postal
The Postal Service is Unlikely to Give Pension Payments
A new report that has emerged regarding the dismal financial situation of the Postal of the country indicates that the department is “unlikely” to make the complete/required pension and health payments to its retirees in the near future. Apart from this, what’s even more threatening is that the liabilities and the debts that have begun to mount to extraordinary levels could even hamper the existence of the government body in general.
Postal service unlikely to award pension payments:
The report was published this past week by the Government Accountability office and it suggested that the expenses of the postal service have begun to exceed considerably after the fiscal year 2007 and it has now caused the government body to suffer a loss of around 57 billion in the last 8 years.
Lori Rectanus who is the director of physical infrastructure issues at the GAO has said that the USPS is a critical constituent of the country’s communication channel and it was responsible for delivering around 154 billion pieces of mail in the last fiscal year to around 155 million delivery points and has around 620 thousand employees.
The current state of the department is really dismal and there have hardly been any other cases when a government body has found itself reeling for support and suffering from such severe losses. Lori further said that USPS hasn’t got any resources to substantially stay in operation and to cover its expenses and this has put the mission of enabling reliable services to the society at a huge risk.
While there is a crisis in hand, the employees are deserving of the pension and health payments regardless. The government needs to chip in and the postal service needs to be given the resources that they direly need in order to not only stay in operation fully but to also provide their retirees with the benefits that they deserve.
USPS Has Fallen On Hard Times – Can LiteBlue Save It
USPS Has Fallen On Hard Times – Can LiteBlue Save It
The United States Postal Service is one of the largest semi-independent federal agencies in the United States, only being partially supported by tax dollars. However, just like every other staple agency in the country USPS has fallen onto difficult times, and are implementing plenty of changes and contemplating more dramatic changes for the near future.
LiteBlue and the Retire website:
Let’s start with the positive, USPS employees are now able to use LiteBlue and “eRetire.” The new streamlined service allows employees to navigate their way through different retirement plans available through LiteBlue from the comfort of their home. Using LiteBlue, the electronic process is applicable for employees who are within five years of retirement eligibility, and employees who are eligible for retirement immediately.
The simple LiteBlue / eRetire process allows full-time USPS employees login to the LiteBlue site and decide their retirement path step by step on the easy-to-use LiteBlue webpage. Full-time employees who meet the required eligibility specification can receive Federal Annuity estimates. Part-time employees and postal inspectors must still do manual inputs and contact the Human Resources Services Center to receive their annuity estimates in the mail.
USPS employees that are presently eligible for retirement, or at least within six months of retirement can perform the following tasks. Request, view and print their own annuity estimation based on employee retirement effect times and dates within 180 days. Additionally, employees within 180 days of retiring can order, print and download the Retirement Application Package. Prospective retirees can either perform this task on the LiteBlue webpage, or request the application package to be delivered to their home within seven to ten business days.
Furthermore, LiteBlue offers the opportunities transitioning employees to attend counseling sessions. Group sessions are also available for employees to exchange information; group sessions are available to employees who will enter into retirement within 90 days. The LiteBlue webpage displays all appointments dates, times and locations available for employees to choose from.
LiteBlue – Change is on the Horizon:
After a decade of consecutive years of operating underneath a mounting deficit in excess of $47 billion, the United States Postal Service is proposing some monumental changes that will greatly impact its 536,000 employees. The Postal Service is seeking congressional approval for dramatic cutback and changes to its current system. The USPS is proposing to implement its own and much cheaper health benefits program, administer its own retirement system and significantly reduce its workforce by 120,000 employees. In addition, USPS is also seeking the flexibility to adjust the mail delivery schedule; meaning that Saturday deliveries would be a thing of the past. Curbside and central pick up locations are also on the docket to become standard versus current door-to-door delivery.
But how did the Postal Service get to this point? There are a couple of key elements that have led USPS to the point it is at now. First, is USPS is legally tied to Congress. Since 2006, USPS has been required to prefund $5.5 billion for future retirees. Initially, the payment was not an issue because the Postal Service was strong and the recession had not hit. Secondly, the volume of mail which USPS services has dropped more than 20% with modern-day technology, and companies like FedEx and UPS gaining momentum.
