This may be the age of e-mail and text messaging but even so, don’t underestimate the power of a postmark.

Nor, in an era when many find unions to be quaint-but-calcified, is it smart to underestimate a union’s unique approach to a problem. The story:

Four years ago, the U.S. Postal Service decided to close the tiny post office in McCausland, Iowa. It had about 300 customers.

The official reason for the shutdown was mold contamination. Not of the customers or employees, but of the building itself. But USPS brass have a long history of consolidating small post offices into giant city or suburban mail processing facilities. When this happens the local postmark often disappears. So, sometimes, do jobs.

Folks in McCausland decided to buy another building. The town bought one, for around $55,000. Then another $55,000 was needed to fix it up, wire it to code, etc. Folks started raising money the Iowa way, which includes fixing and eating lots of barbecue, bake sales, and “hog roasts” which are rare events in the D.C., area. But the money came slow.

In comes an unlikely savior. A federal union. The American Postal Workers Union to be exact. APWU represents the service’s clerical employees. Most are not just represented, they are card-carrying, dues-paying members.

The union has members all over, but none in tiny McCausland. Be that as it may the union wrote a check, for $30,000, to help pay for the new post office building. Union president Bill Burrus said the APWU was inspired by citizen input and effort “and we wanted to insure that McCausland keeps its post office, and its identity.”

The Quad City Times quoted town officials who said the APWU donation made all the difference. But even with volunteer labor, there are bills to be paid. The USPS will rent the building for $400 a month when it’s completed. Meantime, McCausland is planning more fund-raisers including soup sessions, a big car show and other events to protect their postmark.

Best Day To Retire

Timing is important when you are picking your ideal retirement date. The right date depends on you: your plans, your family, maybe another job. Possibly the weather or travel plans. That said, the December-January period is when many, many federal and postal workers retire. Why? Well there are three good reasons, if they time it right:

1. Picking the best date means you can carry over the maximum amount of unused annual leave into the new year.
2. Picking the best date means that MOST of that unused annual leave will be paid to you at the new (January) federal pay rate. For some high-salaried feds with lots of unused leave that can mean lots of extra money.
3. Getting your lump sum annual leave payment in the new year means, in many cases, a lower tax bite.

So, if those interest you, what are the best dates for December 2008 and January 2009? For the answer, click here.

Nearly Useless Factoid

It’s National Pecan Month. According to the Census Bureau, the most famous pecan trees are on the grounds of George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, Virginia. Some were planted over 200 years ago and are now giant shade trees.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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