LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Members of the American Postal Workers Union from across the country are meeting in Los Angeles Aug. 20-24 to address pressing issues confronting the U.S. Postal Service and postal employees.

The backdrop for the APWU’s 21st National Convention is the Postal Service’s financial “crisis” and Congress’ failure to take action to prevent the dismantling of the nation’s mail system.

Congress created the Postal Service’s fiscal crisis in 2006, when it passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which requires the agency to pre-fund healthcare costs for retirees 75 years into the future. This crushing burden costs the Postal Service approximately $5.5 billion annually and is responsible for 82 percent of USPS debt. No other government agency or private company is required to make such payments. Read the rest of this entry »

Owners of dangerous dogs in England and Wales now face tougher sentences under new Sentencing Council guidelines.

The new advice for judges and magistrates aims to encourage the courts to use harsher sentences when dealing with offenders.

The body says more offenders will face jail sentences, more will get community orders and fewer will get discharges.

Read more: BBC News – Dangerous dog owners face tougher sentences.

FIFTEEN colleagues from the Royal Mail Scottish Distribution Centre in Netherton cycled from Glasgow to Inverness to help support individuals and families with autism.

The charity event was first organised by Alex McCallum in 2009 when just four people took part, and has grown year on year to the point they were able to present Heather McArthur from Scottish Autism with a cheque for £2,000.

Read more: Special delivery for autism charity – Community News – Motherwell Times.

The Royal Mail has painted postboxes in the home towns of gold medal Olympians across the UK.

Guernsey Post, which offers postal services to the Bailiwick of Guernsey, did the same to the only postbox in the island of Hester’s birth.

Cassandra Morris, from Guernsey Post, said it would stay gold until Rio 2016.

Read more: BBC News – Sark postbox to stay gold until Rio Olympics in 2016.

Augmented reality is the next big thing for direct mail.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Direct mail spending rose to $21 billion in 2011. Up 2.9 percent from 2010, according to the Magna Advertising Group, direct mail is one of the largest advertising channels for U.S. businesses. Read the rest of this entry »

A Federal Court on Friday dismissed a trademark suit brought by Australia Post against joint venture Digital Post Australia (DPA). Both entities plan to launch competing digital postbox services this year.

Australia Post, the national postal service, filed suit earlier this year, alleging that DPA’s name was too similar to its own, but the court found the suit was without merit.

DPA Chairman David Hynes said on Monday the company was not trying to pass itself off as Australia Post.

Read more: Australia Post Loses Trademark Suit Against Digital Postbox Competitor | PCWorld Business Center.

Aug 20 (Reuters) – Brazil state postal service Correios plans to move into mobile telephony by the second half of next year, when it may begin selling phone plans and buying bulk airtime from existing operators, it said on Monday.

Correios aims to take advantage of its presence in almost every Brazilian municipality to offer phone services in remote communities as it has with financial services under its Banco Postal network.

Read more: Brazilian postal service plans entry in wireless market | Reuters.

ROSS TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – A United States Postal Service truck caught fire on the Parkway North early Monday morning, causing both northbound lanes to be closed.

According to officials at the scene, the truck caught fire between exits 7 and 8 around 3:30 a.m.

As of 7 a.m., both northbound lanes were still closed as crews worked to clear the scene.

Read more: Postal Truck Catches Fire On Parkway North « CBS Pittsburgh.

The union and management are beginning to test the electronic transmission of grievance appeals, union information requests and other related documents and correspondence, Industrial Relations Director Mike Morris has announced [PDF]. The test will include the electronic submission of Step 3 appeals, Direct Appeals and appeals to Arbitration.

The test will be conducted for a period of one year. During that time the parties will meet periodically to review and discuss results. At the conclusion of the test, the APWU and USPS will decide whether to continue or expand the use of electronic transmissions.

Using “cloud” technology, the new system will allow users to fill out grievance forms, save them electronically, and add documentation throughout each step of the grievance procedure. Currently, paper files are utilized until grievances are appealed to Step 3.

Authorized users at various steps of the process, including stewards, National Business Agents and others, will have the ability to access the system.

For more information about the pilot, click here.