News and Feature Highlights

March 29, 2013

Level 18 Two Percent Promotion Cap Lifted

The LEAGUE has received a memo (PDF) from Postal Headquarters rescinding the 2 percent salary promotion cap placed on level 18 Postmaster jobs on June 19, 2012. Promotion increases to level 18 Postmasters as well as all others will follow postal policy as outlined in the June 24, 2011 memo (PDF) from Anthony Vegliante. The June 19, 2012, letter (PDF) was sent to the field regarding the 2 percent cap on all promotions to level 18 Postmaster positions just prior to the two rounds of postings limited to Postmasters only last year. The Postmaster organizations had been asking that this cap be lifted since the intent of the policy has run its intended course of action and are pleased to see these Postmaster promotions receive the same raises as all other positions.

March 8, 2013

POStPlan Update

The League office has received several letters from Postal Headquarters over the past few days on POStPlan. On Tuesday over 1000 level 6 Postmaster jobs were posted. This list of offices can be found here (Excel). Level 6 offices that were posted in December should now be in the second and third round. If they are at the third round they would be open to all career Postal employees and PMRs. Make sure your career employees and PMRs are checking eCareer every Tuesday to see what jobs may have opened up to them.

The training letter (PDF) that was sent to the field last week has created a little confusion in some Districts. It is necessary to ensure that all APO Postmasters receive the training modules - up to the full suite of training - based on their individual needs. The Manager, Post Office Operations should meet with the APO Postmaster and use the Skills Matrix with the training guidelines to determine which training modules will be required. They should also establish a reasonable and effective timeline for the completion of all required training.

It is also necessary to ensure that all PMRs and Part-Time Postmasters receive the necessary training modules - up to the full suite of training - based on their individual needs. The APO Postmaster should meet with each PMR/PTPM assigned to them, and use the attached Skills Matrix to determine which training modules will be required. They should also establish a reasonable and effective timeline for the completion of all required training.

A letter (PDF) was also sent out on the staffing of PTPO and RMPOs. In 2-hour and 4-hour Remotely Managed Post Offices there will be a Primary PMR scheduled 5 days per week, with a Secondary PMR assigned to cover the non-scheduled days and other absences. However, if mutually agreed to by the PMR and the APO Postmaster (or District), the PMR may work 6 days per week. A 6-hour office will have a career Part-Time Postmaster - PTPM. The jobs will be posted 5 days a week but again if mutually agreed to by the PTPM and the APO Postmaster (or District) they can work 6 days a week. Replacement for non-scheduled days and other absences in these offices is a Postal Support Employee - PSE.

The APO Postmaster that will have administrative and managerial responsibility for one or more RMPOs should be the selecting official for the PTPM or PMR assigned to their respective offices. The Manager, Post Office Operations would be the concurring official.

Finally some RMPOs are being assigned to APOs with encumbered Postmasters in the office. All POStPlan impacted offices that are encumbered will continue to operate at their current level, and operating schedule, and continue to report to the POOM until such time as the office becomes vacant (or September 2014) and the office is officially implemented into the POStPlan. At that time, the RMPO office will begin reporting to the APO.

February 13, 2013

Senate Holds Hearing on Postal Crisis

Today Senator Carper (D-DE) chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on Solutions to the Crisis Facing the U. S. Postal Service. The LEAGUE submitted a statement for the record to be part of the hearing today. The hearing lasted three hours with three panels and nine testimonies. Congressman Issa (R-CA) was one of those testimonies. He focused on two points and discussed the possibility of the Postal Service taking their own health care in house. The first point Congressman Issa made was the need for flexibility for the Postal Service to run its business. He also stated that current law never intended for the Postal Service to run at a loss, including forcing them to deliver mail six days a week when the business model has changed so much. The Congressman also mentioned the savings that could be realized from moving the mail delivery from the door to cluster boxes.

Of course Postmaster General Donahoe was one of the nine testimonies and he stayed true to form on the legislative agenda he has shared with us. On the Postal Link today is the full testimony and bullets of requested legislation. The Postmaster General asked that Congress not stop the new delivery schedule going to five days a week on August 5th. He asked that the Postal Service be able to sponsor their own health care which he predicts could produce a savings of 7 billion dollars a year; 5.6 of which is the prefunding requirements. The Postmaster General also asked that a proper audit be completed on the FERS pension funds and that any surplus returned to the Postal Service.

Senator Carper, along with the full committee, stated that they want to get Postal Legislation done soon. He stated they are in the first overtime period of a football game and have no desire to go to a second overtime. Neither do we, this game has gone on far too long.

Click the link watch to the video of the entire hearing.

February 6, 2013

Postal Service Announces New Delivery Schedule - Six Days of Package Delivery, Five Days of Mail Delivery Begins August 2013

A meeting at Postal Headquarters is scheduled for today with the Mark Strong, League President and the other management organizations and postal unions. Updates will be posted as they become available.

