September 21, 2024 The Collective Bargaining Agreement (union contract) between the American Postal Workers Union and the United States Postal Service covers the wages, hours, and working conditions of 200,000 postal workers. Our current contract was due to expire at midnight, September 20, 2024.
We opened bargaining with the Postal Service on June 25. Since then, we have met frequently to exchange proposals and make progress toward the good, new contract postal workers deserve. In the last week, the APWU and postal management were “locked down,” engaging in around-the-clock negotiating sessions at the “main table,” the “craft tables,” and in other committees.
During the “lock-down” there has been some modest progress on a number of issues affecting all our crafts, including job security, protecting bargaining unit work, and a narrowing of differences on other important items, including the economic package.
However, the APWU and management were unable to secure a negotiated agreement by midnight, September 20.
As expiration approached, your National Negotiating Committee (NNC) faced two options: either begin the process of mediation with the expectation that we would head to interest arbitration or seek mutual agreement with postal management to “stop the clock,” (meaning the contract does not expire on September 20) and continue negotiations for a period of time.
It was the decision of the NNC to “stop the clock” and continue bargaining. We have secured an agreement from management that the negotiators will meet at least once a week going forward. It is also the position of the NNC that we will reevaluate progress on a regular basis and invoke mediation if further negotiations are not productive.
This decision is similar to the one taken by the NNC in our previous round of bargaining in 2021, when we “stopped the clock” and continued negotiations. In 2021, we reached a tentative agreement in early December, which the membership later ratified with a strong 94 percent “yes” vote.
“The entire APWU negotiating team is united in our efforts to secure the good new contract that our members deserve,” said APWU Industrial Relations Director and Chief Spokesperson Charlie Cash. “We all believe that continuing negotiations is in the best interest of our members as we continue to make progress towards our bargaining goals.”
“The APWU will not be deterred in our quest to win a contract that hard-working postal workers can be proud of,” declared President Mark Dimondstein. “It is crucial that as we continue to negotiate that our entire membership stay engaged, union proud, and union strong in our struggle for justice.”
The APWU will continue to keep the members updated, including regular messages on the negotiation “hotline” at (202) 642-9049, our website (apwu.org), and on our social media channels.
The APWU has never stopped fighting to pass the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82, S. 597). This bill would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which are parts of Social Security law that unfairly reduce, or sometimes eliminate, Social Security benefits for millions of postal and federal annuitants. The GPO and WEP penalize CSRS retirees that meet the requirements for Social Security benefits and have paid their fair share into the program. To read stories from APWU members negatively affected by the unfair WEP and GPO,
To address this inequity, 327 members of the House and 63 members of the Senate from both parties now support this legislation. With this much bipartisan support, our next step is to back a discharge petition. A discharge petition is a process to bring any bill sitting in committee to the House floor for a vote as long as at least 218 members of Congress sign the petition. In this instance, a successful discharge petition would bypass both the Speaker of the House and committee to bring H.R. 82 to the House floor for an up or down vote before we run out of time this Congress.
We are asking every APWU member to call their representative and tell them to sign the discharge petition, H.Res. 1410. Dial the APWU Legislative Hotline at 1-844-402-1001 to be connected to your member of Congress.
I have received multiple emails and questions on the Postal Services eLRA (online leave request system) that is accessed through liteblue. For years, when employees called in sick, the used a phone number to call in and upon their return a 3971 was printed and they signed it at work. Now, if employees use the online system, they receive a 3971 that says something like no signature need or digital signature—I am not sure because I have not seen one yet.
Years ago, when this system was put in place, it was only open to EAS employees. We cautioned everyone not to use it and to continue to call in because of the tracking and other data collected. It is now open to bargaining unit employees and our folks are using it I am sure because of the convenience and the fact they don’t have to talk to anyone etc.
However, I once again caution against using the system. I eLRA is found in the MyHR apps of liteblue. When you click on it you get a warning that you should do anything criminal and this sentence:
All information in this application may be monitored, intercepted, read, copied, captured, and disclosed by and to authorized personnel for official purposes, including criminal prosecution. Any authorized or unauthorized use of this application signifies consent to and compliance with Postal Service policies and these terms.
