Federal Manager's Daily Report

The American Postal Workers Union recently sent a 27-point request for information on a pilot program the USPS is conducting with the Staples office-supply chain, but was reportedly rebuffed on the grounds that the request was overly broad and burdensome, and in some cases concerned proprietary information.

APWU says the program outsources postal retail work to Staples, and that while it did receive some information, it was heavily redacted. The union also says Staples declined to meet and referred all inquiries to the USPS. APWU has now filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union also announced it was told by USPS that excessing (shuffling work schedules and hours) related to area mail processing events has been placed on indefinite hold. It said the Postal Service is also releasing “residual vacancies” (duty assignments that have remained vacant after bidding) that were being withheld, or preserved as openings for employees impacted by plant consolidations.

USPS recently announced that it would postpone the implementation of the second phase of its mail processing consolidation plan. That announcement can just before long-awaited postal reform legislation was reported out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which would impact the USPS’s long-term plans.