Postal News - Postal Service Announces New Delivery Schedule - Six Days of Package Delivery, Five Days of Mail Delivery Begins August 2013

Link - USPS sets new delivery schedule - Six Day per week package delivery, five days for mail begins next August

Fact Sheet: Six-Day Package, Five-Day Mail Delivery

February 6, 2013

National League of Postmasters 43rd Legislative Forum in DC Ends with Hill Visits

LEAGUE members by the hundreds took to the legislative offices of senators and representatives on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, to inform both new and continuing members of Congress of the important concerns and issues in regard to legislation needing to be passed to enable the Postal Service to continue to provide universal service to all Americans in the most timely and efficient way given changes needed due to economic circumstances.

In encouraging LEAGUE members in their efforts, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke at the general session Monday at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, noting, “We are not fighting for the status quo … the Postal Service has got to change … but let’s grow the business, not do layoffs, and adapt to the changing era. Postal reform should not close post offices and distribution centers, but give us tools to succeed in the 21st century.”

Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-11-VA) spoke earlier about where the House was on developing new legislation following the failure of “flawed” legislation in the last Congress. “You can close every single rural post office and not save a billion dollars … closing post offices destroys communities and the bill formerly proposed would have done that.”

Both Sen. Sanders and Rep. Connolly encouraged LEAGUERs to make contact both in the home district and on the Hill to make sure the legislators get the real facts on what is needed, i.e., resolving the prefunding and the retirement benefit issues. As to the Postal Service’s look to eliminate Saturday delivery, both legislators commented on it as not a good proposal when, they felt, other avenues to reduce costs were available. (More specifics on their ideas coming in the March Advocate.)

Challenge conventional wisdom, they encouraged, “Build on your momentum … on the need to make changes … these are not insurmountable …”

PMG Patrick Donahoe addressed many Postmaster concerns of what was happening in the field and/or going wrong as POStPlan went forward. He was optimistic that legislation could be passed this year but that it needed to be comprehensive and not just on the prefunding and retirement issues. He said the Postal Service continues to pursue taking over health insurance in-house, stating that it would provide better coverage and save money. He also talked about revenue options with a number of new products on the table and new opportunities, such as beer and wine delivery.

“We’re looking to create more opportunities for secure digital messaging for what people want and will pay for and that whatever we do, it falls in the realm of protecting our brand,” said PMG Donahoe.

President Mark Strong noted that the LEAGUE visits to the Hill came at a critical time … to educate legislators on the Hill of the facts. “We’re starting here,” he said, “and I hope that after being on the Hill and preparing here, we can go back home and make a difference with local legislative contacts as well.”

“Our time has come to grow,” said President Strong. “We will bend, we will not break and we will weather the storm.”

January 27, 2013

LEAGUE Office Receives Notice of Release of DUO Suspension And New Timeline for Second Round of Level 6 Postmaster Jobs.

On Friday, January 25, the LEAGUE office received a memo from Postal Headquarters releasing the temporary suspension of Delivery Unit Optimization (DUO). On January 11, 2013 DUO was temporarily suspended while adjustments to the financial worksheets for DUO were completed and changes to the process were made that would require approval of the Area Vice President prior to dates of implementation assigned. These changes have been completed.

On Thursday, January 24, training was completed with the Areas and Districts on the new financial worksheets and approval process. LEAGUE leadership received this training and overview and has been involved in the changes presented.

With this training completed the temporary suspension has been lifted and DUO activities will resume. It is our hope that the changes will improve the process.

The LEAGUE office also received a letter on Friday giving notice of the second posting of 6-hour offices under POStPlan. The first 540 offices previously posted, some of which Postmasters have requested placement in was effective January 26, 2013.

The second list of postings will be available in eCareer starting on March 5 and closing on March 20. This posting will be generated from offices where POStPlan has been implemented, making them 6-hour offices effective either February 9, February 23, or March 9, 2013. For those Postmasters requesting placement, the effective date will be May 4, 2013.

This attachment shows the timeline for future postings that will occur between April 24th and June 29, 2013. The attachment also has language concerning eligibility and pay. In every posting of newly implemented 6-hour positions the process repeats itself and are made available in eCareer to EAS and EPM Postmasters, District-wide or Area-wide under a Limited Area of Consideration (LAC).

January 18, 2013

Temporary Suspension of Delivery Unit Optimization ( DUO).

