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From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, Dec 17, 2007 at 10:09 AM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 38, V.1, Dec. 17, 2007 (List 17)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com
NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 38, Vol. 1 December 17, 2007 Monday Hier...@comcast.net
Issues of the New Jersey Postal and NRLCA News are now posted and available on the following website: http://groups.google.com/group/rlc_onliners_pub?hl=en
I want to express my gratitude for all the comments, submissions and feedback and the tremendous interest in this newsletter. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ALL RURAL CARRIER CRAFT EMPLOYEES!
_________________________________________________________________________
Issue Codes = Issue A(A is not usually used and constitutes just the issue #), B-E are news and human interest stories; Issue NJ are New Jersey related issues; Issues SP are special issues with important news; Issues ST are steward related articles and Issues-X are breaking news articles of importance. _________________________________________________________________________
FedEx Man Takes Holiday Rush in Stride
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx driver Vito Randazzo works long hours this time of year, but the smile never seems to stop. Working out of one of two FedEx Corp. warehouses in Brooklyn, this day is much like any other, but Randazzo, 48, is noticeably aware of the ramp up to the busiest day of the year.
Packages crowd the conveyor belt that snakes around the warehouse. Air cargo containers loom like massive steel igloos at the start of the belt, as couriers stretch and chat before the belt starts moving and streams boxes filled with everything from Christmas presents to medical supplies. The packages are scanned, sorted and directed onto separate belts according to their destination. The drivers line up by their trucks when the packages arrive at their point on the belt. Randazzo arranges his cargo according to destination on the route he knows by heart.
FedEx expects Monday to be the busiest day of the year. Excluding a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, it expects to haul 10.4 million packages through express and ground service on that day, the last chance to ship via FedEx Ground for Christmas delivery. The prediction represents a 6 percent increase over the 9.8 million shipped on last year's busiest day.
Analysts suggest major parcel carriers overall should expect the usual holiday rush, although revenue will be likely be muddled by the effects of a weak U.S. economy and changing consumer trends.
Jon Langenfeld, an analyst with investment firm R.W. Baird, said the overall freight market is being dragged down by weakness in the housing and automotive markets, and lower consumer spending. Higher diesel prices are also hurting parcel carriers this holiday season, although FedEx will be affected more than UPS, he said, because express services make up more of its business.
National Retail Federation spokesman Scott Krugman acknowledged that while the economy and the rise of electronic gift card purchases will put pressure on shipping this year, these factors should be balanced by robust online sales growth.
Randazzo, along with thousands of other drivers across the country, will work the two Saturdays before Christmas to account for the increased holiday haul. The 19-year veteran began his career with the parcel carrier after leaving the family pizza business, lured by the benefits and steady paycheck that support his wife and three children. Despite the habitual nature of the job, and the amount of knowledge he's gained over the years, times have changed, Randazzo said.
He now drives one of 95 hybrid trucks in FedEx's fleet, and one of 48 in the New York City area. His truck no longer requires a key — a wristband with a delicate sensor opens the doors — although the exterior and inner workings still closely resemble the traditional vehicles.
With his truck loaded and organized, Randazzo starts the engine and heads off on his route. While he lives in Staten Island now, the Gravesend neighborhood in Brooklyn was his home for more than twenty years, so he doesn't need a map.
"I know these streets, these people were my neighbors," he said. He leaps out of his truck and weaves from business to business, reflecting the four espressos he downed before work. He enters a doctor's office, and is regaled with cheers as if he is a long-lost relative.
"Vitooooo.....!" the receptionist exclaims, as she accepts the package and signs the "Power Pad" — a computerized account of pickups and deliveries. He responds with a smile and some quick chitchat, but he is out the door in a flash, on to his next destination.
His route is as much of a cultural melting pot as New York City itself. He drives from small family businesses to large chains, quaint houses to affluent streets.
At one stop, he calms an apprehensive woman who opens her door no more than a crack, still seemingly concerned about the exceedingly smiling face on the other side. He begins to speak to her in Spanish. "Don't worry," he says. "Package... from FedEx." A hand extends through the door, signs the keypad and collects the package.
