Fwd: {{ruralcarriers@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 29, V. 1, Dec. 8, 2007 (List 3)

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From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Sat, Dec 8, 2007 at 5:25 AM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 29, V. 1, Dec. 8, 2007 (List 3)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com


NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 29, Vol. 1         December 8, 2007   Saturday        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

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.
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.
**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, submissions, stories to Hier...@comcast.net and be sure to mark it as confidential or note if it is OK to share.
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President Bush gives feds a holiday Dec. 24
Most federal employees will have a little more time for last-minute Christmas shopping this year: President Bush announced today that feds will have Dec. 24 off.

But U.S. Postal Service employees and other workers essential to national security, defense or other public needs will not get Christmas Eve off, the Office of Personnel Management said.


New ‘Official’ Logo Unveiled
For Letter Carriers Food Drive
‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Effort Set for May 10

The annual NALC National Food Drive – entering its 16th year
in 2008 – now has an official logo. The logo incorporates the name of the union and also the slogan – “Stamp Out Hunger” – that has become popular
through the intense promotion by Campbell Soup Company over
the years.

The logo will be available to all NALC branches for use in promoting the annual drive on the second Saturday of May, which next year will occur on Saturday, May 10, 2008. NALC President William H. Young is challenging all branches
to increase their effort in 2008 and to surpass the amount of
donations collected in the past.

“Our annual ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ drive plays a critical role in America’s effort to aid families in need, especially in providing high-quality and high-protein food for their diets,” Young said. “I am proud that NALC members and other volunteers can help by delivering donations from citizens along our postal routes to their community food banks, pantries and shelters.”

Registration forms for branches to participate in the 2008 drive will be mailed to all NALC branch presidents later this month and will be due back at NALC headquarters by January 25 in order that coordinators’ packets can be sent to those branches, including forms for ordering the FREE Campbell Soup-U.S. Postal Service postcards and the official food drive poster. The drive is the largest one-day food drive in the nation and has delivered over 70 million
pounds of food to community food banks, pantries and shelters in each of the past four years.

The May 2007 drive brought in 70.7 million pounds. Branches that have participated in the food drive in the past must re-register for the 2008
drive to receive the postcard order form.

Questions regarding the registration should be directed to Drew Von Bergen, national coordinator of the food drive, at (202) 662-2489, by email at vonb...@nalc.org, or by mail at NALC headquarters. http://nalc.org/news/bulleti n/PDF2007/Bull07-22.pdf

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
Enrollment Continues to Dec. 29

The ‘Open Season’ period during which letter carriers and other postal employees can enroll in or change their Flexible Spending Accounts will expire at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 29.

There are two types of FSAs available to postal employees: the Health Care FSA for health care expenses and the Dependent Care FSA for dependent care (day care) expenses. The health care component covers such out-of-pocket costs as prescriptions, doctor and dentist visits, vision care, even over-the-counter medical items like aspirin or bandages. It also includes expenses like FEHB health plan deductibles or copayments, and amounts for certain procedures your dental or vision insurance doesn’t cover.

Dependant care covers day care expenses.

Employees can get a tax break when signing up for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and deciding the amount to contribute for 2008. A designated amount goes every payday to your FSAs, which are accounts to cover eligible health care and dependant care expenses throughout the year with tax-free money. In other words, whatever is contributed isn’t subject to federal income tax, Social Security tax, or
Medicare tax.

Employees can contribute up to $5,000 to each account. The full amount is available beginning January 1, 2008, to cover eligible expenses, even though FSA contributions are taken over the entire year. Employees can enroll using PostalEASE. http://nalc.org/news/bulletin/PDF2007/Bull07-22.pdf
'Return to sender' won't work with junk mail, but flow can be slowed
Customer finds 'return to sender' won't work, but flow can be slowed
By IAN McCANN / The Dallas Morning News


