Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.
The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through November 2026. Letter carriers have been working without a new contract since their old one expired in May 2023. Since then they have continued working under the terms of the old contract.
Both the union and the Postal Service welcomed the agreement, which was announced Friday.
“Both sides didn’t get everything they wanted. But by bargaining in good faith, we ended with an agreement that meets our goals and rewards our members,” Brian Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, told The Associated Press. “To make that happen, the Postal Service had to recognize the contributions of members to the Postal Service and the American people.”
Among other improvements, the deal increases the top pay and reduces the amount of time it takes new workers to reach that level, Renfroe said. He credited Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his deputy for bargaining in good faith throughout the arduous process.
The Postal Service said the agreement supported its 10-year “Delivering for America” mission to modernize operations and adapt to changing customer needs.
“This is a fair and responsible agreement that serves the best interest of our employees, our customers and the future of the Postal Service,” said Doug Tulino, the deputy postmaster general and chief human resources officer.
As part of the agreement, all city carriers will get three annual pay increases of 1.3% each by 2025, some of which will be paid retroactively from Nov. 2023. Workers will also receive retroactive and future cost-of-living adjustments.
There is also a commitment from the Postal Service to “make every effort” to provide mail trucks with air-conditioning.
In the summer the Postal Service began rolling out its new electric delivery vehicles, which come equipped with air-conditioning. While the trucks won't win any beauty contests, they did get rave reviews from letter carriers accustomed to older vehicles that lack modern safety features and are prone to breaking down — and even catching fire.
Within a few years, the new fleet will have expanded to 60,000, most of them electric models, serving as the Postal Service’s primary delivery truck from Maine to Hawaii.
Under the tentative contract agreement, the Postal Service must discuss with the union any plans to buy new mail trucks that don’t have air-conditioning.
This is the second contract negotiated since DeJoy was appointed in 2020. It is expected to take several weeks for union members to ratify it.
Rural mail carriers are not covered by the contract because they are represented by a different union.
FILE - The U.S. Postal Service's next-generation delivery vehicle, left, is displayed as one new battery electric delivery trucks leaves the Kokomo Sorting and Delivery Center in Kokomo, Ind., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
MILAN (AP) — AC Milan rang the changes and was reduced to 10 men and still beat Udinese 1-0 in Serie A on Saturday.
Theo Hernández was suspended and Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Rafael Leão were dropped by Milan. The Rossoneri’s task became harder when midfielder Tijjani Reijnders was shown a straight red card in the 29th minute.
Fortunately for Milan, Samuel Chukwueze earned the lead in the 13th minute following yet another assist by Christian Pulisic. They held on after Udinese had two goals ruled out for offside, including one deep in stoppage time.
The Rossoneri moved level on points with third-placed Inter Milan, which plays at Roma on Sunday. Juventus moved two points above them after managing to scrape a late 1-0 win over 10-man Lazio.
Milan lost at Fiorentina 2-1 before the international break in a match in which Hernández and Abraham had penalty kicks saved. Hernández was sent off after the final whistle for insulting the referee and given a two-match ban.
The radically changed Rossoneri started brightly against Udinese and took the lead when Noah Okafor muscled his way down the left flank and rolled it across for Pulisic, who set up Chukwueze to sweep it into the far bottom corner.
Pulisic has been involved in at least one goal in seven straight league matches; producing five goals and three assists.
Milan was dominating until Reijnders was sent off for catching Sandi Lovric’s heel and tripping him as the Udinese midfielder ran clear on goal.
Kingsley Ehizibue thought he headed Udinese level on the stroke of halftime but he was offside by the tightest of margins.
Pulisic came close to doubling Milan’s lead in the 75th but his effort was saved by Maduka Okoye. Abraham, who had come on only three minutes earlier, injured his shoulder as he tried to bundle in the rebound and had to be taken off.
Udinese appeared to level again when Christian Kabasele headed in a rebound in the fifth minute of stoppage time. However, VAR ruled another tight offside decision in the chaotic buildup.
Lazio managed to hold out for more than an hour with 10 men before an own goal consigned it to defeat.
Defender Alessio Romagnoli was issued a straight red card in the 24th for a tackle on Juve's Pierre Kalulu when he was clear on goal.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Juventus didn't have a shot on target until the 81st when Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel parried a curled Dusan Vlahovic effort.
The home side was gifted the winning goal four minutes later when Lazio defender Mario Gila tried to intercept a cross from Juan Cabal and succeeded only in turning it into his own net.
Vlahovic had also earlier hit the crossbar in one of Juve's few sights of goal.
A second-half double from Andrea Pinamonti saw Genoa come back from two goals down to draw with Bologna 2-2.
Bologna, which faces Aston Villa in the Champions League midweek, thought it was heading for what would have been only its second win after goals from Riccardo Orsolini and Jens Odgaard.
But Pinamonti curled into the far bottom corner in the 73rd and headed in a free kick 12 minutes later.
Como drew with Parma 1-1 in a match between promoted sides.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
CORRECTS DAY - Juventus' head coach Thiago Motta at the Serie A soccer match against Lazio, at the Allianz Stadium in Torino, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)
CORRECTS DAY- Lazio's Patric, left, vies for the ball with Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic during the Serie A soccer match at the Allianz Stadium in Torino, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)
CORRECTS DAY - Lazio's Alessio Romagnoli is issued a red card during the Serie A soccer match against Juventus at the Allianz Stadium in Torino, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)
THE GOAL WAS DISALLOWED - Udinese's Christian Kabasele, right, celebrates after scoring a disallowed goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Tammy Abraham reacts leaving the pitch after an injury during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, left, and Udinese's Iker Bravo challenge for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders leaves the pitch after receiving the red card during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze, second from left, celebrates with Christian Pulisic, left, after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze, background centre, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
THE GOAL WAS DISALLOWED Udinese's Christian Kabasele, second from right, celebrates with teammates after scoring a disallowed goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze, left, and Udinese's Jordan Zemura challenge for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