The LEAGUE has received an update from Postal Headquarters on the suspension of Delivery Unit Optimization ( DUO) that began January 11, 2013. This past week the Postmaster organizations met with Postal Headquarters to discuss concerns and listen to possible changes to the current process. The LEAGUE has provided a number of ideas that could improve the process. It is our hope that this exchange of ideas will provide a better DUO process for the future. On Thursday, January 24, 2013 national rollout of the new DUO process will take place and DUO activities will resume. As mentioned in the January 8, 2013 memo, the DUO moratorium for those offices that have rural routes being counted is still in place. The LEAGUE will continue to keep you updated as to changes with the current process.

January 15, 2013

The 2013 League Legislative Forum is just around the corner, February 3 -5, 2013.

Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel Reservations must be received on or before Friday, January 18, 2013 to receive the Group Room Rate $185.00 Single/Double. Contact the Marriott at: 703-920-3230, Telephone Reservation Group Code "NPXNPXA", state that you are with the National League of Postmasters.

43rd League Legislative Forum Agenda (PDF).

January 8, 2013

The LEAGUE has received the Zone Tolerance ( ZOT) information for POStPlan

Click to view the Zone of Tolerance (ZOT) details (PDF)

December 19, 2012

Release of 2013 Pay Schedules and NPA Update

The LEAGUE National Office received the non-bargaining unit salary schedules (PDF) for 2013. These schedules will go into effect January 12, 2013. Although there were no pay increases for 2012, the new schedules will raise the caps on most all EAS positions.

PFP salary determinations for FY/2013 will be subject to the Postal Service’s review of compensation practices throughout the United States economy. Based on this review, PFP program ratings will either be suspended or applied to salary determinations. For FY2014 and FY2015, PFP rating will be applied to salary determinations.

Last week, LEAGUE and NAPUS started preliminary meetings with Postal Headquarters regarding NPA and the Administrative Rules. These rules will have to be updated to remove CORE requirements. Much of the discussion centered on the need for continued communication and goal setting for Unit and Corporate goals. For 2013, NPA will be weighted with 60 percent of the NPA composite coming from Corporate goals and 40 percent coming from the Unit goals. Clearly the need to discuss how these goals can be met, progress on how we are doing during the year, and the end of year results need to be part of the process. The need for individual mitigating circumstances on Unit goals was also one of the items being discussed. The LEAGUE office will keep you updated on the final changes and complete new Administrative Rules when they are available.

December 5, 2012

POStPlan Staffing of 6 hour Postmaster Positions

Today we received a final document outlining the steps that will be taken to fill vacant part time 6 hour Postmaster positions in the field. LEAGUE and NAPUS has been working with Postal Headquarters to find the best way to fill these jobs while continuing to find a landing spot for impacted Postmasters. These jobs can only be made available after the community meetings have taken place. The initial posting on 12/18/2012 will include most all those offices that have had community meetings so far and the 30 day notice requirement to the community has been met. Future staffing of 6 hour Postmaster positions will repeat this process when the community meetings have taken place.

It is important that Postmasters considering non-competitive downgrades to these jobs start thinking about their choices now as the limited area of consideration (LAC) opportunity to request a downgrade will only be 9 days from 12/18/2012-12/26/12. These positions will then be available in eCareer for all eligible employees to apply. There is a brief description of how to request a non-competitive downgrade on the attached document.

Here is a brief summary of the attached.

• LAC is for EAS Postmasters and EPM Postmasters in Levels 51-55

• LAC is 12/18-12/26

• Postmasters must request a voluntary non-competitive placement

• Level 16 and below will receive saved salary through September 30, 2014. (See FAQs on Saved Salary).

Although not perfect, this LAC will give more opportunity to place impacted Postmasters into positions prior to October 2014.

December 3, 2012

Incentive Payment Information

The LEAGUE office has been getting a number of questions regarding the incentive payments for those Postmasters that took the VERA with the $20,000 incentive this past summer. The LEAGUE office received the following information regarding those payments.

The incentive payment is an adjustment that is included/generated in the normal payroll period pay cycle. The first installment is scheduled to be paid in PP 26/2012 (included on payroll checks dated 12/21/2012). The second installment is scheduled to be paid in PP 26/2013 (included on payroll checks dated 12/20/2013). Because these payments are included in the normal payroll cycle, they follow the normal payroll mailing cycle.

These checks will be mailed to the installation from which the employee retired or separated. They are included with the other checks normally sent to the office each pay period (like terminal leave payments). Former employees make arrangements with their former installations for picking up incentive payments or having those payment mailed to the former employees. There is an exception concerning employees who retired and are reemployed as PMRs. Employees who are due the incentive payment and who have been reemployed as non-career Postmaster Reliefs (PMRs) will have the incentive payments processed as part of their current pay. The incentives will be included on the checks sent to their current employing offices (or included with their Net-To-Bank amounts if that is what they have set up for the handling of their current pay.) We have approximately 275-300 employees that have come back as PMR’s.

