The National Postal Mail Handlers Union bargaining team met with representatives of the U.S. Postal Service on August 30, 2011 to mark the official start of the collective bargaining process for a successor agreement to replace the 2006 National Agreement which is scheduled to expire on November 20, 2011.

“We recognize the tough financial straits in which the Postal Service finds itself,” said National President John Hegarty, “and notwithstanding the unjustifiable actions recently taken by USPS Headquarters in asking Congress to overrule our collective bargaining agreement, we intend to work hard, in good faith, to try to reach an agreement.”

“We are not happy that the Postal Service has tried to abrogate the no-layoff clause through Congressional action, or that the Service has issued ill-advised proposals to pull out of the Federal health and retirement systems” said Hegarty, “but we intend to devote significant time and resources to try and reach a contract that is fair for the hard-working men and women whom we represent, fair for the USPS, and fair for the American mailing public.”

The NPMHU will put out periodic updates, in the form of bulletin board postings, as bargaining progresses.  Please stay tuned.