(This article appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)
On Sept. 5, APWU career employees under the
main agreement received a cost-of-living adjustment
(COLA) of $1,414 per year, 68 cents per hour.
This is the fourth COLA since 2021 to exceed $1,300
per year.
COLAs help us overcome the effects of inflation and help offset affordability problems. Even employees who were once, or are currently, Postal Support Employees (PSEs) benefit from COLAs. When a PSE is converted to a career position, they receive the wage in effect at the time of conversion, which includes the compounded COLA. What is that compounded COLA? Based on the contracts I’ve been involved with, $12,521 has been added to each grade and step of the APWU career pay scales. Including COLAs, Grade 6 Step-FF has increased from $41,4971 per year to $58,6882 per year, an increase of $17,191 or 41.4%. Grade 6 Step-O has increased from $60,737 per year to $79,928 per year. That is an increase of $19,191 or 31.6%. That is what our union contract has done for grades and steps, general wage increases (GWIs), and COLAs.
Step increases are another important and integral part
of your pay package. Theoretically, if a Grade 6 career
employee started in Step-FF on Sept. 1, 2018, and has
never left Grade 6, on Sept. 5, 2026, they would have
been employed for 418 weeks. With step increases
every 36 weeks, they would have received 11 step
increases, making them a Grade 6 Step-F. With GWIs,
COLAs, and step increases, they would have started at
$41,497 per year and currently be making $70,370 per
year on Sept. 5, 2026. Total pay increased by $28,873,
or 69.6%. They will continue to receive GWIs, step increases,
and COLAs until they top out at Step-M. This
is the power of modest GWIs and step increases, with
COLAs helping postal workers overcome infl ationary
pressure.
Yes, in 2010, the APWU membership ratified a contract that began the two-tier wage scales. New employees started lower and ended at a lower step. But the APWU
did not give up full COLAs for all career employees.
The APWU always knew COLAs were vital to our
members keeping up with infl ationary pressures, and
that food costs the same whether you are a top-step or
bottom-step employee. I can’t speak for the negotiators
in 2010, but I am thankful they refused to give up full
COLAs.
Is it fair that not all employees reach the same top
steps in grades 4, 5, 6, and 7? That is a question with
many opinions. But one thing that has always been
common ground for your negotiators is that we must
claw back the top steps for employees hired after 2010.
And the APWU has been making progress on reclaiming
the top steps.
In the 2018 contract, we saw the top step at grades 5, 6,
7, and 8 increase by one step. Grades 9, 10, and 11 had
always had the same progression, so there was no top
step to claw back. In the 2021 contract, we saw Grade
8 transition to the same progression as the pre-2010
employees. In the 2024 contract, Grade 3 was upgraded
to Grade 4, the bottom step was eliminated from Grade
4, and a new top step was added for Grades 4-7. We are
clawing back those top steps. Today, Grade 6 employees,
where most APWU employees are slotted, top out
at step-M. That’s three steps higher than in 2010 and
only two steps from Step-O, where pre-2010 employees
top out.
This is the value of a union contract. In 2027, we begin contract negotiations. I can promise you that I will continue to fight for all employees to achieve the same top step.
The post New Step Added to Pay first appeared on APWU.