Former employees can pick up the checks at the installations from which the employees retired or separated, or they may provide PS Forms 3077 to their final employing offices to have the checks mailed to the addresses provided by the employees on PS Forms 3077 or to the employees’ addresses of record. PS Forms 3077 must NOT be submitted to the Eagan ASC.

Anyone having issues with the incentive payment can contact the Accounting Help Desk at 1-866-974-2733 for assistance

November 8, 2012

Updated NEWSBREAK - LEAGUE Headquarters has just been notified that the FLSA exempt issue for the upgraded level 18 has been corrected. On Oct 6 there were 2858 offices upgraded to level 18 and all of these office were coded non-exempt on their Form 50. Headquarters has now evaluated all 2858 offices and found that 1168 of these offices should be upgraded to FLSA exempt status. This is the list (EXCEL) of those offices. The exempt upgrade will be effective 11/17/2012.

I wanted to share a POStPlan update, 495 offices will be impacted by POStPlan implementation and converted to RMPOs on November 17. This spreadsheet (EXCEL) shows those 495 offices, hours of operation and the APO they report to. POStPlan activities will be suspended during Thanksgiving week, Monday, November 19 through Sunday, November 25. No community meetings will be scheduled for that week and there will be no implementation activities. POStPlan activities will be suspended during the peak Christmas season, starting Saturday, December 8 and continuing through January 6, 2013.

We were also advised that Delivery and Post Office Operations decided that Delivery Unit Optimization implementations and Post Office closures will be suspended temporarily starting Monday, November 19 and continuing through Friday, January 4, 2013. This is the normal moratorium that takes place during the holiday season.

Mark Strong

November 5, 2012

NEWSBREAK - Last week LEAGUE and NAPUS Presidents met with Postal Headquarters regarding FLSA changes and level 18 Postmaster jobs. The classification of the upgraded level 18 Postmasters jobs to non-exempt when in fact most of these positions were exempt continues to be a problem in the field. Headquarters has assured the organization heads that this issue will be fixed expeditiously and the correct status applied to each position. The FLSA law has not changed and there is no disagreement on what justifies a non-exempt vs. an exempt position. This will be corrected on those impacted Postmasters soon. More Information

November 2, 2012

Help Your Postal Family Recover from Natural Disasters such as Hurricane Sandy - Contribute to the Postal Employees Relief Fund (PERF)

The League is asking it's members and all other members of the Postal Family to contribute to the Postal Employees Relief Fund (PERF), which gives aid to postal employees and retired postal employees who sustain significant property damage as a result of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy. It is operated jointly by postal unions and management associations.

Please send checks or money orders to: Postal Employees’ Relief Fund, P.O. Box 7630, Woodbridge VA 22195-7630, Click to download a Contribution Form. Credit card contributions can be made by visiting www.postalrelief.com and clicking on “Donate to PERF.” Contributions also can be made through the Combined Federal Campaign by designating CFC#10268. Contributions are tax deductible.

October 23, 2012

NEWSBREAK - On October 6, 2012 POStPLan level 18 offices with incumbent Postmasters received their upgrades. The LEAGUE national office has received numerous inquiries from these Postmasters who were recently upgraded to level 18s and have since been classified to a non-exempt status. Many of these Postmasters have been exempt Postmasters for years and still meet the criteria of being exempt. The LEAGUE office has notified Postal Headquarters officials that it is our position that EAS 18 Postmasters who manage two or more full time equivalent employees (FTEs) should be classified as exempt. FLSA law has not changed and this fact is not disputed by Postal Headquarters.
Headquarters officials have responded to the LEAGUE by saying that they are looking into the matter and will provide a clarification as soon as possible. An update will be posted on the LEAGUE website as soon as information is received from USPS headquarters.

Mark

October 16, 2012

Updated – 2013 League Legislative Forum Agenda

October 2, 2012

Presidents Message - The community meeting dates and surveys started their weekly cycle of being mailed out, the first going out the week of August 29 and the first community meetings starting October 9, 2012. Many customers are receiving them now and a lot of questions are coming in as a result of this. There are over 1500 meetings schedule for October alone. The media has been doing a pretty good job regarding the surveys and the community meetings but one thing they do not emphasize is how critical the surveys are to the results. I want to remind everyone that these community meetings and surveys are for vacant POStPlan impacted offices only. View Details and More Information

August 29, 2012

The USPS has released the attached announcement looking for assistance with the upcoming rural count. The announcement also includes information regarding the hiring of retirees for PMR positions in the level 2 and 4 offices. Anyone wanting more information should contact their District HR department.