Randazzo said learning how to communicate in other languages has been an important part of his job. He was born in Italy and came to roost in Brooklyn when he was 10. Speaking Italian to the many relatives still in the old country made it easier to learn enough Spanish to communicate, he said.
Around this time of year, people get very generous. Randazzo said that if he's offered gifts, it's usually a tip or a bottle of wine from his regular customers, who know of his penchant for making his own.
He said this year, he's delivering a lot of iPods, and other Apple gadgets. Computers and other electronics are probably the most popular deliveries this Christmas season, he said. Randazzo said he's also carting some more delicate cargo, as the number of flower arrangements he's delivering is rising as well.
FedEx said it expects slowing overall economic growth and slumping U.S. retail sales to be buoyed by surging e-commerce growth.
United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx's chief competitor, expects to ship 22 million packages on its peak day — Dec. 19. The projection represents less than one percent growth from last year's busiest day, and marks the smallest growth prediction in four years. UPS will add more than 60,000 employees to help with the seasonal rush.
DHL International GmbH expects to ship 14.5 million packages across the globe on its busiest day, Dec. 17, according to a company spokesman. The company, owned by the German-based mail and shipping company Deutsche Post AG, predicts U.S. business will account for between 2.4 million and 2.5 million of those shipments. The company declined to report 2006 figures.
The U.S. Postal Service expects nearly 1 billion pieces — including packages and those last-minute letters to Santa — to be mailed on Monday, its busiest mailing day of the year. USPS expects 275 million cards and letters to be tossed into a mailbox that day. Wednesday is expected to be the busiest delivery day for the USPS.
Randazzo's enthusiasm is a plus around the holidays, where the day can extend for 12-hour stretches and the amount of packages soars. But he brushed off any negatives. "I don't get tired from working," Randazzo said. "It really energizes me to be here. I think I would be tired if I sat at home." http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5N9_fSjh4SjdA3eVNRbbyE2KZvQD8THOVI80
Postal Training Center opens doors to families, storm crews
Norman, Oklahoma - The Postal Service’s National Center for Employee Development recently opened its doors to local families and electrical crews in need of a warm place to stay.
“We don’t normally accommodate children under 18 in our postal housing facility,” says Scott Morgan, NCED manager. “Our campus guest rooms are designed for adult postal employees attending courses, with one bed in each room and no connecting doors. But when local hotels were full and referred families without power to us, we were happy to provide a temporary place for people to stay.”
NCED also is housing some electrical crews from out of state.
“Our parking lots are usually pretty full with staf f, students and conferees,” Morgan said, “so we don’t normally let big trucks park here. But we relaxed those limits, too, so we could help these crews out.”
As of Thursday, affected families had used nearly 400 room nights at the center. Adding the electrical crews brings total NCED room nights used due to the storm to about 700. Most of the OG&E crews staying at NCED are from Louisiana, Texas and other Southern states that sent crews to help Oklahoma, Morgan said. The OEC crews are mainly Oklahoma employees from outside the metro area who came in to help.
The postal center averages 900 postal employees and conferees a week in its housing facility, and its guest rooms are already overbooked with business guests for 23 weeks during 2008. But postal training is down near the holidays when the Postal Service focuses on delivering more than double the usual amount of mail. http:/ /www.n o rm a ntranscript.com/localnews/local_story_349005644.html
Two staph cases at Post Office
Shelbyville, Tennessee - Shelbyville's post office is taking precautions to make sure the potentially deadly MRSA or "staph" infection isn't spread through the mail after two employees became infected with the bacteria.
The Times-Gazette received a call Thursday from a concerned citizen who claimed that Shelbyville's postmaster Larry Ellis was allowing a postal employee with a staph infection to continue to work, possibly exposing the public to the bug. Ellis said that was simply not the case, but did confirm their facility had reported two cases of the disease.
The person with the more recent case of staph just returned after being off for nearly three weeks. The person in question has been cleared to work by their doctor and is taking antibiotics. The first case was in May 2006, Ellis said, when a postal employee became infected and was immediately taken off the job for two day until receiving a clean bill of health from their doctor.
