APWU 458 Endorses National Tentative Contract Agreement

The American Postal Workers Union Local 458 has endorsed a new tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement with the U.S. Postal Service. If approved, the proposed three-year contract will retroactively cover September 21, 2024, through September 20, 2027.

The Tentative Agreement was finalized on June 2 and unanimously approved by the Rank and File committee for a ratification vote of the members. The Tentative Agreement has the unanimous approval of the NNC and the full support of the National Executive Board.

“This is great news for postal workers! Negotiations are never easy and have been hard fought. We have secured an agreement that continues to protect the rights and interests of our members in uncertain times,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein in a statement. “We have been negotiating when government workers and our unions are under severe assault and with the specter of postal privatization looming. Yet even in this environment, the Tentative National Agreement contains annual wage increases, six full cost-of-living adjustments for career employees, no-layoff protections including for tens of thousands of members with less than six years’ service, 50-mile limits on excessing, elimination of some entry level steps, restoration of one more top step in pay grades 4-7 on the lower tier pay scale, increase in uniform allowances, and much more. All these gains were accomplished with no givebacks or concessions. A 'Yes' vote will secure the provisions and advances of the Tentative Agreement.”

APWU 458 President Scott Adams said that while the pay raises are not as high as his members would like, negotiators pushed the agency as far as it would go and it was the best they could do given the conservative political climate in Washington and a new postmaster general coming in. The raises mirror wage increases the National Association of Letter Carriers received in arbitration after rejecting management’s offer in January.

Additionally, the APWU negotiated for "legacy COLAs", which other unions have been unable to obtain. Adams says, "Each of our Cost of Living Allowances becomes a pay raise and not a lump sum payment. That's a significant difference down the line. And, we retain our APWU Health Plan Consumer Driven option where the Service pays 95% of the premium. We gain additional pay for night work, and gain back pay steps for many employees. We retain our "No Layoff Clause" and extend that to an additional 70,000 members for this contract. We also retain a restriction on involuntary movement of employees to 50 miles. In this political climate, we are pleased with this Tentative Agreement and believe our members will overwhelmingly vote to ratify.”

The contract includes:

General annual wage increase and cost-of-living increases of 1.3 percent November 16, 2024 (will be paid retroactively), 1.4 percent November 15, 2025 and 1.5 percent November 14, 2026.
As postal-support employees (PSEs) receive no COLA, there will be an additional 1 percent increase each year (2.3 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.5 percent) with an extra 50 cents/hour after 26 weeks.
PSEs in four-hour Remotely Managed Post Offices (RMPOs) (who are not covered by the automatic conversion to career provisions) will receive an additional $1.00 per hour after four years.
Full Cost-of-Living-Adjustments (COLA) for Career Employees (Six Total)
Upgrades to pay scales.
Night shift differential increases of 4 percent in Sept. 2025 and 2 percent in Sept. 2026.
Job security and layoff protections
No change to the Postal Service percentage contribution to premiums for those participating in the Postal Service Health Program.
Annual Leave Exchange increased from 40 hours to 80 hours.
Annual Leave Carryover increased from 440 hours to 520 hours.
Additional family members to be covered under Bereavement Leave to include mothers and fathers-in-law, grandchildren, and stepparents.