I took “cliff notes” on the Collective-Bargaining Update shared by National President Brian Renfroe this evening 05/31/2026 for those who could not login. I attempted to make sure that I did not inject my personal opinions into what I typed up, and tried my best to ensure I captured the essence of what was discussed in the 1 Hour 22 Minute Live-Stream.
The following are all Proposals submitted by the National Association of Letter Carriers as indicated by National President Brian Renfroe. These are not things that have been achieved, just proposals that were submitted. Some of it will likely be achieved, some will be changed from what is shown here. Some will not be achieved. He talked about the goal being to have an all career workforce, however realizing that it is possible that will not happen they would like proposals on modifications to improve the CCA classification. Again, all proposals here that the NALC Submitted. Last week he spoke about the proposals that management had submitted. None of those discussed tonight were related to Pay or the Pay-Table.
There is a collective bargaining conference in Washington DC June 1st-3rd this week that Branch 201 President Dustin Saville was approved to attend by the membership at the May Branch Meeting. Hopefully he can give us a good run down of any further talks/suggestions/proposals and how the process is going to look going forward.
1) Changes to bereavement leave including extending it from 3 days to 5 days. Add domestic partners, in-laws and step relatives to it.
2) Giving employees 12 weeks of paid family leave for birth adoption etc.
3) Leave sharing – allow sick leave to be shared, as well as remove some restrictions
4) Adding protection to USPS’ use of technology like gps and other tech systems. Specific MOU’s
5) Modify 16.10 to reduce the 2 year timeframe to 1 year and require USPS to remove it instead of it needing to be requested.
6) New MOU about purging letters of warning that would purge any LOW’s within 6 months of the start of the new TA
7) 16.6 Limit indefinite suspensions to a set amount of time without pay. After 30 days the carrier would be on admin leave.
8) Article 31 Section 3 would require management to provide management to provide info by end of tour or explain why if they couldn’t and provide a date when it would be provided.
9) Article 35 Section 1 This proposal would add mental health and other support programs to say they would also be looked upon favorably. Not just substance abuse treatment etc.
10) Article 41 Section 3, This proposal would grant an additional break to carriers working overtime.
11) Article 41 Section 3, modify process to identify lunch locations, instead of a 1564-A this would create more flexibility and not just those identified.
12) Exclude travel to and from lunch location from your 30 minutes. Once you arrive at your lunch location your lunch would begin, after 30 minutes travel back
13) Article 41.3.P Requirement to notify president of motor vehicle accident. Would extend to all accidents that occur on the Job regardless of type of accident.
14) Article 17.2.A Modify the ratio of stewards and base it upon the number of NALC branches within a facility, as seen in S&DC’s for example.
15) Article 17.2.F Require management to provide space within a facility for union to conduct business in private. An office or something of that sort.
16) MOU on AL leave carryover to permanently increase the amount you can carryover from 440 to 520 since it has just been a yearly agreement for the past several years.
17) MOU on monetization of AL Leave, Make the 80 hours a permanent change and remove the sick leave usage limit from the current requirements
18) Article 15.4.A.10 Language that would require procedural arguments and arguments on the merits to be heard the same day in arbitration. The reason for this change is because the postal service often makes an attempt to make an argument on arbitrability for whatever reason. Sometimes the arbitrator makes their ruling on that right there, but sometimes USPS asks the arbitrator to bifurcate to render a decision on the arbitrability issue and then have to come back on another day to hear the actual case. Management does this often just to try and slow down and delay grievances
19) Article 15.4.A.5 proposal that arbitration witnesses should be paid when the hearing is outside of their regular work schedule.
20) Article 15 letter of intent, regarding Step B impasses. This proposal would limit what the impasse decisions can site to the evidence and arguments that were sent to them from formal step A. To limit the Step B team members from trying to build the grievance.
21) Article 15.2 Informal Step A, This language would require management to initial the 8190 without the union having to request it. This is sometimes an issue.
