Article Title: Former federal employee charged in Cuba spy conspiracy case
Snippet of Article: "..."Beginning in or about 1983, Velazquez conspired with others to transmit to the Cuban government and its agents documents and information relating to the U.S. national defense..."
Article Title: Mississippi men's feud looms over ricin probe
Snippet of Article: "...authorities must now figure out if an online feud between the two men might have escalated into something more sinister...."
Article Title: Envelope tests positive for ricin at Washington mail facility
Snippet of Article: "...An envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN...."
Article Title: Obama proposes 1 percent raise for federal employees
Snippet of Article: "...The raise would be the first increase in basic pay rates since they were frozen beginning in 2011...."
Article Title: Federal workers union furious over DOD contracts
Snippet of Article: "...Defense Department awarded tens of billions in new military contracts last month even as Pentagon leaders finalized plans to furlough up to 700,000 civilian employees..."
Article Title: Obama to propose $35 billion in federal retirement program savings
Snippet of Article: "...the retirement proposals a “betrayal” by the administration on the heels of the already enacted contributions increase, the salary rate freeze and sequestration cuts that threaten unpaid furloughs starting soon...."
Article Title: Army employee shot, killed at Fort Knox
Snippet of Article: "...An Army civilian employee was shot and killed in a parking lot at Kentucky's Fort Knox on Wednesday..."
Article Title: Spies in Huntsville? Believe it. FBI calls the city a 'major target' for espionage
Snippet of Article: "...The FBI is the lead federal agency charged with protecting national secrets, according to Daymond, and it shares threat information with companies and the public on a website devoted to its "business alliance initiative." ..."
Article Title: Furloughs leave federal workers in a world of worry
Snippet of Article: "...“He’s a Marine just getting his life back together, and suddenly he’s looking at losing $300 a month.”..."
Article Title: Defense Department to delay furlough notices
Snippet of Article: "...Furlough notices, which were scheduled to go out Friday, will be delayed until April 5, officials said...."
Article Title: OPM hopes to add six new insurers to FEHBP
Snippet of Article: "...The Office of Personnel Management is now negotiating with six health care insurance carriers..."
Article Title: House committee votes to fire federal workers who owe back taxes
Snippet of Article: "...The Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act, introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah..."
Article Title: Pitney Bowes funds a study to privatize the Postal Service, could make billions off the plan
Snippet of Article: "...Yesterday’s Bloomberg report quotes Sally Davidow, a spokeswoman for the American Postal Workers Union, saying the same thing: Pitney Bowes “stands to benefit enormously from privatizing mail processing operations.” ..."
Article Title: TSP iPhone app warning
Snippet of Article: "...This app is not being offered through the TSP and the TSP does not recommend..."
Article Title: How does the government make its snow-day decisions?
Snippet of Article: "...The federal government closed its D.C.-area offices early Wednesday morning due to a late-winter storm ..."
Article Title: Unionized Federal Workers: We’ll Get Our Pay Despite Sequester
Snippet of Article: "...National Federation of Federal Employees spokesperson Cory Byrthrow threatens that the powerful union will “absolutely fight for back pay in the event of a furlough.”..."
Article Title: Federal-Contractor CFOs Brace for Sequestration
Snippet of Article: "...Smaller contractors, for which any substantial cuts would be damaging, may have particular reason to worry..."
Article Title: Federal Workers Expecting Furlough Notices Friday
Snippet of Article: "...The federal government is required to give employees 30 days notice before a furlough can take affect. Those notices are expected to come this Friday, March 1st..."
Article Title: AFGE National President Demands Contractor Cuts Before Federal Worker Furloughs
Snippet of Article: "...J. David Cox Sr. , national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), today denounced plans to furlough federal employees as the threat of sequestration looms over the federal government. "We absolutely reject the notion that federal employees should be subjected to furloughs as part of Congress' destructive game of sequestration," said Cox. ..."
Article Title: Nancy Pelosi thinks a pay cut is below her ‘dignity.’
Snippet of Article: "...House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she opposes a cut in congressional pay because it would diminish the dignity of lawmakers’ jobs...."
Article Title: GOP senator: Sequester is going to happen
Snippet of Article: "..."Let me be very clear - and I'd say this to the president as I say it to you - these spending cuts are going to go through on March 1," the senator from Wyoming said on CNN's "State of the Union."..."
Article Title: Furloughs wouldn’t happen until April under sequester
Snippet of Article: "...that “legal requirements” would delay the onset of unpaid leave for defense workers if Congress fails to approve a debt-reduction deal before the March deadline...."
