Mail Handler Contract Negotiations Update (14)

  Contract Update #14

"...draconian proposals from the Postal Service, including – for current mail handlers – absolutely no general wage increases, no cost-of-living adjustments, and a drastic increase in employee contributions for health insurance to the current rate paid by federal employees. Another proposal from the Postal Service seeks to substantially modify, and effectively eliminate, the current no lay-off clause. In addition, the Postal Service is seeking the authority to hire and to utilize, without any contractual restrictions on scheduling, use, or retention, a total of 25% non-career casual employees. Finally, for new career mail handlers hired in the future, the Postal Service proposes that their pay rates be 20% lower at the entry level and 20% lower at the maximum level. The bottom line is that the Postal Service seeks to freeze the wages for all current mail handlers, while reducing their take-home pay by approximately 8% to pay for health insurance premiums. For new hires, the USPS proposal would mean a permanent, non-career workforce with low pay and no benefits for one-quarter of employees performing mail handler work, and a reduction of 20% in the wages of newly hired career mail handlers...."

Reference: www.npmhu.org