On Wednesday, April 6, President Joe Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act into law at a White House ceremony. President Mark Dimondstein and Legislative and Political Director Judy Beard were invited to witness the signing ceremony and represent the APWU.  

“This is a historic achievement for our union,” said President Dimondstein. “Congratulations to every postal worker who has organized for over a decade to ensure this long-needed postal reform legislation became law. The Postal Service Reform Act marks a tremendous victory for our union, for all postal workers, our families, and for the people of the country who depend on robust, reliable and sustainable universal postal services.”  

The Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) contains many key elements that have long been a priority for the APWU. First is the elimination of the congressional mandate that USPS prefund future retiree health benefits. This mandate required the Postal Service to set billions of dollars aside each year to prefund retiree health benefits 75 years into the future. The prefunding mandate alone is responsible for 84% of USPS’s losses since 2007. Lifting of the mandate is expected to save the USPS roughly $27 billion over the next 10 years and immediately eliminates $53 billion of past due prepayments on the USPS books.  

Three important service-related features are included in the new law. The PSRA increases transparency of USPS management, allowing the public, Congress and regulators better insight into USPS service issues. It also mandates that USPS continue to provide a six-day-per-week, integrated delivery network – packages and letter mail moving together – long into the future. Finally, the PSRA allows USPS to enter into agreements with State, local and tribal governments to provide a whole range of new products and services. 

Another major element of the bill is in the integration of future postal retirees into the Medicare system. While USPS and postal employees have contributed to Medicare for decades, roughly a quarter of retirees do not fully enroll in Medicare. Starting in 2025, all postal retirees will have Medicare as their primary payer and a postal-only FEHBP plan as a secondary payer. These changes are expected to save postal retirees money by eliminating out-of-pocket medical expenses and by mitigating future premium increases, while saving USPS $22 billion over the next ten years.  

The PSRA passed both chambers of Congress earlier this year after more than a decade of debate and consensus-building among the postal unions, congressional leaders, mailers and postal management. It garnered broad, bipartisan support, passing the House in February by a vote of 342-92 and passing the Senate in March with a vote of 79-19. 

“APWU applauds every member of Congress who has worked alongside our union to achieve this critical legislation,” said Legislative and Political Director Beard. “We especially recognize the leadership of Chairwoman Maloney and Ranking Member Comer in the House and Chairman Peters and Ranking Member Portman in the Senate for their steadfast, bipartisan resolve in crafting this bill. Postal workers fought hard for this bill and Congress heard our voices loud and clear.”  

“The path to winning this legislation was long and hard-fought,” said Dimondstein. “We should all take heart in this tremendous victory and remember that together, our union is a force to be reckoned with. Now, the struggle continues to defend the public Postal Service, to protect good jobs, and to win improved and expanded postal services and justice for all workers.”

By now the fate of the contract is decided. You either exercised the power of your membership or let it go to waste.

If you voted, thanks, because for over 180 years postal workers had very little, if any, say in their employment. The Post Office Department was all powerful. Now the PO’s power is subject not just to the law (such as it is), but also to the contract. Our years of struggle to get and pursue collective bargaining is rich with lessons learned.

Modest start & struggles

President Kennedy’s 1962 Executive Order gave us limited negotiation rights over promotions, transfers, RIFs and some working conditions. A government- imposed union election in 1962 determined postal unions recognition. It took another eight years and a nationwide wildcat strike to produce real negotiations.

The 1971 contract was negotiated (by 7 unions no less) before the law establishing USPS was signed. Nixon’s promised pay increase was blocked by his wage freeze. But the AFL-CIO’s helped force that first pay increase and APWU was born!

Real Bargaining, more struggles

Postmaster General DeJoy is not the first corporate boss we’ve negotiated with. In 1975 PMG Benjamin Franklin (kid you not) Bailar and the Unions, negotiating together, settled for a 12% pay increase with the strike fresh on everyone’s mind.

The 1978 negotiations were bitter! Management called us overpaid and underworked. Facing debt and volume de- creases, wage cuts were demanded. Negotiations stalled. no contract-no Work was the call of the day. The PMG’s threats to fire all strikers didn’t stop Bulk Centers in New Jersey & California from walking out.

A deal was struck for a 2% pay increase and capped COLA. The Rank & File Committee rejected the pact which was sent out for a vote anyway. The National Convention and 94,400 members voted to reject the CBA. The PMG refused to reopen negotiations ending with an arbitrated 9% pay increase but weakened lay-off protections.

The struggles continued

In 1981, the PMG, trying to force a government election to recognize only one union, refused to negotiate. A media blitz threatened another postal strike. A deal was reached only to have the bosses re-write what had been agreed to. Eventually we went from a $1,850 pay boost to a $300 annual increase, and some “cash” payments. Even so the CBA was ratified.

