The United States Postal Service and the union representing hundreds of thousands of carriers have tentatively agreed to a new contract.
The agreement will give carriers a cost of living adjustment for the period of work covering 2023 until November 2026. Three individual 1.3% raises will be included, two of which apply retroactively, reported USA Today.
“Both sides didn’t get everything they wanted. But by bargaining in good faith, we ended with an agreement that meets our goals and rewards our members… To make that happen, the Postal Service had to recognize the contributions of members to the Postal Service and the American people,” Brian Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), told The Associated Press.
The deal includes increases in the top pay and cuts down the time it takes new hires to reach that level. It also includes increased overtime protection and a pay rate of 2.5 times the base salary when more than 12 hours of overtime are worked.
The agreement also mandates that USPS purchase air-conditioned vehicles for its carriers. Any vehicles it wishes to purchase without air conditioning must be negotiated with the union.
“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,” Renfroe said in an NALC press release on October 18.
For their part, USPS says the terms of the agreement support its decade-long “Delivering for America” campaign. As part of the mission, the Postal Service aims to modernize operations and evolve to meet changing customer preferences.
“This is a fair and responsible agreement that serves the best interest of our employees, our customers and the future of the Postal Service,” said Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Human Resources Officer Doug Tulino, per The Associated Press.
The contract, which impacts 200,000 city mail carriers, still needs to be ratified by union members. A deadline for the vote-by-mail process has yet to be announced. The agreement does not impact rural carriers because a separate union represents them.