ALL MEMBERS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND

Sign up sheet will be up 9/10/24-9/22/24
Union members are free, $25.00 per additional guest.
Diner will be served 6:00-7:30.
More information in the next few days will be provided.

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Members are receiving letters in the mail from the American Benefits Association (ABA) wanting to continue providing services to APWU members.  Recently, the Charleston APWU Local 133 voted to get out of the ABA.
Please fill out the form from the ABA whether you would or not like to continue their services.  If you would like to continue,  it will cost the member $1.47 per pay period

In accordance with the 2021-2024 Collective Bar­gaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a $0.47 per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective September 27, 2024.

“Our union-won COLAs prove invaluable to ourselves and our families. Few workers have any protection against rising prices, and today a full-time regular postal employee is making $6,300 more a year under our current contract thanks to our COLA,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “We will continue to fight to maintain full COLA provisions during contract negotiations.”

The increase is the result of a rise in the Consum­er Price Index (CPI-W). It will appear in paychecks dated September 27, 2024 (Pay Period 20-2024). The value of the COLA for full-time employees in each step and grade will increase by $998.00 annually, and the hourly rates for part-time employ­ees will be adjusted accordingly.

The COLAs are in addition to general wage increases. This is the sixth and final cost-of-living increase under the 2021 contract. The first increase, effective in February 2022, amounted to $0.63 per hour or $1,310.00 annually. The second, effective in August 2022 was $1.18 per hour or $2,455.00 annually. The third, effective in March 2023, was $0.10 per hour, or $208.00 annually. The fourth, effective in August 2023, was 0.48 per hour, or $998.00 annually. The fifth, effective March 9, 2024, was 0.17 per hour, or $354.00 annually. The total cumulative COLAs received during the 2021-2024 National Agreement is $3.03 per hour, or $6,302.00 annually.

In light of the fact that Postal Support Employees (PSEs) do not receive cost-of-living increases, they have received several additional increases beyond the general wage increases for all employees in the APWU bargaining unit under the 2021 contract. COLAs are added to the base pay schedule, so PSEs will recoup these increases when they convert to career status.

Rising inflation underscores the importance of our negotiated Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) within our union contract, made possible by the strength of our membership. In our 2021-2024 contract, we fought to keep twice-a-year COLAs, our best protection against inflation. Postal workers are some of the few U.S. workers who receive COLA increases. Even in the postal world, we are the only postal union that has maintained full COLA in our union contract.

Go to apwu.org/pay-information to view the new pay scales that reflect the July 2024 COLA.

The attendeies at the 2024 National Convention who spoke and voted on many issues that effect all APWU 133 members. 

POSTAL SERVICE HEALTH BENEFITS (PSHB): 

This is Kayla “Cuppy” Reynolds, your APWU Health Plan Representative and Tour 1 Steward, with some information about the changes coming to the health plans in 2025. Currently both the APWU Consumer Driven Option (CDO) and High Option (HO) have been conditionally approved based on benefits and rate negotiation over the summer. This negotiation normally takes place every summer and we should know what the rates and benefits will be in October of 2024.  Rates and benefits change a little nearly every year. Normally the APWU Health Plan will have this information before the Open Season Seminar, which is occurring October 16 – 20, 2024. Current plan benefits and information are available at apwuhp.com

All of the Health Plans currently available to Postal Service Employees will be going through this process, and the enrollment codes will be changing. Currently if you go to OPM.gov you can look at what plans should be available during open enrollment. To do this, you need to go to the “insurance” heading and select the “FEHB Plan Comparison Tool” and after inputting your zip code select “Federal & U. S. Postal Service (USPS) Employee “. Keep in mind that the rates you will see displayed are for the current year, NOT for 2025. Those rates are renegotiated every year, for all plans, not just the APWU health plans. 

Remember that the Union has currently negotiated for the USPS to pay 95% of the premium costs for the APWU CDO and that the premiums listed would be for non-union members, Postal Support Employees, or newly Career employees who have not had a Federal Employee Health Benefit plan for 1 year yet.  This is the ONLY Health Plan that offers that type of reduction, and is one of your many benefits of being an APWU member. For instance, a career employee who paying for the Self Only APWU CDO plan pays only $15.36 in a premiums, whereas a non-member would pay $76.78. That is a difference of $61.42 each pay period, which over the course of the month, is nearly four times what they would pay in Union dues! Union dues for our local for a career employee are currently $34.11 per pay period.

As a reminder, the USPS Health Benefit Plan for Postal Support Employees is NOT a Federal Employee Health Plan. PSEs are eligible to enroll in the APWU CDO after one year of employment with the Postal Service. In their first year of employment they are only eligible for the USPS plan, currently administrated by BlueCross BlueShield. Once they hit one year, they are only eligible for either that plan, or the APWU CDO plan. Once career, they no longer qualify for the USPS Health Benefit Plan and MUST choose one of the other Health Plansavailable to career employees, otherwise they will lose coverage 30 days after being converted. 

For Retirees or those with questions about Medicare, please check keepingposted.org for helpful links, articles and online recordings.  You can also find contact information for retirees. 

Open Season will occur November 11 – December 9, 2024, and Health Nurse Kelley Moore has confirmed that local Health Fairs will be occurring November 4 – 8, 2024.

As more information is made available to us, we will be sure to keep the membership updated!