As the union representing 295,000 active and retired letter carriers, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) strongly condemns the reported selection of David P. Steiner to lead the Postal Service. Steiner comes directly from service on FedEx’s board of directors, presenting a clear conflict of interest. Steiner didn’t just stroll in from the private sector—he comes straight from one of the Postal Service’s top competitors.

His selection isn’t just a conflict of interest—it’s an aggressive step toward handing America’s mail system over to corporate interests. Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner’s selection is an open invitation to do just that.

During his tenure as Waste Management, Inc.’s CEO, Steiner took a stand against unions. He built his brand on union-busting, slashing jobs, and replacing workers with machines. He has publicly bragged about shrinking the union footprint. Now, he’s being handed the keys to one of the nation’s largest unionized employers. At a time when collaboration with workers helped USPS turn a $144 million profit in the last quarter of 2024, this decision flies in the face of everything that’s working. 

This isn’t just bad policy—it’s a direct assault on the workers who keep the mail moving and the public connected. The damage will hit rural communities hardest, where the Postal Service isn’t just a convenience—it’s a lifeline. And make no mistake: if this appointment stands, it threatens 7.9 million jobs tied to the postal industry and service to over 300 million Americans.

The nation’s letter carriers are outraged that the Postal Service Board of Governors has chosen an anti-union postmaster general with a major conflict of interest. The board has the responsibility to do what is best for USPS. This decision is not only a failure in that responsibility but shows open contempt for the work of America’s letter carriers and the public good.

NALC has created an LMOU Negotiations Guide and accompanying reference documents to assist local branch presidents in this very important process. The guide contains helpful tips to prepare for negotiations, writing proposals and the impasse rules. The electronic version of the guide and sample documents are available now in the Members Only portal of the NALC website under the Presidents Docs tab. Printed copies of the guide will be mailed to each of the regional national business agents’ offices beginning Tuesday, May 6.

Preparation is key for successful LMOU negotiations. Be sure to review the guide so you can be ready!

These proposals include:

• Increasing the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) contribution rate for existing employees up to 4.4 percent
• Cutting retirement benefits by eliminating the FERS special annuity supplement
• Reducing annuity payments by calculating a retiree's annuity based on their high-five salary average (instead of three)

Our benefits are not free. We earn them through hard work and contributions.

Click here to contact your representative and ask them to OPPOSE cuts to letter carriers retirement benefits.

The budget reconciliation process allows Republican leaders in Congress to pass these provisions with a simple majority and bypass Democratic opposition, making it easier for them to cut services, many directly targeting active and retired letter carriers and federal employees.

The Republican-supported House budget resolution that passed earlier this year tasked the COR committee with cutting $50 billion. This measure aims to meet this threshold by cutting federal employee benefits at a cost to the employees.

At the markup, Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said these cuts would save federal funds while Acting Ranking Member Stephen Lynch (D-MA) referred to it as an attack on the federal government and its workers.

Many Democratic members praised federal employees for their dedicated service and spoke against benefit cuts.

One Republican, Mike Turner (R-OH), opposed the measure. "I believe that making changes to pension retirement benefits in the middle of someone's employment is wrong. Employee benefits are not a gift. They are earned," he said.

Several amendments were introduced at the markup, but all were rejected. Notably, Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA) introduced an amendment to add the text of the Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 1522). H.R. 1522 would allow federal employees, including letter carriers, to make catch-up retirement contributions for time served as non-career employees, making it credible under FERS. Although the amendment failed, H.R. 1522 remains a top priority for NALC. 

"NALC completely opposes this measure," NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. "We see this for what it is – a pay cut for letter carriers and all federal employees.

“Our retirement benefits aren't free handouts. We earn them through our years of service and contributions.

“Taxpayers don't fund the Postal Service or letter carriers' retirement benefits. Cutting our benefits will do nothing to improve the federal deficit. If Congress wants to balance the budget, changes to our independently funded retirement benefits will not do it and should be off limits.

