Andy Rooney Has Gotten Wind of Potential Changes to the Postal Service and He's Not a Fan

(CBS)  This segment was first broadcast Oct. 4, 2009.

I got an e-mail from a friend I never heard of the other day suggesting I do a story about the trouble that our U.S. Postal Service is in - that's what the post office calls itself, the U.S. Postal Service. I don't take suggestions gracefully, but they're thinking about closing post offices to save money and I think it's crazy.

According to them, there are 37,000 post offices in the United States and if they closed 10 percent of them they could save $3 billion a year. They're also talking about reducing mail delivery from six to five days a week and naturally they thought about raising the price of stamps again, too. Most of us don't like any of these solutions to the post office's problem.

The best mail is the letter from a friend or a relative. It's sad to say that very little of what most of us get these days is that kind of mail.

The postal service is a government agency but it's supposed to operate like a business. Most people don't realize that - I know I didn't realize it - but the post office doesn't get tax money. It has to pay for itself.

In 1900, there were 77,000 post offices around the country. Today with four times as many people, there are only 37,000 post offices - 40,000 fewer post offices for 230 million more Americans. No wonder it wasn't in the mail. We have a lot of things that need cutting, but post offices are not among them.

There's something special about a letter. We all like to get one. An e-mail, on the other hand, has all the charm of a freight train. When I was growing up we all knew when the mailman was coming and we waited for him even though we hardly ever got a letter.

People actually wrote letters to each other though, which they don't do as much anymore. They e-mail each other.

I would rather have a mailman or woman deliver junk mail to me, than to get an e-mail.



Written by Andy Rooney

Go to National News Page to read the article

Brother Warren Thomas Stevens, Br.181, Austin, TX., is the winner of the COLCPE contest of Branches 1000 to 1999 members. COLCPE committee members congratulate and present Brother Stevens with a $1,000 American Express Card. Pictured are (from L) Br. 181 President Bob Bishop, committee member Frank Arldt, Br.181 COLCPE Coordinator Les Doss, Brother Stevens and committee member Bennie Lloyd.

Check the COLCPE page for more details 

1,000 to 1,999 members

Austin, TX Br. 181                              15.41%

Nashville, TN Br. 4                                     7.36%

Louisville, KY Br. 14                                   7.17%

Portland, OR Br. 82                                    6.16%

MA Northeast Merged Br. 25                      5.94%

Branch 181 has won the National COLCPE contest for 2009 in the 1000-2000 member branches.  The details will be announced at a later date concerning the winner of the $1,000 (to be determined by National).

Branch 181 was the only branch in our division to be in double digits (over 15%).  The next branch (Nashville TN) was at a little over 7%.  So speaking honestly, we smoked them.

This site is NOT the official website of

Branch 181, Austin Texas, 

National Association of Letter Carriers. 

 It, however, was created to be of

assistance to any NALC member

and for information purposes.

This site is a work in progress. 

We hope all members of Branch 181

will contribute and enjoy the site.

National officer Brian Hellman, Dir. of Safety and Health, assisted by Region 10 RAA Ken Claxton, recently honored Austin, TX. Br. 181 retirees with their 50 & 60 year Gold Card membership, along with other honorees,  

 Karrie Blough - Secretary, William (Bill) Moody - Treasurer, and newly appointed TSALC Treasurer Bennie Lloyd in the "Windy City" Chicago for the NALC training seminar for Secretary/Treasurer.

Mail carrier Daniel Kondas fatally shot while delivering mail in Maple Heights; suspect arrested

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Daniel Kondas delivered mail for 23 years and rarely missed a day of work. He loved to bowl and take care of a 1950s car, friends and neighbors said.

The 53-year-old kept to himself. He spent the bulk of his mail career serving customers in Maple Heights and Garfield Heights.

Kondas died Thursday night, about 13 hours after he was shot in the head while delivering mail on Corridon Avenue in Maple Heights.

"It appears it was an attempted robbery," Maple Heights police Lt. Tim Love said. "He was a random victim."