You need to assume that your browser data, your IP address, and location is being collected. One must agree to this just to get into eLRA. . Take note If you ask for more than 3 days of sick leave—it automatically asks for documentation. Next, take a look where I changed my request to LWOP. It again asked me for documentation. Employees need to be aware that if they use this system, they are going to see this screen and you can bet management will use it against them if they don’t bring in documentation. It is also concerning that it is asking for documentation when the 3-day language only refers to paid leave.
Finally take note the screen where the signature issue comes into play—you are authorizing your 3971 to be electronically signed. Employees need to know that they are agreeing to this. This is another reason this system should not be used.
Remember—no one is required to use this system—so they shouldn’t! They need to be aware of what they are clicking on and agreeing to when using it. I will provide more information as it becomes available.
Trump calls federal workforce 'crooked,' vows to hold them 'accountable'
In an interview with a right-wing Youtuber, the former president seemingly alluded to reviving Schedule F and other Trump-era policies aimed at making it easier to fire federal employees.
August 28, 2024 03:49 PM ET
Erich Wagner
Former President Trump called federal employees “crooked” and “dishonest” in an interview published Monday, and said if elected in November, that they would be held “accountable.”
The remarks came during an interview conducted by conservative Youtuber Shawn Ryan, who asked the Republican presidential nominee how he planned to restore Americans’ trust in government.
“I think that one of the biggest problems within the country is the distrust in the United States government, and I’m one of them,” Ryan said. “I have zero trust in any government agencies. I have zero trust in our Congress, the Senate, anything. We have a government that’s not functioning right now. How are you going to gain back the trust of the American people within the government, and are we going to see anybody held accountable?”
“The answer is yes on the second [question], they’re going to be held accountable,” Trump responded. “They’ve got to be held accountable [for] what they’re doing. They’re destroying this country. They’re crooked people, they’re dishonest people. They’re going to be held accountable.”
Though Trump did not explicitly say how he would hold federal workers accountable during the interview, he has previously indicated that if elected this fall, he would revive Schedule F, an abortive plan from the end of his time in office to reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees in “policy-related” into the excepted service, effectively making them at-will employees.
Officials with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign quickly tied Trump’s comments to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led Republican transition project known as Project 2025, whose policy book also calls for Schedule F’s return.
Though Project 2025 entered the public consciousness due to a slew of unpopular proposals in the Heritage-produced book series, entitled Mandate for Leadership, a key objective of the initiative was to build a database of 20,000 potential political appointees for the next Republican president. The discrepancy between Project 2025’s recruitment goals and the roughly 4,000 federal jobs set aside for political appointees has raised concerns among Democrats and civil service experts that conservatives may be gearing up to stack previously non-partisan posts with Trump loyalists.
“When Donald Trump promises to lock up or fire tens of thousands of civil service workers he deems his enemies, he’s reading directly from his Project 2025 playbook,” said Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa in a statement. “Trump’s Project 2025 was explicitly set up to replace tens of thousands of workers who serve our nation with an army of loyalists solely focused on serving Donald Trump and his plan to be a dictator on day one. This November, voters will stop Trump’s dream from becoming our nightmare.”
Later in the interview, Trump reflected on his first term in office, saying due to his lack of connections in Washington, he relied on people he referred to as “RINOs”—Republicans in Name Only—to staff his administration.
“When I came in originally, I didn’t know anyone in Washington,” Trump said. “[So] I had to rely on people to give me names, and many were really good . . . I’d ask people who were RINOs, ‘Who do you recommend for such and such a position?’ And they’d recommend some people who were RINOs or something, or were weak, or not good. And I don’t have to ask too much right now, because I know the people now.”
House lawmakers plan to force a vote on bill to kill provision that cuts some feds' retirement pay
The Social Security Fairness Act would abolish two tax provisions that reduce retirement benefits for some federal workers.
August 26, 2024 02:12 PM ET
Abipartisan pair of lawmakers announced Monday that they would act to force a vote on the House floor on a measure that would repeal a pair of controversial tax rules that negatively impact some federal employees’ retirement income.
The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), introduced last year by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garrett Graves, R-La., would repeal Social Security’s windfall elimination provision and government pension offset.
