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USPS Goes On Record to Support Access to Employees
While some credit union-sponsor affiliations have weakened over the years, the Council has continued to foster and strengthen the relationship between postal credit unions and the United States Postal Service. A key component of the relationship is credit unions having access to postal employees.
Will Yarborough, the Council's immediate past chairman, was instrumental in bringing the access issue to the attention of officials at USPS Headquarters. As a result of his efforts, USPS Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive VP Anthony Vegliante sent a memo to the heads of area operations across the country. The memo clearly states USPS policy that facilities are to allow credit unions access to postal employees in order to provide them with information on membership and services.
"This is a victory for the Council's members and it's an acknowledgment from USPS Headquarters that credit unions do provide a much needed benefit to postal employees and their families," according to NCPCU Chairman John King. "We are grateful for Will Yarborough's contribution to this effort. As the Council's new chairman, I plan to continue his work on this and future initiatives with the USPS."
Other News
Postal Payroll Update
In March 2010, the U.S. Postal Service outlined a 10-year plan of cost cutting, increased productivity, along with an array of legislative and regulatory changes necessary to maintain a viable U.S. Postal Service. Much of this plan will require legislation and cooperation from a range of stakeholders, and include changes in the following areas: retiree health benefits prefunding; delivery frequency; access to postal services; workforce flexibility; product and pricing flexibility; expansion of products and services; and regulatory oversight issues. If the U.S. Postal Service takes no action, it could possibly face a cumulative shortfall of $238 billion by 2020.
Many laws have been enacted in the recent past such as the Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2009 and Health Care Reform. Based on the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) guidelines, federal agencies including the U.S. Postal Service will begin automatic enrollment for any newly hired, rehired or converted to career FERS and CSRS employees in August 2010. These employees will have three percent automatically deducted from their paychecks. They do have an ability to opt out if they choose to do so. Also, a TSP Roth IRA option will be introduced in late 2011 and will be available for U.S. Postal Service employees at that time.
With implementation of Health Care Reform, many of the changes will be implemented during the next four years. Such items include coverage for adult children up to the age of 26; Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) limit change to $2,500; and reporting aggregate cost of employer-sponsored coverage on Form W-2.
Payroll questions? Christine Harris works in the U.S. Postal Service Office of Payroll Accounting at the USPS Accounting Services Center in Eagan, Minnesota. She can be reached at (651) 406-2128 or christine.a.harris@usps.gov
Postcripts
Eagle-Image Plastic Card Orders
If you missed the June 30 deadline to submit a bulk plastic card order, the next order will be placed on September 30. The estimated ship date for this order is October 20, 2010 or earlier. Interested in placing an order? Please e-mail your request to ncpcu@ncpcu.org or call NCPCU at 1-858-792-3883.
Council Looks Forward to 2011 Meeting in Las Vegas
From May 1-3, 2011 NCPCU will hold its 28th Annual Conference at Harrah's, located on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Check NCPCU's website at www.ncpcu.org for more details and to plan your trip to Las Vegas in 2011!
Credit Unions Participate in "Stamp Out Hunger" Campaign
On May 11, Eagle Community Credit Union partnered with eleven other credit unions, including Priority One Credit Union, and the CO-OP Network to donate food items to the Letter Carriers' Food Drive. It was the second largest donation on record, when a whopping 268,000 pounds of food were collected in Orange County, California. Not only did Eagle Community sponsor one million bags of food to help communities in Southern California, more than half the credit union's staff volunteered to unload and sort incoming donations. Kudos to Council members Eagle Community and Priority One for their part in helping to "Stamp Out Hunger!"