"I don't want anyone in here with any type of infection," Ellis said. The employee returned to work but had to leave their job two more times after the infection returned. Ellis said the staph infection would get under control and then reoccur because the MRSA was moving through the person's bloodstream to different parts of their body.
The doctors have since released the worker in question, who has not had a reoccurrence since then and is working at the post office today. "When a person is diagnosed as infected, they're off work," Ellis stated. "Their doctor has to clear them before they come back."
After the first infection occurred, Ellis said they stepped up cleaning the postal facility with bleach, which they had been doing two to three times a week since 9/11. Any surfaces that were to be touched were disinfected.
Since the first infection, the Shelbyville facility has been taking further steps by spraying an anti-bacterial solution on all surfaces every day, Ellis said. Ellis also said there was no way to tell how a worker could become infected, suggesting it could have come from a piece of mail and entered the body through a paper cut, or they may have been infected outside the post office.
MRSA is the acronym for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. While skin infections start from a cut or scrape, if staphylococcus bacteria gets into the body through a break in the skin it can cause a staph infection, which can spread to other people through skin to skin contact from shared items like bedding, towels, soap, and clothes.
Most medical professionals say the best way to prevent the infections is to simply wash your hands regularly. The infection is becoming harder to treat and has become resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics. As a result, skin infections from staph can develop into serious, even life-threatening situations, such as infections of the blood, bones and heart.
MRSA infection usually occur in hospitals and nursing homes, where people are recovering from surgery. However, more cases are appearing among people of all ages. Common skin infections caused by staph are boils, impetigo (described as blisters with fluid that pop and get a yellow crust) and infected hair roots.
All postal employees are briefed to wash their hands frequently using an alcohol based solution, Ellis said. He added that a person with the infection could mail a letter and that the postal employee could catch it through a small cut. "They understand that the mail is dirty. There's no telling who has handled it," Ellis said.
Some postal employees also wear gloves by choice and have done so since the anthrax scare following the Sept. 11 attacks Many more began to wear them since news of the staph outbreaks became public.
If someone does have staph, Ellis said, they wouldn't be working there, "because I don't want my wife and grandkids to get it." http://www.t-g.com/story/1297858.html
Nine Louisiana Postal Employees Accused of Conspiring To Steal Mail
Jim Letten, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced Friday the indictments of nine postal employees for conspiracy to steal from the United States Mail.
Among the indicted were:
52-year-old Timothy B. Dede
36-year-old Benson V. Dabney
53-year-old Clyde Lee Caston
33-year-old Louin Seabrook Jackson
44-year-old Kim Yvette Hester Martin
42-year-old Felicia Danielle Tanner
48-year-old Tyrone Lewis
43-year-old Tanya S. Payton-Lewis
47-year-old Anthony Martin
Dede and Dabney were also charged with a single count of theft by postal employees, Letten said.
The indictment alleges the nine postal workers conspired to buy, receive and/or unlawfully possess stolen mail.
If convicted, the defendants could each face a prison term of five years, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Dede and Dabney each face another five years in jail, along with a $250,000 fine, for the other charges.
Patrons won't put their stamp of approval on
elimination of postal vending machines
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina - "Bizarre!!" That's what someone scribbled on a piece of green printer paper affixed to a disabled stamp vending machine in the lobby of the U.S. Post Office on Estes Drive. A sign on a second machine explained that the vending machines no longer serve post office patrons. And those patrons are miffed.
"Protest!" cried J.B. Marr after paying for postage through the Automated Postal Center that stands down the hall and around the corner from the defunct vending machines. The Automated Postal Center takes only credit cards. If people want to buy a 41-cent stamp with cash, they can either wait in line for personal service or drive to the downtown post office or the one at Timberlyne Shopping Center.
"Who wants to use their credit card to buy stamps?" said Chapel Hill resident Angela Burnett, leaving the post office without the stamps she came for. "It doesn't make sense."