Police arrested Randie Winston on Thursday and questioned him about the killing. He was being held on suspicion of aggravated murder and will be charged early next week in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, the prosecutor's office said.

Valerie Parker worked for years with Kondas in Maple Heights.

She and other co-workers organized a candlelight vigil Friday night.

"He's just a wonderful person," she said, fighting back tears. "I don't know how to explain this."

Customers on Kondas' route described him as friendly and always on time. They said he always said hello and moved briskly as he delivered mail. Members of Kondas' bowling team dropped off flowers and a bowling ball on his porch early Friday afternoon.

A man stood in front of Kondas' home and wondered why anyone would kill his neighbor. He said Kondas kept a nice yard and grew up in the home he shared with his mother."He kept an immaculate lawn," the neighbor said. "You could eat off his driveway in the winter because it was so clean. He was a great guy."

The shooting occurred about 9:45 a.m. Thursday, and a man was seen running from the scene, police said.

The investigation led them to a home on Reddington Avenue, one street south of the shooting, where police arrested Winston.

Love, the Maple Heights police lieutenant, said that officers recovered several pieces of evidence and that Winston gave a statement to detectives about the shooting. Love would not say whether Kondas tried to fight off Winston but said both men struggled during the altercation and that the gun fired.

He declined to say whether Winston admitted to the killing.

"He acted alone," Love said.

Winston moved from Cleveland to Maple Heights about six months ago and does not have an adult criminal record, Love added.

About 1,700 letter carriers serve Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs, said Victor Dubina, spokesman for the Postal Service in Cleveland. No statistics are kept on how often letter carriers are robbed or assaulted. Postal vehicles are often targeted by robbers but not the letter carriers, he said.

"It's a rare event," Dubina said.

Drew VonBergen, spokesman for the National Association of Letter Carriers in Washington, D.C., said letter carriers work in the worst parts of every city in the country.

Mail carrier Daniel Kondas fatally shot while delivering mail in Maple Heights; suspect arrested - Page 3

"It's a danger that a lot of people don't realize," he said. "It exposes them to a lot of potential situations."

Dennis Perk, head of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 40 and a 41-year postal employee, could not recall another Cleveland letter carrier being killed on the job.

Letter carriers are aware of the dangers in some neighborhoods, but they all are committed to their jobs, he said.

“You don't ever suspect you won't make it home from work," Perk said. "This is a tragic thing."

Perk worked alongside Kondas in the Maple Heights facility and called him a stellar employee.

"He did his job," Perk said. "He didn't bother anybody. Management loved him. We lost a nice person."

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation (H.R. 1804) on April 1 that addressed two long-standing disparities in treatment between workers in the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) and those in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The bill provides service credit to employees covered by FERS for unused sick leave when determining their retirement benefits – as under CSRS. It also gives FERS employees who leave federal service and withdraw their retirement contributions the same right CSRS employees have to “buy-back” their service credit by re-depositing their contributions when they return to federal service. Both changes are strongly supported by NALC.

H.R. 1804 also includes a number of measures affecting the Thrift Savings Plan that are backed by NALC. Among these is a provision that makes enrollment of new employees in the TSP automatic with immediate matching contributions. Under this provision, agencies will automatically deduct 2 – 5 percent of pay from new workers paychecks and direct the funds into the TSP’s G Fund unless otherwise directed by the employees. This provision will ensure that no new employee misses out on the benefits of tax savings and matching contributions offered by the TSP – while retaining the worker’s right to opt out of the program and/or to invest their savings in any of the TSP investment funds. The current op-in enrollment would be replaced by an opt-out system, and the specific amount of the initial automatic contribution would be set by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

The new legislation also gives the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, the agency that runs the TSP, guidance on two new TSP options:

• One mandates the creation of a Roth option for TSP contributions – allowing federal workers to make post-tax contributions to the TSP instead of pre-tax contributions, which may make sense in some circumstances (though probably not for most letter carriers).
• The other provides the Board the authority to create a “mutual fund window,” if it determines that it’s in the best interests of the TSP’s participants to do so. If created, the option would give TSP participants the chance to invest in a wide range of mutual funds while bearing all the costs of doing so. Specific rules and regulations governing this “window” would be set by the Thrift Board -- after consultations with the Employee Thrift Advisory Council, on which the NALC sits.

