Letter-Carrier Pact Blocks Outsourcing;

But Health Expenses Rise
Letter-Carrier Pact Blocks Outsourcing

By ARI PAUL

The executive council of the urban Letter Carriers' union announced a tentative five-year contract agreement with the U.S. Postal Service July 12, settling the thorny issue of contracted-out labor but requiring members to pay a greater share of their health costs.

WILLIAM H. YOUNG: 'Win-win deal.' Pending ratification by the members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the contract would impose a six-month moratorium on any outsourcing of urban delivery services.

In addition, the contract would establish a joint labor-management task force to study the issue of contracting-out private labor and make recommendations to the Postal Service.

'Beneficial for Both'

"It's something that both sides feel will be beneficial," said Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer of the task force.

NALC President William Young hailed the agreement, calling it a "win-win deal," despite a provision under which members have to pay an additional 5 percent of their health premiums.

The two parties were set to enter into arbitration, but continued talking until they reached this agreement. While outsourcing has acutely affected rural Letter Carriers, the union wanted protective language on the issue.

With growing competition from private delivery services and increased operating costs, the Postal Service maintained that outsourcing certain jobs was essential.

"With the price of gasoline and the number of vehicles we have in every neighborhood in America, costs are considerable," said Postal Service spokesman Gerald McKiernan. "We have to look at a whole variety of cost-saving measures."

Modest Wage Raises

The contract would provide a series of wage increases over the next five year: a 1.4-percent increase retroactive to November of 2006, a 1.8-percent increase this November, 1.9-percent increases in 2008 and 2009, and a 1.85-increase in 2010. The union boasted that this would mean an average salary increase of $4,200 over the course of the contract, in addition to 10 cost-of-living adjustments.

A union statement said, "The estimated COLAs ($2,992 annually) assume an annual inflation rate of 2.2 percent."

But Rick Solby, a Letter Carrier in lower Manhattan who plans to retire in four-and-a-half years, was not enthused by the terms.

"Once again, we got the raw end of the deal," he said. "The cost-of-living adjustments just barely keep our heads above water."

Noting that the cost of living in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles was higher than in other cities, Mr. Solby said Letter Carriers in those areas did not benefit from this contract.

"These three areas constantly lose," he said.

The contract would also abolish the use of casuals in the jurisdiction of urban Letter Carriers. They would be replaced by Transitional Employees.

The American Postal Workers Union and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union ratified collective bargaining agreements with the Postal Service earlier this year. The National Rural Letter Carriers Association reached a tentative agreement with the Postal Service, but the members voted it down last February.

In the NALC agreement that would cover 222,000 working members nationwide, the extra health-benefits charge was the one aspect the union saw as a set-back.

Health Costs Increase

"Over the five years of the contract, the Postal Service share of payment of health benefits premium will reduce from 85 percent to 80 percent," said union spokesman Drew Von Bergen.

This means that workers would have to pay more for their health coverage. But Mr. Von Bergen was still happy about the agreement.

"We don't ever like going in that direction," he said. "We feel, frankly, all the other monetary additions more than offset that."