National Association of Letter Carriers [NALC] News Bulletin 

NALC’s opening economic proposal calls for a seven-year agreement which would include a continuation of existing cost-of-living adjustments, with no changes; general wage increases of 3 percent in each year of the agreement; and a pay upgrade of one grade for all letter carriers. The union also proposed significant changes in the ways routes are evaluated and designed, and that the letter carrier craft be converted to a 100 percent all-regular work force. In addition, NALC offered creative suggestions for reducing the ever-increasing costs of health benefits without reducing the Postal Service’s share of the cost of premiums.

Improved Labor Relations

Young noted at the opening of the session that labor relations have improved dramatically during the current contract term despite multiple challenges and that the Postal Service has been able to improve service and maintain a strong financial footing.

“It has earned billions in profits and has been able to completely eliminate its outstanding debt, which at one time exceeded $11 billion,” he said.

Although major strides have been made to change the adversarial culture of labor relations at the national and regional levels, Young said “the traditional paradigm of adversarial confrontation at the workroom floor level remains.”

 “This situation is no longer acceptable,” Young told USPS negotiators. “A dramatic shift in paradigm to a cooperative relationship on the workroom floor must be driven by a commitment not merely to the survival of the Service, but to its revitalization as an essential and dynamic element of the domestic and commercial service sectors of our society.”