Tuesday, June 17, 2025
National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association approves contract with USPS
The agreement covers more than 130,000 employees
The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association membership has ratified a new three-year labor contract with the Postal Service.
The agreement will run through May 20, 2027.
Highlights of the agreement include annual general wage increases, semi-annual cost-of-living adjustments, measures designed to assist with rural carrier associate retention, and maintenance of the operational flexibility achieved by using noncareer rural carrier associates and assistant rural carriers.
“This agreement is economically responsible, fair to our employees and serves the best interest of our customers,” said Acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino. “The agreement aligns with the Postal Service mission to provide reliable, value-driven mail and package delivery service to all Americans in fulfillment of our universal service obligation.”
The union, also known as the NRLCA, represents more than 130,000 rural letter carriers nationwide.
On the Job
‘When we leave here, we are customers’
This employee helps USPS become the best it can be
My name is Catrina Wright and I’m a USPS customer relations coordinator in Washington, DC.
One of my daily duties is to go into the Customer 360 platform, which tracks customer satisfaction scores, and share the information with my colleagues in the Postal Service’s Maryland District. I check for improvement, do gemba visits at delivery units that need help, provide tips on improving scores and conduct weekly Zoom calls to improve scores overall in the district.
One thing I tell other employees is that when we leave here, we are customers. We should give the same level of service that we would want for ourselves.
I am also the postal administrator for the Washington Metropolitan Postal Customer Council, which is in the process of rebuilding after COVID-19. When I started in this job last year, the Washington Metro PCC had two members. Today, we have about 27.
I lead the executive board meetings and create the agenda. We have virtual and in-person meetings with our sister council, the Greater Baltimore PCC.
When I’m not at work, I’m an avid gamer. I love to play on the PS5 as well as games on my iPad.
Being a customer relations coordinator is about helping people. I feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when I’ve been able to help.
“On the Job,” a column on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.
Juneteenth is this week
The holiday commemorates slavery’s end in the U.S.
The Postal Service will observe Juneteenth National Independence Day on Thursday, June 19.
Juneteenth is the oldest known nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
The holiday gets its name from the date in 1865 when 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, and declared enslaved persons there free by executive decree — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.
Enforcement of the proclamation relied heavily on the presence of Union troops, and as the westernmost state in the Confederacy, Texas did not have a strong Union presence. This allowed slavery to retain its grip there long after emancipation was proclaimed.
The first Juneteenth observance took place in 1866, and as those who were formerly enslaved in Texas moved throughout the country, they brought the holiday with them.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.