Keeping the Postal Service’s economic hurdles in mind, there are plenty of potential sources for revenue are being tossed around the discussion board. Re-implementing the Postal Savings Program, allowing lower-class families who don’t utilize a private bank to cash their checks at much less inflated rate. The Postal Service is also considering offering email and/or internet service at a comparable rate to competitors. Other ideas include ending restrictions on shipment of wine and beer, sales of fishing and hunting licenses and notary services.
In addition, the White House has mandated that the $5.5 billion healthcare payments for 2015 and 2016 are deferred until 2017 and USPS being reimbursed $1.5 billion in over over-costs to the Office of Personal Management.
The proposed changes are a second-round of “fat trimming,” to the entity. Previously, the Postal Service has reduced its employee base by 212,000 and was able to bring operational costs down by $12 billion. In addition to the cutbacks, the Postal Service also raised the price of the stamp .03¢ in January of 2014 to offset the devastating blow of the recession. The new plan, proposed by President Obama for the 2016 fiscal budget is projected to save $36 billion over the next 11 years.
While all of the proposed changes make economic sense, the union adamantly opposes all suggested changes to policy and workforce, stating that it will violate contractual obligations and harm collective bargaining. But with the U.S. Postal Service seeing a $569 million revenue increase for the 2014 fiscal year, it shows that innovative ideas will make a difference in an acute situation. In the meantime, the Postal Service will await an answer from Congress to see if the proposed changes will come to fruition
Other LiteBlue Related Links
Changing Your LiteBlue / PostalEase Password through ssp.USPS.Gov
LiteBlue; Online Access to More Than Just Your USPS Earnings Statement
The Inevitable
Some of our posts have focused on postal employees in general. We have not dedicated any of our posts specifically to those men and women who actually carry the mail through towns, cities, states and rural areas across the United States. These fine men and women are called Letter Carriers.
We call them our post men and women and we know them personally because we have gotten used to seeing them on a regular basis. My carrier’s name is June just like the month and she is as pleasant as a Summer day. We all stop to chat with her just long enough not to interfere with her work and then we move on knowing we will see her tomorrow.
But what happens when an Active Letter Carrier Dies is the name of a pamphlet put out by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). It is a neatly compacted pamphlet filled with information to assist family members through a most trying time.
Individuals who have lost loved ones in service know all too well the pain of having to fill out forms and notify the appropriate personnel of a family member’s death during an absolutely traumatic period in any family’s life. Becoming familiar with the information in the pamphlet will help to lessen the pain of dealing with the death of a loved one.
Planning for the business of the end of our lives is inevitable. Talk to your family members about your end of life plans. Read and become familiar with information made available to you through your employer or member organization. Also make sure the information you are reading is current as laws, policies and regulations change that might impact the way your family members and survivors handle the business of the end of your life.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
Other LiteBlue Related Pages
What Postal Employees Should Do On LiteBlue Before Retirement
eRetire for Postal Employees – Retirement Applications on LiteBlue
Use LiteBlue to Manage your FEHB
You can use LiteBlue and PostalEase to manage your Allotments
Requesting Duplicate Postal Employee W-2 Forms Using LiteBlue
Postal Employee – STAPLES® Survey
Postal Employee – YOUR OPINION MATTERS
The USPS has opened over 50 ‘Test’ USPS locations inside of STAPLES® locations throughout the Country. Your opinion about this event matters – Our results will be published and we will be forwarding our findings to the USPS for review and consideration.
www.PSRetirement.com is conducting a Survey of USPS employees.
PSRetirement.com, through the ‘Postal Employee – STAPLES®‘ survey is requesting feedback from Postal employees about the USPS’s decision to open USPS locations in over 50 ‘test market’ STAPLES® stores.
If you were selected to participate in this survey please do so –
If you have NOT received your survey and would like to participate please request your survey by submitting your email address in the comment section below – we will promptly send one to you.
Your opinion matters – Make it count.
* To say ‘Thank You’ for the time you spend filling out the survey PSRetirement.com is offering survey participants a Retirement Benefit Analysis free of charge.
