Retirees Still in the Struggle
As the baby boomers face retirement, we are still riding that wave of activism as we age. Never assume it’s all over and time for the easy chair. Those who would take our jobs and retirement benefits do not rest and neither should we.
What to do? Join the APWU Retiree Department and become active in our local chapter. For $36 a year, you will be kept informed on issues facing retired postal workers. Best of all, you can get involved at the local level and help bring about needed changes. This is crucial – with the efforts being made to privatize the post office we must fight back to save it.
Come and check us out. We meet every third Tuesday of the month at 11:00 am. You’ll hear the latest postal gossip before we get down to business. We need you. We can win this battle and keep our local post offices open. All while making new friends.
Juanita Boles
Director Legislation, Oakland Local Retiree Chapter
For a PDF copy of this announcement, go to the Retirees Chapter News page.
The Washington Post. In Victory for Unions, Judge Overturns Key Parts of Trump’s Executive Orders
The Washington Post. In Victory for Unions, Judge Overturns Key Parts of Trump’s Executive Orders:
http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BBMqryZ?ocid=se
How To Build Your Own Nest Egg
The easiest way to build wealth is through stocks and real estate. Assuming you are not one of the fortunate individuals to receive a large inheritance or win the lottery, wealth can be built over a period of time by making a few wise financial decisions in your working life. The earlier you begin doing these things, the more capital you will accumulate over time. Through the power of compound interest and dollar cost averaging, you will be amazed on how much capital (money) you will have built up over time. An example of this power can be demonstrated by FERS postal employees who maximize their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and retirement contributions (contribute and receive the maximum agency matching portion). When you add in the increased amount of TSP contributions you can make after reaching 50 years old, some FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) amass over several hundred thousand dollars to add to their social security benefits and postal annuity in retirement.
More information found in our Nest Egg PDF document:
COLA Pay Increase, Effective September 1, 2018
Seventh and Final COLA under the 2015 Contract Agreement Announced
Web News Article #: 78-2018
08/10/2018 – In accordance with the 2015-2018 APWU/USPS Collective Bargaining Agreement (union contract), career employees represented by the APWU will receive a 31 cent per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective September 1, 2018. It will appear in paychecks dated September 21, 2018 (Pay Period 19-2018), and will total $645.00 per year.
The COLAs are in addition to general wage increases.
For more information, click here.
[UPDATE] Find The Word In The Website Contest
There wasn’t a July 2018 Find The Word In The Website Contest winner. Therefore, the August 2018 prize will be increased to $200.00. The August contest started yesterday.
Contest rules can be found on the home page.
Click here for a pdf version of this post.
PSEs Special Enrollment Period In USPS Health Benefits Plan
At the direction of APWU National Industrial Relations Director Vance Zimmerman, please see the information
below.
On July 30, 2018, the Postal Service notified the APWU that there will be a special enrollment period for PSEs to
enroll in the USPS Health Benefits Plan. The enrollment period will be open from August 20 2018, through October
4, 2018. Coverage will become effective on October 13, 2018.
This special enrollment is being conducted in accordance with the settlement agreement, RE: Workforce
Benefits Fund. The settlement calls for the Postal Service to make additional contributions to USPS Health Benefits
Plan for self plus one and family enrollments for PSEs. With these changes, it is necessary for the Service to offer
eligible PSEs the opportunity to enroll.
Each eligible PSE will be receiving a letter (attached) from the Postal Service giving enrollment deadlines,
enrollment methods, and plan premiums. The letter will instruct the employees to go the
https://liteblue.usps.gov/uspshbp to learn about the plan. Enrollment will be through PostalEASE via liteblue, self-service kiosks in some offices, or by calling the HRSSC at 1-877-477-3273.
This enrollment is for the USPS non-career health benefits plan and should not be confused with the APWU
Consumer Driven Option (CDO) plan. Enrollment will not be open for the APWU CDO plan during this special
enrollment.
PSEs are eligible for enrollment in the APWU CDO plan after completing their first 360-day
appointment. PSEs may enroll in the APWU CDO plan within 60-days of being appointed to a second term as a PSE
or during regular Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) open season held in November and December of each
year after meeting eligibility requirements.
Fredric Jacobs
President
On Wednesday August 1st at 10AM Western Regional Coordinator Omar Gonzalez will be interviewed on KKUP 91.5 FM
Listen in tomorrow to radio station KKUP 91.5 Cupertino on your radio dial. Starting at 10am with Host Valli-Sharpe Giesler on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. Valli will be interviewing American Postal Worker’s Union National Officer, Omar Gonzalez on Postal issues. The public must hear from another view point of the REAL Postal Service issues that affect every one of us. The Trump administration’s ideas and plans to dismantle the People’s Post Office cannot happen when the People are informed and Stand-up TOGETHER!
President’s Executive Orders affecting the Postal Service:
- Privatization
- Union’s Position
- History of OUR business
US House of Representative Resolution Regarding Postal Service Privatization
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal
Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.
For the full resolution, click here.
White House Proposal to Restructure the Postal Service
Summary of Proposal: This proposal would restructure the United States Postal System to return
it to a sustainable business model or prepare it for future conversion from a Government agency
into a privately-held corporation. Like many European nations, the United States could privatize
its postal operator while maintaining strong regulatory oversight to ensure fair competition and
reasonable prices for customers. The President’s Task Force on the United States Postal System
will make recommendations on reforms towards this goal in August 2018.
For the full plan, please click here and go to page 68.