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- Three-year contract: September 21, 2021 through September 20, 2024
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1.3% November 20, 2021 (Will be Retroactive)
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1.3% November 19, 2022
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1.3% November 18, 2023
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Six (6) Cost of Living Allowances (COLA) for career employees (March and September of each year) with no change to the current formula based on the July 2021 CPI-W. (After the fourth month of the six-month measuring period, the COLA increase is at $0.39 per hour and will be based on the January 2022 CPI-W Index)
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PSEs receive the general wage increases and an additional 1% increase each year in lieu of COLA (i.e. 2.3% each November)
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$0.50/hour additional increase for PSEs effective the first pay period of the second full month after the Agreement is ratified
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No Lay-off protections for career employees with six years of service remain in full-force and effect.
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Any current career employee on the rolls as of September 20, 2021, with less than six years of service will be included in the no lay-off protections for the life of the National Agreement, providing an additional 72,000 career employees protection from lay-offs.
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50-mile limit on excessing of employees
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The current moratorium on subcontracting of Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) work will continue in its present form during life of the Agreement
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Juneteenth added to the holidays for career employees for a total of 11 paid holidays per year
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PTF pay rate will be increased to reflect a total of 11 holidays each year, increase will be effective on January 1, 2022
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No change to the Postal Service contribution to premiums for those participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
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95% Postal Service contribution to premiums of the APWU Consumer Driven Health Plan (CDHP)
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PSEs converted to career will receive credit for time they were enrolled in a FEHBP plan towards the 1-year qualifying period for the 95% Postal Service contribution to CDHP premiums
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Grade 8 Pay Scale:
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Bottom Steps FF-AA eliminated with Step A becoming the first Step.
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New top Step P added
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Employees currently in Grade 8 will move into new steps while retaining all credit toward next step
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Steps FF-BB moved to Step A
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Step AA moved to Step B
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Steps B-O moved up one Step
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Grade 11 Pay Scale increased by an average of 2.3% prior to any general increases or COLAs
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Schedule guarantee of 24-hour per pay period, increased from 2 hours a pay period
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Guaranteed at least four hours of work or pay when scheduled
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Forty (40) hours of annual leave will be advanced at the start of each leave year for immediate use
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Guaranteed a minimum of one (1) non-scheduled day each service week except during the peak season exception period with notice Wednesday the week prior
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Within 90-days of ratification a One-time Voluntary Transfer Opportunity to residual full time regular vacancies in larger offices within a district.
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PSEs will be converted to career status upon reaching 24-months of relative standing
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Clerk PSEs assigned to offices Grade 21 or higher will be converted to Full-Time Flexible with such assignments made in accordance with the Clerk Craft provisions of Art. 37.4
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Clerk PSEs assigned to Grade 20 offices will be converted to Part-Time Flexible
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MVS PSEs assigned in any size office will be converted to Part-Time Flexible
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PSEs converted under this provision start at a new Step GG in Grades 5-7 and Step A in Grade 8.
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Automatic Conversion does not apply to PSEs assigned to Grade-4 RMPOs
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Conversions will still occur prior to the 24-months
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The “Filling of Residual Vacancy MOU” and Article 37.5.D remains in full force and effect
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MVS Craft Conversions will be made in accordance with Article 39.2.A.11
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Conversion occurring earlier to 24-months start at Step FF for Grades 5-7 and Step-A for Grade 8
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Forty (40) hours of advanced annual leave upon completion of an initial 360-day PSE appointment in Level 20 offices and above.
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PSEs assigned to Level 4 RMPOs receive an additional one (1) hour of paid annual leave per pay period upon completion of two (2) 360-day appointments
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PSEs assigned to Level 4 RMPOs upon completion of two 360-day appointments will receive 40 hours of advance leave.
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PSEs will be offered one (1) non-scheduled day each service week except during peak season with notice the Wednesday the week prior.
