USPS: RATE INCREASE REQUEST

RATE INCREASE REQUEST. The Postal Service Board of Governors voted March 31 to file a request with the Postal Rate Commission to increase postage rates in 2006. The requested rate increase will generate funds to meet the $3.1 billion escrow requirement of Public Law 108-18. The filing will increase almost all rates and fees by approximately 5.4%.

USPS: FLAGS AT HALF STAFF

FLAGS AT HALF STAFF. The U.S. Postal Service has been advised by the Department of Homeland Security that, in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 3044, the U.S. flag will be flown at half staff due to the death of Pope John Paul II. The flag is to be flown at half staff until the day the Pope is interred, which is undetermined at this time.

Links:
Presidential Proclamation 3044
DATE: 03-01-54
http://www.az.ngb.army.mil/US%20Flag%20Policy/P3044.html

International Sales and Shipping Challenges

The growth of online auction sites allows sellers to market their wares well beyond local areas. Selling to buyers in Canada, Europe and the Far East can be exciting, but occasionally, you can run into challenges.

See the full story: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y205/m04/abu0140/s04
International eBay Sales: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Lu Paletta AuctionBytes.com
April 03, 2005

USPS: Fire at Postal Distribution Center causes evacuation

An equipment malfunction yesterday morning at the U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center caused a sack of mail to catch fire, resulting in the temporary evacuation and shutdown of the Page Boulevard facility.

Firefighters were called to the facility shortly after 9 a.m.

Read the entire story here --> http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1112345221251670.xml&coll=1

Mail Contractor Tries to Intimidate Striking Truck Drivers, APWU Charges

Mail Contractor Tries to IntimidateStriking Truck Drivers, APWU Charges

APWU Web News Article #13-05, March 28, 2005

Mail Contractors of America, a private mail hauler, began a campaign of intimidation against striking APWU members in Jacksonville, FL, March 26, according the local president representing the truck drivers.

Russ Gallion, president of APWU’s First Coast Local, which represents MCA truck drivers in Jacksonville, said the company telephoned striking workers at home Saturday and told them if they didn’t report to work on Monday, March 28, they would be terminated. None of the striking workers returned to work, Gallion said.

More than 70 Jacksonville truck drivers walked out March 24, joining over 100 MCA strikers in Des Moines and Kansas City, KS, who began a job action on March 22. “We are striking against unfair labor practices by MCA,” Gallion said. “Mail Contractors of America has tried to force us to drive longer than we are allowed to under Department of Transportation regulations,” he said, “and they have been writing us up for adhering to safety standards.”

The company has transferred workers from Greensboro, NC, Atlanta, and Los Angeles to do the work of the strikers in Jacksonville, Gallion reported. The drivers have been shuttled from a Ramada Inn to the MCA terminal under armed guard, he said. “They are using the extra drivers to cover the Jacksonville runs and to try to break the strike.

“They’re putting pressure on us,” Gallion said, “but they haven’t broken us. We’re putting pressure on them too.”

MCA has been receiving notices from the Postal Service that the company has failed to complete its routes in a timely manner, he said. The company must maintain a 98 percent on-time delivery standard, or fines can be imposed.

Strikers are picketing at four Jacksonville locations – the MCA terminal, the USPS Bulk Mail Center, and at two rail yards where MCA picks up and drops off mail. Teamsters who work for other companies at the rail yards have honored the picket lines and those companies are putting pressure on MCA to settle the matter, Gallion said.

Also on Saturday, there was a threat of violence when a strike breaker, who was driving his own vehicle at the end of a shift, told a picketer he had a gun and pointed it at him, Gallion said. “He said he would shoot the first person that touched him. Then he sped off.”

MCA imposed a contract on its workers Sept. 1, 2004. Collective bargaining agreements covering workers in Des Moines and Jacksonville expired Sept. 30, 2003. The truck drivers in Kansas City had never negotiated a contract with the company.

USPS: Jacksonville Truck Drivers Join Strike

Jacksonville Truck DriversJoin Strike Against Private Mail Haulers

APWU Web News Article #12-05, March 24, 2005

APWU truck drivers who work for a private mail hauler in Jacksonville, FL, have joined a strike that began Tuesday in Des Moines and Kansas City, KS. Seventy-nine members of the union’s First Coast Local began striking at 7 a.m., March 24, with a picket line in front of the Mail Contractors of America (MCA) terminal.

