Historically, this is the busiest time of year for the Postal Service. The work that all of you do to move holiday cards and gifts through the mail is vitally important to millions of people. Not only to the people who live in the United States, but to all those who live outside the country that people send packages and gifts to as well. Your work will deliver smiles to children worldwide, members of the military deployed around the world, and others.
As of the writing of this article, many of the new contract terms have been implemented or are scheduled to be implemented. I know the most important thing for many people is the pay increases. Pay increases went into effect on Aug. 23 and included the 1.3% increase due Nov. 16, 2024 (2.3% for Postal Support Employees [PSEs]) and $395 per year cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for career employees. With the implementation of these pay raises, the period for retroactive pay was set as Nov. 16, 2024, through Aug. 22, 2025. Currently, the retroactive payments are scheduled for April 10, 2025. We have asked the Postal Service to speed up the payment of the retroactive pay owed. However, it takes major payroll system programming to complete. Our union siblings in the Information Technology/Accounting Services (IT/AS) division of the Postal Service are working to complete this task. With basic payroll programming completed, all other pay increases owed under the 2024-2027 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) are set to seamlessly go into effect.
Other changes to our pay structure that require payroll system programming have also been announced. Three of these should already be in effect by the time you receive this edition of the magazine. Those are:
Grade 3 to Grade 4 upgrades — effective Nov. 1
Elimination of Step JJ in Grade 4—effective Nov. 1
Elimination of Step-GG in Grades 5, 6, and 7 for PSEs converted to career under the 24-month MOU— effective Nov. 1
These changes mean that any employee in Grade 3 will be moved to Grade 4 automatically. Also, employees in Step-JJ of Grade 4 will move to Step-II. Employees who are currently in Step-GG in Grades 5, 6, or 7 will automatically move to Step-FF.
The next payroll changes to go into effect will be the changes to the PSE pay structure. On Dec. 13, the new PSE “steps” will go into effect. PSEs will now have a starting Step-A. After being on the rolls for 26 weeks, they will move to Step-B with a $0.50 per hour pay increase. Additionally, for PSEs assigned to Level 4 Remotely Managed Post Offi ce (RMPOs) (remember, these PSEs are not subject to automatic conversion), after having been on the rolls for 208 weeks, they will move to PSE Step-H (the letter “H” was simply chosen as a programming decision) with an additional $1.00 per hour pay raise. Any PSE who has met the 26-week threshold will automatically be moved to Step-B and any Level 4 RMPO PSE who has met the 208-week threshold will move to Step-H automatically. The Postal Service had a deadline of Jan. 10, 2026, to implement the pay structure changes listed above. They were implemented sooner than expected.
It is now time for all of us to be diligent and fight to see that our CBA is enforced and holds the Postal Service at all levels accountable when they violate the agreement. You can find a PDF of the agreement at apwu.org/industrial-relations. The printed version is currently in the hands of the printer, and we expect hard copies to be available in the coming month.
