On Sept. 20, 2019, negotiations for a new collective-bargaining agreement between NALC and USPS came to an impasse. The current collective-bargaining agreement remains in force pending final resolution of the parties’ collective-bargaining dispute.

The next step is a mandatory 60-day mediation period required by statute. The parties will use the mediation period to continue negotiations while simultaneously attempting to agree on a neutral arbitrator in the event the parties remain at impasse after the 60-day period. That neutral arbitrator will chair an arbitration board that will also include one management and one union arbitrator.

The parties continue to have unresolved differences over major issues, including—but not limited to— letter carrier compensation, the non-career workforce, subcontracting, no-layoff provisions, and various memos regarding safety, city delivery, workplace intervention, route evaluations, route structure and wage theft.

Issues that remain in dispute after the mediation period will be addressed through the interest arbitration process, which will result in a final and binding decision on the contents of a new national agreement.