Article Title: Feds Don't Have To Accept Furloughs Laying Down
Snippet of Article: "...could mean furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal and civilian workers...."
Article Title: GOP lawmakers want to cut federal workforce to avoid sequester
Snippet of Article: "...Republican lawmakers in both chambers on Wednesday proposed reducing the federal workforce through attrition to avoid sequestration this year...."
Article Title: USPS employees to see less overtime, more buyouts under 5-day delivery plan
Snippet of Article: "...Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said Wednesday the reduction in service would be the equivalent of 22,500 employees who would no longer be needed to process and deliver mail. ..."
Article Title: Panetta says US at risk of being second-rate power
Snippet of Article: "...The United States is at risk of becoming a second-rate power if automatic budget cuts go into effect, plunging the U.S. armed forces into the most significant readiness crisis they've faced in more than a decade, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Thursday...."
USPS National Media Release:
February 06, 2013 Release No. 13-019
WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service announced plans today to transition to a new delivery schedule during the week of Aug. 5, 2013 that includes package delivery Monday through Saturday, and mail delivery Monday through Friday. The Postal Service expects to generate cost savings of approximately $2 billion annually, once the plan is fully implemented.
“The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and CEO. “We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings.”
Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages. However, recent strong growth in package delivery (14 percent volume increase since 2010) and projections of continued strong package growth throughout the coming decade led to the revised approach to maintain package delivery six days per week.
“Our customers see strong value in the national delivery platform we provide and maintaining a six-day delivery schedule for packages is an important part of that platform,” said Donahoe. “As consumers increasingly use and rely on delivery services — especially due to the rise of e-commerce — we can play an increasingly vital role as a delivery provider of choice, and as a driver of growth opportunities for America’s businesses.”
Once implemented during August of 2013, mail delivery to street addresses will occur Monday through Friday. Packages will continue to be delivered six days per week. Mail addressed to PO Boxes will continue to be delivered on Saturdays. Post Offices currently open on Saturdays will remain open on Saturdays.
Market research conducted by the Postal Service and independent research by major news organizations indicate that nearly seven out of ten Americans (70 percent) supported the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to reduce costs in its effort to return the organization to financial stability.¹ Support for this approach will likely be even higher since the Postal Service plans to maintain six-day package delivery.
The Postal Service is making the announcement today, more than six months in advance of implementing five-day mail delivery schedule, to give residential and business customers time to plan and adjust. The Postal Service plans to publish specific guidance in the near future for residential and business customers about its new delivery schedule.
Given the ongoing financial challenges, the Postal Service Board of Governors last month directed postal management to accelerate the restructuring of Postal Service operations in order to strengthen Postal Service finances.
“The American public understands the financial challenges of the Postal Service and supports these steps as a responsible and reasonable approach to improving our financial situation,” said Donahoe. “The Postal Service has a responsibility to take the steps necessary to return to long-term financial stability and ensure the continued affordability of the U.S. Mail.”
The operational plan for the new delivery schedule anticipates a combination of employee reassignment and attrition and is expected to achieve cost savings of approximately $2 billion annually when fully implemented.
The Postal Service is currently implementing major restructuring throughout its retail, delivery and mail processing operations. Since 2006, the Postal Service has reduced its annual cost base by approximately $15 billion, reduced the size of its career workforce by 193,000 or 28 percent, and has consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations. During these unprecedented initiatives, the Postal Service continued to deliver record high levels of service to its customers.
While the change in the delivery schedule announced today is one of the actions needed to restore the financial health of the Postal Service, legislative change is urgently needed to address matters outside the Postal Service’s control. The Postal Service continues to seek legislation to provide it with greater flexibility to control costs and generate new revenue and encourages the 113th Congress to make postal reform legislation an urgent priority.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
¹ Sources: Gallup Poll, March 26, 2010 • New York Times/CBS News, June 27, 2012 • USA Today, March 17, 2010 • Washington Post, March 30, 2010
Article Title: Federal employee unions see large membership boost in last decade
Snippet of Article: "...The American Federation of Government Employees reported a 43 percent membership increase from 2000 to 2012, and now represents more than 282,000 workers, according to the Post. Part of the boost came from Transportation Security Administration employees winning the right to organize and choosing AFGE to represent them. ..."
Article Title: Federal unions, except postal groups, grow as other labor organizations decline
Snippet of Article: "...federal unions, except for U.S. Postal Service labor organizations, have a different story. By most indications, they are strong and growing...."
Article Title: TurboTax Deluxe Federal + E-File + State 2012
