations, the Union has presented its non-economic proposals first, followed by the Postal Service’s non-economic proposals. That often leads to a series of reactions and counter-proposals that will be drafted during the bargaining process.

While those subjects are being fully discussed, the Union will then develop and present its economic proposals: those which directly impact wages, benefits, premiums, and differentials. More specifically, the parties will treat Articles 9 and 21 as the key economic provisions, but will also include parts of Article 26 (clothing allowance) and Article 8 (night differential and Sunday premium pay) in the focused economic discussion.

On-the-record bargaining sessions will be routinely scheduled throughout the summer. Behind the scenes, the NPMHU Negotiations Team will be caucusing constantly to ensure that all of the issues and proposals being prioritized in this round are carefully considered. Future editions of this Contract Update will outline some of what’s being discussed this year, highlighting developments of negotiations as they occur. Please check your bulletin boards for more bargaining information throughout the coming weeks and months.

2022 Contract Update #1 (pdf)

Reference: www.npmhu.org via NPMHU 317
 

Postal Service notified NALC of its intent to conduct testing of electronic bikes (eBikes) for mail delivery

  Postal Service notified NALC of its intent to conduct testing of electronic bikes (eBikes) for mail delivery

"...Testing began on August 7th, in two offices in Florida, Miami Beach and Open Air Station in St. Petersburg and will continue for approximately six months. Both locations included in the test have existing bicycle routes. The test includes two different models of eBike, both manufactured by Coaster Cycles. Currently, USPS is testing one model in Miami Beach while both are being tested in St. Petersburg. While there are still many things to consider and evaluate with these new eBikes, NALC is hopeful that the Postal Service will continue exploring eco-friendly options for city delivery. ..."

Reference: www.nalc.org
 

Arbitrator Sharnoff Rules on Universal Sorting System (USS)

  Arbitrator Sharnoff Rules on Universal Sorting System (USS)

National Arbitration Decision on Universal Sorting System (USS) (pdf)

We are pleased to report that the NPMHU has prevailed in its National RI-399 dispute concerning jurisdictional assignments on the Universal Sorting System or USS.

In an award dated May 24, 2022, National Arbitrator Joseph Sharnoff concluded that the jurisdictional determination originally issued by the Postal Service in 2019 was consistent with the principles of RI-399, and that the Mail Handler Craft is the proper craft for performing all operations on the USS, including the reject keying station. In a lengthy, 82-page decision, the Arbitrator agreed with the arguments presented by the NPMHU and the Postal Service, and rejected each argument put forward by the APWU.

Here are some of the key paragraphs:

The Arbitrator concludes, for the following reasons, that the APWU has failed to meet its heavy burden of proving that the USPS acted improperly and in a manner which has been demonstrated by the protesting Union to have been arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, and that the craft determination constituted an abuse of the USPS’s discretion with regard to its issuance of the Craft Jurisdiction Determination letter for the USS, dated July 12, 2019, in favor of the Mail Handler Craft for all positions on the USS, including the employees performing the dumping, singulating, keying, and removing/sweeping of parcels/packages from the USS, with the exception of the staffing of the “Scan Where You Band” operation when present, which work was awarded to the Clerk Craft, with allied work on that operation assigned to the Mail Handler Craft.

* * *

The Arbitrator, based on the above, finds that the USPS has demonstrated that the USPS, in evaluating relevant factors in the formulation of the craft determination for the USS, found highly significant that the USS was intended and designed for the purpose of processing NMOs, i.e., parcels/packages which could not be processed on other machines, such as the HSUS or LCUS. The Arbitrator recognizes, as did these USPS officials, that there remain some NMOs which exceed the dimensions of parcels/packages which can be processed on the USS and which, therefore, must be processed manually and that a significant amount of the parcels/packages processed on the USS includes priority mail and other smaller parcels which could be processed on the other machines but are dumped onto the USS and processed together with the larger NMOs which the USS was designed and intended to process.

