November 8, 2013

  Letter from Louie 

  

       The Human Cost of Service Standard Changes    
Louis Atkins

Louis Atkins

 

 

 

 

NAPS was disappointed to learn from the field about the withdrawal of position postings from eCareer, specifically job postings for EAS plant positions. During meetings with USPS leadership, they stated that these postings were removed due to the pending impact of the AMP scheduled to be finalized in early 2014. The Postal Service is currently waiting to see if a potential Congressional action will impact delivery standards. There is the possibility that service standards could be reduced to the point of outright eliminating overnight service in the name of cost control.  

 

NAPS has been outspoken in its opposition to the reduction of service standards.  We cannot move the Postal Service towards prosperity if we are rolling back our ability to serve customers, this simply defies common sense. If overnight service is indeed rolled back or even ended, it was the Postal Service's stated intent to not adversely impact employees who were just placed in a new position. While we are disappointed that we first found out about this chain of events through our members in the field, it does not change the fact that we must now meet this challenge head on and protect the interests of our members.

 

One of our primary concerns surrounds the fact that the removal of these postings did not provide any time for those people within impacted plants to bid on any remaining postings.  It is absolutely necessary that these employees aggressively bid for new vacancies that are due to be announced on December 3rd. With so much of this process still in the early stages; it is vital that our impacted members take control of their own future and look for a good landing spot. In order to aid that process, NAPS requested that the bidding process be extended. At a meeting yesterday, the Postal Service denied this request.  

 

Despite this unfortunate development, you do have options, including taking a lateral move. I encourage you that if you are impacted, to investigate making such a move and seeing if it is in your best interest.  

 

Hopefully, impacted employees will have the ability to find the best possible position and not be forced to settle for a position that could potentially require an undesired relocation or lengthy commute.  

 

This situation is ongoing in the midst of the Postal Service drafting a new proposal on how to deliver health benefits to its workforce. The Postal Service's proposal has gone through several changes and alterations and is a high priority item of discussion for postal stakeholders in Congress. NAPS will be addressing the Postal Service's health care proposals in the very near future.

Brian's Scoop

  

Protect the Vet! 

  

Brian Wagner

 

 

 

As we celebrate the Veteran's Day Holiday on 11/11/13, I first want to recognize and thank all our NAPS members who are veterans of our armed forces. We owe a debt of gratitude to those veterans, both men and women, who served so proudly. Please remember those who sacrificed their lives to protect our country and the rights of all Americans and keep their families in your prayers, too.

 

Now I am going to beat the drum to get the attention of our NAPS members who are veteran's to ensure they are protected during this current USPS RIF. Here's the scoop.

 

At this time, the Postal Service is under a Reduction-in-Force (RIF) avoidance period before it starts the official RIF in January 2014. Many of our members who are impacted need to find a new EAS position to avoid being RIF'd including members who are military veterans.

 

Part of the RIF process deals with veterans preference. The RIF regulations define three tenure subgroups. Within each of the tenure groups,  the USPS places the names of competing employees in veterans' preference order. The subgroups are as follows; 

 

First, subgroup AD includes each veteran's preference-eligible employee who has a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more. Second is subgroup A which includes each veterans' preference-eligible employee not in subgroup AD, including all employees eligible for "derivative preference" under section 2108(3)(D)-(G) of title 5, United States Code. The third is subgroup B which includes each employee not eligible for veterans' preference under the RIF regulations.

 

Besides veterans preference tenure, there is additional information that is considered when calculating the RIF retention list. However, for this NAPSHQ2U I am beating the drum to focus on making sure our veterans are aware of the RIF process and their rights as a "vet pref".  

 

Just as important, if you are a veteran, please make sure your USPS Form 50 reflects your correct veterans' status. If it does not, make sure you get your DD214 to the USPS and have your Form 50 updated to avoid issues if you are part of the official RIF next year.

 

Again, let's remember to thank all veterans; whether they are a stranger, neighbor, family member or NAPS member, not just during the Veteran's Day holiday, but every day.

