US POSTAL SERVICE: Postal Service begins contract negotiations with National Association of Letter Carriers

WASHINGTON, Aug 22, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) — The U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO (NALC), formally opened national contract negotiations today. The current three-year contract between the Postal Service and the NALC expires at midnight, November 20, 2001.

In opening his first negotiations since becoming Postmaster General in June, John E. Potter stated that the Postal Service was committed to obtaining a negotiated contract that was fiscally responsible for the organization, while being beneficial to customers and to employees. “We have to work together, collectively, to come to terms on a contract that works for the nation’s letter carriers, the Postal Service and the customers we serve.” Potter went on to say, “I recognize that this will take hard work, but hard work always pays off. It paid off as we worked together to improve our dispute resolution process over the last few years. And I’d like to think that’s given us some momentum as we begin our contract talks.”

The National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO, represents over 241,000 city letter carriers nationwide. Contract negotiations are expected to focus on wages, benefits and work rule issues.

For 226 years, the United States Postal Service has been the gateway to the household, binding friends, families and neighbors together.

It is an independent federal agency that handles 46 percent of the world’s mail volume, with annual revenues of $65 billion. The Postal Service is not funded with taxpayer dollars, but derives its revenues solely from the sale of postage and other products and services it provides. Its unrivaled service network means the Postal Service can delivery money, messages and merchandise daily to 135 million addresses, and with some of the most affordable postage rates in the world.