By a vote of 63,680 to 26,304, postal workers in the National Association of Letter Carriers soundly defeated a tentative three-year contract proposal that offered only a paltry 1.3% wage increase a year. The 200,000 workers, who are barred by federal law from striking, have been fighting for a new contract to replace one that expired in May 2023.
“The resounding no vote shows that letter carriers are ready to fight for better schedules, better wages and a better work-life balance,” Chris Pennock, vice president of NALC Station 9 in Minneapolis, told the Militant. “The contract we voted on says ‘we can volunteer’ for overtime. They’re telling us that’s the best way to make enough money to pay the bills — work a ridiculous, unlimited number of hours of overtime.”
Timothy Frankland, a member of American Postal Workers Union Local 7019 in Eagan, Minnesota, told the Militant he fully supported the letter carriers. “Management continues to think that it can squeeze more and more work out of fewer and fewer workers,” he said. “We must draw a line in the sand and declare that we’ve sacrificed enough, we’ve given in enough.”
The union is preparing to reopen negotiations and has called for members and supporters to join in a solidarity rally in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.