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02/21/2018 - The White House introduced its proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budget to Congress last week. This non-binding proposal begins an annual, months-long government funding process and also showcases the Administration’s funding priorities, setting the tone for budget negotiations.  

For postal and federal workers, this budget is largely a reintroduction of last year’s failed attacks on our pay and benefits, but takes them even further. It:

• Increases employee FERS contributions 1% a year for each of the next six years;
• Eliminates FERS Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), and reduces CSRS COLAs by 0.5%;
• Eliminates the special retirement supplement;
• Reduces retirement benefits by using a “high five” salary average formula, rather than the current “high three” average;
• Lowers the G-fund interest rate to provide worse returns on Thrift Savings Plan investments;
• Increases the share postal and federal workers pay for care under the FEHBP;
• Slashes Postal Service personnel costs and reduces mail service to the American people to achieve $44 billion dollars in postal-specific savings;
• Decrease FECA compensation for injured workers and institute a new waiting period before they can receive benefits;
• Cuts $237 billion from Medicare.

02/16/2018 - In accordance with the 2015-2018 Collective Bargaining Agreement, career employees represented by the APWU will receive a 25 cent per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective March 3. The increase is the result of a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). It will appear in paychecks dated March 23, 2018 (Pay Period 06-2018), and will total $520.00 per year.

The COLAs are in addition to general wage increases.

This is the sixth cost-of-living increase under the 2015-2018 contract:

• $0.00 The first COLA would have been effective Sept. 5, 2015
• $0.00 The second COLA would have been effective March 5, 2016.
• $21.00 The third COLA was effective Sept. 3, 2016.
• $333.00 The fourth COLA was effective March 18, 2017.
• $270.00 The fifth COLA increase effective Sept. 2, 2017.
• $520.00 The sixth COLA effective March 3, 2018.

The COLAs received so-far during the 2015-2018 CBA will total $1,144 per year.

Postal Support Employees (PSEs) do not receive cost-of-living increases, but have five general wage increases under the 2015-2018 contract. On Nov. 25, 2017, PSEs received a pay increase of 2.3 percent and will receive a 21-cent raise on May 26, 2018.

Updated pay scales are available.

02/05/2018 - On Jan. 26, the MVS Division and the USPS settled Class Action Grievance USPS NO. Q15V-4Q-C17473798/APWU No. HQTV20170179.

In the settlement, the parties agreed that when an external posting to hire contains an incorrect salary for the position in question, the Postal Service may correct the error pre-employment. Correction of the error must be made prior to a written job offer being accepted by the applicant.

If an applicant accepts a written job offer which incorrectly lists a salary higher than the entry level for that position, the applicant will be placed in a salary which is on the appropriate Article 9 pay table, but not lower than the salary on the accepted job offer.

In various parts of the country, the USPS was recruiting and hiring PVS operators by offering to pay these new employees higher than the entry level salary for that position. This action is against every principle of Article 9 Salaries and Wages of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In some locations, management would then rescind the offer after the employee was hired and pay a lower rate. Often, the employee would receive a letter of demand for overpayment of their salary.

The parties agreed to resolve this issue with language that dictates once the USPS hires an employee with an improper salary, they are contractually obligated to pay that employee at the rate they agreed to upon hire.

“The APWU is pleased to resolve this issue and bring relief to the newly-hired drivers who left previous employment on the assumption that the USPS would abide by the accepted salary,” said MVS Director Michael O. Foster. “There are no authorized salary exceptions for career employees. Every employee should be hired and paid off of the Article 9 pay chart. Any letter of demand based on this issue can now be resolved using this settlement.”

Click here to view the full settlement.