In 1984, the Board of Governors openly meddled in negotiations calling us overpaid. Talks stalled with bosses unilaterally imposing a 23% lower entry wage resulting in court and congressional action. The battle over postal economics resulted in an arbitrated 2.7% pay increase and lower starting pay with longer step increase periods.

Three PMGs came and went but in 1987 PMG Tish promised to negotiate an agreement resulting in a 2% pay increase, followed by $300 and $200 increases.

We’ve negotiated through wars, oil embargos, wage controls, the PATCO strike and other seemingly insurmountable hysteria. We have had contract extensions, more arbitrations, and rejected CBAs.

Space doesn’t permit more history. My point is to express how much goes into getting a contract that makes your career and living standards worthwhile. Now through a worldwide pestilence altering our lives, economy, education and prices, a negotiated contract was produced and your precious right to vote on your destiny was preserved.

More Power in Your hands

Exercising your Union vote wields real power. As bromidic as it sounds, YOU ARE THE UNION! Two upcoming critical events, the national convention and the national Union elections, will let you flex your union power again.

Your vote determines Convention delegates who set union policy. Your vote elects officers that administer that policy and representation. Again, destiny is in your hands. Coordinators Stone, Beasley, Foster, Jones and I urge you – DON’T WASTE YOUR POWER! 

Wow! Just months into 2022 and great news on two fronts:

First: Our Collective Bargaining Agreement covering the wages, benefits, and working conditions of 200,000 postal workers has been overwhelmingly ratified with a 94% “Yes” vote by those who cast ballots. The success of this round of bargaining reflects the power of unity and solidarity, beginning with you the member, the very foundation of our union.

Second: The Postal Service Reform Act passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The vote in the House was a strong bi-partisan vote of 342-92! It passed the Senate with 79 votes, enough bi-partisan support to overcome the undemocratic 60 vote filibuster rules. You, along with many friends and allies, made thousands of calls to your Senators urging support and bringing this vital legislation over the finish line!

Congratulations to one and all on these outstanding accomplishments!

Of course, many more challenges and opportunities lie ahead. These include:

Implementation of the new union contract: Dates must be determined for when the new pay scales will be reflected in your paychecks, the dates of the retroactive pay raise from November 20, 2021, and the March COLA; and other timing issues related to PSE conversions and PTF transfer opportunities.

Health & safety: The COVID pandemic is ongoing and still lethal. We have negotiated with management the continuation of the COVID safety memoranda and liberal leave policy until April 8th. It is also a major goal to force management to address the harassment and hos- tile work environment inflicted on far too many postal workers. The struggle for the safest possible workplace will aggressively continue.

Expanded services: Our future largely depends on ex- panded Postal Services. The COVID test kits packaged and sent through the mail are a good example. It is likely that the paycheck cashing “pilot” will soon be expanded. The APWU will be working to make this pilot a success.

Postal reform will open up new opportunities to provide local and state government services.

Organizing the Unorganized: About 20% of the work- force represented by the APWU are non-members – far too many. With the solid new contract, it a great time to organize. In the Spring, the APWU will launch a nation- wide organizing campaign. The key to success will be members signing up non-members. Furthermore, the APWU is expanding our organizing efforts in the private sector mail industry, whether Amazon, fulfillment cen- ters, transportation or pre-sort houses.

National convention: The 2022 National Convention is scheduled for mid-August. The convention, as the highest authority of the union, acts on many resolutions and sets the overall direction for the union. Every member cannot be one of the 2,000 expected delegates, but everyone can have a voice by promoting local and state resolutions to be considered by the convention.

National officer elections: In September the national officer election will be conducted. Unlike most unions, we elect with a “one-person, one vote” mail ballot. This union democracy is part of what makes us union strong!

Legislation & Mid-term elections: More legislative issues on the horizon include improving service standards and securing funding for an electric postal fleet and charging stations. The November elections provide opportunity for political involvement in relation to electing pro-union, pro-postal candidates but also for organizing on issues that affect workers such as living wages, health care for all, a clean environment and voting rights.

Voting rights/Vote-By-Mail: The “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen has become the basis for a rash of voter suppression laws largely aimed at limiting mail ballots, which are a proven, secure way for tens of millions of people to vote. No matter our individual political views, we should be unified in defending and expanding voting rights.

Let’s take the same spirit of unity and solidarity that led to the achievement of our new contract and Postal Reform into the battles of 2022 and beyond! 

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, the Postal Service confirmed to the APWU important dates for implementation of the pay provisions of the 2021-2024 National Agreement. There were significant changes to the pay and leave provisions for this national agreement.

