Attend a virtual health fair

As we get ready for Postal Service Employee conversions, APWU Health Plan is here to help. Becoming a career employee is a life-changing and exciting time for a PSE. We want to educate new career employees on Health Plan benefits. As you know, we have two great plans that offer strong benefits for APWU members and their families.

Thursday, September 8, 1 pm–3 pm ET, Register Now

Thursday, September 22, 1 pm–3 pm ET, Register Now

Once registered, you will get an email confirmation with a GoToWebinar link and dial-in information. On the day before the virtual health fair date you selected, we will email you a reminder and include the dial-in information with instructions.

In accordance with the 2021-2024 Collective Bar­gaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a $1.18 per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective August 27, 2022.

The increase is the result of a rise in the Consum­er Price Index (CPI-W). It will appear in paychecks dated September 16, 2022 (Pay Period 19-2022). The value of the COLA for full-time employees in each step and grade will increase by $2,455.00 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 second cost-of-living increase under the 2021 contract. The first, effective in February, amounted to $0.63 per hour or $1,310 annually. The COLAs received so far during the 2021-2024 National Agreement total $3,765.00 this year.

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.

Rising inflation underscores just how important the continuation of our negotiated Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is in our outstanding new union contract. The COLA is 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.

“At times of high inflation, our union-won COLA is invaluable to ourselves and our families,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “It pays to be union! It’s always a struggle to keep these COLA provisions and every postal worker should be proud we fought hard and prevailed to keep full COLA in our latest contract.”

Go to apwu.org/pay-information to view pay scales.

Last week we announced the APWU was preparing collective actions in response to the unacceptable delay in retroactive payments won in the 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Today, after concerted struggles with postal management, management has finally provided the union with firm dates the payments will be received by postal workers in APWU-represented crafts.

The retroactive payments will be processed on October 11, 2022. They will appear as a pay adjustment on paychecks received October 28, 2022.

“Those in management responsible for overseeing these payroll changes had so little respect for postal workers that they apparently thought a May 2023 date for the retroactive payments would somehow be acceptable. This was outrageous,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Postal workers earned this pay, we deserve it, and we’re not in the business of giving management interest-free loans on the back of our labor. While we’re still unsatisfied with the delay, we sent a message and have gotten firm dates months in advance of management’s plan.”

“This delay in retroactive payments was unacceptable to everyone in our union,” said APWU Director of Industrial Relations Charlie Cash. “While we’re glad to have dates to look forward to, we will still file a national-level grievance seeking an appropriate remedy for all affected postal employees.”

The CBA included the following pay adjustments:

• Effective November 20, 2021: General wage increases of 1.3 percent
• Effective Nov. 20, 2021: Additional 1 percent pay raise for PSEs (who do not receive COLA)
• Effective September 25, 2021: New pay scale for Grade 11
• Effective Feb 26, 2022: Sixty-three cents/hour COLA, for career employees
• Effective April 9, 2022: Fifty cents/hour increase for the PSEs effective

Each of the above adjustments were programmed and included in our wages on June 4, 2022, with the exception of the 50 cents/hour due to the PSEs. That management error was corrected and included in pay from July 30, 2022.

The retroactive payments due to workers consists of the above adjustments on hours worked from June 4, 2022 going back to their respective effective dates, and between April 9 and July 30 for the PSE fifty-cent increase.

We will keep members updated on the grievance process regarding this unacceptable delay.