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Today, NALC and the Postal Service formally opened negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Read NALC President Brian L. Renfroe's opening statement below.

Good morning, everyone. We start by thanking Postmaster General Steiner, Deputy Postmaster General Tolino, Vice President Elston, and everyone here at the Postal Service Headquarters for hosting this kickoff. I'd also like to thank everyone in the room for being here at a kickoff of a process that is, of course, important to America's 200,000 plus letter carriers. It's important to the Postal Service. It's also important to the 300 plus million Americans that we serve every single day. I am joined here this morning by the entire NALC Executive Council, the nine other resident officers that are seated here at the table with me, our 15 national business agents, as well as our three national trustees, as well as key members of our headquarters, letter carrier and professional staff and counsel, of course.

We come here this morning with a singular goal, and that is to reach a contract that fairly compensates, recognizes, and values America's 200,000 active city letter carriers. We know what we deserve. We know the value of the work that we do. We are hopeful that through this process, we are able to reach an agreement that achieves our goals. Everyone on both sides of this table knows that letter carriers’ jobs have always been difficult.

The famous saying that's engraved on a building in New York about rain, snow, and the gloom of night is familiar to everyone. But today, we work through even more hazards than that. Extreme heat, cold, the nature of our work, handling heavy parcels day to day, and unfortunately, the enduring threat of violent crimes. But through it all, we've continued to fulfill our essential duties to the American people. Yet, our compensation is not kept with that level of dedication. The job of a city letter carrier was once sought after as a stable, middle-class job. Unfortunately, in many locations now, we cannot attract enough people, and we even have some that work multiple jobs early in their careers. This, frankly, is unconscionable, especially as the work we do is more valuable than it's ever been before.

We all know what we do for the American people. No one else can match what the Postal Service does. Letter carriers reach every home and business in the country six and oftentimes seven days a week. There is no service in Postal Service without letter carriers. Time and time again, we proved that we can adapt. Whether it was natural disasters, global pandemics, record-breaking temperatures, and everything in between, we take pride in continuing to serve the American people. It's only right and it's only fair that that commitment is rewarded with a fair contract that's been earned through the dedication and hard work of America's letter carriers. For us, the major pieces of a fair contract are simple.

First is an all-career workforce. Simply put, the city carrier assistant position does not serve our craft, nor does it help achieve the goals of the Postal Service. 55 percent of all city carrier assistants leave the job within the first year. That has been the case every single year since the classification was created in 2013. Astronomically high turnover rates like this seriously undermine the Postal Service's ability to provide quality, universal service. Hiring directly to career nationwide is essential to retain letter carriers, to appropriately staff our delivery units and to give the Postal Service the ability to provide the level of service that our customers expect. We commend the Postal Service for working with us in good faith over the last several years to convert hundreds of installations around the country to an all-career model. There's no question this is a positive step and has shown improvement in those locations, but it's not enough. It's time to abolish this position.

Next is higher wages at all steps of the pay scale. While starting pay is undoubtedly too low, and it must be addressed, letter carriers, regardless of where they are in their career, should be compensated fairly and should be rewarded for their contributions for our service to the American people. We spend the majority of our working hours on the street exposed to risks that typical indoor or work from home employees will never face. Heat, cold, injuries, the physical toll of the job, unfortunately, the threat of being attacked on the job, these are all real hazards that we face every day. Our current wages do not match this work. The Postal Service cannot expect to retain and attract new letter carriers without substantial wage increases that account for the physicality and challenges of this job.

Similarly, the time to reach top step of our pay scale must be reduced. More than 12 years to reach the top of the pay scale is unacceptable to America's letter carriers, particularly when workers in a number of similar jobs enter at a higher rate and reach top pay in a third of the time that we do. We understand our industry, and we know that that structure of a pay scale is no longer competitive. In today's world, more than a decade to reach the top of the pay scale takes our experience and our skills for granted. For the Postal Service to retain seasoned and experienced letter carriers that have made this service great for many, many years, this time must be substantially reduced.

The last specific issue I'll point out Is local postal management's lack of contract compliance. A lot of people on both sides of this table and in this room have worked hard and in good faith on the existing terms of our collective bargaining agreement. The words of that agreement mean nothing if local managers violate them, as they do across the country every single day. Whether it's caused by the decision of a supervisor, a station manager, a postmaster, district management, it's clear how letter carriers view this constant and willful disregard for the terms of our collective borrowing agreement. They view it as disrespect. It's disrespectful to a proud, dedicated workforce, and it's disrespectful to our union. This problem is rampant. It hurts morale. It hurts productivity. It costs the Postal Service hundreds of millions of dollars every year. To us, it's simply a matter of dignity and respect.

Thankfully, there is what should be an easy solution. For managers that make operational decisions at the local level every day, simply comply with the terms of the agreement that we have negotiated in good faith at this very table over the years. In this round of bargaining, we are eager to engage on anything we can do to improve contract compliance across the country.

Now, it's no secret that the Postal Service faces financial hurdles. Some changes that are needed on the path to financial solvency involve action from the Congress or the Administration. Our union will keep doing more than anyone else to make further legislation and administrative changes that benefit the Postal Service a reality. But it doesn't stop there. As we all know, to succeed, the service must be competitive. Particularly in the package business, where there continues to be opportunity for significant revenue growth. For us to stand out in this increasingly competitive package delivery market, exceptional, reliable service is key. There's no question that finding ways to invest, modernize, invest in and modernize our infrastructure is very important. We are committed to continuing to do our part to make that happen, as we have for many years.

But the most important piece of achieving the levels of service that we, and more importantly, our customers expect is a stable, well-compensated workforce. There is value for everyone here in the Postal Service properly investing in its workforce. There is no service, there is no operation without the work that our members do. We are the key to the service that will allow us to surpass our competition. In many ways, we are the key to the success of the Postal Service. As Deputy Postmaster General Tulino mentioned, last year, the Postal Service celebrated its 250th year. Letter carriers are proud to be part of this 250-year legacy. We are proud to be the face of the Postal Service that the American people see every single day. This pride largely comes from our craft, very rich history of providing a safe and reliable middle-class job, working life, and retirement. That is what we are pursuing in this round of collective bargaining. The promise of a well-respected, well-compensated job. One where you can go to work, do your job, be paid fairly, and return home safely to your family and your loved ones. We are committed in this round of bargaining to doing everything possible to reach an agreement on a fair contract.

We are very appreciative of our long history of good faith bargaining, and we look forward continuing that over the course of the coming weeks and months. Thank you once again for hosting this opening session. We are excited and eager to get to work.