18,000 employees accept Postal Service buyout

By Emily Long elong@govexec.com October 30, 2009

As another deadline looms, approximately 18,000 U.S. Postal Service employees so far have accepted a $15,000 buyout offer, officials have reported.

The final tally of buyout acceptances from each job category isn’t available yet, said Yvonne Yoerger, a Postal Service spokeswoman. It’s also too soon to determine the agency’s savings as a result of the buyout, she added.

Employees were required to express interest in the offer by Sept. 25, while those close to retirement have until Saturday to make a decision. Remaining workers must decide by Nov. 30. According to union representatives, the final acceptance tally is likely to be lower than the number of employees who initially filed paperwork.

The Postal Service announced the buyout program in August. Up to 30,000 employees could take advantage of the offer on a first-come, first-serve basis, though only those represented by the American Postal Workers Union and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union were eligible. The agency projected a $500 million savings if the buyouts reached capacity.

Workers who accept the offer will receive $10,000 by the end of 2009 and an additional $5,000 in October 2010.

There are no plans to extend the offer longer or to other employee groups, Yoerger said.

NPMHU declined to comment on next steps for its members.

In another move designed to increase revenue, the Postal Service this month launched a yearlong partnership with Hallmark and will sell greeting cards in 1,500 locations after Jan. 1, 2010.

OCTOBER 30, 2009, 6:48 P.M. ET

FedEx Touts IRS Move To Drop 2002 Tax Assessment

FedEx Corp. (FDX) announced late Friday that the Internal Revenue Service has determined it doesn’t owe any taxes stemming from its use of some independent contractors in 2002.

The ruling marks a victory for FedEx

USPS Loses SS Checks in 20th CD

Posted on Friday, 30 of October , 2009 at 3:24 pm

QUEENSBURY—Social Security recipients in the northern part of the 20^th Congressional District aren’t happy that their monthly benefits checks are delayed.

Congressman Scott Murphy said that his regional offices had received a number of constituent calls.

Murphy issued a statement Friday, saying that “We have contacted the Social Security Administration, who has informed us they are working with the U.S. Postal Service on resolving this issue as soon as possible.

“In the meantime, for those residents needing immediate assistance, please contact the Social Security Administration’s Queensbury office at 518-812-0182, or any of my regional offices listed below”, Murphy said.

Glens Falls:     518-743-0964
Saratoga:         518-581-8247
Clifton Park:   518-280-1791
Hudson:           518-828-3109

Earlier this year, Capital District residents had to wait a week or longer for their Social Security checks to arrive due to a screw-up of the Postal Service.

Social Security officials say that the Postal Service has three days to locate the checks and if they aren’t found, the checks will be declared lost and replaced. They say the best way to avoid such problems is to sign up for direct deposit.  10-30-09

Rachael Ray to host Thanksgiving dinner in area

By Amelia Robinson | Thursday, October 29, 2009, 02:49 PM

Talk show host Rachael Ray will bring her show and a heap of Thanksgiving fixing to Wilmington Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8.

Ray is inviting Wilmington residents who have faced economic hardship to a free Thanksgiving dinner Sunday at the Roberts Convention Centre.

Cincinnati native and former 98 Degrees member Nick Lachey will attend the dinner, according to Ray’s representatives.

“The Rachael Ray Show,” which will tape an episode, also plans to visit Sugartree Soup Kitchen.

Wilmington residents were rocked when DHL, that community’s major employer, announced last year that it was leaving.

The company has ceased most operations there.

“We can’t fix the economy, but we can do our part – and what we know about is food. So if you’re worried about a Thanksgiving meal, you can relax – we’ve got a plan,” a message posted the The Rachael Ray Show website says.

Visit www.RachaelRayShow.com/Ohio or call 1-800-972-2579 to register to attend the dinner.

Those who registers must be at least 18 years of age, and must show a government-issued photo ID proving they live in the 45177 zip code.

The show also seeks volunteers willing to help stage the dinner. Call (800) -972-2579 to help.

This isn’t the first time the plight of Wilmington workers has gained the attention of a national celebrity.

Comedian Jay Leno in May preformed two free shows there as part of Jay’s Comedy Stimulus Plan.

By HEATHER CLARK (AP) – 3 days ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. officials argued Tuesday for the first time face to face about whether a labor bill pending in Congress would create a UPS monopoly or an even playing field for all package delivery companies.

The shipping giants squared off over the federal legislation at a Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce meeting. FedEx had asked to speak at the meeting as part of its national campaign to advance its position on the bill. Chamber officials agreed to hear from FedEx as long as UPS could also have an opportunity to speak.

A provision in the House version of the bill would switch FedEx Express employees to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act from the National Railway Labor Act.

The Railway Labor Act is designed to minimize strike interruptions to railroad and airline transportation. It allows workers to organize, only if all workers vote on a union at the same time, a requirement that has been a roadblock to unions that could not afford national organizing campaigns.

Malcolm Berkley, a public relations manager for UPS based in Washington D.C., said about 50,000 FedEx Express drivers are not covered under the Labor Relations Act. They represent an anomaly in the package delivery industry even though they do the same job as other drivers.

“What it’s really about is equal treatment of drivers under the law. A driver is a driver is a driver,” he said.

Berkley said FedEx salespeople have used the company’s legal position to sell their business as being more reliable.

