Letter Carriers Convention Shapes Up to Be Open Bargaining Showdown
A few letter carrier branches, like Branch 79 in Seattle, have organized their own contract rallies. (Note the "End Closed Bargaining" picket signs.) A growing current in the union is calling for the national union to mobilize an actual contract campaign. Photo: Nora Stamper
City letter carriers have been working without a contract for more than 400 days, and leaders of the Letter Carriers (NALC) still refuse to provide any substantive updates from bargaining. As rank-and-file anger boils over, a new group called Build a Fighting NALC (BFN) is building momentum to demand a stronger and more transparent contract fight next time.
We’re bringing an “Open Bargaining” resolution to the national convention, August 5-9 in Boston. As of this writing, two NALC state associations and 44 branches across the country have passed the resolution to show their support.
There was a time when the NALC, under the leadership of President Vince Sombrotto (1978-2002), used to engage in contract campaigns, hold rallies, make its demands public, and keep members informed of contract progress. Our resolution calls on the union to build on that legacy.
Union leaders have promised us over and over that contract resolution is imminent. But they share details only in closed-door meetings, where attendees are discouraged from sharing specifics with the membership. They insist we must trust them and trust their process.
If the parties reach an impasse in bargaining, the unresolved items will be taken to an arbitration panel and the resulting contract will be binding, with no opportunity for the 200,000 members to vote.
NALC leaders seem to be relying on management’s good faith. But in the daily life of a carrier, we don’t see much good faith coming from management. We work in often dangerous conditions and under increasingly strict metrics. For example, a carrier is supposed to take only 22 minutes to load a truck—no matter the volume of packages, no matter if you have to push a heavy cart through the snow. Though these work standards are not contractually enforceable and we can’t be disciplined over them, that doesn’t stop the threats and harassment.
Members have begun organizing to make ourselves heard, through a series of Zoom meetings with speakers from across the union. Out of these meetings, the BFN movement has landed on five demands to champion:
- An open bargaining strategy in future contract negotiations
- A starting wage of $30 an hour (carriers currently start at $19.33)
- An end to mandatory overtime
- A “worker’s wage” for union officers
- Fighting for the right to strike
GONNA BE INTERESTING
The leadership of the NALC has seen some controversy in recent months. President Brian Renfroe is facing charges brought by members of the Executive Council, including “abandoned position and dereliction/neglect of duty,” “making false or misleading statements about a NALC officer,” and “impaired driving after hours in a NALC-owned vehicle.”
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Though the charges have mostly been dismissed, there will likely be an appeal to the national convention. This could lead to removal from office. Members at the convention will have a chance to reconsider the charges, and may vote on whether to follow the appeal’s suggestion to remove Renfroe from office.
Out of this disarray has emerged another organization, the Concerned Letter Carriers, led partly by carrier Corey Walton, host of the popular podcast “From A to Arbitration.” (These are not competing groups; Walton has also promoted the BFN movement on his show.) CLC’s goal is to replace the national leadership with members who will put the fighting spirit back in the union and fix the failures of the current regime.
Already two members of the Executive Council have announced their candidacy to replace Renfroe in the 2026 elections; one is backed by the CLC. They will both have to differentiate themselves from the old guard.
All this sets up what promises to be a national convention to remember. The debate over open bargaining has already begun; leaders who claim the strategy of secrecy is the only way have been making their case to members at various meetings and in union publications.
And while Renfroe fosters a friendly relationship with USPS Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, many members are working to oppose DeJoy’s “Delivering for America” plan that would close and consolidate scores of postal facilities. The group Communities and Postal Workers United has been fighting to make its voice heard at meetings of the Postal Board of Governors, the body that could fire DeJoy.
BFN hopes to awaken a long dormant rank and file—offering carriers a cause to fight for and a way to be heard. The time has come for change in the NALC.
Tim Bash is a letter carrier in Minneapolis and on the interim coordinating committee of Build a Fighting NALC.