The windfall elimination provision reduces Social Security benefits for retired federal, state and local government workers who worked in both the private sector and at a government job where Social Security is not intended as an element of their retirement income, like the Civil Service Retirement System. The government pension offset reduces spousal and survivor Social Security benefits by two-thirds if the beneficiary is also a government employee.
According to the lawmakers, the windfall elimination provision affects the Social Security benefits of roughly 2 million former government workers, while the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees.
But despite widespread dissatisfaction with the two provisions among government workers who have spent part of their career in the private sector and growing bipartisan support for axing them, the measure has never made it to the House floor for a vote. As of Monday, the bill had 325 cosponsors in the House.
In a statement Monday, Spanberger and Graves announced that when Congress returns from the August recess next month, they will file a discharge petition in an effort to force a floor vote on the bill. In order to be successful, a discharge petition requires the signatures of at least 218 lawmakers.
“For more than 40 years, millions of Americans—police officers, teachers, firefighters and other local and state public servants—have been stripped of their Social Security benefits as an unjust penalty for devoting much of their careers to serving their communities and fellow Americans,” the pair said. “These Virginians, Louisianans and American across our country deserve their full retirement benefits—just like every other American who has paid into Social Security. For years, we have worked together to build bipartisan support for this effort and urge House leadership to take real action to right this wrong. As these efforts have stalled, we are using every tool at our disposal to finally get this done.”
Spanberger’s and Graves’ bill is not the only piece of legislation aimed at reforming how ex-government workers who spent some time in the private sector receive Social Security benefits. The Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 5342), introduced by Reps. Jody Arrington, R-Texas, and Vincente Gonzalez, D-Texas, would replace the windfall elimination provision with a new formula for calculating the Social Security benefits of those who split their career between the private and public sectors. The measure has 34 other cosponsors, all Republicans.
APWU National Executive Board Endorses Vice President Kamala Harris for the Next President of the United States
On July 23, 2024, the APWU National Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the next President of the United States. One day earlier, the AFL-CIO Executive Council, where the APWU is represented by President Mark Dimondstein, voted unanimously to endorse Kamala Harris for U.S. President.
These votes and endorsements came on the heels of the changed circumstances in the presidential campaign, with President Joe Biden declaring he is no longer a candidate in the upcoming 2024 election.
The APWU National Executive Board vote also reflects the guidance and direction of the APWU National Convention where 2000 delegates, just last week and prior to Biden’s withdrawal, overwhelmingly voted to endorse the Biden-Harris ticket.
The National Executive Board recognizes and respects that our members reflect many different political affiliations and viewpoints. The Executive Board does not dictate how our members vote.
The National Executive Board does encourage our members and their families, regardless of political affiliation, to vote based on the issues that uplift and promote a better life for postal workers and all working people.
“The outcome of this presidential election will have a huge impact on postal workers and the choice in this election is stark,” declared National President Mark Dimondstein. “Either we elect Donald Trump who plans to destroy the public Postal Service, our jobs and union, further undermine workers’ rights, women’s rights and voting rights, and send us on a path to dictatorship, or elect Kamala Harris who has proven as Vice President and in prior political office, to have demonstrated support for postal issues and some genuine advocacy for workers’ rights, women’s rights, unions, respect for all people and common decency.”
The APWU will continue to share with the membership issue-based assessments of the 2024 presidential and congressional candidates and encourage our members to be fully engaged in the upcoming and vitally important presidential election as we work together to expand our democratic rights and protect our jobs, our union and the public Postal Service.
In accordance with the 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a $0.47 per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective September 27, 2024.
“Our union-won COLAs prove invaluable to ourselves and our families. Few workers have any protection against rising prices, and today a full-time regular postal employee is making $6,300 more a year under our current contract thanks to our COLA,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “We will continue to fight to maintain full COLA provisions during contract negotiations.”
The increase is the result of a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). It will appear in paychecks dated September 27, 2024 (Pay Period 20-2024). The value of the COLA for full-time employees in each step and grade will increase by $998.00 annually, and the hourly rates for part-time employees will be adjusted accordingly.