Below you will see “effective” and “scheduled implementation” dates for the various pay provisions of the agreement. The effective date is the date the pay changes will be paid from. The “scheduled implementation” date is the date the Postal Service has informed the APWU that the payrate will actual begin being paid. We have also included the pay check date the pay changes are scheduled to show up in pay checks/direct deposits.

• 1.3% General Increases for all employees
  o Effective: November 20, 2021
  o Scheduled Implementation: June 4, 2022 (Pay Period 13-2022) o Pay Check Date June 24, 2022

• 1.0% Additional for Postal Support Employees (PSEs)
  o Effective: November 20, 2021
  o Scheduled Implementation: June 4, 2022 (Pay Period 13-2022) o Pay Check Date June 24, 2022

• $1310 Cost of Living Allowance (Career Employees) o Effective: February 26, 2022

  o Scheduled Implementation: June 4, 2022 (Pay Period 13-2022)

  o Pay Check Date June 24, 2022

• PSEs’ Additional 50 cents per hour

  o Effective: April 9, 2022
  o Scheduled Implementation: June 4, 2022 (Pay Period 13-2022) o Pay Check Date June 24, 2022

• New pay rates for Grade 11 Employees
  o Effective: September 21, 2021
  o Scheduled Implementation: June 4, 2022 (Pay Period 13-2022) o Pay Check Date June 24, 2022

• Changes to the Grade 8 steps and slotting into new steps o Effective: June 18, 2022

  o Scheduled Implementation: June 18, 2022 (Pay Period 14-2022)

  o Pay Check Date July 8, 2022

• Additional Pay for PTFs due to the Juneteenth Holiday

  o Effective: January 1, 2022
  o Scheduled Implementation: June 4, 2022 (Pay Period 13-2022) o Pay Check Date June 24, 2022

  Employees will receive retroactive payments for the difference in pay for the period between the “effective” date and the “scheduled implementation” date. The date of the retroactive payments has not been finalized and cannot be finalized until the programming is complete. Once programming is completed, we will meet with the Postal Service and get a definitive date for the retroactive payments. Once the definitive date is known, it will then be released

  Significant programming of the payroll systems is needed to implement these pay changes. Upon ratification of the agreement, our Union Family members who work in the Information Technology/Accounting Services units began working on the changes. We want to recognize and thank the IT/AS employees for their hard work on these important provisions and doing all they can to get the programming changes completed so that all those affected receive the pay rates required by the National Agreement.

  As a reminder, other provisions that do not have specific effective dates listed (e.g., the “repromotion rule”) went into effect on February 28, 2022, per Article 43 of the 2021-2024 National Agreement.

In accordance with the MOU, Re: PTF One-Time Voluntary Reassignment Opportunity, the Postal Service provided a list of available residual duty assignments for PTF clerks to choose from, within their own district. Attached is the list of 594 residual duty assignments which are available to the eligible PTF clerks to select from in the regular March 2022 eReassign posting. These assignments are from installations with 100 or more Clerk Craft employees. The attached residual duty assignment(s) are listed by District. 

These residual duty assignments are currently posted in eReassign and this list should be used as a cross reference to assist PTFs within the listed Districts to make their selections.  PTFs need to understand that Districts may have increased greatly in geographical size due to the USPS reorganization. The APWU Clerk Craft has filed a national dispute on the reorganization. If PTFs do not want to relocate, they need to make their selections carefully. Any relocation costs are the responsibility of the PTF. MapQuest is a good tool to assist them if they are not familiar with their entire District and the amount of driving miles as it relates to relocation. 

The MOU contains certain requirements: PTFs must work in installations with less than 100 career Clerk Craft employees, must have been on the rolls on September 21, 2021, and they must have completed their probationary period. In addition, the MOU states: 

“A PTF Clerk Craft employee seeking to voluntarily reassign pursuant to this Agreement must have an acceptable work, attendance, and safety record and meet the minimum qualifications for all Clerk Craft residual vacancies to which they request voluntary reassignment. A PTF Clerk Craft employee must qualify in his/her current installation prior to being reassigned pursuant to this Agreement. A PTF Clerk Craft employee who fails to qualify will remain in his/her current installation as a PTF Clerk Craft employee.” 

The MOU concludes by stating, “District Human Resources will complete the placement no later than the first day of the third pay period following selection of the employee”. 

PTFs who wish to take advantage of this opportunity must do so no later than March 21, 2022 by submitting their preference(s) from among the residual vacancies within their district through eReassign. Any PTF without computer access has the right to use the computer at their post office to submit their reassignment requests. Any changes or corrections to the PTF selection should be done by the close of the posting – March 21, 2022 – 11:00 p.m. CST.