National Association of Postal Supervisors
Legislative and Regulatory Update - October 28, 2008


In This issue:


Pay Concessions for Postal Supervisors and Postmasters?

Several reports in recent days on the web (here and here) have noted that USPS PCES managers were told by USPS top management that they will not receive pay raises this year because of the deteriorating financial situation.

Building on that development, USPS labor relations  officials recently asked the postal management associations to consider similar concessions by supervisors and postmasters.  NAPS and the postmaster organizations will give their response to USPS on Thursday.


FERS Sick Leave Bill Stalls in Senate

The FERS sick leave bill has stalled in the Senate and appears to be dead for this year.  Some experts believe on and off the Hill that the measure could pass in 2009.

The House in July passed legislation that would give FERS-covered employees the same retirement credit for unused sick leave as already applies to workers covered under the older Civil Service Retirement System.

The FERS sick leave provisions were part of a larger measure that would grant the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products. 

The Senate left Washington in late September for the election recess without bringing the measure up for a vote and is unlikely to do so even if lawmakers return after the election, primarily to pass a second economic stimulus package.

The bill passed the House this summer with overwhelming support, but a threat from Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to block it and a veto threat from the White House helped stall it in the Senate.

The bill, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1108) , was approved by a 326-102 vote in the House.  (Click here to see how your House Member voted.)   It would require the FDA to regulate the labeling and advertising of tobacco products and ban flavored cigarettes excluding menthol.  Though tobacco regulation is a hot button issue on Capitol Hill, both presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama strongly support giving the FDA the authority to restrict tobacco marketing and set standards for nicotine levels in cigarettes.


In addition to the FERS sick leave provisions in the tobacco bill, the measure also would authorize the Federal Thrift Retirement Investment Board to establish a Roth contribution plan and self-directed investment options within the TSP.  The addition of the Roth contribution plan option, under Congressional budget scoring rules, provided the additional federal revenue that made possible the more generous, CSRS-like FERS sick leave formula.  The Roth revenue also offsets the loss of  federal tobacco taxes from an anticipated decline in smoking.

How would the FERS sick leave work?  Under the measure, FERS employees who retire within three years of the bill's enactment would receive service credit in the computation of their pension for 75 percent of their accrued sick leave at the time of retirement.  Those who retire three years after enactment would receive 100% credit for all of their unused sick leave.

The conferral of FERS sick leave credit has been a legislative goal of the National Association of Postal Supervisors.  NAPS will push for the reintroduction of the FERS sick leave provisions early in the next session of the 111th Congress.



USPS to PRC: Don't Mess with the Universal Service Obligation and the Mailbox Rule

The Postal Service in recent comments has urged the Postal Regulatory Commission to not recommend any changes to the Universal Service Obligation and the mailbox monopoly, at least for now.  And the RAND Corporation in a recent report requested by the Postal Service has pointed to increased mail theft, mail-related financial crimes and explosives-related incidents as a likely result of widening mailbox access to private couriers.

Those views line up with the position that NAPS and other groups urged the PRC to take during hearings earlier this summer and could be decisive in the way the PRC approaches the question in its much awaited report, due in December.

The PRC is required by the Postal Act of 2006 to submit a report to the President and Congress on universal postal service and the postal monopoly by mid-December 2008. The Government Accountability Office is also required by 2011 to make a broad range of recommendations and to include experiences of other countries.

Surveys and hearings indicate that the American public and mailing industry do not want any changes to the universal service obligation or the mailbox monopoly, the Postal Service told thePRC .  Compared to other posts, the Postal Service provides a high level of service and does so at low, affordable prices.  Especially right now, the Postal Service needs flexibility to be increasingly responsive in serving Americans; a rigidly defined USO would unduly restrict the Postal Service and ultimately harm the American public and businesses.

USPS also said that the postal monopoly (including the Private Express Statutes and mailbox access rule) must be preserved since it is the current funding mechanism to ensure the American public continues to receive affordable, universal service. Any potential change to the monopoly would require identification and implementation of new USO funding mechanisms, USPS pointed out.

During a PRC hearing in July, NAPS President Ted Keating urged the Postal Regulatory Commission to preserve the universal service obligation and the postal monopoly.  Keating called upon the Commission to affirm the well-established principle that all Americans, no matter where they live, are entitled to secure, efficient and affordable postal service.


Several Postal Gems Worth Reading ...

Why Did the Post Office Throw the Clock Out the Window?
Over the past two years, as part of a program to modernize and standardize the appearance of the nation's 37,000 post offices, the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly removing the clocks from customer waiting areas.  Why?  Read here ...

The Customer Is At the Center
A new roadmap to 2013 lays out the Postal Service's strategic vision and commitment to embracing change, innovation and collaboration on an unprecedented scale, with the customer at the heart of everything that gets done.  The proof will be in the pudding, as they say.

FSS: Still the Right Stuff?
The Flats Sequencing System initiative is currently the largest Postal Service mail automation investment, with 100 FSS machines to be deployed to 100 sites.  In fact, USPS expects FSS to generate operational savings of between $593 million and $677 million annually, without the need for mail carriers to manually case flat mail.  But an Office of Inspector General report suggests that declining mail volumes are making it more difficult to test FSS operational assumptions and savings forecasts.

In the Spirit of "Openness"
In an “open letter” to Postmaster General Jack Potter, APWU President William Burrus says the current USPS business model isn't working, that subcontracting, outsourcing, work-hour reductions, workshare discounts and an "unhealthy level of cooperation with major mailers and their agents" have led to the Postal Service's troubles.  His prescription: evict the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee from L'Enfant Plaza.


... And Four Great Election Guides

For information about the candidates in all House and Senate races, check out this part of the NAPS website.

For the best coverage of the daily Presidential and Congressional polls: Pollster.com

For the best election maps and analysis, go to CQ Politics

And the daily political "must read" is found here: Real Clear Politics


Bruce Moyer
Legislative Counsel to NAPS