Letter carriers are angry, and like workers everywhere, are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. Starting pay is $19.33 an hour for new hires, classified as City Carrier Assistants (CCAs), who do not receive the benefits of career employees for up to two years.
This two-tier pay scale was forced onto letter carriers by an arbitrator after the 2008 recession. For workers hired after 2013, the starting salary is $16,000 less than the pre-2013 pay scale.
While the top pay is the same, it takes more than 14 years to reach it. In fact, it takes more than eight years just to reach the starting pay of the pre-2013 pay scale.
CCAs can also be forced to work overtime any day they are scheduled, forcing them to live in limbo, never knowing their scheduled hours for any given day until the morning of.
Pay is the biggest problem. But in many cities, another acute issue is short staffing, driven by mandatory overtime, the low starting pay, and hostile work environments at some stations.