The Arbitrator notes that, in the Opinion and Award of Arbitrator Howard Gamser, American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, and National Post Office, Mail Handlers, Watchmen, Messengers, and Group Leaders Division of the Laborers International Union of North America, AFL-CIO, Case No. AD-NAT- 1311, dated October 13, 1981, Arbitrator Gamser denied claims by the APWU regarding the assignment by the USPS of outside parcels and NMOs to the Mail Handler Craft. This Arbitrator notes that Arbitrator Gamser stated, with regard to the determination by the USPS in favor of the Mail Handler Craft as the primary craft for Function 4 or Operation 100: “manual distribution of parcel post, without scheme knowledge”. This Arbitrator notes that Arbitrator Gamser stated: “[i]n the past, it is true, much of the parcel post operation was worked by Clerks.” Arbitrator Gamser stated, “[w]ithout scheme knowledge presently being required, the rational[e] for making [the parcel post operation] a primary clerk assignment no longer exists.” Arbitrator Gamser concluded that the evidence presented did not support a finding of a national practice. Arbitrator Gamser also found, with respect to the handling of non-machinable outsides, that such packages, which are too large, bulky or heavy to be processed by machine:

. . . are distributed, at present, through Bulk Mail Centers. The present method employed for their distribution does not require nor employ scheme knowledge. The testimony did indicate that such ‘parcels’ are brought to the distribution point by Mail Handlers and they are physically taken away by Mail Handlers. Requiring the intervention of a Clerk to direct the flow of such NMOs would interrupt the integration of such operations which may be achieved by having the same individuals handle the whole process of non-scheme NMO sortation.

Finally, this USS Award by Arbitrator Sharnoff contains several other rulings that should prove useful in future jurisdictional disputes. For example, the award contains extensive comments on the keying function performed by Mail Handler employees for rejected parcels on the USS. Similarly, the award concludes that the placement of parcels from the USS into appropriate containers matching the Zip Codes on each parcel – when completed by Mail Handlers without exercising any scheme knowledge – is appropriate sweeping of the USS that was appropriately assigned to the Mail Handler craft.

Attached is a full copy of the Sharnoff Award on USS jurisdiction.

Please disseminate this information as widely as you deem appropriate, and please do not hesitate to contact the National Office should you have any questions.

Reference: www.npmhu.org
 

COVID Command Center Termination Clarification/Modification

  COVID Command Center Termination Clarification/Modification

May 5, 2022 Memorandum (pdf)

The USPS has decided to cease operations of its COVID Command center effective May 9, 2022. The Postal Service initially notified the NPMHU it would stop the recording and reporting of COVID-19 cases. The NPMHU and other postal unions believed that this decision was premature in that COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations are slowly rising as of early May 2022, and there are many medical experts predicting a summer surge of COVID infections. The Postal Service has now issued a clarification/modification of its prior announcement:

“Although the COVID Command Team is being disbanded, as issues arise the appropriate stakeholder leadership will be engaged.

The Return to Work Protocols and our Close Contact Tracing activities will continue for as long as necessary.

All new cases of COVID 19 and Close Contact Quarantine will continue to be monitored and tracked in our HERO COVID 19 Tracker.

We can produce the report on a weekly basis.”

The NPMHU will continue to monitor the situation and take any action that may be necessary.

Reference: NPMHU.org
 

Search Postal Employee Salaries (2022 Update)

  Search Postal Employee Salaries (2022 Update)

"The information contained in this database is compiled from public records released by the United States Postal Service. ..."

Reference: www.fedsdatacenter.com
 

How does LWOP impact USPS retirement?

  How does LWOP affect USPS retirement?

"... of nonpay status in a calendar year is creditable service (5 U.S.C. 6303(a) and (f) and 8332(f)). The service computation date must be adjusted by the amount of nonpay time in..."

Reference: www.opm.gov
 

Does overtime count towards federal retirement?

  Does overtime count towards federal retirement?

"...not everything you receive in your paycheck counts toward your High-3. ...does not include COLA, overtime or bonuses."

Reference: plan-your-federal-retirement.com
 

PMG Louis DeJoy Warns of Inflation Impact

  PMG Louis DeJoy Warns of Inflation Impact

"..."Inflation is significantly higher than we forecasted in the plan. I think we're going to incur $1.8 billion more this year in unplanned inflation," DeJoy said. In the year ending Sept. 30, USPS reported a net loss of $4.9 billion on revenue of $77.1 billion and $82 billion in expenses. USPS is expected to offer more details on the inflation impacts when it reports financial results on May 5. Earlier this month, USPS filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission to raise prices..."

Reference: usnews.com
 

Amazon Book: Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions: Get the Most Out of Your Retirement and Medical Benefits

  Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions: Get the Most Out of Your Retirement and Medical Benefits

"Get the updated, 27th edition of this popular book. Midwest Book Review, James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief says, Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions: Get the Most Out of Your Retirement and Medical Benefits fully explains all of the new rules and pertinent strategies on and for Social Security conditions, personal and spousal benefits, as well as benefits for disabilities, dependents, survivors, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This complete and comprehensive reference will prove critically important for anyone trying to decide whether to take an early Social Security benefit or wait until age 70. "Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions" covers earn how to qualify for and enroll in both Medicare and Medicaid programs, including Medicare Part D drug coverage. "Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions" will prove invaluable for understanding..."