Our goal is a Non-career workforce however we have to prepare for any possible outcome. And so there is a possibility we still have CCA’s. This is intended to help shape how we want it if that were to be the case
22) Require management to pay CCA’s Christmas pay for those who work on Christmas
23) Proposal to change Article 11.8 to require that CCA’s are paid for all 11 holidays that full timers are.
24) PTF Proposal to Article 11 to pay them be paid for the actual holiday leave just all full time carriers are.
25) CCA Advanced annual leave, currently its advanced at the end of their first term. This would change it to advance it to them also after their Probationary period, 90-120 days after hiring
26) Article 16 incorporate CCA’s into article 16 so everything applies to them just like career employees. When the Das award was issued there was an appendix B that laid out how language would be applied to CCA’s including Article 16, This would take it to provide the same protection as Article 16 provides to all full time employees.
27) Article 7.3.C Maximization language that exists, this proposal would include CCA’s just like it does PTF’s
28) Remove outdated language in appendix B as it relates to CCA’s since agreements have already been made in previous contracts that make it obsolete.
29) Maximization/Full time Flexible to add CCA’s same as PTF’s and make it apply to every office.
30) Article 4.2 Proposal to add NALC to a committee that would have a semiannual meeting with USPS regarding technological initiatives or changes that USPS is looking to make. We have participated in it often, this would make it a requirement.
31) Article 22 proposal about bulletin boards. Because of issues like S&DC’s this would require there to be one made available in each office for each individual branch that is within that office.
32) Uniforms – Current system is totally broken as we all know since you can’t afford what you need based on the allowance. This proposal would exempt letter carriers from the ELM provisions on seasonal uniform item changes.
33) Article 28 – Employer claims – This proposal would be in the event USPS files a claim attempting to collect from a letter carrier. Add a Section C, any demand that is made from USPS to the employee one year or more after the incident that the claim would be untimely and the debt would be considered waived.
34) Article 41.3.P Adding a new section going back to break locations. This would say letter carriers can take a street take at any point they want during their duties completely at the carriers discretion without it needing to be an authorized break location
35) Article 12 regarding rehired employees, employees that are rehired who previously completed a probationary period would not have to complete a new one when rehired.
36) Create an additional obligation for management in their own office to use their own PTF’s and CCA’s up to their 8 hours before bringing in outside installation CCA’s
37) Article 8.3 Create an equitability for PTF’s and CCA’s over the course of a quarter to ensure work distribution is fair.
38) Article 8.6 Proposal that would require USPS to pay CCA’s Sunday premium
39) Clarify the national day of observance would be to take that MOU and add CCA’s so they receive Admin leave like FTR’s
40) CCA’s would receive court leave after their probationary period when needed
41) CCA’s would also get paid military leave when needed
42) Appendix B Section B language that would state CCA’s who have absences of 3 days or less that supervisors can accept the employees statement as to why they were absent. Because there is currently an issue regarding this
43) Article 41 Opting correct an inconsistency. PTF’s cannot opt until they complete their probationary period, but CCA’s can do it after 60 days. This would make the waiting period 60 days for both CCA’s and PTF’s
44) Article 25 Apply the article to CCA’s, most notably that CCA’s can use their relative standing to be able to do vacant carrier T-6 positions. And also would require them to be paid at the CCA Technician level pay.
45) Article 20 employee parking Section 4 would require USPS to provide onsite parking for each city letter carrier employee in the station.
46) Article 8 Letter of intent to how signing overtime lists works. This pertains to incoming transfers/new conversions. To make it standard that all those individuals would have 2 weeks to decide what list they were to sign.
47) Article 8.8 Work hour guarantees would require a 4 hour guarantee for all employees regardless of the size of office.
48) Transfer related New MOU regarding e-reassign, A transfer request entered remains active until it is accepted or denied, or rescinded/declined by the employee who submitted it. Basically no requirement to re-up every year.
49) Transfer MOU related proposal is to remove the geographical restrictions and lock-in period when requesting a transfer. Or considering utilizing CCA time to satisfy that lock-in period if needed
50) Currently when converting to career a CCA’s health plan goes on for up to 30 days. But they have 60 days to select a career plan, this proposal would extend the non career plan to 60 days to ensure there is no gap in coverage.
