USPSNEWS@WORK

VOE survey reminder

Remember, completed Voice of the Employee (VOE) surveys must be received by Feb. 21.

If you're among the many Postal Service employees who received a VOE survey this quarter, don't forget to complete it and send it back before the deadline. The surveys help the Postal Service identify workplace issues that need to be improved - and that's good for everyone involved.

Let your voice be heard. Fill out your VOE survey - on the clock.

New postal law — product pricing system

Employees with comments or questions about the new postal law are welcome to send an e-mail to postallawQandA@usps.gov.

The facts

The new postal law divides our products into two categories: market-dominant and competitive. Each category will be governed by different rules. The Postal Regulatory Commission will have until June 2008 to develop the rules that guide pricing for each group.

Market-dominant products are First-Class Mail letters, sealed parcels and cards, Periodicals, Standard Mail, single-piece Parcel Post, Media Mail, Bound Printed Matter, Library Mail, Special Services and single-piece international mail.

Competitive products are Priority Mail, expedited mail, bulk Parcel Post and bulk international mail.

The PMG's view

I consider keeping market-dominant product price increases at or below the rate of inflation to be a business imperative. Why? Each and every postal product competes in the marketplace. In the case of letter and flat mail, electronic alternatives are much less expensive than hard copy. The Postal Service must keep prices affordable - in other words at or below inflation - to maintain and grow letter and flat volumes. Rate increases above inflation will drive customers to divert mail to other mediums. We can't afford to allow our prices to grow on average above inflation. And now the new law will make sure that doesn't happen.

We all need to recognize that 90 percent of our revenues are generated by market-dominant products. Our focus has to be on growing all products - market-dominant and competitive products - not just competitive products.

Santa Barbara PDC employees remembered

Postal employees release six white doves at a remembrance ceremony for six colleagues murdered a year ago at the Santa Barbara PDC.

A memorial was dedicated to honor the six Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center (PDC) employees who were shot and killed a year ago by a former employee. The shooter had been separated from the Postal Service two years before.

Some 300 employees, family members and others returned to the scene for the ceremony recently on the anniversary of the killings. The Postal Service planted olive trees in honor of the six victims and placed a plaque bearing their names at the site.

Postal employee's work with veterans is self-therapeutic

Vietnam vet and author Lee Alley. His book, Back From War, is a story of his wartime experiences and a guide for today's returning veterans.

In 1968, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Lee Alley faced a dilemma not unlike those confronting other Vietnam veterans. He had to find a way to make the conversion from warrior to civilian.

Alley - a custodian at the Wheatland, WY, Post Office and a USPS employee for the past 21 years - needed a release, a way to turn the war off and help him get on with his life. He launched a multi- year mission to renew his relationships with many of the soldiers who served with him in Vietnam. He also reached out to Vietnam veterans he didn't know, providing them assistance and support as best he could.

In 2005, the governor of Wyoming named Alley a member of the state's Veterans' Commission. He also has written a book - Back From War - that records his experiences in Vietnam and offers today's returning veterans advice on how to make the difficult conversion from war to peace.

Tax deadline extended to April 17

Taxpayers will get an extra two days, until April 17, to file 2006 returns and pay taxes owed. The Internal Revenue Service announced the two-day reprieve because April 15, the usual tax day, falls on a Sunday this year and April 16 is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia.

New prescription benefit

USPS employees with job-related injuries now have a new drug benefit - including a personal card - to use when purchasing medications.

The new workers' compensation benefit replaces out-of- pocket costs for medications purchased before the acceptance of a claim. The benefit also means injured workers don't have to pay for prescriptions even if the Office of Worker Compensation Program denies a claim.

Employees with questions about this new benefit should contact their local Injury Compensation Office or call toll- free 888-297-0822.

USPS helps students send toys to Iraqi kids

Van Sickle Middle School students with Springfield, MA, Letter Carrier Paul Jreaswec and some of the 3,000 stuffed animals that are on their way to Iraqi children.

Students from Van Sickle and another Springfield, MA, middle school donated more than 3,000 stuffed animals, which U.S. troops will distribute to Iraqi children in hospitals and schools.

Master Sgt. Jose Irizarry, a reservist on an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq, and his wife, the adjustment counselor at Van Sickle, proposed the project. The school soon launched "Operation Stuffed Animal."

Baystate Health, a medical services company headquartered in Springfield, paid the postage to ship the stuffed animals to Iraq.

Springfield, MA, Letter Carrier Paul Jreaswec, Account Manager Mark Salina, Business Service Network Representative Carolyn Privitera, Springfield Postmaster John Steele and Acting Customer Relations Coordinator Gina Feyre made sure the project went smoothly.

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