The COLAs are in addition to general wage increases. This is the sixth and final cost-of-living increase under the 2021 contract. The first increase, effective in February 2022, amounted to $0.63 per hour or $1,310.00 annually. The second, effective in August 2022 was $1.18 per hour or $2,455.00 annually. The third, effective in March 2023, was $0.10 per hour, or $208.00 annually. The fourth, effective in August 2023, was 0.48 per hour, or $998.00 annually. The fifth, effective March 9, 2024, was 0.17 per hour, or $354.00 annually. The total cumulative COLAs received during the 2021-2024 National Agreement is $3.03 per hour, or $6,302.00 annually.
In light of the fact that Postal Support Employees (PSEs) do not receive cost-of-living increases, they have received several additional increases beyond the general wage increases for all employees in the APWU bargaining unit under the 2021 contract. COLAs are added to the base pay schedule, so PSEs will recoup these increases when they convert to career status.
Rising inflation underscores the importance of our negotiated Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) within our union contract, made possible by the strength of our membership. In our 2021-2024 contract, we fought to keep twice-a-year COLAs, our best protection against inflation. Postal workers are some of the few U.S. workers who receive COLA increases. Even in the postal world, we are the only postal union that has maintained full COLA in our union contract.
Tell Congress to Pass the Social Security Fairness Act, NOW!
As we celebrate our nation this summer, what could be better than honoring and respecting our public service workers – postal workers, teachers, police officers, firefighters, foreign pension recipients, and many more – who have tirelessly fought to be free from unjust penalties? As we have done in past years, retirees recognize the anniversaries of Social Security signed into law in August 1935 and Medicare, which was signed into law in July 1965. For 48 years, any retiree paying into Social Security reaped fair and equitable benefits from Social Security. Unfortunately, over the last 40 years, millions of retirees no longer celebrate the anniversary of Social Security because Congress enacted the Government Pension Offset (GPO) in 1977, and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) in 1983. The WEP reduces Social Security benefits for workers that pay into the Social Security system, but who also worked additional job(s) that did not pay into Social Security. The GPO reduces Social Security benefits to spouses or widows by two-thirds if they receive a retirement or disability pension based on other employment – such as the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), state pensions, or local pensions – that did not pay into the Social Security system. The WEP and the GPO has overwhelmingly affected public employees who served our nation, kept us safe and secure, educated our children, and kept our government running at the local, state, and federal levels. Tell Congress to Pass the Social Security Fairness Act, NOW! The WEP unfairly cuts the earned benefits of public service workers and foreign pensioners, and the GPO reduces or denies spousal and survivor benefits. They will not reap the full Social Security benefits they are paying for now, as employees. They contributed to the Social Security system at the same rate as other employees who contribute to Social Security, yet they are denied an equitable benefit for those contributions. They qualified for Social Security benefits just as other citizens have, and they should not be penalized because they chose to serve our community through public service. We are still waiting for Congress to enact the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R.82 and S.597) legislation which, if passed, would repeal the WEP and the GPO and provide a fair return on their investment in the Social Security system. Those CSRS annuitants as well as many local and state government annuitants, such as teachers, firefights, and the police cannot relax and enjoy their retirement when they know that they are being denied the full Social Security benefits that they should receive. Now is the time for Congress to act. The House Ways and Means Committee and Subcommittee on Social Security have acknowledged that the penalties imposed by the WEP and GPO are disproportionate and fundamentally unfair. Congress can move these bills to the floor and pass them. With 322 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and 59 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate, our elected officials have spoken for their constituents. Now it is time for the Congressional leadership to rectify these discriminatory policies and advance H.R. 82 & S.597 to a successful conclusion. We must put the pressure on Congress by writing letters, calling and sending them emails asking them to cosponsor and vote for the Social Security Fairness Act. To contact your representatives, call 1-202-224-3121 or use the APWU Legislative Hotline at 1-844-402-1001 to remind your Congressional Representatives that while Social Security celebrates its 89th anniversary in August 2024 .
The APWU has never stopped fighting to pass the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82, S. 597). This bill would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which are parts of Social Security law that unfairly reduce, or sometimes eliminate, Social Security benefits for millions of federal annuitants. The GPO and WEP penalize CSRS retirees that meet the requirements for Social Security benefits and have paid their fair share into the program.
