(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - “Trust me - Letter Carriers are PISSED OFF right now,” Marc Mancini, a Unionized Letter Carrier and Shop Steward out of Pittsburgh told People’s World.

More than 500 days after the expiration of their Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Nation’s 200,000 City Letter Carriers - Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), will begin voting next month on a new tentative agreement.

The problem: A general pay raise of 1.3% in each year of the contract.

Rank-and-File Letter Carriers are expressing their disappointment with the agreement’s wage provisions.

The agreement was “insulting,” Mancini said.

The bulk of public comment from current Letter Carriers apparently shares this perspective, with hundreds of Letter Carriers on-line calling for rejection of the proposed settlement and few supportive voices to be found.

Local Officers and several Members of the Union’s National Executive Board also released statements recommending a “no” vote.

A packed meeting held in Minneapolis on October 26th drew over 80 Carriers, according to Carrier Aaron Hutchison, who was interviewed by phone.

“We are going to be aggressive and pro-active (in campaigning against the small hike),” he said. “Once everyone saw the numbers, the anger and the upset were almost instantaneous.”

The contract took more than two years to bargain, but reaching it also avoided arbitration, NALC President Brian Renfroe said.

That didn’t sit well in the Twin Cities, Hutchison replied.

The Carriers there figured that in an attempt to win the arbitration, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) would sweeten its offer.

Renfroe is recommending the tentative agreement, calling it “a fair agreement that rewards our Members for their contributions to the Postal Service and their service to the American People.”

The Union is sponsoring four “rap sessions” around the country to brief Local Leaders and Members on the tentative agreement.

The tentative agreement includes 1.3% annual pay raises across the board and a series of partial Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA) throughout the duration of the contract.

For those at the top and bottom of the seniority scale, the contract also includes additional raises: $1,000 for the “Step P” Veterans at the top of the pay scale and 1% per year for City Carrier Assistants (CCAs), the Letter Carrier’s “pre-career” job classification.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: ‘Pissed off’: Rank-and-file Letter Carriers insulted by USPS’ pay offer – People's World (peoplesworld.org)