August 3, 2012

The LEAGUE’s National Postmaster of the Year honors went to Debra Alums of Alabama as announced during the Thursday evening banquet, August 2, 2012 in Orlando. Alums, who joined the LEAGUE in 1988, seeing something that she wanted to be a part of, said she progressed in her career because of the information gained through the LEAGUE. Her favorite quote, from the Lion King, is “remember who you are …”

During LEAGUE elections earlier in the day, Mark Strong was reelected National President and Mike Engleman and Jack Jameson were voted in as new VPs. Sean Acord was elected as Executive Vice President. Current Board members include VPs Kelly McCartney and Steve LeNoir; Secretary/Treasurer Shelly Souders; and Retiree President Nancy Trautman. Going off the Board are John Olson and Norma Powell.

Barbara Veech, the LEAGUE’s Director of Meetings and Conventions, has retired as of this convention after 30 years and 45 years as a LEAGUE member. Barbara worked under nine presidents and boards, and was named a National Postmaster of the Year and Oscar Pogue winner in the past. “I’ve made so many friends in this journey of life,” she said, “and most important are the people along the way.”

The California State Branch gave a rousing presentation on next year’s National Convention in San Diego. See you there!

July 9, 2012

On Monday the National League of Postmasters received these PMR FAQs that answer a great deal of questions Postmasters and PMRs had asked about the retention and hiring of PMRs after POStPlan begins. These FAQ address some of the salary questions for newly hired vs. those that are currently working in some of the impacted offices. There are also a few FAQs on Postmaster promotions and relocations benefits.

June 15, 2012

The LEAGUE office received the attached LINK outlining the opportunity for optional eligible and VER eligible Postmasters who retire to be hired back to PMR positions to continue to serve their communities and not affect their annuity payments.

Postmasters retiring can apply for PMR positions in the 2 and 4 hour offices they request to work at and supplement their retirement income while utilizing the valuable postal knowledge they have. The attached FAQs answer a number of questions that Postmasters may have about this opportunity. Postal Headquarters will be sending letters to all VER and optional retirement eligible Postmasters with this offer.

Those interested Postmasters should contact their District Human Resource office.

June 14, 2012

The Postal Service has released an update to the POStPlan FAQ's, they changed the question to FAQ #6 to include all career postmasters (it previously read career full-time) and added the link to the Organization Change FAQ #56 that provides detailed information about Discontinued Service Retirement (DSR).

Updated/Consolidated POStPlan HR and Organization Change FAQ's (PDF) click here to view

June 8, 2012

The Postal Service has released Updated/Consolidated Frequently asked Questions (FAQS) Related to POStPlan. The update includes a new question #1, which is a summary overview of POStPlan and the summary includes links to three additional sites for detailed information on the VER; the incentive; and the Organization Change FAQs, where employees can find current information about issues such as severance pay, effects on benefits and leave when moving to a part-time career position, retirement, social security and many other topics.

Updated/Consolidated POStPlan HR and Organization Change FAQ's (PDF) click here to view

June 1, 2012

The Postal Service has released Updated/Consolidated Frequently asked Questions (FAQS) Related to POStPlan.

Updated/Consolidated POStPlan HR FAQ's (PDF) click here to view

liteblue Human Resources Workforce Connection featuring additional FAQ's and POStPlan information. Click to view

May 31, 2012

POStPlan Earned SOV Formula Certified Correct

We have received the attached memo from Dean Granholm, Vice President of Delivery and Post Office Operations. The attached Power Point has the formula that Mr. Granholm has certified on slide 8. I encourage each impacted Postmaster to verify their POStPlan daily earned hours using this formula. The Power Point shows you how to get to SOV on the Postal Service Blue Page. Type in SOV and follow the slides. Once on the Summary page click on your office and the Variance Summary opens. Follow the three steps on the Retail/Admin section. It is important that you use the correct retail days and total operation days from your FY/11 data. If you sort mail at all on Saturday you will be dividing your Workload Value hours by 308 if completely closed then divide by 257. If you have Saturday retail hours you will divide the retail by 282.5 and if no window operation on Saturday then divide by 257. This is the daily earned hours for the POStPlan SOV that is used to determine the level of offices under POStPLan.

Until the mapping is finalized you will not know if the office is a PTPO and meets any of the three exceptions from the POStPlan calculation so that would be the final anomaly that could change the level.

May 25, 2012

Special Announcement

Deadline to Initiate Optional Retirement with Incentive Extended

Today the Postal Service announced it is extending the deadline from June 22, 2012 until July 2, 2012 to initiate a VER or Optional Retirement with the incentive. It is important that a well informed decision is made before taking this step and the Postal Service felt the extra time was needed for Postmasters to make this decision.

While many are looking at retirement, others are looking to apply for the approximate 1,600 Postmaster positions that were posted today. These positions are posted District wide for limited competition, meaning only Postmasters can apply.

Please read the attached Link Extra, the HR FAQ Postmaster Incentive and Newsbreak for complete details.

Postmasters can go to LiteBlue at the Workforce Connection for more detailed information. Human Resources will mail formal communications directly to Postmasters within the next week.