To address this inequity, 324 members of the House and 61 members of the Senate from both parties now support this legislation. With this much bipartisan support, our next step is to back a discharge petition. A discharge petition is a process to bring any bill sitting in committee to the House floor for a vote as long as at least 218 members of Congress sign the petition. In this instance, a successful discharge petition would bypass both the Speaker of the House and committee to bring H.R.82 to the House floor for an up or down vote before we run out of time this Congress.
Over the last few years we have been strongly advocating for this bill, and the time is now to get the Social Security Fairness Act over the finish line. The APWU calls on all members of Congress in the House to not only cosponsor H.R. 82, but to support a discharge petition!
Enrollees whose current FEHB plan is not in the PSHB may choose to enroll in a new plan in this fall’s open season for 2025 coverage. If they make no choice, they will be enrolled by default. Image: The Image Party/Shutterstock.com
OPM has issued guidance on automatic enrollment in the Postal Service Health Benefits program for 2025 if U.S. Postal Service employees and retirees currently covered by the FEHB do not specifically elect an insurance plan in that new program during the open season this fall.
Guidance recently posted by OPM, although dated in May, is designed to “coordinate a smooth transition” to the PSHB, which will replace the FEHB for those employees and retirees starting in January. OPM in March conditionally approved 32 carriers for the new program, well below the 158 plan choices in the FEHB.
However, among the plans are offerings from carriers that make up the large majority of FEHB enrollees—of whom the postal population constitutes about a fifth—including seven national fee-for-service plans and HMO plans available in many major city areas.
Under the 2022 law creating the PSHB, enrollees whose current FEHB plan is not in the PSHB may choose to enroll in a new plan in this fall’s open season for 2025 coverage. If they make no choice, they will be enrolled by default.
Says the guidance, “OPM will determine which of the Carrier’s FEHB and PSHB plans are equivalent, and where no equivalent PSHB plan is available, enrollees will be auto-enrolled in the lowest-cost nationwide plan that is not a high deductible health plan and does not charge an association or membership fee, or an alternate plan, designated by OPM.”
The guidance lays out a series of steps and deadlines for carriers to follow, adding that they “are expected to end FEHB coverage effective December 31, 2024, for any PSHB enrollees whose FEHB coverage was not terminated during auto-enrollment.”
The APWU is urging union members to refrain from participating in the USPS management’s Postal Pulse survey. Negotiations for a new union contract began June 25, and any information you give them can be used in retaliation to hurt us during negotiations and arbitration.
Regardless of pressure from supervisors or managers, letter correspondence, excessive emails, or other tactics, employees are not required to participate in this survey. APWU urges you to not participate in the Postal Pulse.
The U.S. Postal Service’s regulator is calling on the mailing agency to pause all of the reform efforts it is currently undertaking, marking the first time it has formally issued such a recommendation and yet another escalation in the feud between the two entities.
The Postal Regulatory Commission expressed concern that postal management is moving forward with its plan to many aspects of its plan to consolidate mail sorting and processing despite the difficulties it has experienced rolling out those changes to date. It said the network changes should not continue until USPS can further study the impacts of the efforts. While the suggestions to not carry any obligation for the Postal Service, they continue the pressure Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has faced as he continues to implement his vision to overhaul the agency.
DeJoy announced earlier this year he would pause the moving of mail processing facilities until at least 2025, which followed bipartisan blowback from lawmakers in both chambers of Congress. He is proceeding with the establishment of some of his new regional processing centers and the “sorting and delivery centers” where letter carriers will report to pick up the mail each day, however, leading to PRC’s recommendation. DeJoy is overseeing the changes as part of his 10-year Delivering for America plan to improve USPS operations
In an analysis of the Postal Service’s fiscal 2023 performance and its fiscal 2024 plan, PRC said the agency should “pause other DFA plan initiatives in addition to moving mail processing facilities, so that it can conduct a comprehensive study of the DFA plan’s potential impacts on service performance.”
The commission made its recommendation after finding in the report that USPS in fiscal 2023 missed most of its goals for high-quality service performance; three of its eight goals related to customer service; and all of its goals related to maintaining a safe workplace, engaged workforce and financially healthy organization.
DeJoy and PRC have been at odds for years, as the postmaster general has accused the regulators—and other stakeholders—of standing in the way of essential steps he must take to save the agency from insolvency. The new recommendation, however, marks the first time PRC has called for a pause to DeJoy’s signature plan. It follows the introduction of bipartisan bills that would restrict the Postal Service from carrying out its changes.
