The following is a summary of the tentative agreement reached between representatives of the NPMHU and the Postal Service to establish the terms of the 2000 National Agreement.

Term

The 2000 National Agreement will cover four years, and will expire at midnight on November 20, 2004.

General Wage Increases

All mail handlers will receive four general wage increases during the four-year term:

• the first, retroactively effective to November 18, 2000, will be approximately 1.3%;
• the second, retroactively effective to November 17, 2001, will be approximately 1.9%;
• the third, effective on November 16, 2002, will be approximately 1.5%;
• the fourth, effective on November 15, 2003, will be approximately 1.3%.

In particular, the general wage increases for each year, and for each Level and Step of the pay scale, will be set out in the contract as follows:

Mail Handler Grade 4 Wage Increases

Mail Handler Grade 5 Wage Increases

For a Level 4 mail handler at top step, the general wage increases during the four years of the 2000 National Agreement will total $2,321, including $503 retroactively effective in November 2000; $735 retroactively effective in November 2001; $580 effective in November 2002; and $503 effective in November 2003. For a Level 5 mail handler at top step, these general wage increases will total $2,373 over the four years of the contract, including $514 retroactively effective in November 2000; $752 retroactively effective in November 2001; $593 effective in November 2002; and $514 effective in November 2003.

Cost-of-Living Adjustments

All mail handlers will receive at least five cost-of-living adjustments, in accordance with the historical formula:

• the first COLA was to be effective in March 2002, but due to deflation in the economy since September 11, the COLA in March is likely to be $0
• the second COLA will be effective in September 2002
• the third COLA will be effective in March 2003
• the fourth COLA will be effective in September 2003
• the fifth COLA will be effective in March 2004
• the sixth COLA will be effective in September 2004

All cost-of-living adjustments paid during the 2000 National Agreement will be rolled into basic salary immediately.

The exact amount of the COLAs will be based on future increases in the Consumer Price Index. Economists are projecting that these COLAs will together provide somewhere between $1,500 and $1,800 per employee in base wage increases over the next two and one-half years. Of course, should inflation increase more than expected, these guaranteed COLA payments will provide even greater wage increases.

Lump-Sum Payments (to be paid as soon as administratively practicable)

There will be a lump-sum payment of $499 to make up for the two COLA payments from March 2001 and September 2001. This payment will not be added to base pay.

All mail handlers also will receive payments reflecting the retroactive portion of the general wage increases of November 18, 2000 and November 17, 2001. These amounts will differ depending on Level and Step and hours worked for each mail handler, although a Level 4, Step O mail handler will receive at least $1,150, in addition to the $499 lump-sum payment, when the retroactive amounts are fully computed and paid.

No Layoff Clause

All mail handlers employed as of November 20, 2000 will be protected against layoff or force reduction during the entire four-year term of the Agreement, unless Congress repeals or significantly relaxes the Private Express Statutes.

Health Insurance

The Postal Service's share of the cost of health insurance, which is 85% of the weighted average formula used by OPM for federal employees with a maximum percentage of 88.75%, will be maintained. For comparison purposes, the federal government pays only 72% of the weighted average health insurance costs for federal employees.

Sunday Pay Premium and Night Shift Differential

Notwithstanding the Postal Service's proposal to cut night differential and to pay Sunday premium only for hours worked on Sunday, the night shift differential and Sunday pay premium will continue without any change.

Clothing Allowance

There will be a 4.5% increase in clothing allowance effective in November 2001, and another 2.5% increase in clothing allowance effective in November 2002.

Other Contractual Provisions

Article 11 will be amended to give employees who work their holiday the option of receiving straight-time pay (and the additional one-half time for work on Christmas) plus an additional eight hours of annual leave, instead of the pay only option to which employees are presently entitled under Article 11. This choice of annual leave instead of pay is completely at the employee's option, and will begin with the Memorial Day holiday in 2002.

