EXIGENCY DENIED! What’s next?

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) rejected the request for an exigent price increase by the Postal Service on September 30th. Click here to read the PRC announcement. Basically, the PRC did the right thing in saying no to the request, mostly because the Postal Service didn’t make a good case for the significant increase. As the Postal Service enters 2011, what do you think its next steps should be? The Office of the Inspector General wants to hear your thoughts. Please weigh in on this important issue by visiting the OIG site and taking the poll [Link].

• Remarks by Jack Potter, USPS Postmaster General
• Senator Tom Carper Press Release
• Comments from the Affordable Mail Alliance
• Statement from Senator Susan Collins
• Listen to the PRC press conference audiocast
• Reaction of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)

Postal reform bill introduced in Senate

Prior to the PRC decision to deny the Postal Service the exigent filing, Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) introduced a bill that would allow the USPS to reduce the number of its home delivery days, close unnecessary post offices, and open less-expensive retail outlets or automated kiosks in grocery stores and other retail areas.

The Postal Operations Sustainment and Transformation (POST) Act of 2010, would also give the Postal Service immediate financial relief by addressing the pension and retiree health benefit issues that have weighed down its bottom line. The bill calls for the Office of Personnel Management to recalculate the Postal Service's obligation to the Civil Service Retirement System using a modern formula and apply the savings to the USPS' retiree health benefits fund. This new formula could save the Postal Service about $5 billion a year, according to estimates.

Source: DMNews

The USPS Has Too Many Employees

The U.S. Postal Service could cut its workforce by one-third and its supervisory ranks even more, according to a leading Republican Congressman.

“The Post Office has 200,000 people who should be retiring," Rep. Darrell Issa said in a recent speech before The Heritage Foundation. USPS had 568,301 employees at the end of August. "When I say retiring I mean we don’t need them. But let’s bear in mind it’s just not the guy at the post office; it’s the thousands of people who are doing maintenance at post offices that we don’t need to have so many of."

As ranking Republican on the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, the California Republican would probably chair the key Congressional panel overseeing the USPS if the GOP wins a majority in the November elections. His comments about the Postal Service start just after the 29-minute mark in this video of the speech.

Source: Dead Tree Edition

What is the Freedom of Information Act?

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), passed in 1966, provides the public with access to records maintained by federal agencies, including the Postal Service. Upon receiving a written FOIA request, the Postal Service is required to disclose those records, unless they are exempt from disclosure.

The FOIA provides nine specific exemptions allowing federal agencies to withhold certain information or records from public disclosure. It is Postal Service policy to make its records available to the public to the maximum extent possible, consistent with the public interest.

Want to know more? Click here to learn about Postal Service procedures governing the disclosure of information under the FOIA, as described in Chapter 4 of the AS-353 Handbook, Guide to Privacy, the FOIA, and Records Management.

Source: USPS Newslink