In a recently introduced fiscal 2025 spending bill, House Republicans said they were “deeply concerned about the potential negative impacts” of DeJoy’s reforms.
PRC flagged other aspects of DeJoy’s plan, including suggesting USPS consider whether its decision in recent years to increase prices twice annually “may accelerate electronic diversion resulting in adverse volume effects.” While postal officials have repeatedly highlighted its efforts to engage with its customers and employees over its plans, the commission said it has concerns about the “limited transparency” regarding the DFA and their “effects on service performance.” PRC recently pushed back on DeJoy’s rate increase strategy, saying postal management should exercise more discretion before continuing with its approach that “may be unprecedented in the history of the Postal Service.”
Many lawmakers and stakeholders across the postal community are imploring PRC to go further, calling for it to issue an “advisory opinion” on the totality of DeJoy’s DFA plan.
Large-scale mailers and others that interact with the Postal Service regularly are hopeful an advisory opinion—while not enforceable—would provide a third-party assessment of the agency’s plans, evaluate its assumptions and potentially offer additional fodder to motivate either the USPS board of governors or Congress to intervene.
FROM CHARLIE CASH. A.P.W.U. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS DIRECTOR
First, the postal service is at it again with their postal pulse. However, some things have changed this year.
A new company is conducting the survey—Perceptyx—instead of Gallop
There is now a “5-point” scale (Strongly agree to Strongly Disagree)
Questions have been added and others “refreshed”. The questions added and the “refreshed” ones are in the attachment.
There will be no more paper surveys sent to employee homes. They claim most participation is electronic. They are still sending paper surveys to the work locations.
Just some personal comments—they have questions about the Delivering for America plan and some questions about reporting safety issues and such. As tempting as it might be for employees to let them know their thoughts. The APWU is still the representative of the employees and we have told management how the unit feels on these issues. Also, I don’t think it is a coincidence that this survey will be completed and tallied while we are in negotiations. I don’t want it used against it. Again, the APWU is opposed to management conducted surveys of the bargaining units and urge all employees not to participate.
Second, in the Postal Services continuing efforts to secure the liteblue and employee self-service apps, they are discontinuing one of the options to receive the multi-factor authentication code needed to login. Sending a code via email has been identified as have security vulnerabilities. As such, the use of email to send verification codes is being discontinued. However, the other methods remain. Those include receiving the code via text on the registered phone number, a call on the registered phone number, or by the random generated codes through Google Authenticator or Okta Verify. I personally use Google Authenticator and find it to be fairly easy to use.
As a reminder, if anyone is still having serious login issues with liteblue, please contact Lee Branca at lbranca@apwu.org. This is for the most serious issues when all attempts to correct through the IT Helpdesk, HRSSC, etc. have been exhausted. We will need the employee’s name, EIN, contact email and phone number, and a very detailed description of the login problem.
Thank-you,
Charlie Cash
Industrial Relations Director
American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
202-842-4273
For Leave Year 2025 (begins Jan. 11, 2025 and ends Jan. 9, 2026), APWU-represented employees aforementioned are entitled to carryover a maximum of 520 hours of earned annual leave. Employees who meet the exchange requirements may continue to exchange up to 80 hours of annual leave prior to the beginning of Leave Year 2025.
The U.S. Postal Service has few processes in place to determine its law enforcement needs, according to a new audit, leaving the mailing agency potentially ill-equipped to manage a surge in crimes aimed at its staff.
Serious crimes, including robberies and assaults, on letter carriers and other postal workers have surged in recent years, with incidents doubling since 2019. Most of that was driven by robberies outside of USPS property, the Government Accountability Office found, and thieves are increasingly using firearms to take universal keys from letter carriers.
The spike has elicited outcry from employee groups and lawmakers, as well as new policies from postal management. USPS has hardened many of its blue collection boxes to make them harder to break into and is replacing tens of thousands of the universal "arrow keys'' with an electronic alternative. Postal management also increased its rewards for those who help convict mail thieves, offering up to $250,000 payouts.