May 24, 2012

FAQ on Discontinued Service Retirement

Please read the response on the FAQ that was submitted on Discontinued Service Retirement (DSR). Click here for more information. (PDF)

May 22, 2012

The Postal Service has released a 2nd Update to the Additional Frequently asked Questions (FAQS) for HR Related POStPlan Questions, #14 - #25 are New.

Additional POStPlan HR FAQ's (PDF) click here to view

New 5/23/2012 Link to the Organization Change Management RIF FAQs website on Lite Blue: https://liteblue.usps.gov/humanresources/organizationalchanges/pdf/oc_faq.pdf

Additional POStPlan HR FAQ's can be found on Lite Blue: https://liteblue.usps.gov/humanresources/organizationalchanges/pdf/postplan_faqs.pdf

Additional POStPlan Operations FAQ's can be found on Lite Blue: http://blue.usps.gov/delret/L1vp/postplan_faq_internal_05.15.12.pdf

May 18, 2012

The National League of Postmasters has Received the List of Offices that will be Upgraded under POStPLan.

The Postal Service has provided the list of offices that will be upgraded to level 18 under the POStPlan process. Each incumbent Postmaster will receive a letter from the Postal Service informing them of this upgrade. Salary raises will follow current Postal Service policy. Postmasters whose salary is not at the minimum of a level 18 will be slotted in at the minimum of the level 18 pay scale. Postmasters above the minimum salary of the level 18 will receive a 2 percent raise.

May 16, 2012

Postal Service has released the First Set of Frequently asked Questions (FAQS) for HR Related POStPlan and POStPlan Questions.

HR FAQ's Post Plan (PDF)

Post Plan Frequently asked Questions (PDF)

May 09, 2012

PMG Announces POStPlan

This morning, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe and Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan held a press conference regarding the Postal Service’s plan to keep rural post offices open while addressing the declining mail volumes and declining revenue. This new program is called the POStPlan which stands for Post Office Structure Plan. For details visit The LEAGUE's POStPlan site POStPlan

May 09, 2012

Postmaster Pay Package Announced

After months of trying to get a pay packaged that was agreeable, the Postal Service released the pay package that all parties have found common ground on. LEAGUE and NAPUS had decided to take the pay package to third party mediation at one point in the consultative process. All parties felt that an agreement could be reached without outside intervention. In December of 2011 we went back to the table. Although far from the perfect pay package, we believe it is fair to all parties and in line with the financial difficulties facing the Postal Service while recognizing the hard work of Postmasters. View Details

April 25, 2012

S. 1789 Passes Out of Senate

Mark Strong, President of the LEAGUE, wishes to thank Senators Lieberman, Collins, Brown, Carper and all the other senators for the hard work that went into S. 1789. I want to congratulate the senators on their effort and the fact that they showed that legislation can still work, especially with this very difficult bill. The LEAGUE is pleased with the amendments that strengthened S. 1789 that gave extra protection to rural post offices and dealt with some of the overpayment issues, specifically the FERS overpayment. Click to view the text for s.1789. (PDF)

April 25, 2012

Washington, D.C., April 25, 2012 - Senate Passes Postal Bill - Rural Post Offices Get Support, New Restrictions on Closing Added

Today, the United States Senate passed S. 1789, the 21st Century Postal Act of 2012, in a bi-partisan fashion 62 to 37. The bill gives rural post offices more support and adds on a number of restrictions to the Postal Service’s ability to close them. Clearly, the Senate was not at all pleased with the behavior of the Postal Service in attempting to close thousands of small post offices over the last year or two. The bill contained a moratorium on closing small post offices in rural areas for one year, as well a moratorium of going to five-day delivery for two years.

From a broader perspective, the bill returns some $11 billion of overpaid FERS money back to the Postal Service, allowing some to be used for buyouts, and the remainder to be used to pay down its debt and to cover other employee benefits, such as workers’ compensation, pensions and health care. Further, the bill also begins a 40-year amortized payment schedule for the Postal Service to fund the rest of its retirees’ health benefits and would calculate those payments using the same discount rate that is used for the major federal government retirement funds. Open For More Information...

April 24, 2012

Senate Consideration of S. 1789 Continues. Final Vote on Passage Set for Wednesday.

Washington - Tuesday April 24 2012. Today the Senate actually started voting on amendments to S. 1789. The first vote was a critical vote on waiving a budgetary point of order. It passed and the budgetary point of order was waived. This was necessary because of the quirky way CBO calculates a score and its failure to adjust for the Postal Service’s unique on/off budget situation which gives S 1789 a positive score. Thus, it appears that passage of the bill would cost the government money, even though that is not the case.

Among the amendments adopted were ones by Senators Tester, McCaskil, Bennett, and Blunt that give further protections to communities to avoid post office closings, and set a one year moratorium, although it would let the Postal Service reduce hours if appropriate.