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The 12 PSEs per District assigned to Level 4 RMPOs will no longer count against the 20% District cap
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10 PSEs in the 46 Package Support Annexes (PSAs) will not count against the District cap (for a total maximum of 460 PSEs) and will be allowed to work in any facility in the installation the PSA is attached to
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A four (4) weeks “ramp-up” period prior to the start of accounting period 3, the 20% PSE District cap will be temporarily increased by 1% per week equating to no more than a 4% increase.
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New protections for the OTDL during “ramp-up” whereby prior to utilizing a PSE more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a service week, qualified and available employees on the appropriate OTDL will be utilized. No requirement to use an OTDL employee on the second non-scheduled at the penalty rate prior to using a PSE in excess of 40 hours.
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2.5% increase to the uniform/work clothes allowances in 2022, 2023, and 2024
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Delivery/Sales Service Distribution Associate (DSSDA) will receive Type 1 uniform allowance
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New “Rollover” program where unused funds can carry over to a successor allowance year
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Remote Encoding Center staffing ratio changed to 62% Full-time Regular and 38% PSE and all career duty assignments are Full-time Regular.
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90-day waiting period to use annual leave eliminated for new career employees with 90-days continuous service prior to their conversion.
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Updated the Deaf and Hard of Hearing MOU
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Work Environment Improvement Task Force
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Work Place Free of Harassment
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Enhanced and Expanded Services
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Environmental/Sustainability issues, EAP, and Child and Elder care, included in the jurisdiction of the National Labor Management Committee
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District Safety Committees made permanent
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Right of Union Officials to Enter Postal Installations
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Regional Safety and Health Representative Training Opportunities
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Repromotion MOU
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Article 8 Task Force to address excessive overtime, particularly in relation to non-list employees
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Election Mail Task Force MOU
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Full per diem for employees traveling to NCED
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Window training starts within 10-days after posting of the senior bidder
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Updated NTFT duty assignments language
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Pilot program to test new pecking order for the assignment of PTF Hub Clerks
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Filling of Residual Vacancy MOU updated
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PTFs identified for conversion to FTR converted within 28-days
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APWU will have opportunity to submit recommendations on new vehicles prior to specifications being sent to contractors and before manufacturing and completion of new vehicles
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National committee established to address training initiative and opportunities
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HCR limitation on Subcontracting MOU remains in full force and effect.
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No additional custodial staffing packages will change from MS-47 TL-3 to TL-5 for life of the contract
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Change the calculation method of PS Form 4852 for Juneteenth Holiday
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Annual cap on the number of times an employee can be involuntarily assigned to off-site training courses
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Career employee may request to be tested for maintenance craft positions and if rated eligible may request placement on the appropriate in-service register.
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Updates to the posting of relief assignments in the craft
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Agreement to consolidate and upgrade multiple legacy jobs.
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Employees traveling to NCED for training receive full per diem for length of stay
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In Material Distribution Centers Maintenance Mechanic General Grade 7 eliminated and Building Equipment Mechanic Grade 9 added.
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Penalty Overtime provisions applied to Operating Service employees
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The New Union Contract is Ratified!
94% of Voters Say YES!
The main Collective Bargaining Agreement (union contract) between the APWU and the USPS has been overwhelmingly ratified by the members. The contract was signed by APWU President Mark Dimondstein and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on February 28, 2022.
Ninety-Four percent (94%) of the members who voted, voted “Yes!” in favor of ratification. The vote tally was 36,632 votes for ratification and 2,290 against.
“I am ecstatic that the membership recognized the solid gains that this Agreement provides to the 165,000 APWU members from all crafts,” President and lead negotiator Mark Dimondstein stated. “Every member should be very proud of this huge accomplishment. Our power at the bargaining table begins with each of you, the foundation of our union.”
Director of Industrial Relations and chief spokesperson, Vance Zimmerman said, “I am proud of this Agreement and am happy that the membership recognized the hard work of the National Negotiating Committee, the other officers who helped with the negotiations, and the diligent work of our support staff to make this contract a reality.” He continued, “Now the work of implementation begins in earnest.”
In addition to the lead negotiator and chief spokesperson, the NCC consisted of Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks, Motor Vehicle Director Mike Foster, Maintenance Director Idowu Balogun, Support Services Director Steve Brooks, Executive Vice President Debby Szeredy and Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth “Liz” Powell.