One man came into the post office on crutches Tuesday afternoon, while a dozen people stood in line for the tellers. He approached the coin-op machines but had to settle for buying a single stamp with his credit card. "I guess I'll go someplace else and get my stamps," said another patron who asked not to be named.
That won't be an option for much longer. A post office spokesman said removing the coin-operated vending machines is a "national movement." The local postmaster certainly doesn't want to take the blame. "The decision to remove the vending machines was made at the area and district level, not by the local postmaster," reads the green sign. "Please do not yell at the window clerk or the vending technician."
Spokeswoman Enola Rice said the postal service is phasing out stamp vending machines in favor of the Automated Postal Center, where customers can buy a stamp and also weigh packages and purchase more expensive postage. "Last year, we spent $66 million repairing stamp vending machines," she said. "Spending $66 million to repair equipment that only provides one thing is not a good business decision." http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/831546.html
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with USPS or the NRLCA and as such any information that I pass on is unofficial and constitutes advice and/or suggestions for your consideration. You may be advised to double-check with official sources before depending on its use and while you are doing that ask why is it that someone without official contacts has this information and is passing it on and its not coming from official sources. I do not speak for any Postal or Union entity and have no authority to serve as spokesman for, against or otherwise in Postal or Union matters.
Note: These email messages are being sent to the entire NJ State Board and almost all of the senior stewards in New Jersey. There should be no concerns about this being done secretly or behind anyone's backs without their knowledge.
**If you know any rural craft employee who would like to receive this dissemination, please send email address, and office of employment to Hier...@comcast.net.
**If you do not wish to receive these disseminations, please notify Hier...@comcast.net and request removal from dissemination list.
**Please address all comments, feedback, submissions, stories to Hier...@comcast.net and be sure to mark it OK to share or if you want the submission to be confidential and anonymous, please indicate that it is CONFIDENTIAL and I will never disclose authorship, content or any other identifying detail. Absent express authority to share, I will strictly maintain confidentiality per my legal obligations and responsibilities.
RURALC...@ROOTSWEB.COM MAIL LIST.
FOR DISCUSSION OF POSTAL AND RURAL CARRIER RELATED SUBJECTS.
STEWARD CONTACTS
http://www.nrlca.org/stewards.html
NRLCA CONTACT INFO.
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
Fourth Floor
1630 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3465
Phone: 703-684-5545
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To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to RURALCARRI...@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, Dec 17, 2007 at 10:09 AM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 38, V.1, Dec. 17, 2007 (List 17)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com
NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 38, Vol. 1 December 17, 2007 Monday Hier...@comcast.net
Issues of the New Jersey Postal and NRLCA News are now posted and available on the following website: http://groups.google.com/group/rlc_onliners_pub?hl=en
I want to express my gratitude for all the comments, submissions and feedback and the tremendous interest in this newsletter. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ALL RURAL CARRIER CRAFT EMPLOYEES!
_________________________________________________________________________
Issue Codes = Issue A(A is not usually used and constitutes just the issue #), B-E are news and human interest stories; Issue NJ are New Jersey related issues; Issues SP are special issues with important news; Issues ST are steward related articles and Issues-X are breaking news articles of importance. _________________________________________________________________________
FedEx Man Takes Holiday Rush in Stride
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx driver Vito Randazzo works long hours this time of year, but the smile never seems to stop. Working out of one of two FedEx Corp. warehouses in Brooklyn, this day is much like any other, but Randazzo, 48, is noticeably aware of the ramp up to the busiest day of the year.
Packages crowd the conveyor belt that snakes around the warehouse. Air cargo containers loom like massive steel igloos at the start of the belt, as couriers stretch and chat before the belt starts moving and streams boxes filled with everything from Christmas presents to medical supplies. The packages are scanned, sorted and directed onto separate belts according to their destination. The drivers line up by their trucks when the packages arrive at their point on the belt. Randazzo arranges his cargo according to destination on the route he knows by heart.
FedEx expects Monday to be the busiest day of the year. Excluding a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, it expects to haul 10.4 million packages through express and ground service on that day, the last chance to ship via FedEx Ground for Christmas delivery. The prediction represents a 6 percent increase over the 9.8 million shipped on last year's busiest day.