Among those amendments that failed was one extending the moratorium from going from 6 day to 5 day delivery beyond two years. There were several negative amendments, notably ones by Senator Corker (R TN), McCain (R AZ) and Paul (R KY) that would have destroyed the Postal Service which also failed.

About half the amendments have been considered. The other half should be considered tomorrow as should a vote on final passage. So far, things look pretty good for passage. The vote on the budget waive was a very good sign.

April 23, 2012

Postal Legislation: The Deals Continue

The National League of Postmasters is continuing to monitor the deal making and political maneuvering of all sorts continued over the weekend. The postal bill and amendments are scheduled to go to a vote tomorrow, Tuesday around 2:15 p.m., although that time could easily change. It will be cablecast on CSPAN 2. I would not be surprised to see some postal speeches on the floor today, although the votes will be tomorrow.

At this point, the number of amendments have decreased to 39 and rewriting is ongoing in order to make amendments more palatable to a broader group. Indeed, several amendments might be combined and offered up by unanimous consent. We also we expect some senators to back off of some of the other amendments. Don’t be surprised, then, when Tuesday rolls around, to see a narrower field of amendments. More Information...

April 19, 2012

Postal Legislation: Behind-the-Scenes Maneuvers Continue as Senate Considers Postal Legislation

There are some 79 amendments that have been officially noticed for S. 1789 and the Senate is in the process of trying to narrow down those that will simply be accepted by the managers of the bill, those that will have a vote, and those that will have neither a vote nor be accepted. The idea is to eliminate all (or as many as they can) of the non-germane amendments to the bill, and get senators with very similar amendments to combine their amendments.

Among them is a McCaskill/Merkley amendment that the League supports that will further improve small rural post offices position in the legislation, and other amendments to better the bill. There is also an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to eliminate the postal monopoly, and another Rand amendment to drive up the premiums of the Federal Employee Health Benefits system.

Negotiations are intense and senators are pushing hard for their positions. A very strong contingent is insisting on yet better protections for small rural post offices--a position we strongly support.

April 18, 2012

Postal Legislation: Senate Continues with Consideration of S. 1789 Attempts to limit Amendments Only to Those Relevant to the Postal Bill

Today, the Senate continues its intermittent consideration of S. 1789 as Senators are giving speeches on the Postal Service, small post offices, and the current state of postal affairs. Democratic and Republican leaders are working on an agreement to limit amendments only to those relevant to postal matters. They have called for all Senators to submit to them any amendment they wish to offer to the bill. The deadline for the submissions was 1:00 pm today.

April 17, 2012

Postal Legislation: Senate Cloture Vote on Motion to Proceed Passes S. 1789 Goes to Senate Floor

The Senate Motion for Cloture on the Motion to Proceed passed this time around, 74 to 22.. The brings S. 1789 to the floor of the Senate for debate. The first item of business will to be substitute the managers’ amendment, see section by section analysis here, and then debate will occur and other possible amendments will be possible. It is not clear how long the Senate bill will remain on the floor. Some have suggested that the Republicans could keep it on the floor for up to two weeks in order to eat up Senate legislative time during an election time. We will see. Both Maryland Senators, liberal democrats both, voted against the Motion, thus probably indicating that some bad feelings between them and Senator Carper remain.

April 16, 2012

Postal Legislation: S. 1789 to proceed to Senate Floor for Debate, Consideration, and a Eventually a Vote.

Both parties in the Senate have reached an agreement to reconsider the cloture vote tomorrow, April 17, on the motion to proceed to S.1789 that failed a little less than a month ago. Following routine morning business tomorrow, the motion to proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to S.1789 will be taken up, and the agreement is that the motion to reconsider will be agreed to.

This will start around 11 a.m. tomorrow, with the vote around 11:10. It will be cable and web cast on CSPAN 2. That means that S. 1789 will go to the Senate floor tomorrow for debate and ultimately for a vote on passage. Debate will surely last several days, or more.

Initially, there will be a managers amendment in the nature of a substitute bill. This will strike all the language of S. 1789 and replace it with the language of the managers amendment. That amendment includes most of the text of S. 1789 but adds some measures, deletes others, and changes still others. You can see the managers amendment in the nature of a substitute here. Once the managers amendment passes, the amended bill will be the subject of the debate. Many amendments are expected.

The League is analyzing the managers amendment and will release a statement after careful and deliberate analysis of the measure.

March 27, 2012 4:15 pm

Postal Legislation: First Cloture Vote Fails.

This afternoon, the Senate voted against invoking cloture on S. 1789. Sixty votes are required to pass a cloture amendment, and thus the Republicans control the outcome. The final vote was 51-46.

