Postal Service and Letter Carriers Union reach tentative contract agreement

The U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract. If ratified by union members, the agreement will run through Nov. 20, 2011, and affect approximately 222,000 career employees who deliver mail to residences and businesses on city delivery routes.

“Upon ratification, this agreement will benefit the Postal Service, our customers and employees,” said Doug Tulino, Postal Service vice president for Labor Relations. “It addresses important issues related to labor costs, revenue and delivery operations. While long in the making, we believe that this agreement will prove to be in the best interests of all concerned.”

The Postal Service and the NALC had been scheduled to enter into binding interest arbitration later this year after being unable to reach a new tentative contract. If the current tentative agreement is ratified, the arbitration will not be needed. The Postal Service and the NALC formally opened national contract negotiations in August, 2006.