Despite those efforts, GAO faulted USPS and its Postal Inspection Service for failing to maintain formal processes or documentation on its decision-making over how many law enforcement personnel to deploy and where to send them. The inspector in charge in each division conducts a review annually to determine workforce needs, GAO said, examining staffing trends and complaint data. There are few specifics on how that process should occur, however, and those supervisors do not document their approaches.
The auditors noted USPS and PIS leadership have no way to determine whether division leaders are applying consistent standards as they review their needs.
MEDICARE INTEGRATION The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (PSRA) was signed into law in April 2022. Since then, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in conjunction with the Postal Service, has been working to implement a new Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program, as required under the new law. PSHB is a new, separate program within the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and will be administered by OPM. Coverage under the PSHB Program will be effective January 1, 2025. We will update this page with information and important links about the PSHB program as they are created. Watch this video for an introduction to PSHB and Medicare. It provides background on the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (PSRA), which created the PSHB Program, a new, separate program within the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. It also covers how the PSHB Program integrates with Medicare Part B, and how to enroll through both open season and the one-time PSHB Special Enrollment Period (SEP). For the full five-part educational video series, please visit KeepingPosted.org. The USPS Benefits and Wellness team will hold Lunch and Learn Seminars about the PSHB Program every other Thursday through December. View the calendar HERE! The seminars will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern, via Zoom and using passcode 314858 (Webinar ID: 161 422 7062), and from 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern, via Zoom and using passcode 366159 (Webinar ID: 160 320 9569). Any Questions or Concerns? Contact USPS: Call the PSHB Help Line at 1-833-712-7742 Annuitants visit keepingposted.org Employees visit myhr.usps.gov Email retirementbenefits@usps.gov or PostalRetireeHealthBenefits@opm.gov Text âPSHBPâ to 39369
Problem Solvers Caucus throws its weight behind an effort to kill the windfall elimination provision
Some lawmakers have spent years garnering support to repeal a controversial tax rule that cuts Social Security benefits for some public servants.The years-long effort to repeal a pair of controversial tax rules that negatively impact some federal workers’ retirement income got a boost Thursday in the form of the formal endorsement of the House Problem Solvers Caucus.
The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), introduced last April by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garrett Graves, R-La., would repeal Social Security’s windfall elimination provision and government pension offset.
The windfall elimination provision reduces Social Security benefits for retired federal, state and local government employees who worked in both in the private sector and at a government job where Social Security is not intended as an element of their retirement income, such as the Civil Service Retirement System. The government pension offset reduces spousal and survivor Social Security benefits if the beneficiary is also a government employee.
“All Virginians and Americans across our country who dedicated much of their careers to public service deserve the Social Security benefits they have paid into throughout their careers,” Spanberger said in a statement. But right now, millions of Americans are being denied their full benefits due to the WEP and the GPO—two provisions which unfairly reduce public servants’ benefits. After hearing for years from police officers, firefighters, educators, federal employees and postal workers, I’ve been proud to lead the Social Security Fairness Act to make sure no American is penalized for their public service.”
Despite years of growing bipartisan support, Spanberger’s measure has never made it to the House floor for a vote. The measure now has 320 cosponsors, including 112 Republicans and most members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
“All federal workers, including police officers, firefighters and teachers, deserve their full Social Security benefits,” said caucus co-chairman Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. “As co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and a cosponsor of the Social Security Fairness Act, I am pleased our caucus has endorsed this bipartisan legislation that would give millions of these workers the benefits they rightfully accrued during their years of service to the federal government.”
Despite its broad support, some in Congress back a different bill: the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 5342). Introduced by Reps. Jody Arrington, R-Texas, and Vincente Gonzalez, D-Texas, the measure replaces the windfall elimination provision creating a new formula for calculating the Social Security benefits of someone who split their career between private sector and pension-covered public sector work. As of Thursday, that measure had 36 cosponsors, mostly conservative Republicans in the House.
Fire Donald Trump's handpicked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
To: President Biden
From: Ron Suslak
DeJoy has spent his time as Postmaster General trying to GUT the USPS by hiking postage prices, slowing down first-class mail delivery, and more.
President Biden must nominate two new members to the USPS Board of Governors needed to fire Louis DeJoy and expand postal services.
If you’ve noticed that your mail is taking longer and longer to arrive, you’re not alone – and under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s leadership, things will likely only get worse.