H.R. 1804 may be rolled into other legislation before it advances. The Senate is expected to take up consideration of legislation similar to H.R. 1804 in the near future. NALC will monitor its progress. 

Bob Bishop, Ken Claxton, Frank Arldt, Congressman Lloyd Doggett,

Bennie Lloyd, Les Doss, Emre Edwards, Judy Arldt

Bob Bishop and Jane E. Broendel, Secretary-Treasurer 

Emre Ewards and George C. Mignosi, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer 

Bennie Lloyd with one of the Legislative Aides

Letter Carriers Successful

                As I have stated before, politics is a marathon; and only the strong survive.  Well, once again your representatives have shown their strength. 

                Texas State Association Officers, Congressional District Liaisons, Branch Officers, and Activist Members made a trip to Washington to lobby for you on The Hill.  We were there to continue growing our relationships with our Congressional Representatives, and to ask for their help in passing HR 22, a bill to provide some relief for our employer funding of retiree health benefits.  Our delegation joined representatives from seventeen other state associations, blanketing Capitol Hill.  It was the first time Texas had joined with these other states in our legislative/political efforts in DC, and the results speak for themselves. 

                A short history:  the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 provided, in part, that the Postal Service would fully fund retiree health benefits over a ten year period, from 2006 to 2016.  Although a substantial financial burden, the Postal Service felt this could be accomplished; based on the then current and projected business structure.  No one counted on, nor could they, the deep recession sweeping the country and the world.  The resultant economy has caused significant reductions in mail volume, while consistent growth in service needs has consequently placed the Postal Service in a tenuous financial condition.  Despite the current conditions, the Postal Service is required by law to make a payment into the retiree health benefits fund at a tune of 5.2 billion dollars at the end of September. 

                HR 22, entered by Congressman John McHugh, would allow the Postal Service to spread the payments over a longer period of time, up to about forty years.  It would also allow the Postal Service to draw on some of the current fund to help alleviate financial stress.  The Postal Service is NOT trying to get out of funding its retiree’s health benefits, like so many large companies have done, just trying to ease the yearly burden.  Otherwise, the NALC would NOT support this bill. 

                A quick factor of how much the hit on the Postal Service would be:  5.2 billion dollars, divided by sixty thousand (roughly what a letter carrier makes, including benefits) comes out to about 86,666.  I’m not saying that many letter carriers would lose their jobs if HR 22 is not passed, but the money has to come from somewhere. 

                But back to the main theme; your representatives worked hard while in DC.  For those who have never been on The Hill, your activists spend hours hearing about the issues, studying their presentations, and making arguments to your Congressional Representatives on your behalf.  This is the tip of the iceberg though.  State Officers, CDL’s, and activists spend many hours of time developing relationships with their representatives back home; the lobbying trip to DC is one of the significant steps in the process.    

                When a bill is submitted for consideration the presenter of the bill needs co-signers; without them, the bill goes nowhere.  The first co-signer from Texas was Rep. Chet Edwards of the 17^th District, and he was the only one from Texas when we got to Washington.  Today, there are twelve co-signers, a significant number for this stage of the game and a testament to hard work and persuasive presentations by your activists.  The TSALC sponsored a reception for the Texas Congressional Delegation one of the evenings while in Washington.  It is encouraging to have our representatives attend, meet our members from around the state, and urge each of us to continue the fight.        

                By no means though, is this the end of the game.  Remember the marathon.  We need to make calls to our representatives, urging those not having co-signed to do so, and thanking those who have.  Review the list below; if your representative is not on this list, work to get them on, if they are, thank them. 

                I personally want to thank each of you for your continued support for our legislative efforts.  Please join us in the fight.  Contact your representatives, become a NALC activist, join COLCPE.  The job you save is your own. 