Analysts suggest major parcel carriers overall should expect the usual holiday rush, although revenue will be likely be muddled by the effects of a weak U.S. economy and changing consumer trends.
Jon Langenfeld, an analyst with investment firm R.W. Baird, said the overall freight market is being dragged down by weakness in the housing and automotive markets, and lower consumer spending. Higher diesel prices are also hurting parcel carriers this holiday season, although FedEx will be affected more than UPS, he said, because express services make up more of its business.
National Retail Federation spokesman Scott Krugman acknowledged that while the economy and the rise of electronic gift card purchases will put pressure on shipping this year, these factors should be balanced by robust online sales growth.
Randazzo, along with thousands of other drivers across the country, will work the two Saturdays before Christmas to account for the increased holiday haul. The 19-year veteran began his career with the parcel carrier after leaving the family pizza business, lured by the benefits and steady paycheck that support his wife and three children. Despite the habitual nature of the job, and the amount of knowledge he's gained over the years, times have changed, Randazzo said.
He now drives one of 95 hybrid trucks in FedEx's fleet, and one of 48 in the New York City area. His truck no longer requires a key — a wristband with a delicate sensor opens the doors — although the exterior and inner workings still closely resemble the traditional vehicles.
With his truck loaded and organized, Randazzo starts the engine and heads off on his route. While he lives in Staten Island now, the Gravesend neighborhood in Brooklyn was his home for more than twenty years, so he doesn't need a map.
"I know these streets, these people were my neighbors," he said. He leaps out of his truck and weaves from business to business, reflecting the four espressos he downed before work. He enters a doctor's office, and is regaled with cheers as if he is a long-lost relative.
"Vitooooo.....!" the receptionist exclaims, as she accepts the package and signs the "Power Pad" — a computerized account of pickups and deliveries. He responds with a smile and some quick chitchat, but he is out the door in a flash, on to his next destination.
His route is as much of a cultural melting pot as New York City itself. He drives from small family businesses to large chains, quaint houses to affluent streets.
At one stop, he calms an apprehensive woman who opens her door no more than a crack, still seemingly concerned about the exceedingly smiling face on the other side. He begins to speak to her in Spanish. "Don't worry," he says. "Package... from FedEx." A hand extends through the door, signs the keypad and collects the package.
Randazzo said learning how to communicate in other languages has been an important part of his job. He was born in Italy and came to roost in Brooklyn when he was 10. Speaking Italian to the many relatives still in the old country made it easier to learn enough Spanish to communicate, he said.
Around this time of year, people get very generous. Randazzo said that if he's offered gifts, it's usually a tip or a bottle of wine from his regular customers, who know of his penchant for making his own.
He said this year, he's delivering a lot of iPods, and other Apple gadgets. Computers and other electronics are probably the most popular deliveries this Christmas season, he said. Randazzo said he's also carting some more delicate cargo, as the number of flower arrangements he's delivering is rising as well.
FedEx said it expects slowing overall economic growth and slumping U.S. retail sales to be buoyed by surging e-commerce growth.
United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx's chief competitor, expects to ship 22 million packages on its peak day — Dec. 19. The projection represents less than one percent growth from last year's busiest day, and marks the smallest growth prediction in four years. UPS will add more than 60,000 employees to help with the seasonal rush.
DHL International GmbH expects to ship 14.5 million packages across the globe on its busiest day, Dec. 17, according to a company spokesman. The company, owned by the German-based mail and shipping company Deutsche Post AG, predicts U.S. business will account for between 2.4 million and 2.5 million of those shipments. The company declined to report 2006 figures.
The U.S. Postal Service expects nearly 1 billion pieces — including packages and those last-minute letters to Santa — to be mailed on Monday, its busiest mailing day of the year. USPS expects 275 million cards and letters to be tossed into a mailbox that day. Wednesday is expected to be the busiest delivery day for the USPS.