 

As we celebrate the Veteran's Day holiday, my ice cream flavor of the week preference/recommendation is Drumstick.


 
 Like us on Facebook 
  Follow us on Twitter  


Legislative and Political Action Center 

Donate to SPAC!:
Click here to make a secure SPAC contribution via credit card or go to NAPS.org to learn about the other ways you can give.

 

 

Stay Updated!:

Click here to 
receive
Bruce Moyer's legislative updates.

 

 

Take Action!:

Click here to go to our CapWiz Legislative Action Center.

 

   

Motivating Membership! 

Monthly Sponsor Winners:

June:

Sharon Guydon, Branch 80

 

July:

David Lum, Branch 375

 

August:

Bart Green, Branch 36

 

September:

Linda Donnelly, Branch 497


Each month, one lucky new member sponsor will receive a $25 PNC gift card. For more details on the "Motivating Membership" drive, please review the August 2013 issue of The Postal Supervisor.

  

Quote of the Issue!  

 

     
                             -Henry Ford  
  Jay's Notes

Update on Postal Legislation
   
Jay New
Jay Killackey

 

 

 

 

The past several weeks have gone by with waiting for S.1486, the Postal Reform bill, proposed by Senators Tom Carper and Senator Tom Coburn, to head to the committee for a mark-up. Mark-ups occur when a committee deliberates a particular bill, makes further changes, and decides whether to send the amended bill to the full chamber for its approval.

 

After several weeks of delays, we were anticipating the Senate postal oversight committee to mark-up the postal reform bill this week. But late last week the mark-up was canceled with no new date announced. So, what's going on?

 

There are several members of the committee who are not happy with the bill as introduced. These Senators include; Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester from Montana, Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota, Mark Begich from Alaska and Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin. All of these Senators have something in common; NAPS supported them with donations from SPAC.

 

Some of the Committee's concerns include: the reduction of delivery frequency and its impact on rural America. Senator McCaskill is concerned that our "last mile" agreements with UPS and FedEx are too good for our competitors. She believes that the USPS isn't getting enough in return for these services.  

 

Senator Tester was quoted in the The Hill stating; "There's probably a dozen things that need to be fixed with that bill." Tester added, "If you passed one change, that wouldn't necessarily mean I'm going to vote for it," and "I just think without some changes, it's going to take the Postal Service in the direction the Postmaster General wants - which is the wrong direction." Tester was re-elected in a tough election campaign just last year with strong support from NAPS.

 

We do have Senators looking out for postal supervisors, other postal employees and customers of the Postal Service who expect reliable and efficient service. The time is now for all NAPS members to contact their Senators and let them know that we want changes made in S. 1486 that maintain six-day delivery, minimize the closure of more postal facilities and ensure that all EAS employees have the right to appeal adverse action through the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Seth's Slant
 
Not an empty
(Legislative) Chair

Seth
Seth Lennon



 

One of my primary responsibilities here at NAPS is helping maintain our information network. Our network, like any other, is only as good as its individual hubs and spokes. Specifically when it comes to distributing information about national legislative and political developments, we use all of our new and traditional media tools to get everything out to you in a timely and detailed fashion.  

 

However, especially when it comes to understanding and interpreting the potential and realized impact of legislation on our members, a more localized perspective is required.

 

This is where our State Legislative Chairs and Branch Legislative Representatives enter the picture. Our state chairs and branch reps do not simply regurgitate the information passed on down from national headquarters. Instead, they will give us feedback on meetings they have had with staffers on various issues and keep us informed of any political events happening within the district.  

 

Also, when we do a mass messaging campaign using our CapWiz online advocacy suite, it is our legislative chairs and legislative representatives who take the lead in coordinating the efforts within their state or branch and encouraging their members to contact their lawmakers whenever pressing legislation comes before one of our committees or the floor of the House/Senate.

 

The moral of the story is very simple, if you are not already subscribed to the mailing list for your branch legislative rep/state legislative chair, get on it as soon as you can. In order for us to be effective in driving home our legislative agenda, we need our membership to be informed and energized because as constituents you hold the greatest power of all: the power of the ballot box.