tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post3550363149948365598..comments2024-03-21T10:12:22.611-04:00Comments on Courier, Express, and Postal Observer: APWU Contract: Facing a TradeoffAlan Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18015201735147037122noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-36170564116813826802010-11-24T11:17:15.031-05:002010-11-24T11:17:15.031-05:00we run pre-sorted carrier walk sequence mail, deli...we run pre-sorted carrier walk sequence mail, delivered from contractors every night! Standard and First class. Don't understand this, that mail is treated like a letter from my mom with a 44 cent stamp on it! Just to get all the DPS mail in one tray. Not sure of the discount between a zone sort and a WSS sort, but there should be none. Lowest discount should be a zone sort.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-33470015092436505012010-11-22T17:23:57.924-05:002010-11-22T17:23:57.924-05:00A major thing that needs to be mentioned: A majori...A major thing that needs to be mentioned: <b>A majority of the outsourced operations can be done more efficiently and cheaper by current employees.</b><br /><br />The two-tiered system is not directly tied to the concerns of worksharing. It is simply a proposal to reduce wages and benefits. The current postal system is not broken. Without the retirement overcharges and the mandated prefunding USPS would have been an exemplary model for other public and private agencies during the economic recession. <br /><br />I have serious doubts that - in case of arbitration - the Postal Service would benefit from presenting the results of two-tiered agreements at companies such as Caterpillar, Chrysler, GM etc. As you obviously realize, these firms are "facing challenges relating to the recession and increased competition from manufacturing plant oversees."<br /><br />In arbitration, APWU could produce evidence that postal worksharing is seriously flawed. On the other hand, I don't have enough information on the two-tiered proposal put forward by management. When all details are in ... then, I expect a burst of ideas pouring in from your commenters.<br /><br />OGAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-4568265865422683172010-11-22T12:50:53.761-05:002010-11-22T12:50:53.761-05:00We can do all that IF management agrees to downsiz...We can do all that IF management agrees to downsize itself immediately & permanently by 50% and agrees to 25% salary cut and agrees to 100% cut in bonuses and the new postmaster must resign with retiring postmaster.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-35296773487391162312010-11-21T15:37:54.051-05:002010-11-21T15:37:54.051-05:00APWU needs to bite the bullet & demand that US...APWU needs to bite the bullet & demand that USPS come under proper management. Remember that USPS management is almost all in-bred. PMG Potter (30+ postal employee/former clerk) is being replace by Dialahoe (30+ postal employee/former clerk). These custodian/clerks come to USPS because they are uncompetitive for private sector jobs. They end up being Area managers/PMG. Most are former APWU members. It is an avenue for advancement for APWU members. It is time for the inbreeding to stop. USPS has simply hit a leadership wall. These blue collar workers posing as CEO's simply must go back to pushing a broom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-59808737096213275102010-11-21T14:30:30.321-05:002010-11-21T14:30:30.321-05:00This story does touch on a major component of the ...This story does touch on a major component of the contract talks, and a concern for many years. Contracting out of postal work has hurt postal staffing, both in mail processing and in retail services. It has been proven that the USPS can do presorting work with existing automation cheaper than what the USPS literally pays the private contractors in the form of excessive discounts and rebates. If the PO was forced to keep this work in house, even at current rates of labor, it would save money and provide work for more postal employees. Granted the presort houses would be shut down, but that is a price to pay for being in this fickle business. Contracted Postal retail stations are in the same boat, with the USPS paying for everything but the employee in these situations, allowing non-postal people to do all the work that a fully trained postal employee can do, minus the constant micromanaging the postal worker must endure. It has been proven that a real postal retail employee can generate far more revenue than a non-postal person, even despite the fact that the PO does not pay this person directly. The contracted station does get a generous percentage of all sales as payment, however, so these people are not really the free labor the PO presents them to be. One final factor to consider here, and possibly the most important, at least to the customer, is the fact that there is NO "sanctity of the mail" when non postal people are selling and handling the mail. If customers knew who was handling some of their personal packages and letters, they might be shocked to see that Johnny the produce boy was looking at their mail or that Sam the convicted child molester was working in the presort house that their mail went through. <br /><br />So, yes, if this contracted work could be brought back in house, ensuring work for all, that would be worth a two tier wage system. In fact, a two tier wage system would be something that could be open to further negotiation at a later date, when and if the economy and the Postal Service might be in a better situation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com