Viget, a digital agency, is conducting this survey on behalf of NALC to better understand visitor needs, goals, and interactions with these tools, and how they can be improved. Participation is voluntary, and responses are anonymous.

It takes about 10 minutes and is open through March 8, 2026.

This survey includes questions about:

• How often you visit the website and/or app
• The information and resources you access
• Your overall experience with these tools

The survey can be accessed here: nalc.org/websurvey

Read NALC President Brian L. Renfroe's opening statement below.

Good morning, everyone. We start by thanking Postmaster General Steiner, Deputy Postmaster General Tulino, Vice President Elston, and everyone here at the Postal Service Headquarters for hosting this kickoff. I'd also like to thank everyone in the room for being here at a kickoff of a process that is, of course, important to America's 200,000 plus letter carriers. It's important to the Postal Service. It's also important to the 300 plus million Americans that we serve every single day. I am joined here this morning by the entire NALC Executive Council, the nine other resident officers that are seated here at the table with me, our 15 national business agents, as well as our three national trustees, as well as key members of our headquarters, letter carrier and professional staff and counsel, of course.

We come here this morning with a singular goal, and that is to reach a contract that fairly compensates, recognizes, and values America's 200,000 active city letter carriers. We know what we deserve. We know the value of the work that we do. We are hopeful that through this process, we are able to reach an agreement that achieves our goals. Everyone on both sides of this table knows that letter carriers’ jobs have always been difficult.

The famous saying that's engraved on a building in New York about rain, snow, and the gloom of night is familiar to everyone. But today, we work through even more hazards than that. Extreme heat, cold, the nature of our work, handling heavy parcels day to day, and unfortunately, the enduring threat of violent crimes. But through it all, we've continued to fulfill our essential duties to the American people. Yet, our compensation has not kept up with that level of dedication. The job of a city letter carrier was once sought after as a stable, middle-class job. Unfortunately, in many locations now, we cannot attract enough people, and we even have some that work multiple jobs early in their careers. This, frankly, is unconscionable, especially as the work we do is more valuable than it's ever been before.

We all know what we do for the American people. No one else can match what the Postal Service does. Letter carriers reach every home and business in the country six and oftentimes seven days a week. There is no service in Postal Service without letter carriers. Time and time again, we proved that we can adapt. Whether it was natural disasters, global pandemics, record-breaking temperatures, and everything in between, we take pride in continuing to serve the American people. It's only right and it's only fair that that commitment is rewarded with a fair contract that's been earned through the dedication and hard work of America's letter carriers. For us, the major pieces of a fair contract are simple.

First is an all-career workforce. Simply put, the city carrier assistant position does not serve our craft, nor does it help achieve the goals of the Postal Service. 55 percent of all city carrier assistants leave the job within the first year. That has been the case every single year since the classification was created in 2013. Astronomically high turnover rates like this seriously undermine the Postal Service's ability to provide quality, universal service. Hiring directly to career nationwide is essential to retain letter carriers, to appropriately staff our delivery units and to give the Postal Service the ability to provide the level of service that our customers expect. We commend the Postal Service for working with us in good faith over the last several years to convert hundreds of installations around the country to an all-career model. There's no question this is a positive step and has shown improvement in those locations, but it's not enough. It's time to abolish this position.

Next is higher wages at all steps of the pay scale. While starting pay is undoubtedly too low, and it must be addressed, letter carriers, regardless of where they are in their career, should be compensated fairly and should be rewarded for their contributions for our service to the American people. We spend the majority of our working hours on the street exposed to risks that typical indoor or work from home employees will never face. Heat, cold, injuries, the physical toll of the job, unfortunately, the threat of being attacked on the job, these are all real hazards that we face every day. Our current wages do not match this work. The Postal Service cannot expect to retain and attract new letter carriers without substantial wage increases that account for the physicality and challenges of this job.

Similarly, the time to reach top step of our pay scale must be reduced. More than 12 years to reach the top of the pay scale is unacceptable to America's letter carriers, particularly when workers in a number of similar jobs enter at a higher rate and reach top pay in a third of the time that we do. We understand our industry, and we know that the structure of our pay scale is no longer competitive. In today's world, more than a decade to reach the top of the pay scale takes our experience and our skills for granted. For the Postal Service to retain seasoned and experienced letter carriers that have made this service great for many, many years, this time must be substantially reduced.

