Jan. 16, 2007 202-268-2155
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Members of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the largest of the U.S. Postal Service unions, have voted to ratify a new four-year contract. The new contract will run through Nov. 20, 2010, and affect approximately 272,000 career employees in the Clerk, Maintenance and Motor Vehicle crafts.
The agreement provides for retroactive and future general wage increases and upgrades as follows:
Effective Nov. 25, 2006 - 1.3 percent salary increase of salary in effect on Sept. 2, 2006.
Effective Feb. 16, 2008 - all eligible employees will receive a one-level upgrade.
Effective Nov. 21, 2009 - 1.2 percent salary increase of salary in effect on Sept. 2, 2006.
The contract also contains continuation of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) at current levels and a reduction in Postal Service health benefit contributions by one percentage point each of the four years.
The agreement also includes a Memorandum of Understanding, which, among other changes, will result in part-time flexible career employees being converted to full-time and management having more flexibility with regard to the use of noncareer, casual employees.
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Since 1775, the United States Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, have connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An independent federal agency that visits more than 146 million homes and businesses six days a week, the Postal Service is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. It receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of $72 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume some 213 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year and serves ten million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.