Federal Daily - March 4, 2010
Union Blasts USPS Proposal to Cut Back Delivery
The National Association of Letter Carriers denounced a proposal to eliminate Saturday delivery to U.S. homes and businesses, calling it “both unnecessary and counter-productive.”
Elimination of Saturday delivery is one element of a 10-year plan outlined by Postmaster General John E. Potter on March 2. The plan contains a range of measures the U.S. Postal Service hopes to use to address massive revenue shortfalls and declining mail volume.
However, NALC President Fredric Rolando said such a drastic move should be put on hold until all stakeholders examine viable long-term changes that will assure continued universal service throughout the country. Rolando noted that Congress instead should step in and reimburse USPS for $75 billion in pension overcharges identified earlier this year by the USPS Office of Inspector General. Such a reimbursement would help the Postal Service fend off financial ruin for the next few years, he said.
“I do not believe that weakening our commitment of six-day service to the public will enhance the long-term position of the Postal Service as a critical element in our nation's economic infrastructure,” Rolando said.
Other moves under consideration by Postal Service management include closing many freestanding Postal Service locations and developing more “partnerships, self-service kiosks and a world-class Web site.” Closing USPS locations so far has proven unpopular with Congress and the public.
USPS also said it hopes to “improve workforce flexibility” by changing the employee mix and taking advantage of about 300,000 voluntary separations over the next 10 years.
To see more, go to: www.nalc.org/news/release/pr030210.htm.
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DOT Workers Return to Jobs
About 2,000 Department of Transportation workers returned to their jobs March 3 after President Obama signed stopgap legislation that extended federal surface transportation funding and ended a two-day furlough.
The bill, H.R.4691, had been blocked in the Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who wanted the cost of the bill offset by cuts to other programs. The lawmaker dropped his objections after reaching a deal with Senate leaders, and the bill passed the Senate by a 78-19 margin.
Workers were indefinitely furloughed on March 1 after the National Highway Trust Fund's authorization expired and the department could no longer reimburse states for highway projects. The measure also extends unemployment benefits, COBRA health insurance and other federal programs.
To see more, go to: www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot3810.htm.
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FLRA Conducts First Telephone/Internet Election
In a significant break with the past, the Federal Labor Relations Authority last month conducted an election at a federal facility in California where voters cast their ballots using the Internet or telephone.
It was a small-scale effort. FLRA conducted the election among 14 eligible voters at the Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach Detachment, Corona, Calif., after two labor organizations voluntarily entered into an election agreement allowing the voters to cast their ballots by Internet or phone.
FLRA’s San Francisco Region sent each voter a unique voter identification number and personal identification number, along with information on how to cast a ballot. Voters were able to cast ballots at any time of day or night over a two-week period ending at midnight on Feb. 11.
Normally, FLRA elections are conducted exclusively either on-site at the federal facility or by mail. However, last year, representatives of the FLRA General Counsel began researching the use of the Internet and telephone as another means to conduct elections.
“We are encouraged by the successful completion of a secret ballot election in which voters cast their ballots by telephone or Internet,” said FLRA General Counsel Julia Akins Clark. “Remote access voting is now an option that the FLRA can use in its elections.”
To see more, go to: www.flra.gov/webfm_send/228.
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