Why? Because of DeJoy's 10-year plan to further slow down mail delivery, eliminate thousands of jobs, and raise postage prices – which is already impacting voters, families, and small businesses across the country.
And what’s more, DeJoy has a history of obstructing voting by mail – something we especially can’t allow in an election year. That’s why we need your help calling on President Biden to fill vacancies on the USPS Board of Governors and hold Louis DeJoy accountable.
We must make sure President Biden knows that voters like us are outraged by DeJoy’s attacks on the Postal Service and vote by mail. Add your name to join the nationwide outcry.
In accordance with the 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a $0.17 per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective March 9, 2024.
HAS BEEN REMOVED. THE NATIONAL HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED NOR HAS IT BEEN DISCUSSED WITH THEM
WE WILL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE
Union Family,
On January 30, 2024, it appears the Postal Service announced they had established a toll free number employees can call to learn what steps to take regarding harassment. The announcement was shared in a link article here: USPS has established an anti-harassment info line – USPS Employee News. The Postal Service is calling it an “anti-harassment info line.” The article states that “The Postal Service has established a toll-free phone number for employees and managers seeking guidance on what actions to take in the event of an incident of alleged harassment.”
Let me be clear, this was not discussed with the APWU in any way prior to this announcement. No discussions have taken place with the APWU and the Postal Service on this issue yet either. We just don’t know enough about it yet. In fact, my counterpart in response to my question about this line told me they were unaware this had been done.
I have submitted an information request on this line to find out just what it is, what its purpose is, who answers it, what information is collected from the employee, or how that information is used, etc.. The APWU needs to know more before we can make an informed comment to you on how to use, if you should use it, etc.. At this time, I cannot tell you whether or not you should use the phone number. Once I have more information I will put it out to the field.
Next union negotiated raises will be in paychecks dated December 8, 2023
APWU-represented career postal employees will receive a union-won general wage increase (GWI) equal to 1.3 percent of base pay, effective Nov. 18. Non-career APWU-represented employees will receive an additional 1 percent, or a 2.3 percent GWI, as they do not receive COLA.
The raise will appear in paychecks dated Dec. 8, 2023. This latest wage increase caps off two years of strong raises secured in the 2021-2024 contract and follows record-breaking cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for career employees, which totaled $2.39 per hour, or $4,971 annually. COLAs are added to the base pay schedule, so PSEs will recoup these increases when they convert to career status.
WASHINGTON—The latest steps by Trump-named Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to cut Postal Service costs by cutting service have drawn bipartisan flak from Capitol Hill and prior protests from USPS workers from Medford, Ore., to Newburgh, N.Y.
And from the Postal Rate Commission, too. DeJoy told the regulators last month his cuts are—in so many words—none of their business and to sit down and shut up. The panel, whose usual work is to consider and vote on postal rate hikes, refused. They plan to review his “reorganization.”
But then, such behavior is to be expected from DeJoy, a Republican big giver and denizen of the corporate class. Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a banker known for wrongful foreclosures during the pandemic, forced DeJoy on USPS as part of the price for sidelining right-wing attempts to privatize the U.S. mail. DeJoy’s sneered at congressional and other oversight ever since.
The latest saga has its origins in DeJoy’s ten-year plan to put the USPS on a sound financial footing. Past parts of the plan include slowing mail deliveries, closing smaller sorting centers in favor of mega-facilities, forcing workers to move or quit, and incessantly raising prices.
And, in one area where DeJoy and the nation’s postal unions agreed, both lobbied successfully for the section of a postal reform law which ended the $6 billion yearly pre-payment a prior GOP-run Congress and GOP President George W. Bush imposed on the Postal Service, to prepay future retirees’ health care costs.
Under DeJoy’s plan, the USPS was to break even this year, on paper, for the first time in at least 15 years. But DeJoy reported a $1.7 billion loss from April-June and forecast a $5.2 billion loss for fiscal 2023, which ends Sept. 30.
His latest cost-cutting move, launched last year in a test run in Georgia, closes “back office” functions in hundreds of post offices and forces Letter Carriers to drive dozens, if not hundreds, of round-trip miles to regional “Sort and Delivery Centers,” to pick up the mail they now sort in post office back rooms before heading out to deliver it.
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