Randazzo's enthusiasm is a plus around the holidays, where the day can extend for 12-hour stretches and the amount of packages soars. But he brushed off any negatives. "I don't get tired from working," Randazzo said. "It really energizes me to be here. I think I would be tired if I sat at home." http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5N9_fSjh4SjdA3eVNRbbyE2KZvQD8THOVI80
Postal Training Center opens doors to families, storm crews
Norman, Oklahoma - The Postal Service’s National Center for Employee Development recently opened its doors to local families and electrical crews in need of a warm place to stay.
“We don’t normally accommodate children under 18 in our postal housing facility,” says Scott Morgan, NCED manager. “Our campus guest rooms are designed for adult postal employees attending courses, with one bed in each room and no connecting doors. But when local hotels were full and referred families without power to us, we were happy to provide a temporary place for people to stay.”
NCED also is housing some electrical crews from out of state.
“Our parking lots are usually pretty full with staf f, students and conferees,” Morgan said, “so we don’t normally let big trucks park here. But we relaxed those limits, too, so we could help these crews out.”
As of Thursday, affected families had used nearly 400 room nights at the center. Adding the electrical crews brings total NCED room nights used due to the storm to about 700. Most of the OG&E crews staying at NCED are from Louisiana, Texas and other Southern states that sent crews to help Oklahoma, Morgan said. The OEC crews are mainly Oklahoma employees from outside the metro area who came in to help.
The postal center averages 900 postal employees and conferees a week in its housing facility, and its guest rooms are already overbooked with business guests for 23 weeks during 2008. But postal training is down near the holidays when the Postal Service focuses on delivering more than double the usual amount of mail. http:/ /www.n o rm a ntranscript.com/localnews/local_story_349005644.html
Two staph cases at Post Office
Shelbyville, Tennessee - Shelbyville's post office is taking precautions to make sure the potentially deadly MRSA or "staph" infection isn't spread through the mail after two employees became infected with the bacteria.
The Times-Gazette received a call Thursday from a concerned citizen who claimed that Shelbyville's postmaster Larry Ellis was allowing a postal employee with a staph infection to continue to work, possibly exposing the public to the bug. Ellis said that was simply not the case, but did confirm their facility had reported two cases of the disease.
The person with the more recent case of staph just returned after being off for nearly three weeks. The person in question has been cleared to work by their doctor and is taking antibiotics. The first case was in May 2006, Ellis said, when a postal employee became infected and was immediately taken off the job for two day until receiving a clean bill of health from their doctor.
"I don't want anyone in here with any type of infection," Ellis said. The employee returned to work but had to leave their job two more times after the infection returned. Ellis said the staph infection would get under control and then reoccur because the MRSA was moving through the person's bloodstream to different parts of their body.
The doctors have since released the worker in question, who has not had a reoccurrence since then and is working at the post office today. "When a person is diagnosed as infected, they're off work," Ellis stated. "Their doctor has to clear them before they come back."
After the first infection occurred, Ellis said they stepped up cleaning the postal facility with bleach, which they had been doing two to three times a week since 9/11. Any surfaces that were to be touched were disinfected.
Since the first infection, the Shelbyville facility has been taking further steps by spraying an anti-bacterial solution on all surfaces every day, Ellis said. Ellis also said there was no way to tell how a worker could become infected, suggesting it could have come from a piece of mail and entered the body through a paper cut, or they may have been infected outside the post office.
MRSA is the acronym for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. While skin infections start from a cut or scrape, if staphylococcus bacteria gets into the body through a break in the skin it can cause a staph infection, which can spread to other people through skin to skin contact from shared items like bedding, towels, soap, and clothes.
Most medical professionals say the best way to prevent the infections is to simply wash your hands regularly. The infection is becoming harder to treat and has become resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics. As a result, skin infections from staph can develop into serious, even life-threatening situations, such as infections of the blood, bones and heart.
MRSA infection usually occur in hospitals and nursing homes, where people are recovering from surgery. However, more cases are appearing among people of all ages. Common skin infections caused by staph are boils, impetigo (described as blisters with fluid that pop and get a yellow crust) and infected hair roots.