“The only question that’s being asked in Congress is why should one company have a legislative advantage over everyone else in this industry,” Berkley said.

Maury Lane, FedEx’s director of corporate communications at the company’s headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., said the disagreement is about UPS trying to put a monkey wrench into FedEx’s successful business model. “We’re not going for it and we’re going to fight it every way we can,” Lane said.

Lane told Albuquerque businesspeople that should the provision pass, it could lead to a monopoly of the 102-year-old UPS, raising prices and reducing choices for consumers. He said the provision would affect about 100,000 FedEx Express employees.

FedEx Express’ nearly 5,000 pilots are the only employees that currently have a union. The company has a total work force of 280,000, which includes independent contractors.

UPS, based in Atlanta, has about 415,000 workers worldwide; more than half are union members and most of those are members of the Teamsters.

The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2009 is pending in a Senate committee.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

$80,000 in FedEx package seized

By ZACK CINEK The Daily Journal

Updated: 10/29/2009 12:00:11 AM PDT

$80,000 in FedEx package seized

Police intercepted a FedEx package last week containing more than $80,000 in cash, leading to the discovery of a Fort Bragg couple who police suspect were collecting welfare payments while shipping marijuana.

A Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit dog was called in and located a package en route from New York to the coast at FedEx in Ukiah, said Bob Nishiyama, commander of the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force.

“We had information that there was money coming through,” Nishiyama said. A package with $82,520 was intercepted and then opened by police with a search warrant last Thursday, Nishiyama said.

A Task Force investigation found that the package had been sent using phony names from New York to Fort Bragg. The case remains under investigation.

James Sanderson and Bess Sanderson, both from New York, but now coast residents, have been charged by police.

A home occupied by the Sandersons was being bought with a $2.7 million cash down payment, police stated. “It is an absolutely beautiful home they live in,” Nishiyama said.

According to police, the home in the village of Mendocino has views of bluffs and the ocean. Police also served another search warrant at an apartment that looks like the site where marijuana was trimmed and packaged.

Police believe that marijuana had been shipped back east for about four to five months.

“Mr. Sanderson and his wife are on public assistance; they have been collecting welfare,” Nishiyama

said. “Maybe I should work less, then I could afford a house like this,” he said.

The couple has a young child aged 4 or 5, and Bess Sanderson is five months pregnant, Nishiyama said.

An employee of the Sandersons said that he was shipping more than 10 pounds of marijuana to New York regularly, police stated.

It is not clear if marijuana was being grown or only “brokered” by the couple, but police believe several people were involved. No firearms were found at the home when a search warrant was served.

“It is not about medicine,” Nishiyama said. “It is about greed.”

Zack Cinek can be reached at udjzc@pacific.net or 468-3521.

UPS, FedEx fire shots at each other from their trenches in New Mexico

Bruce Watson
Oct 29th 2009 at 5:10PM

Over much of the last two years, United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx Corp. (FDX) have been sniping at each other in the halls of Congress and in the papers. The battle has been conducted through surrogates: as high-priced lobbyists dispensing largesse, and by lower-octane (but no less eloquent) columnists and media pundits.

On Tuesday, the two opponents finally met face-to-face at a meeting of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. While it lacked the energy and drama of the Rumble in the Jungle, everyone agrees that the Altercation in Albuquerque was deeply important. But the two fighters don’t see eye-to-eye about what it all meant.
UPS thinks it was a battle in a war to protect the rights of America’s workers; FedEx thinks it was a battle over its right to conduct business without unfair government intervention. In truth, it’s about money, although it hinges on a fairly obscure legal classification that dates back to 1926.

The rules of the Railway Labor Act, which cover most of FedEx’s employees, make it very hard for workers to unionize and strike. Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Act, which covers UPS drivers, makes it fairly easy for workers to unionize and strike. Taken together, they mean FedEx can operate with less overhead and can offer customers a higher level of security than UPS can.

In March, FedEx threatened to cancel a $3.75 billion order with Boeing — endangering the plane manufacturer’s business — if Congress reclassified it under the NLRA. Congress responded in May with the FAA Reauthorization Act, which contained a provision that would remove FedEx’s railway exception. It would be simplistic to claim that the House of Representatives was exacting revenge, but it’s hard to imagine that legislators weren’t annoyed by FedEx’s attempt at blackmail.

Undaunted, FedEx launched a two-front war, taking its fight to the Senate and running an ad campaign characterizing the battle as a government bailout for UPS. The idea was to instill a wave of populist rage against Big Brown by linking it to Wall Street. (The campaign didn’t really work out — although it certainly made George Will hopping mad.) Still, the Senate version of the FAA Reauthorization act didn’t contain a provision that would change FedEx’s status.

For all its drama, the UPS v. FedEx skirmish in New Mexico was largely meaningless. Until the Senate version of the act is rewritten, this issue is stalled — the bill is bogged down in committee, and it’s unclear when it will find its way off the floor of the Senate. So for now, FedEx retains its financial advantage, with employees who have fewer rights to strike.

In the end, this war could be reduced to an issue of necessity. When the Railway Labor Act was passed, America’s rail lines were vital for the country’s economic health. The inclusion of America’s airlines in 1936 suggested that their status was equally vital. The question, then, is whether American commerce could survive a FedEx strike, or if rivals now have the ability to “absolutely, positively” get a package across the country overnight.