Mail handlers in the US ratify five-year contract

The National Postal Mail Handlers Union has voted to ratify a new five-year contract with the U.S. Postal Service.
The contract provides a 1.2 retroactive increase effective Nov. 25, 2006, and another 1.2 percent increase effective Nov. 24, 2007. Handlers will receive a 0.6 percent increase on Feb. 16, 2008, followed by 1.2 percent increases each November from 2008 to 2010.
The agreement continues cost-of-living adjustments at current levels but cuts the Postal Service’s health insurance contribution by 1 percentage point per year. It also adds a new step at the top of the pay schedule, effective Nov. 25, 2006, and a new entry step to the beginning of the schedule, effective Feb. 3.
The contract, which follows a tentative Dec. 13 agreement between the union and USPS, runs through Nov. 20, 2011. It covers about 55,000 postal employees who transfer, load and unload mail.