From NALC NEWS BULLETIN (February 1, 2007)

“The proposal delivers an all-regular workforce with weekends off as well as a significant reduction in the level of forced overtime. For the Postal Service, the proposal offers savings in the billions from reduced overtime and benefit costs in the future. However, it was offered only on the condition that the USPS give us new protections against contracting out and that it share its financial savings in the form of higher general wage increases.” — President Young.

Critical to any agreement would be a ban on USPS contracting out city delivery territory, the one issue that Young said prevented the parties from reaching agreement on a new contract.

Here are the key elements of NALC’s bargaining proposal for a new National Agreement
that would revolutionize city delivery work in the Postal Service:

 A prohibition against contracting out any work within territory now served by
city delivery letter carriers, including in-fill development and natural additions to
existing routes.

 Five-year contract, with annual wage increases and continued twice-a-year costof-
living adjustments.

 A dramatic change in the health benefits whereby the Postal Service would pay 85
percent of premiums in the NALC Plan, and 72 percent in other Federal Employees
Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans. This proposal would result in substantial
savings to the Postal Service. Unlike the health benefit concessions recently
accepted by the three other postal unions, NALC’s proposal calls for letter carriers
to receive a share of these savings in the form of additional general wage increases.
In addition, the incentive to join the NALC Plan will allow the plan to be tailored to
the needs of letter carriers and to promote better health.

 A major restructuring of the city carrier workforce: All letter carriers would
become full-time regulars with Monday-Friday schedules by the end of the contract.
Grade 2 carriers would be retained with revamped duties. All casuals and transitional
employees would be eliminated. A Saturday-only workforce of NALC-represented
bargaining unit carriers would be created. NALC and the Postal Service would
jointly approach OPM and, if necessary, Congress to secure regulatory or legislative
changes to ensure that retired letter carriers may be employed on Saturdays with
no dimunition of their annuities. New hires would be Step A and retirees Step 0.
Retirees would have preference for positions. Saturday new hires would have priority
for vacancies in Monday-Friday workforce. USPS would request from OPM authority
to offer an early-out. A task force would be created to implement the workforce
reorganization plan. Finally, the substantial savings to the Postal Service resulting
from this restructuring will be shared with all letter carriers in the form of general
wage increases.

If There is No Agreement

What happens if the Postal Service hierarchy turns its back on letter carriers and tosses away this golden opportunity to streamline its workforce for the future?

President Young explained that under the recently enacted postal reform legislation, the next step is a continuation of negotiations under the supervision of a mediator to be appointed by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. If that process does not result in an agreement, the final step is a referral of the impasse to an interest arbitration panel which will be authorized to hear the parties’ evidence and argument and issue a final and binding settlement.

In the meantime, pending future developments, President Young commended all NALC members for their patience and perseverance. He also urged members to continue to support existing cooperative programs such as Customer Connect and route evaluation and health and safety initiatives.