Reference: postalemployee.us
 

USPS News Link: TSP Plan to briefly suspend some services

  USPS News Link: TSP Plan to briefly suspend some services

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) will transition administrative services to a new service provider this year, aiming to improve users’ experiences.

The transition could affect participants who planned to request a transaction soon, because periodic downtime will be required to accommodate the transition process.

During the transition period, participants’ savings will remain invested in the TSP funds they’ve elected. However, to ensure a smooth transition, TSP will suspend account transactions, access to online tools, access to forms, and correspondence for a brief period.

Suspension dates for each transaction type will vary. These transactions and services include the following:
• Beneficiary designations;
• Court order requests;
• Form submission;
• Investment transactions;
• Loan requests;
• My Account access;
• ThriftLine service; and
• Withdrawals and distributions.

The transition period begins May 16 and is expected to end the first week of June.

During this time, there will be a short period — beginning at noon Eastern time on May 26 and ending the first week of June — when TSP will need to suspend changes to TSP investments.

This means that participants’ TSP investments will still be subject to market gains and losses during this brief period, and they won’t be able to make changes until after the transition to the new service provider.

To learn more about the features, go to the TSP website or call the ThriftLine Service Center at 877-968-3778 weekdays 7 a.m.-9 p.m. The TDD number is 877-847-4385.

Reference: link.usps.com
 

Postal Service is Slowing the Mail Again! Read the News Release From the U.S. Postal Service Here:

  U.S. Postal Service Implements New First-Class Package Service Standards and Updates Priority Mail Service Standards

--"...the volume (32 percent), the service standard will increase by one or two days. “Modifying select service standards is a key growth element and enabler of our 10-year plan. This action will contribute to our cost savings efforts and improve our reliability across all product classes, including our growing package market,” said Postmaster General and..."

Reference: Postal Employee News
 

USPS employees are required to reset Self Service Profile (SSP) password after April 24, 2022

  USPS employees are required to reset Self Service Profile (SSP) password after April 24, 2022

Postal Service intends to revise the information security policies related to the employees' password criteria for their Self-Service Profile (SSP)

Memorandum to Local Presidents (March 22, 2022) pdf

All employees will be required to reset their Self Service Profile (SSP) password after the April 24, 2022 effective date, see the attached notification. If changed prior to April 24, 2022, it will have to be changed again as the system will require a reset of all passwords on April 24th. The Self Service Password is used to access various resources to include: LiteBlue, PostalEase, ePayroll, eRetire, eOPF, eReassign, IdeaSmart and HERO. Employees will not have access to these applications until their password is reset. Once reset, the password will be immediately available to access those applications.

The new password requirements are as follows:
• SSP passwords must be 15 characters in length.
• The last 5 passwords cannot be reused.
• The password cannot contain the employees first name, last name or the Employee Identification Number (EIN).

Reference: www.npmhu.org
 

Health benefits -- New law creates Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program for employees, others

  Health benefits -- New law creates program for employees, others

  Note: This information is taken directly from the official United States Postal Service News Link.

The Postal Service reform legislation that President Biden signed into law on April 6 will involve changes to employees’ health and retirement benefits.

USPS understands that employees have many questions, so here are a few things to know:

• The law establishes the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program, which will provide health insurance to USPS career employees, retirees and their dependents, beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

• The PSHB program, to be administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, will be structured similarly to the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. The employer/employee cost-sharing contributions for premiums will be determined by the Postal Service’s collective bargaining and pay consultation processes.

• USPS employees and retirees can make their PSHB plan selections during the open season benefits enrollment period that occurs in November and December 2024.

• Beginning in January 2025, the new law will require all newly Medicare-eligible USPS annuitants and their Medicare-eligible covered family members to enroll in Medicare Part B to maintain their postal health coverage.

The Postal Service will provide employees and retirees with more detailed information about the PSHB program in the months to come.

Reference: link.usps.com
 

What Is the Post Office Call In Sick Number?

  What Is the Post Office Call In Sick Number?

"...What is the official number for leave call in for the postal service? The specific USPS call in number is 1-877-..."

