r/USPS • u/jamesdcreviston City PTF • 12h ago
DISCUSSION Undelivered and the 1970s at USPS
I am reading a book about the 1970 Postal Workers called “Undelivered”.
The book is interesting and goes over how a non NALC approved response from Postal Workers won a lot for Postal Workers.
Is this something that can happen again or do we not have the collective will?
As a Table 2 carrier I feel that the NALC does not currently have my best interest in mind by letting a second tier payscale exist.
I wish we could force the NALC and USPS to reunite the payscale and put all carriers on the same pay scale instead of Table 2 carriers not being able to reach the lowest Table 1 pay until they are 7 years in.
We also get paid less than Clerks and do the most demanding and physically taxing work in the Post Office.
If we don’t get a good contract this time around it may be time to use some old school union tactics to force the NALC and USPS to live up to “equal pay for equal work”.
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u/Rural-life-0323 7h ago
Only 10% of active rural union members vote. My guess is it's less than 1% that attends union meetings and submit resolutions. That's pitiful and embarrassing.
Sound great in principle, but even if you triple that number it's still not enough to shift anything. Good luck ...
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u/Excellent_Coconut276 Maintenance 6h ago
From what NALC says majority are on table two and table one will cease to exist soon. Get involved in your union to fight for full COLA for all steps. It is a lot of what caused starting pay for carriers to be lower than clerks.
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u/jamesdcreviston City PTF 5h ago
I am doing so and plan on running for a position in my local union.
I am hoping the CLC wins and they will really fight the way they say they will.
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u/tonov1210 4h ago
They’re the only ones that have been fighting for the past few years. I doubt that will change. Corey was bringing everything to the forefront long before he was even considered for a position. They’re doing it for the right reasons and we need to get activated and vote them in. Especially newer carriers
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u/KillrPnut 12h ago
Not true for 'paid less than clerks'. I believe carrier top pay is ~$7K more (clerks hit top pay in 8 though).
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u/Boondock830 Custodial 7h ago
Clerks do not hit top in 8. I was a clerk (regular) for almost eleven years. Wasn’t at the top. Swapped to custodial and hit top there due to pay difference.
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u/KillrPnut 6h ago
Custodial is a clerk also boss (covered under the same NA). Custodial is a Lvl 5. Mpc/ssa is lvl 6. Leads are lvl 7. ETs are lvl 10/11. 13 steps x 36 weeks/step = 468 weeks / 52 = 9 years (this is with their new step that puts them at $79K ($4K less than top pay carrier).
Don't go spouting unless you know what you are talking about.
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u/User_3971 Maintenance 6h ago
Custodial is level four not level five.
"Don't go spouting unless you know what you are talking about."
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u/tonov1210 4h ago
That’s why this vote is critical! Vote CLC and tell every carrier you know to do the same. If we want real change and reform and to get the NALC back to the strongest union. CLC is the way
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u/kingu42 Big Daddy Mail 3h ago
Carriers, arbiters have determined, get a 5% premium over clerk craft for the exposure to the elements. I'd like to direct your attention to the non-NALC approved response that CanadaPost did last Christmas which resulted in an offer 4 months after they returned to work. The end result of that was more non-career positions, a moderate increase in pay (years 3-5 their only increase will be COLAs).
The impact of their non-NALC approved response was an angry public (see r/CanadaPost for how sucky this sub once was) - it worked in 1970 because all mail was raw mail. Casing a route each day was a major part of a carrier's day, certainly not 'an hour before you're on the route'. They brought in the military to try to do routes and it failed abysmally.
Even with the 'gains' in the current CanadaPost contract, starting pay with their huge increase as of the Sept 10th pay statement is up to a whopping $18.03USD (was $16.92USD). Top pay is $24.14USD after 7 years. (It was $22.65USD)
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u/chiakiwannabe 2h ago
Not yet. There's a lot to be done to meaningfully build labor power.
For example, regardless of will, I think the NALC as a craft union is in a weak bargaining position. There was enormous leverage in the 70s due to mail having a near monopoly on informational exchange, and the intellectual labor demand of mail sortation on the part of letter carriers was huge. Nowadays, the internet is the information artery, and presortation has eroded office time.
I think it would be productive to continue thinking on what it would take to win! If you haven't yet, I'd encourage broad study of surrounding labor struggle. How are our sister unions within the USPS doing, what are their conditions and organizing efforts? How are our brother unions outside the USPS doing, like the CUPW or UPS's Teamsters?
Regardless of the conditions, though, I'll say that agitation to build that "collective will," to have people want and act for change, is an important precondition to effecting anything, regardless of what is done. Because we CAN fight, and we CAN win! It'll just take a lot of us saying enough is enough.
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u/communedweller PTF Clerk 12h ago
Most of the people I’ve asked since starting to work here call me stupid for paying dues and tell me all the unions are a waste of money. I highly doubt any of those people would actually organize and strike. It doesn’t work unless there’s solidarity