Co-signers for HR 22:

Rep. Michael Burgess – Dist 26- R

Rep. Lloyd Doggett – Dist 25 – D

Rep. Charles Gonzalez – Dist 20 – D

Rep. Gene Green – Dist 29 – D

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa – Dist 15 – D

Eddie Curiel is looking for carriers that would like to join the MEALS ON WHEELS team at Balcones station. We deliver meals twice a week Tues and Thurs, and we now have 14 employees on the team. If you have been thinking of volunteering for MOW let him know, it only takes bout an hour and you probably only will be asked to help out once every 6 weeks.  512-585-9144

                The Meals On Wheels Association of America

The Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing those who provide meal services to people in need.  MOWAA works toward the social, physical, nutritional, and economic betterment of vulnerable Americans. The Meals On Wheels Association of America provides the tools and information its programs need to make a difference in the lives of others.

MOWAA is a member organization, and its membership comprises of Senior Nutrition Programs in the United States.  MOWAA member programs throughout the country provide nutritious meals and other nutrition services to men and women who are elderly, homebound, disabled, frail, or at risk. These services significantly improve the quality of life and health of the individuals they serve and postpone early institutionalization.

As a national organization, MOWAA focuses on those issues that can best assist its member programs in achieving their individual missions of providing quality meals and nutrition services to as many vulnerable people as possible in the most efficient and effective manner, all  "so no senior goes hungry”®.

Ponderings 

I wonder…

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why does pizza come in a square box?

How is it that we put a man on the moon before we figured out that it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

If a deaf person goes to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but ON television?

Why is “bra” singular yet “panties” plural?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, then why is there a song about it?

If corn oil comes from corn and vegetable oil comes from vegetables, what does baby oil come from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean morality comes from morons?

These are all important questions that need to be answered, but I have one that is legitimately more important…

WHY DO WE HAVE ONLY ONE COSPONSOR FROM TEXAS FOR HR22? (Chet Edwards – TX 17^th House District)

Folks, your State Association and your employer have a common goal, but we NEED your help. 

HR22 is a resolution introduced on January 6, 2009, sponsored by Representative John McHugh (NY) to amend Chapter 89, Chapter 5 of the United States Code affecting the United States Postal Service’s contributions for annuitants’ health benefits out of the Postal Service’s retiree health benefits fund.

That may sound confusing, but simply put the resolution would shift the burden of making these payments from out employer to the Federal government, where it should be.  No other Federal Agency has to make these payments – just the United States Postal Service.  We are not asking for a bail out like the banks and auto makers, but if we do not get this resolution passed, the Postal Service may have to.

If we do not work with the Postal Service to accomplish this Code change, you, your job, and your family could be affected.  Retiree’s benefits could be adversely affected, the percent you pay for health benefits in the future could be affected, and the amount of money you bring home each payday could be affected.

As President Young said at the NBA training school in Houston last week, it may not be too long before Senators call the Presidents from the Postal Unions to Capitol Hill in order to have them agree to give backs just as they did with the auto makers and their Unions.

With the decline in mail volume continuing to set unprecedented records and our declining revenue generation combined with increasing costs, the USPS has to get some relief.

Please do yourself a favor and stop burying your head in the sand – it is time for YOU to take action that will help both you and your employer.

1)   Find out who your Congressman is.

2)   Get a mailing address and phone number so that you can contact your Congressman.

3)   Contact your Congressman and ask that they sign on as a cosponsor for HR22.  Then follow up to ensure that they actually sign on.

Your TSALC legislative representatives will be traveling to Washington early in March and will visit every one of our Congressmen from Texas encouraging them to sign on to HR22, but your calls, e-mails, and letters will go a long way in breaking the ice for our team.

Please commit to taking the 3 simple steps above today – don’t put it off! 

You can check to see if your Congressman has signed up as a cosponsor by logging on to “Thomas”.  Thomas is a website set up by the Library of Congress in honor of Thomas Jefferson.  Check it out!