The last specific issue I'll point out is local postal management's lack of contract compliance. A lot of people on both sides of this table and in this room have worked hard and in good faith on the existing terms of our collective bargaining agreement. The words of that agreement mean nothing if local managers violate them, as they do across the country every single day. Whether it's caused by the decision of a supervisor, a station manager, a postmaster, or district management, it's clear how letter carriers view this constant and willful disregard for the terms of our collective bargaining agreement. They view it as disrespect. It's disrespectful to a proud, dedicated workforce, and it's disrespectful to our union. This problem is rampant. It hurts morale. It hurts productivity. It costs the Postal Service hundreds of millions of dollars every year. To us, it's simply a matter of dignity and respect.

Thankfully, there is what should be an easy solution. For managers that make operational decisions at the local level every day, simply comply with the terms of the agreement that we have negotiated in good faith at this very table over the years. In this round of bargaining, we are eager to engage on anything we can do to improve contract compliance across the country.

Now, it's no secret that the Postal Service faces financial hurdles. Some changes that are needed on the path to financial solvency involve action from the Congress or the Administration. Our union will keep doing more than anyone else to make further legislative and administrative changes that benefit the Postal Service a reality. But it doesn't stop there. As we all know, to succeed, the service must be competitive. Particularly in the package business, where there continues to be opportunity for significant revenue growth. For us to stand out in this increasingly competitive package delivery market, exceptional, reliable service is key. There's no question that finding ways to invest in and modernize our infrastructure is very important. We are committed to continuing to do our part to make that happen, as we have for many years.

But the most important piece of achieving the levels of service that we, and more importantly, our customers expect is a stable, well-compensated workforce. There is value for everyone here in the Postal Service properly investing in its workforce. There is no service, there is no operation without the work that our members do. We are the key to the service that will allow us to surpass our competition. In many ways, we are the key to the success of the Postal Service. As Deputy Postmaster General Tulino mentioned, last year, the Postal Service celebrated its 250th year. Letter carriers are proud to be part of this 250-year legacy. We are proud to be the face of the Postal Service that the American people see every single day. This pride largely comes from our craft's very rich history of providing a safe and reliable middle-class job, working life, and retirement. That is what we are pursuing in this round of collective bargaining. The promise of a well-respected, well-compensated job. One where you can go to work, do your job, be paid fairly, and return home safely to your family and your loved ones. We are committed in this round of bargaining to doing everything possible to reach an agreement on a fair contract.

We are very appreciative of our long history of good faith bargaining, and we look forward to continuing that over the course of the coming weeks and months. Thank you once again for hosting this opening session. We are excited and eager to get to work.

NALC is heartbroken by the murder of Dequavious Graves, our brother from Branch 2225 in Decatur, GA. Brother Graves was fatally shot on his route last week. While the investigation is ongoing, and a person of interest has been arrested, one thing is certain: This senseless, horrific, violent tragedy should never have happened.

Graves had been a letter carrier for nearly four years and was only 31. The 295,000 members of NALC mourn his loss and send our deepest sympathies to his family, friends, co-workers, and all his loved ones.

His loss is a jarring reminder of the hazards letter carriers face every day on the job as we serve the American public.

NALC’s peer-to-peer Emergency Response Team was deployed to Brother Graves’s station and is working to assist his family and co-workers in the immediate aftermath of this unimaginable tragedy.

This is the final increase under the 2023-2026 National Agreement. Over the course of this 36-month agreement, active carriers will have seen an average increase of 19.5 percent including all negotiated increases general wage increases, COLAs and step increases.

City carrier starting wages have risen 14.1 percent, and each step in the pay scale has increased at least 9.2 percent since the beginning of the contract. Steps B through O saw an increase of 9.2 percent, and Step P saw an increase of 10.5 percent with theadditional $1,000 received in June 2025.

NALC's preparations for the next round of collective bargaining have been ongoing since early September and have included weekly meetings of the Executive Council and staff committees, polls, and two weeklong meetings of the Rank-and-File Bargaining Committees. A final important piece of these preparations is hearing from each of you.

The 2026 NALC Collective-Bargaining Survey is now open to current active NALC members. Please let us know what your priorities are for the next contract by completing it. The survey will be open until Friday, Feb. 20.

Once again, a violent criminal that harmed a letter carrier has received a light sentence. Under multiple presidential administrations, the Department of Justice has proven ill-equipped to bring justice for the victims and federal sentencing guidelines for these heinous crimes remain woefully inadequate. 

Congress must act now by passing the bipartisan Protect Our Letter Carriers Act to fix this broken system. 