“This is a disgusting attack on every letter carrier, postal employee and federal employee. We will continue fighting like hell against these attacks to preserve the retirement benefits that we've earned, and that we already pay our fair share for every pay period.”

The next step is for the measure to be considered by the full House. Republican House leadership has indicated it plans to vote on all reconciliation measures before the end of May.

Given the controversial and harmful elements of this package, it is unclear whether it will pass in the House even with the reconciliation process. While advancing through the committee was almost certain, with extremely tight margins in the House, passing in the full chamber will be more difficult.

The large capacity hampers, in use since 2015, were introduced as a replacement and/or equivalent to the 1046p hamper. The resolution aligns itself with the Job Safety Analysis (JSA), Carriers Using Large Capacity Hampers, dated July 18, 2024. In addition, the parties addressed the ergonomic issues of bending and lifting mail into and out of the hampers by agreeing that spring-loaded hamper elevation platforms/inserts may be used to raise the level of trays/tubs of mail to reduce the lift height in loading and unloading mail. In the absence of the spring-loaded platforms, the parties agree that placing inverted plastic trays at the bottom of the hamper as an insert is one way, among others, to address any bending and lifting concerns at the local level if the need arises.  

This agreement can be found in NALC’s Materials Reference System on the NALC website.

Branch presidents may begin registering their MBA representatives for the training through the branch president’s Members Only portal. The registration directions are below.

The class will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time and will be an hour and a half long.

NALC has developed the ability to create a registration and training gateway through the Members Only portal on the NALC website.

Registration

Once a meeting has been scheduled through the Members Only portal, branch presidents will need to register their members in order for them to attend. To access the registration option, branch presidents can go to the NALC website and log on to the Members Only portal.  Once logged on to the Members Only portal, click the “Meetings Registration” button, which will display a list of upcoming meetings. From there, presidents can register a member(s) by entering their last name in the “Search” box and selecting the correct member from the drop-down list. A member can also be removed from the “Registry” list by checking the box under the delete column next to the corresponding member. Branch presidents will not be able to register more than the maximum number of attendees per branch or exceed the maximum number of attendees for that session. The maximum number of registrants per branch and for the session, as well as the number of registrants registered to date, are displayed on the registration screen.

Training materials

Training materials and other pertinent information may be supplied for each session in the form of PDFs. These documents will be available to registrants on their Members Only page. The documents can be printed, copied and/or saved.

Accessing meeting information and/or joining the meeting

When a registered member wants to access training materials, view topics, or join a meeting, they can go to the NALC website and log on to the Members Only portal. Once logged into the portal, the member will press the “Meetings” button, which will display a list of those meetings the member is registered to attend. For each meeting, there will be three buttons: the “Documents” button will give the member access to the training materials; the “Topics” button will give the member access to a list of topics (if any); and the “Join” button.  The “Join” button will appear 10 minutes prior to the start time on the day of the meeting. If you log into the Members Only portal sooner than 10 minutes prior to the start of the meeting, you will need to exit to the home page and re-enter to access the “Join” button. Once you click "Join," you will be taken to a Webex window titled “Starting your meeting…”  Scroll down to select “Join from your browser.”  When joining, the member will be prompted to enter their name and email address in order to attend the meeting. Proceed by selecting the “Next” button followed by the “Join Meeting” button.

The bill, which is identical to legislation introduced in the House in May 2023, would allow the Postal Service to ship beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages directly from licensed producers and retailers to legal customers.

Current law prohibits the Postal Service from shipping alcoholic goods, making private shippers such as FedEx and UPS the only option for wineries, breweries and other producers to have goods delivered directly to customers. This bill would allow USPS to ship these beverages and would generate an estimated $190 million annually in new revenue for the Postal Service.

If passed into law, USPS would have two years to develop regulations ensuring that the Postal Service is prepared to safely deliver alcoholic beverages to adult consumers with appropriate identification checks. The bill also would expand access for direct-to-consumer alcoholic shipments.

Unlike private shippers, USPS delivers to every address in the nation. The current ban on the Postal Service from shipping alcohol limits access to these products for many Americans, especially in rural areas.