Most days, John Fredricks feels as though he's swimming upstream in a river of mail. Catalogs. Ads. Pleas for money. Sometimes dozens a day, filling his mailbox.
First the 86-year-old Richardson retiree tried paying companies that promised to stop the junk mail from coming. But it kept coming. More, in fact, it seemed. Then he mailed notes asking to be removed from bulk senders' lists. That didn't work.
Finally, Mr. Fredricks started returning it, at first piece by piece. Then around Thanksgiving, he hauled a month's worth of mail marked "return to sender" in grocery bags and handed it all to a bewildered postal employee.
Sacks come back
But last week, he opened his front door and found a U.S. Postal Service bin with his stuffed grocery sacks, delivered right back to him.
"I almost fell over when I saw that there," Mr. Fredricks said.
His is an extreme case, but it's representative of the hassle most people face when they empty their mailboxes, picking out the wanted from the unwanted. Last year, the U.S. Postal Service delivered 213 billion pieces of mail, and, of those, nearly half were advertisements. Nonprofit bulk mail made up another chunk, totaling billions of pieces. And while there are ways to taper the flow of bulk mail, postal customers must be cautious not to inadvertently trigger more mail, experts say.
Just toss it
Most people just toss out mail when it's unwanted, said McKinney Boyd, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman for the Dallas area. In Mr. Fredricks' case, the bags of mail were returned because postal workers had the same reaction he does each day: They didn't know what else to do with it.
"It was the amount of mail that he returned to the post office," Mr. Boyd said. "It just kind of surprised [the post office manager] that he saved this mail for a number of days. It's a first for me, somebody keeping or storing a large quantity of third-class mail."
The Postal Service returns only first-class mail to senders, so sending back bulk mail labeled "return to sender" doesn't work.
"Our obligation is to the mailer," Mr. Boyd said. "It's up to the customer to dispose of it or to recycle it."
Catalog Choice, a joint venture of several environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense, estimates that 19 billion catalogs are mailed to American households each year, totaling about 3.6 million tons. That figure doesn't include other bulk pieces, such as circulars or nonprofit solicitations.
Controlling information
Beth Givens, director of consumer organization Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, said junk mail was among the top consumer complaints when the group was founded in 1992. Now, she said, it doesn't even register in the top 10 concerns the organization hears about.
"People do want to control their personal information, and that includes their addresses and the mail they receive," she said.
But people can cut down on the mail they receive. The Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service, essentially an industry "do not mail" list, helps, as does the Abacus "opt-out," which will reduce catalogs. Calling mailers to get removed from lists also helps, Ms. Givens said.
Meanwhile, other things Mr. Fredricks has done before – such as sending checks to charities asking for money – actually can increase bulk mail. Ms. Givens said that selling, renting or sharing mailing lists is common practice, but it's also avoidable. Any time consumers shop with a catalog or donate money, they should include a note that asks the business or charity not to share their mailing information.
"A nonprofit does not have to honor that," Ms. Givens said. "But the opt-out lists are very effective."
So what became of the bin of mail sitting on Mr. Fredricks' front porch?
"They picked it up yesterday," he said Wednesday. "The guy called from the post office. He said they were just going to throw it away." Mr. Fredricks said he won't be collecting his bulk mail in grocery sacks anymore. He'll save the post office the extra step. "I'll just throw it in the trash now," he said. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/DN-junkmail_06met.ART.State.Edition2.36ee64c.html#
>From the Office of Personnel Management:
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6, 2007
Contact: Michael Orenstein
202-606-2402





President Bush Delivers December 24 as a Day Off for Federal Employees
Washington, D.C. -- OPM Director Linda M. Springer today announced President George W. Bush has delivered a holiday treat, making Monday, December 24 a day off for federal employees.
"President Bush acknowledges the important contributions America's federal employees make each day to ensure the success and security of our nation," said Springer. "So in the spirit of the season, President Bush is making it possible for these dedicated Americans to spend this precious four-day period with family and friends."
The Executive Order excuses most Executive Branch employees from duty on December 24. The day off does not affect Postal Service workers, nor does it include Executive Branch employees whose agencies determine they cannot be excused for reasons of national security, defense or other essential public need.  [USPS PostalLink, December 7, 2007]
 
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