More than 200K postal employees are in line for a 5% raise spread over three years

This story was updated on Oct. 21 at 5:33 p.m. 

More than 200,000 U.S. Postal Service employees will receive a nearly 5% pay raise over the next year if its largest letter carriers’ union agrees to the new contract its leaders have negotiated with agency management. 

The employees will also have more opportunities for overtime and be able to reach the top slots of their pay scales more quickly, the National Association of Letter Carriers said of their new tentative agreement. The contract must still be approved by NALC members before it goes into effect. A failure to ratify the deal would likely result in arbitration. 

The agreement would cover the period from May 2023 into November 2026, meaning the first two of the three scheduled 1.3% wage increases would apply retroactively. Employees would also receive a series of cost-of-living adjustments, the first three would also be paid retroactively and total around $2,300. 

“After almost 20 months of tireless negotiations, we are pleased to reach a fair agreement that rewards our members for their contributions to the Postal Service and their service to the American people,” NALC President Brian Renfroe said. 

USPS Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Human Resources Officer Doug Tulino said the agreement would allow the agency to push forward with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan to reform postal operations and stabilize its finances. 

“This is a fair and responsible agreement that serves the best interest of our employees, our customers and the future of the Postal Service,” Tulino said, adding it would allow USPS to “modernize our operations, so we are better able to adapt to changing customer needs and deliver service excellence.”

Under the agreement, the Postal Service would continue to pay for 72% of premium costs for employees’ health insurance on average, with its cost share not exceeding 75% for any plan. Employees would be able to clock out and leave without any retribution if they worked 11.5 hours in a day or 60 hours in a week. Those who choose to work longer would automatically receive 2.5 times their normal pay, without having to file a grievance. 

Some steps in the letter carrier pay scale would be boosted under the contract, while employees could reach the top rungs more quickly. Workers would be able to sell back up to 40 hours of annual leave if they reach the rollover maximum took fewer than 75 sick leave hours in the year. 

Renfroe said in a negotiation "no one gets everything they want," but overall there were no major issues on which he felt had to concede. He called it a "fair deal" that maintained a generous cost-of-living adjustment formula and met the economic needs of his members. 

The agreement would maintain caps on part-time, non-career positions known as city carrier assistants. DeJoy has frequently boasted of his efforts to stabilize the workforce by converting nearly 200,000 part-time staff to career positions throughout his tenure. The union and management agreed to meet regularly to discuss staffing needs throughout the agency. 

The contract would also maintain no-layoff protections for any career employee serving at least six years. NALC plans to hold informational sessions for branch leaders over the next few weeks, with ratification votes to follow. 

At least some letter carriers were not pleased with the agreement. Dozens of posts on an NALC Facebook group with 20,000 members criticized the tentative contract for only securing 1.3% raises and failing to win other concessions from postal management. Many of those members encouraged their colleagues to vote against ratification and take their chances with an arbitrator. The previous NALC contract locked in raises of 1.1%, 1.1% and 1.3%, plus the additional cost-of-living adjustments. 

Renfroe said any initial discontent with the agreement likely stemmed from a "lack of understanding" of what it contains. Much of the membership will receive pay increases between 12% and 20% over its duration after accounting for cost-of-living adjustments and increases to the pay scale, he noted. 

The American Postal Workers Union, which represents another 200,000 USPS workers, agreed last month to postpone the expiration of their existing contract as negotiations continue.

This story was updated with additional comment from NALC President Brian Renfroe.