The primary reason for the “no” vote is that the Senate wants to keep its focus on the oil and gas bill that is before them now, and there is a concern that not all the issues in the postal bill managers’ amendment have been satisfactorily dealt with.

Senator Reid and several others ended up voting against cloture so they can move to reconsider the vote in the future, probably after the Senate returns from its Easter recess on April 16. By then, the Republicans will either vote with the Democrats to invoke cloture or allow the bill to proceed to debate.

The following is a helpful excerpt from a 2011 Congressional Research Report, explaining the procedure:

“In relation to the Senate’s initial consideration of a bill or resolution, there usually can be at least two filibusters: first, a filibuster on the motion to proceed to the measure’s consideration; and second, after the Senate agrees to this motion, a filibuster on the measure itself. If the Senate cannot agree to take up a measure by unanimous consent, the majority leader’s recourse is to make a motion that the Senate proceed to its consideration. This motion to proceed, as it is called, usually is debatable and, consequently, subject to a filibuster.14 Therefore, the Senate may have to invoke cloture on this motion before being able to vote on it. Once the Senate adopts the motion to proceed and begins consideration of the measure itself, a filibuster on the measure then may begin, so that cloture must be sought anew on the measure itself. Except by unanimous consent, cloture cannot be sought on the measure during consideration of the motion to proceed, because cloture may be moved only on a question that is pending before the Senate.

March 26, 2012

Postal Legislation: Senate Consideration Likely To Be Delayed

Late last week it seemed that the final stages of the process to pass postal legislation through the Senate would start today, Monday, March 26. However, developments late this morning have changed that and indicate that consideration might be put off until after the upcoming Senate Easter recess, which is scheduled for the first two weeks of April. A procedural vote on cloture could occur later this week. Watch our website for updates. View More Details

March 22, 2012

Postmasters Advocate Featured Article

The Plight of the Postmaster by Robert Brinkmann, League Legislative Counsel.

February 29, 2012

Postmaster Organizations Agree that Pay Talks Should Continue

On February 28 League President Mark Strong and NAPUS President Bob Rapoza met with Postal Headquarters regarding the 2011-2015 pay package. Today an agreement was reached with the Postal Service to extend the talks. The pay talks were set to expire today February 29, 2012. We have made progress with our last few meetings and believe it to be in the best interest of everyone to remain at the table.

The Postmaster organizations began these pay talks in July of 2011 and could not reach an agreement with the final offer coming from the Postal Service on November 11, 2011. The LEAGUE and NAPUS entered third part mediation on November 17, 2011. In early December after a meeting with Postmaster General Pat Donahoe both organizations agreed to extend the talks and get back to the table.

The pay talks were extended again in January and most recently today. If we did not feel that progress was being made we would have stopped the talks long ago. It is in the best interest of all parties to find common ground, make needed compromises on both sides and reach agreement if possible without third party intervention.

February 27, 2012

Ratings Recourse Requests can be submitted from February 21, 2012 through March 21, 2012 only.

Final ratings for individual PFP are now posted for 2011. Even though there is no pay associated with PFP for 2011 you need to review your scores.

We are concerned that some rating managers may have taken shortcuts in FY 2011 when rating their employees due to the fact that there are no raises associated with PFP. Be sure that this did not happen to you by logging into PES and reviewing your core requirement ratings NOW.

Recourse is still valid and it is incumbent upon YOU to file Recourse if you do not agree with the score. Keep in mind that these scores can have lasting impacts. RIF procedures as well as some hiring procedures for the Inspection Service and OIG look at these ratings. You never know when these ratings are going to be reviewed and taken into consideration for upward mobility and hiring. You are responsible for any Recourse action.

Part of the RIF scoring process when decisions are made on who stays and who leaves uses the ratings for the last three years. Non-contributor ratings can have a very large impact on the RIF process. Although we have not received the 2011 recourse guide and overview we have not been made aware of any changes. Utilize the 2010 eRecourse process with this flow chart, the eRecourse overview and the quick-start guide for employees.

February 17, 2012

Things are heating up on the Hill in the usual jump ahead, pause, jump ahead, pause, soar ahead fashion. S. 1789, which those pushing it said was to be cued up and ready to go to the floor, is slowing down just a bit as Sen. Bernie Sanders, with whom we have worked closely, has sent a letter to Senators Lieberman, Collins, Carper and Brown with 26 other Senators congratulating the four of them on their work to date, and asking for further changes to S. 1789 to further protect small post offices and the quality of service. You can see a copy of the letter and for more information on this week in Washington click here for the Presidents message.

January 30, 2012

LEAGUE Legislative Forum 2012 – US Senator Bernie Sanders was greeted with a standing ovation from League Postmasters who welcomed his effort to block widespread closings of post offices and processing plants. Click to view the video of Senator Sanders addressing the LEAGUE Forum.