The U.S. Postal Service announced on April 24 that it had reached a tentative five-year agreement with the National Association of Letter Carriers. The union represents approximately 238,000 letter carriers, who still need to vote upon the agreement.

The agreement offers a 1.8% wage hike retroactive to this past November, when the previous agreement expired. The letter carriers would then receive a 1.5% raise this coming November, a 1.2% increase in November 2003, a 1.3% increase in November 2004, and another 1.3% raise in November 2005.

The U.S. Postal Service and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) have reached a tentative four-year agreement. The union’s nearly 61,000 mail handlers still need to ratify the agreement.

If approved, the contract will run through Nov. 20, 2004, and will be retroactive to Nov. 20, 2000, when the 1998 contract ran out. The terms of the tentative agreement include:

* wage increases over four years that approximate those of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). As per the arbitration agreement of December 2001, the APWU received a 1.2% general wage increase retroactive to November 2000, a 1.8% increase effective Nov. 17, 2001, and a 1.4% increase effective Nov. 16, 2002. In addition, the NPMHU would receive a fourth increase effective Nov. 15, 2003.

*continuation of cost-of-living adjustments, except for a lump sum payment of $499 the first year.