Reference: postalcallin.blogspot.com
 

Show Your Support: Gear Up With Official NPMHU Products

  Show Your Support: Gear Up With Official NPMHU Products

100% made in USA & Union Printed shirts, aprons, hoodies, watches and more...

Reference: npmhu.myshopify.com
 

Vida Sloan, former Treasurer of National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) Local 303 (located in Los Angeles, Calif.), pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft

  Vida Sloan, former Treasurer of National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) Local 303 (located in Los Angeles, Calif.), pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft

"...In California, Vida Sloan, former Treasurer of National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) Local 303 (located in Los Angeles, Calif.), pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft in the amount of $10,039, in violation of California Penal Code Section 487(A). Sloan was then sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $10,039 in restitution..."

Reference: laborpains.org
 

Fake Federal Agents Were Detected by the Postal Inspection Service

  Fake Federal Agents Were Detected by the Postal Inspection Service

"...The stunning plot was detected by chance when someone assaulted a mail carrier and building residents told a US postal inspector they should consult with Taherzadeh and Ali. The postal inspector grew suspicious and informed the DHS..."

Reference: Postal Employee News
 

Postal Service Reform Act Signed -- Step Forward for Postal Workers

  Postal Service Reform Act Signed -- Step Forward for Postal Workers

Washington, D.C. (April 6, 2022) – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement (pdf)

LIUNA commends Congress and President Biden on passage of the Postal Service Reform Act into law, which will bring the Postal Service a step closer to fiscal stability and ensure greater security for the tens of thousands of Mailhandlers, who are members of LIUNA’s sister union, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU). The successful passage of this critical legislation is thanks to the tireless advocacy and determination of NPMHU National President Paul V. Hogrogian, the NPMHU National Executive Board, and all of the unions representing postal workers.

Over a decade of advocacy in the making, the Postal Service Reform Act will repeal the onerous 2006 mandate requiring the Postal Service to pre-fund its retiree healthcare benefits. No other private sector business or federal agency uses this practice, which has caused losses of $5 billion annually for over a decade. Second, it provides Medicare integration for future postal retirees and their annuitants. Most postal retirees already participate in Medicare, and postal employees have contributed $34 billion to the program since 1983. USPS estimates that integration combined with the repeal of the pre-funding mandate will generate savings of $40 billion over ten years.

Additionally, the Postal Service Reform Act helps to stabilize service and provide avenues for revenue growth by codifying six-day delivery service and allowing USPS to make agreements to provide non-commercial services. The bill will also give greater transparency to postal customers to ensure that service meets the demands of American households and businesses.

LIUNA commends Congress and President Biden for recognizing the value of the Postal Service and its dedicated workforce by taking these crucial steps to protect this vital institution.

Reference: www.npmhu.org
 

Get More Postal News at the Newest Postal News Site

  Get More Postal News at the Newest Postal News Site

"...Get more Postal news here for the postal employee, stakeholders and their competition. A nonpartisan news site..."

Reference: postalemployee.us
 

NPMHU and USPS Extend MHA Exception Period in Exchange for 1,202 Conversions to Career Status

  NPMHU and USPS Extend MHA Exception Period in Exchange for 1,202 Conversions to Career Status

Memorandum of Understanding Re: Additional Mail Handler Staffing – March 25, 2022 (pdf)

Q&As on the MOU: Re: Additional Mail Handler Staffing – March 25, 2022 (See page 5 of 5)

March 28, 2022- Linked above, please find a new MOU signed by the NPMHU and the Postal Service to provide for additional Mail Handler staffing by converting 1,202 Mail Handler Assistants to full-time regular career employment no later than May 21, 2022. Also included is a chart listing the 42 installations in which these 1,202 conversions will take place and the number of conversions that will take place in each listed installation.

As set forth in the MOU, the Postal Service has agreed to convert 1,202 MHAs to career status, in the listed installations, by May 21, 2022. In exchange, the parties agree to extend the exception period for the continued employment of MHAs (those hired for reasons unrelated to COVID-19) in excess of the 24.5% installation cap, in the listed facilities until June 3, 2022. MHAs hired in excess of the 24.5% installation cap for COVID related reasons remain subject to a separate MOU.

Additionally, the parties have agreed to a joint Question and Answer document addressing and affirming the parties’ mutual understanding and interpretation of the provisions contained in this MOU. Please do not hesitate to contact the National CAD should you have any questions.

