USPS OIG Report: Employee Safety – Postal Service COVID-19 Response

Objective Our objective was to assess the Postal Service’s response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak regarding the safety of its employees. In March 2020, the president of the United States declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency; its impact to the nation’s health and safety has been unprecedented. According to the Centers for…

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APWU: Clerk Craft Prepares For National Arbitrations in December on Two Important Issues

The Clerk Craft has been preparing for arbitration hearings in December that will cover two issues – 1) the Postmaster End of Day (PMEOD) button remedy case, and 2) an RI-399 issue regarding the craft jurisdiction for the Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) machine. The PMEOD button remedy hearings are scheduled for December 3 &…

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APWU: Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period, New Leave Year

Reminder, in accordance with Article 8, sections 4 and 5, of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, penalty overtime rules are not applicable for a consecutive four-week period each year during December. This year, the December period begins November 28, 2020 (Pay Period 25-20-Week 2) and ends December 25, 2020 (Pay Period 01-21-Week 1). Related: USPS 2021…

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Mail Handlers to Receive Wage Increase Effective November 21, 2020

As provided for in Article 9.1 of the NPMHU 2019 National Agreement, the wage scales for all Mail Handler employees will be adjusted upward effective November 21, 2020. This is the second of three guaranteed wage increases provided for in the 2019 contract. Specifically, with regard to career employees: Effective November 21, 2020 – the…

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USPS: Transitioning to the future

The Postal Service has made several leadership announcements, including the retirement of a top executive, the promotion of several key leaders and a series of functional alignments that aim to better position the organization to achieve operational excellence and financial stability. The changes include the announcement that David E. Williams, chief logistics and processing operations…

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Postal Bulletin: November is HAZMAT Awareness Month

To protect the health and safety of our employees and the general public, the Postal Service™ has developed specific procedures for safeguarding, identifying, handling, and delivering hazardous materials (HAZMAT). Since there have been several recent incidents of non-mailable HAZMAT in the mailstream, November has been designated “HAZMAT Awareness Month” to highlight these issues. Incidents, including…

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Postal Inspection Service’s Oversight of Mail Suspected of Containing Illicit Drugs

Objective Our objective was to evaluate the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s controls for handling mail suspected of containing illicit drugs at U.S. Postal Service facilities. The Postal Inspection Service established the Proper Handling of Suspected Marijuana Parcels Mandatory Stand-Up Talk in FY 2019 as guidance for postal employees on how to handle mail suspected of…

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