A prior MOU allowing mail handlers to use LWOP in lieu of sick or annual leave for time off under the Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) will be added to the National Agreement

A prior MOU will be added to the National Agreement to make clear that mail handlers may use annual or sick leave in conjunction with LWOP, after the absence is approved in accordance with normal leave approval procedures, for the purpose of continuing eligibility for health and life insurance benefits and the no-layoff protections of Article 6

Several clarifications to Article 12, including:

- employees may withdraw their bid on a posted assignment in writing or in the telephone or computerized bidding process, at any time before the closing time (hour and date) of the posting

- employees coming from another craft to the mail handler craft will have their seniority established as a part-time flexible one day junior to the seniority of the junior part-time flexible employee

- redefinition of "bid" to make clear that bids may be submitted in writing, by telephone, or by computer where telephone, computer or other electronic means of bidding are established

Various improvements to Article 15 governing the grievance and arbitration process, all designed to provide more accurate and more timely resolution of grievances filed by mail handlers. These changes include:

- Grievance settlements and arbitration awards that entitle a mail handler to compensation from the Postal Service will be paid in a timely fashion. In the event that the payment is not made within 60 days of the receipt of the necessary paperwork, as defined in ELM Subchapter 436.4, the employee will receive an advance equal to seventy percent (70%) of the net amount owed to the employee

- Following resolution of a "representative" grievance, the parties shall meet at Step 2 within 7 days to identify pending grievances involving the same issue and to apply the resolution to those grievances

- Whichever party refers an issue to Step 4 for National handling must specify in writing the precise interpretive issue to be decided

- Either party may submit a written request to conduct pre-arbitration discussions regarding cases pending on the Regional arbitration docket

Suspensions of fourteen (14) days will not be served until 14 calendar days after service of a written notice (up from the current ten (10) days), and an employee will remain on the job or on the clock in pay status until after issuance of the Step 2 decision if a timely grievance is filed

Letters of warning will be purged from personnel files if, upon the effective date of the Agreement, they have been in effect for at least 6 months, have not been cited in subsequent discipline, and were not issued in lieu of a suspension or removal

Several changes to Article 30 of the National Agreement and related MOU will do the following:

- Set the period for negotiations over Local Memoranda of Understanding to run for 30 days from September 1, 2002 to October 30, 2002

- Substantially limit management's ability to challenge a Local MOU provision as "inconsistent or in conflict" with the National Agreement. In particular, management can use these grounds for challenging Local MOU provisions during the local implementation process only by making a reasonable claim that the MOU is inconsistent or in conflict with new or amended provisions of the most recent National Agreement, or with provisions agreed to since the prior National Agreement. (Currently, management is allowed to declare items inconsistent or in conflict at any time, and need not show a reasonable basis for its action.) Moreover, if local management fails to abide by a Local MOU on "inconsistent or in conflict" grounds, and an arbitrator subsequently finds that local management had no reasonable basis for its claim, then the arbitrator is specifically empowered to issue an appropriate remedy. Finally, the challenged provisions declared to be inconsistent or in conflict must remain in effect for 120 days or the date of the arbitration award, whichever occurs sooner.

Article 32 concerning subcontracting is amended to allow the Union to give its own proposals to avoid subcontracting, and its own proposals to minimize the impact of any subcontracting, earlier in the decision-making process, thereby giving the NPMHU a better opportunity to stop possible subcontracting

Article 36 is amended to provide that "all travel for job-related training will be considered compensable work hours," whether or not such hours occur during an employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty

All members of Safety Committees will receive orientation no later than November 1, 2002

The 1998 MOU terminating any effort to develop a centralized uniform program will be eliminated as obsolete

The 1998 letter applying the MOU on Transfers on a prospective-only basis will be eliminated as obsolete

A new MOU on Return to Duty will govern the review of medical certificates submitted by employees who return to duty following extended absences due to illness. These certificates should be reviewed, and a decision made based on the presented medical information, on the same day the medical information is submitted. Normally, once the decision is made, the employee will be returned to work on the next scheduled tour of duty, or on a later date stated in the employee's medical documentation.

Continuation of Joint Education and Training Fund, with additional funding of $1 million per year

Supplemental Agreements covering MTEC employees will continue to be enforced, although they will be removed from the printed version of the National Agreement

Continuation of all work-rule improvements obtained as part of one-year extension in 1993, the 1994 National Agreement, and the 1998 National Agreement, including daily volunteer lists for after-tour overtime after exhaustion of ODL; volunteer lists for non-scheduled day overtime after exhaustion of ODL; no time off for suspensions of less than 14 days; no service of suspensions of 14 days until a grievance is answered at Step 2; MOU allowing mail handlers to use up to 80 hours of sick leave to give care for dependents; annual leave exchange option (for employees who use fewer than 75 sick leave hours in the prior year); and installation-wide measurement of casuals

All other provisions of the 1998 National Agreement are being maintained, except for date changes that may be necessary to accommodate the new contract.