Letter carriers serve America’s communities every day. The federal justice system must protect us and fulfill its core mission of bringing justice to those who violate federal law by attacking hardworking civil servants. 

The 290,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers call on Congress to pass the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act.”

- Brian Renfroe, President, National Association of Letter Carriers

NALC filed the national-level grievance, case number 6X 23N-6X-C 25507021, claiming the Postal Service failed to abide by the NACI Award by not processing pending grievances pertaining to the matter. In the settlement (M-02015), the parties agree that all pending grievances related to the NACI Award will be processed in accordance with Article 15 of the National Agreement, including the scheduling for arbitration, if necessary. Accordingly, the parties consider the issues raised in case number 6X 23N-6X-C 25507021 to be moot and agree to close this case without prejudice to the position of either party in this or any other matter.

In accordance with the resolution passed at the 52nd Biennial Convention, the rates for political ads in The Postal Record for candidates for national office are calculated at the actual per-page publication cost. The rates printed below are based upon the average of the 2024 and 2025 printing and postage costs.

Such advertisements may be printed in any issue of The Postal Record. Ads must be received by the 5th of the month preceding the month in which the ad will appear, e.g., February’s deadline (Feb. 5) is for the March publication.

Camera-ready ads or the copy for ads, as well as payment by check payable to NALC, must be received at NALC Headquarters by the same deadline (The Postal Record, 100 Indiana Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001-2144). Ads may be sent electronically to postalrecord@nalc.org, but payment must be made by check.

Ads will run in an advertisement section of the magazine and will be labeled as advertisements.

Below are the rates for political ads (size shown is width x height):

• Full page (8” x 10-1/2”): $3,600
• Half page (8” x 5-1/4”): $1,800
• One-third page (8” x 3-1/2” or 2-2/3” x 10-1/2”): $1,200
• One-quarter page (4" x 5-1/4" or 8" x 2-2/3"): $900

Consistent with NALC policy, no other advertisements will be accepted for The Postal Record.

The following box contains the two-year costs for printing and postage for The Postal Record, which typically runs in the President's Biennial Report prior to the convention. The price for an ad in The Postal Record is based on these costs.

On Sunday, Feb. 22, NALC branches are encouraged to host a “Fight Like Hell!” rally calling for a fair contract.

This national day of action will come days before NALC is scheduled to open contract negotiations with the Postal Service on Feb. 25.

If your branch is interested in hosting an event on Feb. 22, please contact your national business agent’s (NBA) office.  

NALC Headquarters will work with NBA offices to ensure each event has materials and resources for a successful event. To guarantee the delivery of supplies, all event requests must be submitted to NBA offices by Jan. 27. 

As events are scheduled, details will be available at nalc.org/feb22. 

“We know what we’re fighting for at the bargaining table, and we know what we deserve,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “With branches across the country coming together on a single day, we’ll make our demands known to the Postal Service while reminding our customers that the service we provide every day deserves a fair contract.

“I encourage every NALC branch to join the fight, mobilize, and host a rally on Feb. 22.”

Born in Murphysboro, IL, Brother Helsley proudly served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1982 to 2002, retiring honorably with the rank of gunnery sergeant. After his military retirement, he continued his commitment to public service, spending the next 22 years as a letter carrier and NALC member. Until recently, he served as president of Branch 56, a position he held with dedication for the past eight years.

Those who knew Brother Helsley remember him for his joyful sense of humor and unwavering commitment to his fellow letter carriers.

Brother Helsley is survived by his wife, Amy; his children, Justin, Lyndsey, Cody, Kent and Amanda; nine grandchildren; and many other loving family members and friends.

“NALC mourns the loss of Brother Helsley,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “On behalf of NALC, I commend his years of devoted service to his branch and community, and I extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Today, NALC joins all Americans in honoring and celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s message that workers’ rights and human rights are intertwined is as evident as ever. Today, NALC recommits to the ongoing fight for civil and human rights, economic justice and dignified workplaces.

As we head into collective bargaining next month, Dr. King’s teachings and philosophies will guide us as we fight for a fair contract. Dr. King said, “The time is always right to do what is right.” Regardless of how difficult it may be or what challenges might surface, NALC is committed to fighting together for what is right, just and fair for letter carriers at the bargaining table.

NALC is also sponsoring this year’s AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference. We look forward to continued opportunities to work alongside the entire labor movement in our collective effort to combat discrimination and injustice, fight for equality and voting rights, and to finally realize Dr. King’s dream.