“NALC applauds Rep. Newhouse for introducing the Shipping Equity Act,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “The bill is an important step toward meeting the growing needs of our customers while generating revenue for the Postal Service, expanding the agency’s service opportunities, and supporting small businesses nationwide.” 

Click here for NALC’s fact sheet on the bill, and visit nalc.org/action to ask your members of Congress to cosponsor the legislation.

Effective April 19 (date is tentative), all city letter carriers will begin earning new pay rates that include the following increases pursuant to the terms of the 2023 National Agreement set by Arbitrator Dennis R. Nolan in the interest arbitration award dated March 21, 2025:

For career city carriers:

• $978 Cost of Living Adjustment effective Aug. 26, 2023
• 1.3% General Wage Increase effective Nov. 18, 2023
• $353 Cost of Living Adjustment effective March 9, 2024
• $978 Cost of Living Adjustment effective Sept. 7, 2024
• 1.4% General Wage Increase effective Nov. 16, 2024
• $416 Cost of Living Adjustment effective March 8, 2025

*Cost of living increases referenced above are adjusted and paid proportionally to each step’s percentage of Step P for city carriers in Table 2 in accordance with Article 9.3.D of the National Agreement.

For city carrier assistants:

• 1.3% General Wage Increase and an additional 1.0% increase effective Nov. 18, 2023
• 1.4% General Wage Increase and an additional 1.0% increase effective Nov. 16, 2024

*City carrier assistants receive the additional 1.0% increases referenced above in lieu of cost of living adjustments pursuant to Article 9.7 of the National Agreement.

These new pay rates for all city letter carriers are tentatively scheduled to be reflected in the May 9 paychecks.

Backpay will be calculated from the effective dates of the pay increases indicated above through April 19 (tentative). The Postal Service has indicated that it will take some time to calculate the back pay for more than 210,000 letter carriers but tentatively expects the process to be completed and payments made sometime in August.

The new pay rates can be seen in the new letter carrier pay schedule available here.

Four senators joined the bipartisan leads as original co-sponsors: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

The Senate version is identical to the House version (H.Res. 70), which was introduced by Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Nick LaLota (R-NY) in January and currently has 180 co-sponsors.

“Letter carriers take great pride in the work they do, providing universal service to every address in the nation,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “Every member of Congress represents constituents who depend on the Postal Service. I urge every representative to sign on to this resolution.”

“For more than 250 years, the Postal Service has been a cornerstone of our nation, connecting every household and business across the country,” Sen. Peters said. “Any efforts to undermine the Postal Service’s independence or privatize it would jeopardize affordable, universal mail service and harm the millions of Americans—especially veterans, small business owners, and rural communities—who rely on the Postal Service every day. This resolution reaffirms our commitment to keeping the Postal Service independent and self-sustaining, ensuring it continues to serve as a vital lifeline for all Americans.”

“In a state as vast as Alaska, with many remote communities only accessible by air or water, the USPS serves as an essential government agency, that keeps postal services affordable for Alaskans,” Sen. Sullivan said. “I am glad to work with my colleagues from other rural states on this resolution to oppose the privatization of the USPS and ensure that this critical agency remains focused on its statutory requirement to reliably deliver mail to every household, no matter how remote.”

Take action

Click here to ask your representative to co-sponsor H.Res. 70/S.Res. 147.

Click here for the fact sheet.

This Executive Order is stacked with blatant lies to undermine the nation’s free and fair election process by placing restrictions on voter access to the ballot box. 

Our country is stronger when more people participate in the democratic process, no matter how they choose to cast their ballots: early, in person on Election Day, or through mail-in ballots.

Letter carriers take pride in our work and have safely, securely and successfully delivered ballots since the Civil War. In the 2024 election, letter carriers delivered 99.22 million ballots to and from voters, tens of millions of which were cast for President Trump. In 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, as millions of Americans sheltered in place, letter carriers delivered a record-breaking 135 million ballots.

While this EO claims to be about “preserving” and “protecting” American elections, NALC sees this for what it is: a clear attack on voting rights that slams the safety and security of voting by mail.  

