USPS and two unions extend labour contract talks a second time
Negotiations between the US Postal Service and two postal unions have been extended for a second time beyond the initial November 20 deadline for agreeing new labour deals. USPS, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) had been working to an extended deadline of midnight tonight to get their separate deals in place, but will now continue talks until potentially December 16.
If negotiations ultimately fail, the process would go to arbitration, for an independent appointee to decide on contract conditions.
The labour talks come at a time when the Postal Service is trying to incorporate added flexibility into its labour contracts in order to reduce its labour costs, which represent around 80% of its $67.7bn annual operating expenses.
This includes attempts to use more part-time and flexible workers than had been agreed under previous collective bargaining agreements, so that more workers can be sent home when needed, at times of low mail volume.
Other contentious topics for the negotiations include how USPS can reshape its healthcare and benefits systems to reduce costs, and efforts to downsize its workforce overall in order to match dramatically falling mail volumes, while also closing hundreds of mail processing plants and thousands of post offices, as well as consolidating the number of delivery routes.
NALC represents more than 195,000 urban and semi-urban letter carriers, while the NPMHU represents more than 45,000 employees working within mail processing plants and post offices.
USPS said together, the unions’ members represented $15.7bn and $3.5bn in wages and benefit costs last year.
In a statement, the Postal Service said today: “Should negotiations fail, a process begins which could result in a third party determining contract terms and work rules for approximately 240,000 employees.”
Unions
NALC said today that the Postal Service was facing “extreme challenges”, blaming Congress for “crippling” USPS finances, but said negotiations over its labour contract were gathering momentum, although more time is needed to complete a deal.
NALC president Frederic Rolando said: “We have been working in good faith to hammer out a new contract and we hope that this extension will lead to an agreement that our members can enthusiastically ratify.
“We remain committed to negotiating a fair contract that will advance the best interests of the nation’s city letter carriers.”
The NPMHU also confirmed the continuation of their talks, stating: “The parties will continue to meet and discuss the important issues that need to be resolved in our joint efforts to reach a negotiated settlement.”