All postal employees are briefed to wash their hands frequently using an alcohol based solution, Ellis said. He added that a person with the infection could mail a letter and that the postal employee could catch it through a small cut. "They understand that the mail is dirty. There's no telling who has handled it," Ellis said.
Some postal employees also wear gloves by choice and have done so since the anthrax scare following the Sept. 11 attacks Many more began to wear them since news of the staph outbreaks became public.
If someone does have staph, Ellis said, they wouldn't be working there, "because I don't want my wife and grandkids to get it." http://www.t-g.com/story/1297858.html
Nine Louisiana Postal Employees Accused of Conspiring To Steal Mail
Jim Letten, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced Friday the indictments of nine postal employees for conspiracy to steal from the United States Mail.
Among the indicted were:
52-year-old Timothy B. Dede
36-year-old Benson V. Dabney
53-year-old Clyde Lee Caston
33-year-old Louin Seabrook Jackson
44-year-old Kim Yvette Hester Martin
42-year-old Felicia Danielle Tanner
48-year-old Tyrone Lewis
43-year-old Tanya S. Payton-Lewis
47-year-old Anthony Martin
Dede and Dabney were also charged with a single count of theft by postal employees, Letten said.
The indictment alleges the nine postal workers conspired to buy, receive and/or unlawfully possess stolen mail.
If convicted, the defendants could each face a prison term of five years, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Dede and Dabney each face another five years in jail, along with a $250,000 fine, for the other charges.
Patrons won't put their stamp of approval on
elimination of postal vending machines
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina - "Bizarre!!" That's what someone scribbled on a piece of green printer paper affixed to a disabled stamp vending machine in the lobby of the U.S. Post Office on Estes Drive. A sign on a second machine explained that the vending machines no longer serve post office patrons. And those patrons are miffed.
"Protest!" cried J.B. Marr after paying for postage through the Automated Postal Center that stands down the hall and around the corner from the defunct vending machines. The Automated Postal Center takes only credit cards. If people want to buy a 41-cent stamp with cash, they can either wait in line for personal service or drive to the downtown post office or the one at Timberlyne Shopping Center.
"Who wants to use their credit card to buy stamps?" said Chapel Hill resident Angela Burnett, leaving the post office without the stamps she came for. "It doesn't make sense."
One man came into the post office on crutches Tuesday afternoon, while a dozen people stood in line for the tellers. He approached the coin-op machines but had to settle for buying a single stamp with his credit card. "I guess I'll go someplace else and get my stamps," said another patron who asked not to be named.
That won't be an option for much longer. A post office spokesman said removing the coin-operated vending machines is a "national movement." The local postmaster certainly doesn't want to take the blame. "The decision to remove the vending machines was made at the area and district level, not by the local postmaster," reads the green sign. "Please do not yell at the window clerk or the vending technician."
Spokeswoman Enola Rice said the postal service is phasing out stamp vending machines in favor of the Automated Postal Center, where customers can buy a stamp and also weigh packages and purchase more expensive postage. "Last year, we spent $66 million repairing stamp vending machines," she said. "Spending $66 million to repair equipment that only provides one thing is not a good business decision." http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/831546.html
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with USPS or the NRLCA and as such any information that I pass on is unofficial and constitutes advice and/or suggestions for your consideration. You may be advised to double-check with official sources before depending on its use and while you are doing that ask why is it that someone without official contacts has this information and is passing it on and its not coming from official sources. I do not speak for any Postal or Union entity and have no authority to serve as spokesman for, against or otherwise in Postal or Union matters.
Note: These email messages are being sent to the entire NJ State Board and almost all of the senior stewards in New Jersey. There should be no concerns about this being done secretly or behind anyone's backs without their knowledge.
**If you know any rural craft employee who would like to receive this dissemination, please send email address, and office of employment to Hier...@comcast.net.
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RURALC...@ROOTSWEB.COM MAIL LIST.
FOR DISCUSSION OF POSTAL AND RURAL CARRIER RELATED SUBJECTS.
STEWARD CONTACTS
http://www.nrlca.org/stewards.html
NRLCA CONTACT INFO.
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
Fourth Floor
1630 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3465
Phone: 703-684-5545
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