3. 2 What will happen to the remaining MSCs? ANSWER: The 140 remaining (non-Division) Management 4. What precisely does this mean in terms of facilities? Will the remaining facilities be abandoned? ANSWER: The restructuring of the Postal Service field organization will have no impact on postal facilities. No facilities will be abandoned. At the most, some space in certain facilities may become surplus. 5. How will this affect employees in these centers? Will they be relocated? Will they be downgraded? Will they receive a reduction in pay? ANSWER: No employees will be removed from the payroll 3 6. How many employees do you expect will be transferred? ANSWER: It is possible that as many as 1500 employees 7. How many people will be terminated outright? ANSWER: No employee will be terminated outright as a result of the restructuring of the Postal Service field organization. 8. What is the status of your request to the Office of Personnel Management for early outs for affected employees? ANSWER: The Postal Service has not requested the authority to offer "early out" retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management. Employees affected by the field reorganization who could take advantage of an "early out" retirement are already eligible under normal "discontinued service" retirement guidelines established by the Office of Personnel Management. 4 9. Under the leadership of former Postmaster General Paul ANSWER: As stated in the response to question 8 above, the Postal Service has made no such request to the Office of Personnel Management. 10. How are the regional staffs being aligned to reflect increased responsibility? ANSWER: Regional staffs will be reduced as operating and administrative functions are transferred to the Divisions. 11. Under the field reorganization, it appears that managers will be given much responsibility for independent decision-making at the local level. What steps will be taken to aid supervisory personnel in this transition? Will there be a new orientation in the management training program? Will current managers be required to undergo re-training in accordance with their new responsibilities? ANSWER: The individuals selected to be Division - 5 12. How will the newly decentralized organization be overseen to detect poor management? ANSWER: Management performance will be monitored by the Regions through the use of management information reports, performance analyses, and on-site visits. 13. Will there be a change in the ratio of supervisory If so, does this ANSWER: The ratio of supervisory to non-supervisory personnel will increase slightly. As previously stated, all employees will retain their grade and salary. 14. For what support services will the 80 management units be responsible? ANSWER: The divisions will be responsible for a large portion of those services formerly provided by the transportation management offices (TMO's), the Building Maintenance Engineering Offices (BMEO's) and the procurement services offices (PSOS). - 6 15. Which headquarters functional groups are being revised? ANSWER: The principal revision has been in the 16. In the March 17th edition of the Federal Times, Mr. McKean (Chairman of the Board of Governors) referred to the pay increases during the last round of contract negotiations as "inflationary and unjustified. "Is the team that is currently in place examining salaries and putting together information for next year's bargaining sessions? And is this the premise on which your team is operating? ANSWER: The team involved in the Postal Service Headquarters and field restructuring is not the same team that will be involved in next year's collective bargaining negotiations. Headquarters Reorganization Mr. Casey, on March 5th and 6th you announced top management changes at Postal Service headquarters. For the record, could you please share with the Subcommittee the changes you have recommended: |