Like the union members in Des Moines and Kansas City, they are protesting working conditions the company imposed in September 2004. They have been working without a contract since September 2003.

“We will stay out until the company goes back to the old conditions or comes to the negotiating table where we can negotiate a fair contract,” said APWU First Coast Local President Russ Gallion.

“We were tired of working under the imposed conditions,” he said. “When we saw that Kansas City and Des Moines went out, we decided to go out along with them.” The issues in dispute in Jacksonville are similar to those at stake in Des Moines and Kansas City.

MCA switched health insurance carriers, Gallion said, resulting in an increase in insurance premiums for the Jacksonville truck drivers from $140 per week to $284 per week for family coverage.

The company also denied the truck drivers pay for rest breaks they are required to take, as it did in the other cities. The unpaid breaks will cost the trucks drivers thousands of dollars a year, the local president said.

Gallion echoed the concerns of strikers in Des Moines and Kansas City, noting that MCA instructs its drivers to leave loaded mail trucks unattended – sometimes for hours at a time. When trucks are passed from one driver to another while in route to distant locations, the drivers are told to leave the trucks in commercial parking lots – with the keys in the ignition, he said. The practice jeopardizes the safety of the mail, Gallion said. “The Postal Service has an obligation to protect the mail and they should not hide behind a private hauler.”

Only three mail trucks left the MCA terminal today, Gallion reported. On a normal day approximately 24 trucks would go out, he said. According to strikers, several drivers who were hired to replace them turned away when they saw the picket line.

APWU field organizer Mark Dimondstein said the company is trying to crush the union. “This strike is protesting a long list of unfair labor practices,” he said.

“We support our striking union members 100 percent,” declared APWU President William Burrus. “They are engaged in righteous struggle to protect their livelihood and their future. I urge APWU locals to support them financially as well as on the picket lines if they are able.”

INSPECTORS WARN OF POSTAL MONEY ORDER SCAM.

INSPECTORS WARN OF POSTAL MONEY ORDER SCAM.

The Inspection Service is continuing to warn the public about a fake postal money order scam. Victims are contacted by e-mail or through online sites by a person claiming to need help cashing a Postal Money Order. Victims are told they may keep some of the money as payment. When the fraudulent money order is cashed, the victim returns funds through a wire transfer, not realizing they have assisted in a federal crime. If fraud is suspected, call the Fraud Complaint Hotline at 1-800-372-8347 or visit the U.S. Postal Inspection Service website.

USPS: FEBRUARY FINANCIAL RESULTS.

FEBRUARY FINANCIAL RESULTS. The Postal Service generated net income of $1.8 billion in the Oct. 1 - Feb. 28 period, nearly $1.1 billion over budget. Revenue totaled $30 billion, $800 million better than planned, and up 1.8 percent from the same period last year. Expenses of $28.2 billion were $250 million under plan, and increased 3.5 percent from a year ago. “We were able to hold down expenses through our continuing efforts to control costs and increase productivity by absorbing workload,” said Chief Financial Officer Richard Strasser.

USPS: Mail truck drivers on strike

Your mail may be a little slow in coming days, as drivers are on strike at the major trucking contractor that hauls mail for the US Postal Service in this region. Lance Coles (coalz) is president of American Postal Workers Union Local 44 in Des Moines. Those drivers are employed by Mail Contractors of America, probably the largest contractor that hires drivers to haul mail across the country.

See full story here: http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=765F3F45-269A-4963-801E86B25AD6388F

What are your thoughts on this article, share your thoughts, click on the comments link below.

USPS: DOG BITES ON THE DECLINE.

DOG BITES ON THE DECLINE.

USPS mail carriers have reported fewer dog attacks and bites so far in 2005 compared to the same period last year. It’s a trend the Postal Service hopes to continue as spring and summer approach — traditionally the worst period for these incidents. Compared to 2004 at this time, there is a 9.42% reduction in dog attacks and bites nationwide.

Dog Bite Prevention Week is May 15-21 this year. More information about how to prevent pet attacks is available at your local Post Office.