23,000 Postal Workers Opt for Buyout in US

23,000 Postal Workers Opt for Buyout in US

Approximately 5,000 full-time Postal Service employees -- but not letter carriers -- stopped working this week after accepting buyouts.
Happy Friday! Approximately 5,000 full-time Postal Service employees eligible for retirement ended their Postal careers this week, accepting $15,000 buyout offers as part of a cost-cutting move. Another 18,000 full-time workers have also accepted the offer, but have until Oct. 31 to complete the paperwork or opt out.
The Postal Service announced the buyout program in August as a way to save up to $500 million during the new fiscal year, which began on Thursday.
Officials stress that these are preliminary figures and likely to change as workers make their final decisions. In addition to the full-time staff, part-timers have until Oct. 16 to initially accept the buyout and until Nov. 30 to make a final decision.
The offer was extended to post office retail clerks, distribution center mail handlers and clerks, and vehicle technicians. Letter carriers were not eligible, because the Postal Service only targeted areas of its where it has an excess of workers, and the number of addresses grows, on average, by 1.5 million each year.
The Postal Service secured $4 billion in financial assistance from Congress earlier this week, meaning it will pay only $1.4 billion to pre-fund retiree health benefits. Postal officials soon also will release updated information on the possible closure or consolidation of Postal facilities. Source-The Washington Post