NALC will not stand for any attempt to diminish Americans’ accessibility to free and fair elections, and we will fight like hell to protect this right for the millions of Americans who rely on us. 

National Press Club President Mike Balsamo moderated the panel discussion.

The union presidents discussed the severe impacts privatization would have on all Americans, recent actions the unions have taken to bring awareness to this issue, protecting universal service, how Congress and the Administration can help the Postal Service, attacks on letter carriers, former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's recent exit, and more. 

When asked about DeJoy's exit, Renfroe emphasized that the next postmaster general must continue building infrastructure and maintaining universal service while valuing USPS employees. "The service is provided 100 percent by the employees and our unions," Renfroe said.

Threats of privatization were a recurring topic, and Renfroe reiterated NALC's firm opposition, warning of its negative impact on more than 300 million Americans, especially 51 million Americans in rural areas. "We serve everyone, everywhere, for the same price every day," he said.

The Postal Service's financial situation was also discussed. Renfroe started by emphasizing that it operates as a public service funded by postage and stamps, not taxpayer dollars. He then identified two potential solutions for financial relief: adopting private-sector accounting for retirement funds and passing legislation to allow investments in higher-yield assets. These changes, long advocated by NALC, would help the Postal Service manage costs and ensure long-term stability.

The moderator asked about the increased crimes committed against letter carriers, and Renfroe laid out the details of the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act. "For the longest time, we were viewed among most people as, 'These are federal employees—don't mess with them. If you mess with them, you're going to jail.' We need to make that a reality again."

The value and possible use cases of the Postal Service's network were also highlighted. "Any attack, partial privatization, any reduction in the service we provide, ultimately results in destroying that network and eliminating, probably for good, our ability to do things like the census, like the COVID test, or any other things that we might want to do to serve the people of this country," Renfroe said.

In his closing remarks, Renfroe said that "the Postal Service is as relevant today as ever" and that "we intend to continue to fight any threats."

Following the Executive Council's decision to host a day of action, today's event was the second major public action this week after hundreds of rallies were organized by NALC branches on Sunday, March 23.

Watch today's full event here.

Today was Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's last day at the Postal Service. During his tenure, NALC worked in good faith with DeJoy on behalf of our 295,000 active and retired members.

The USPS Board of Governors' search for a new leader of the agency comes at a critical time for letter carriers and everyone who depends on our service.

The next postmaster general must continue modernizing and investing in USPS' infrastructure while maintaining quality universal service funded by postage, not taxpayer dollars.

They must value and empower the 640,000 Postal Service employees, 73,000 of whom are veterans, who serve the American people.

They must work in good faith with NALC, our sister unions and other stakeholders to get necessary retirement fund investment and accounting policy changes done in Congress. 

Finally, the next postmaster general must fundamentally believe in the agency as a public service and be committed to guaranteeing the universal service Americans rely on.

NALC urges the board to seek out a candidate who meets these criteria. The future of the Postal Service is on the line, and choosing someone with innovative ideas and appreciation for our Constitutionally mandated service is essential.

NALC stands ready to work with whoever the board selects as the next postmaster general. We will fight like hell to ensure our members' perspectives and experiences are considered when the next postmaster general makes decisions that affect letter carriers' working lives.

President Renfroe issued the following statement announcing the arbitration award:

We are pleased that the award includes consistent pay increases with the largest annual general wage increases since the 2006 National Agreement, and six cost-of-living adjustments, as well as full back pay for all hours worked The terms awarded also address our key objectives regarding higher starting pay, and further increasing top-step pay, where letter carriers spend most of their careers at the salary on which retirement calculations are based.

During the interest arbitration process, we fought for wage increases and rebuffed arguments based on the Postal Service’s financial difficulty. Previous interest arbitration boards have cited such arguments to justify increasing our share of health insurance premiums and reductions in back pay. This award contains no changes to these or other provisions that could negatively impact pay for letter carriers. It only moves us forward.