51) Act of God – would add CCA’s to the Act of God provisions for admin leave.
52) Would include CCA’s in the blood donation leave that career employees get.
53) MOU on restricted sick leave, This MOU would require all restricted sick leave language to be applied to the Deems Desirable issues that are being seen across the country.
54) MOU relating to sick leave for dependent care. Currently the limitation is 80 hours, This proposal would extend that time to 480 hours per year to coincide with the 12 weeks of FMLA.
55) MOU on layoff protections on the effective date of the contract all of those in the regular work force (likely 05/23/2026) would be provided layoff protection regardless of if they have 6 years of service or not.
56) CCA’s who are converted to career, any time spent as a letter carrier prior to conversion will be counted towards their probationary period. Since there are sometimes when someone does have to serve another period.
57) MOU about temporary craft assignments such as DSI’s or AD-HOC DSI’s. This would make it clear that carriers in those positions would still be in the NALC pay table. Since the full-time role is in the APWU craft/pay table.
58) Article 2.1 this would add language to include sexual identity/preference etc
59) Cross craft assignments. Any unassigned city carrier craft work must be combined to create the maximum number of full time assignments and give the union the right to request special inspections under 271.G for example when you have multiple aux routes, there should be a combination somehow to create a full time assignment.
60) Eliminate the penalty exclusion period.
61) Article 8 Section 2 add the 11.5 and 60 hour limit protection from discipline to be incorporated into CCA’s and PTF’s as well
62) Create a pecking order that would require management to maximize CCA’s and PTF’s to 11.5 prior to utilizing a non-odl off assignment like they do with ODL
63) Article 15 back pay, tons of issues with this of course. This would put strict timelines on management once a grievance settlement of some sort is done. Management has 7 days to give the employee the form 8038. then 7 days to complete the 8039. Then management must issue backpay within 30 days of that completion.
64) Letter of intent leave restoration – This would ensure that if an employee uses their leave on a 16.7 that when it is rescinded or overturned if it is that management must restore their AL they used without it needing to be specified in a file.
65) Article 16.1 Whenever possible management must issue discipline notices to employees in person. Instead of mailing it for no reason, like when the employee is still at work normally.
66) MOU to create a process for mutual exchanges for CCA’s, same as for career employees
67) CCA Annual Leave, This would make it a contractual change to require CCA’s to have AL provisions.
68) 204B related, Craft employees serving as temp supervisors may not supervise city carrier employees as of start of ratification.
69) Safety Related (Dog Related Specifically) To have a national initiative to come up with ways to address dog related issues.
70) Piloting a program related to transfers for CCA’s similar to how E-Reassign works.
71) E-Reassign for mutual exchanges, incorporating them into E-Reassign as a dedicated section to make it easier to find those opportunities.
72) Article 4 – Proposal to have a committee labor/management focused specifically on the use of AI
73) Carrier Academy – Requirement that when new letter carriers are hired they are required to complete the carrier academy within 30 days of being hired.
74) Article 8 / Article 11 related MOU. Annual leave in conjunction with a holiday, This would simplify it to say that city carriers who have AL scheduled covering their work hour guarantee before or after a holiday will not be required to work their holiday/be scheduled. Would make it uniform nation wide.
75) Article 26.2.B improve the uniform allowance carryover to remove the 1 year waiting period and make it available the very next year
76) Create a uniform program for maternity uniforms to provide those to pregnant carriers.
77) MOU regarding 3999’s would require management to provide a 1 day notice similar to an 1838-C
78) Personal headphones – Proposed allowing employees to use a single earbud when not driving a vehicle. Now there is the ability for pass-through etc that this is not such an issue anymore.
79) MOU modifying the NEERP program to incorporate changes that they think would be beneficial on what they have learned
80) Finally, Heat Illness Prevention Program to have a joint program between USPS and NALC to develop a specific process on dealing with HIPP.