All postal workers who voiced opinions in this article specified they do not speak on behalf of the USPS or the NALC.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – After more than 500 days of waiting, the National Association of Letter Carriers has reached an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service and proposed a new contract, which is set to be voted upon by union members in the coming weeks.
“Why am I voting no? Because this is an insult and a disservice to carriers who should be respected and should be paid what they deserve,” union member McClain Murphy said.
Murphy walks nearly 12 miles each day, delivering mail to hundreds of addresses in Worthington. He said the tentative agreement, announced Oct. 18, is a “slap in the face” to the nearly 300,000 mail carriers who are in one of the largest unions in the U.S.
The tentative agreement replaces a previous contract, which expired in May 2023. Negotiations have been in place since January 2023, and some mail carriers point to comments made by union President Brian Renfroe promising a “historic” contract. Now, those same mail carriers say they are left disappointed.
According to the union, the tentative agreement offers a 1.3% annual raise for career letter carriers, and a 2.3% increase for noncareer letter carriers, as they do not get cost of living adjustment payments. The agreement also requires all new vehicles to have air conditioning and automatically gives carriers pay and a half for overtime, rather than them having to file a grievance.
“After almost 20 months of tireless negotiations, we are pleased to reach a fair agreement that rewards our members for their contributions to the Postal Service and their service to the American people,” Renfroe said.
But mail carriers like Murphy said this is not enough. Letter carriers who are displeased with the tentative agreement argue the pay raises are below the rate of inflation, which is 2.4% over the last year, according to the U.S. inflation calculator. Murphy said the raises barely cover the increases in health insurance premiums for some carriers.
“We’ve had several carriers killed while in duty this year, some have died of heat exhaustion, and during Covid, we all got sick since we had to be here; some of the carriers who got sick never made it back,” mail carrier Michael Garcia said. “This contract doesn’t reflect any of that and just gives away more of our rights to management.”
The tentative agreement now allows mail carriers to work more than 12 hours a day or 60 hours a week on a volunteer basis. Garcia said this change, along with a decrease in the minimum amount of time carriers must spend in the office, offers more tools to management to push carriers to work faster or harder unjustly.
Multiple letter carriers told NBC4 they have experienced supervisors who hound them to reach certain numbers or who write them up for pausing too frequently in their routes. Murphy said he’s seen managers have to publicly apologize for harassing carriers, including following them into the bathroom to make them clock out. He alleged managers have told carriers if they feel they are being mistreated, they should not go to their union representatives, which is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
“A lot of times it feels like they’re trying to find whatever they can to step on carriers, to make us feel diminished and powerless,” Murphy said. “There’s already low morale in a lot of ways due to the fact that we just don’t get paid enough.”
Federal law prohibits postal workers from striking, as it is now a felony to strike against the U.S. government. The only legal way for mail carriers to negotiate better terms is through their union representatives. If the contract passes the vote, the agreement will run through Nov. 7, 2026, according to representatives from the USPS.
“This is a fair and responsible agreement that serves the best interest of our employees, our customers and the future of the Postal Service,” said Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Human Resources Officer Doug Tulino.
However, the mail carriers who spoke with NBC4 said they are encouraging their fellow union representatives to vote against the contract. The Lancaster branch of the NALC has posted on Facebook encouraging its members to vote no, and nearly 6,000 people have signed a petition to demand Renfroe’s resignation for “insufficient wage increases.”
According to documents from the U.S. Department of Labor, Renfroe’s salary increased from $250,806 to $298,086 in his first two years in office, a nearly 19% increase. Murphy said he wants to see a vote of no confidence in Renfroe and the union’s executive council
If the union votes no, negotiators must tell USPS and open negotiations for five days. If they are not reopened, union leaders must decide between binding arbitration, an immediate work stoppage or a designated job action. Binding arbitration brings in a third party to decide, and a designated job action is a temporary protest by employees.
Murphy said he hopes it goes to arbitration, but is worried union leadership may not advocate for them. Votes for or against the temporary agreement will be cast over the next several weeks.