In recent years, we’ve reduced the CCA workforce by 15,000 positions and added 12,000 career PTF positions as we’ve moved to transition the Postal Service’s flexible workforce from 100 percent non-career to now over 30 percent PTFs using MOUs we’ve negotiated. The National Agreement resulting from this award will allow us to continue that process in pursuit of our goal of an all-career workforce.

This award follows years of work by the NALC, including its officers, staff, attorneys, consultants and expert witnesses who diligently put together the case for interest arbitration. Their hard work allowed the case to be presented effectively and efficiently.

I thank all the members of the NALC for their activism and involvement throughout the collective-bargaining process.

Here are some highlights of the contract, which covers the period from May 21, 2023, to May 22, 2026:

Wage provisions

Three general wage increases, and six COLAs were awarded.

Arbitrator Nolan awarded general wage increases of 1.3 percent in November 2023 (paid retroactively), 1.4 percent in November 2024 (paid retroactively), and 1.5 percent in November 2025. These increases exceed the general wage increase pattern established in collective-bargaining agreements between the Postal Service and the other postal unions in the previous round of collective bargaining. The award also provides for the payment of six COLAs to career letter carriers using the formula that has been included in Article 9.3 for many years. That proportional COLA provides all career carriers equal protection against inflation. Four of these COLAs, totaling $2,725 per year at Step P, will be paid retroactively pursuant to Article 9.3. The amounts of the final two COLAs will, as usual, depend on the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI-W, 1967=100).

CCA pay increases

CCAs will receive three additional 1.0 percent increases for cumulative general wage increases of 2.3 percent in November 2023 (paid retroactively), 2.4 percent in November 2024 (paid retroactively), and 2.5 percent in November 2025. Within 180 days of the date of the arbitration award, CCAs will receive an additional $0.50 per hour pay increase. This increase is in addition to their cumulative general increases.

Pay table modifications

Steps AA and A will be eliminated from Table 2, raising starting career pay by 4.5 percent. CCAs converted to career PTF position will see wages rise by more than $4.31 per hour. Additionally, the annual rate at Step P in Tables 1 and 2 will be increased by $1,000. This increase is in addition to the general wage increases and COLAs mentioned above. Both of these modifications will be effective within 180 days of the date of the arbitration award.

Retroactive (back pay) provisions

Full back pay for all letter carriers, covering all paid hours since the expiration of the 2019-2023 contract, was awarded by the arbitrator. Back-pay calculations will include the Nov. 18, 2023, and Nov. 23, 2024, general wage increases (plus the 1 percent additional increase for CCAs on those dates) and the first four COLAs.

Uniforms

All letter carriers will receive the following uniform allowance:

• May 21, 2025: $536 plus an additional $125 for a newly eligible carrier
• May 21, 2026: $549 plus an additional $128 for a newly eligible carrier

Unused portions of an eligible employee’s annual allowance for uniform and work clothing will be carried over and available for use beginning 12 months after the end of each anniversary year. An eligible employee’s uniform or work clothing allowance balance may not exceed the sum of two years of the employee’s annual allowance entitlement. This awarded uniform and work clothing program adjustment will be implemented no later than 12 months from the date of the interest arbitration award.

Additionally, a joint task force shall be established to study the uniform program with a view toward reaching an agreement for a new and/or revised program that would take into account the following guidelines: 1) be cost-effective for both management and city letter carriers; 2) provide the parties with more direct control of the Uniform Program; 3) limit management and city letter carriers’ exposure to future increases in uniform costs; and 4) create practices for the manufacture and purchase of uniform items that will reduce the rate of increase.

Layoff protection

The no-layoff clause that protects letter carriers after six years of service as a career employee is retained in the 2023 National Agreement.

Sub-contracting of letter carrier work

The existing prohibitions against contracting out city carrier work are continued for the duration of the 2023 National Agreement.

Health insurance contributions

The employees’ share of health insurance premiums remains the same as in the 2019-2023 National Agreement for both career and non-career letter carriers.

NALC and USPS representatives will put together the entire text of the 2023-2026 National Agreement in the coming weeks.