The tentative contract agreement was reached on December 9, 2021 with unanimous approval of the National Negotiating Committee. It was then unanimously approved by the Rank & File Bargaining Advisory Committee to be sent to the members for a ratification vote. The vote ratification process was coordinated by APWU Secretary-Treasurer Powell and administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA.) A sub-committee of the Rank & File Bargaining Advisory Committee consisting of Peggy Whitney, Sandra Munoz, Scott Hoffman, Nicole Burnett and Stacy Brown was on site monitoring the entire vote count, which took place from February 23 – February 28.
Now that we have a new contract, one of the first items to be dealt with are the pay raises due to employees. These include the first general wage increase of 1.3% for career employees (2.3% for PSEs), effective November 21, 2021; the $1,310 per year COLA increase due to career employees, effective February 26, 2022; and the additional 50 cents per hour increase for PSEs effective on April 9, 2022.
APWU-represented bargaining unit employees in the IT/AS sector will soon begin programming the payroll system that is required to make these pay changes. Once programming is completed, retroactive payments will be made to the affected employees, with the dates of these payments to be announced. Please check apwu.org for updated information on retroactive payments
Additionally, the parties are in the process of finalizing a print version of the Collective Bargaining Agreement as well as updating the Joint Contract Interpretation Manual.
“I congratulate the members on this agreement which will provide wage increases, COLAs, job security, improved PTF rights and even more career opportunities for the non-career workforce,” Director Zimmerman said.
President Dimondstein concluded by saying, “We should never forget that our Collective Bargaining rights were won through the courage of our forefathers and foremothers in the historic 1970 wildcat strike. The lives of literally millions of postal workers and our families have been changed for the better over the last fifty years.”
Tentative Agreement Ratification Process
RATIFICATION INFORMATION
In accordance with the APWU Constitution, the Rank-and-File Committee must approve a Tentative Agreement before members are given the opportunity to vote on ratification. The committee voted unanimously to endorse the proposed agreement on December 10, 2021. The union’s National Negotiating Committee also voted unanimously to approve the Tentative Agreement.
Voting on the Tentative Agreement for the new APWU-USPS contract will start with a mailing. In addition to a ballot, the ratification mailing includes a copy of the Tentative Agreement; a summary of highlights of the proposed agreement; the official statement of the Rank-and-File Bargaining Advisory Committee; a letter from APWU President Mark Dimondstein, and a postage-paid return envelope.The single-question ballot will allow members to vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on a contract, which, if ratified, would expire on September 20, 2024.
Ballots for the referendum must be received in the designated post office box by the deadline set by the Rank and File Committee. The Rank-and-File Committee will supervise the proceeding vote count.
Ballots must be mailed back & RECEIVED BY AAA FEBRUARY 23rd 9 AM in order to be counted.
If you have questions or difficulties in returning your ballot, contact the AAA by calling 1-800-529- 5218 or 1-800-273-0726 between the hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday.
Summary of the 2021-2024 Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement
The American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service have reached a tentative three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) announced APWU President and Lead Negotiator Mark Dimondstein. The following is a summary of that tentative agreement. The APWU is preparing the complete Tentative Agreement to be sent to members with their ratification ballot. Detailed information on the ratification vote will be announced in the near future.
To learn more about the Tentative Agreement, sign up to attend a virtual town hall webinar at apwu.org/townhall
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Contract Time Period
General Annual Wage Increases and Cost of Living Allowances (COLA)
Job Security
Holiday Pay
Health Insurance
Enhanced Level 8 & 11 Pay Scales
Part-Time Flexible (PTF) Work Rules
Automatic Conversion of PSEs in Level 20 offices and above
Other PSE Provisions
PSE Staffing
Uniform/Work Clothes Program Allowances
Additional Work Rule Improvements
Additional Clerk Craft Provisions
Additional Motor Vehicle Service Craft Provisions
Additional Maintenance Craft Provisions
Additional Support Services Craft Provisions