Reference: National Postal Mail Handlers Union via NPMHU Local 317
 

Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, H.R. 3076 Passes Senate

  Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, H.R. 3076 Passes Senate

Statement of National President Paul V. Hogrogian on the Senate Passage of the Postal Service Reform Act

The National Postal Mail Handlers Union and its allies have worked for well over a decade to bring comprehensive, bipartisan postal reform to the halls of Congress. This work resulted in the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, H.R. 3076. As my NPMHU brothers and sisters remember, the bill passed with overwhelming support in the House of Representatives by a vote of 342-92 on February 8. The Senate followed suit, and passed it on March 8, with 79 Senators voting in favor of it.

The Postal Service Reform Act repeals the burdensome 2006 mandate for the USPS to prefund its retiree healthcare benefits and aligns retiree healthcare with the best practices in the private sector that lower premiums for NPMHU members and our fellow postal employees as well as safeguarding benefits. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will save the federal government over $1.5 billion over the next ten years.

Senators Gary Peters and Rob Portman worked tirelessly and fervently with Democratic and Republican members alike to reach consensus on this important and necessary legislation. I am grateful for their work, as well as that of Representatives Carolyn Maloney and James Comer, who ushered H.R. 3076 through the House.

I look forward to President Biden signing this bill into law, and providing the Postal Service with much needed fiscal stability.

Statement of National President Paul V. Hogrogian on the Senate Passage of the Postal Service Reform Act (pdf)

Reference: NPMHU Local 317
 

Handler with care: Mail Handlers employee lead generation program

  Handler with care

"...The USPS Small Business Solutions team is highlighting the Mail Handlers employee lead generation program throughout February. The organization’s 50 districts will celebrate mail handlers for their participation in the program — The Mail Handlers program has generated more than $44 million in new revenue since its inception in 2013. ..."

Reference: USPS News Link
 

The Post Office Department issued its first postage stamps on...

  The Post Office Department issued its first postage stamps on...

"...On March 3, 1847, Congress authorized United States postage stamps. The first general issue postage stamps went on sale in New York City, July 1, 1847. One, priced at five cents, depicted Benjamin Franklin. The other, a ten-cent stamp, pictured George Washington. ..."

Reference: usps.com
 

Mail Handler Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) set at $1,331

  Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) set at $1,331

Effective February 26, 2022, (Pay Period 06-2022) all career Mail Handler craft employees are scheduled to receive a cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment as outlined in Article 9.3 of the 2019 National Agreement. This is the fifth of six possible COLA increases under the terms of the current agreement. This COLA increase is based on the upward change in the relevant Consumer Price Index (CPI) following release of the January 2022 Index, using the July 2019 CPI index as a base provides an annual increase of $1,331 for all Steps in Table 1 and for Step P of Table 2. The remaining Steps in Table 2 will receive the proportional COLA increase percentages as outlined in Article 9.3 of the National Agreement.

Updated wage charts will be posted when available.

Reference: NPMHU

 

Massive check fraud operation: Encrypted communication platforms online, selling everything from postal keys used to steal mail from blue boxes to the checks themselves

  Massive check fraud operation: Encrypted communication platforms online, selling everything from postal keys used to steal mail from blue boxes to the checks themselves

"...‘This is literally a criminal conspiracy’: Criminals are stealing, editing and depositing mailed checks, leaving a trail of pain across New Orleans..."

Reference: www.wdam.com
 

Mailbox and Postal Blue Box Users: Check Washing Crime Reduction

  Mailbox and Postal Blue Box Users: Check Washing Crime Reduction

Many postal blueboxes and residential mailboxes are being robbed of handwritten checks. Thieves steal these checks and wash them. Check washing is the erasing of the written amount and altering that amount to a much greater sum. Wikipedia explains the process, but we will not detail how to wash a check. Wikipedia also explains several means a check writer can take to reduce the possibility of being the victim of check washing. One of the easiest means of doing so is to use pens with more secure inks. The makers of pens advertise these inks in various terms. Some call the inks secure inks, fraud reducing inks and archival quality inks. Basically these inks soak into the paper better than many inks and resist most solvents used in the check washing process. The inks are found primarily in rollerball, fountain pen and gel pens. One example of the pen is the uni-ball® 207™ Retractable Fraud Prevention Gel Pen offered on Amazon. Often you can find these pens in many of your local stores as well.

So if you place your mail in a residential mailbox or a United States Postal Service blue collection box we suggest you take the simple step of using one of these pens to reduce becoming a victim of the rampant escalation of check washing schemes.

Reference: npmhu317.blogspot.com