USPS and Worker Union Extend Contract Negotiations

The USPS and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) have agreed to extend contract negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The contract covers the wages, hours, and working conditions of 193,000 postal workers including clerks, mechanics, vehicle drivers, custodians, and some administrative positions.

The negotiations come at a sensitive time for online sellers, since reliable package delivery becomes even more crucial during the holiday shopping season.

APWU President and lead negotiator Mark Dimondstein said, “Our goals remain consistent and we are still demanding fair wage increases, COLA, job security, bridging the gaps of the divisive three-tier wage structure, addressing concerns of hostile work environments, seeking better career and full-time opportunities for both PSEs and PTFs, and expanded postal services.”

Negotiations have been ongoing since June 26, 2018. The contract had originally expired September 20, 2018 and had been extended to October 20th. Over the weekend, the two organizations announced they were extending negotiations to November 20th.

Dimondstein said multiple meetings have been scheduled with the Postal Service in the upcoming weeks.

Meanwhile, sellers shipping within and to Canada are bracing for possible disruptions beginning Monday as Canada Post negotiates with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Canada Post issued a warning last week that “rotating legal strikes may be isolated to one or two specific locations at a time, affecting those areas for a period of 24 hours.”

Update 10/21/18: Canada Post announced late Sunday afternoon that the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) gave notice that it intends to hold rotating strikes in Victoria, Edmonton, Windsor and Halifax beginning after 12:01 am on Monday, October 22 (local time), and lasting 24 hours. In those areas, mail and parcels will not be delivered or picked up. Canada Post said it continues to operate across Canada – “we are accepting and delivering mail and parcels in all other locations.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.