Members of the American Postal Workers Union, the largest workers’ association in the US PostalService, have voted to agree a four-year pay and conditions deal mail chiefs offered them in
December.Under the agreement, they will receive an immediate pay increase of 1.3%, backdated toNovember 25, one-level upgrades, for eligible employees, in 2008 and a further 1.2% pay rise in2009.
The contract, which runs until 20 November 2010, also contains cost-of-living adjustments anda reduction in health benefit contributions by workers at the rate of 1% a year. Part-time workerscan be made up to full-time and management employee status as part of the deal, said the USPS in astatement.
The APWU, which represents over 270,000 employees (44% of USPS’ total workforce) in theclerk, maintenance and motor vehicle departments, is one of four main postal unions which enteredprotracted negotiations with the USPS back in August.
USPS has sealed long-term agreements with two of the other unions, the National Postal MailHandlers Union (NPMHU) and the National Rural Letters Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), butnegotiations with the National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 225,000 deliveryworkers, are going into arbitration.
Meanwhile, USPS is to buy over 5,800 new carrier vehicles to replace right-hand drivevehicles used on city routes which are being transferred to rural areas later this year.
The RHD vehicles, a total of 15,000 of which are being re-deployed on rural routes, provideeasier access to kerb mailboxes and better manoeuvrability, said USPS. Their redeployment wasargued for by the National Rural Letters Carriers’ Association.
