APWU Pay Scale 2026: Clerk, Maintenance & MVS Pay by Grade and Step

The March 7, 2026 COLA adjustment is now reflected in APWU clerk pay scales. Below you’ll find every grade and step for career clerks (PS-04 through PS-11) and Postal Support Employees (PSEs), along with what these numbers mean for your biweekly paycheck.

One Pay Schedule, Three Crafts: Clerk, Maintenance, and MVS

This is the most common point of confusion about APWU pay, so it’s worth stating plainly up front: the chart on this page is not clerk-only. Look at the header of the official APWU rate sheet and it reads “RSCs C, K, P (APWU)” — one Postal Service (PS) schedule covering three Rate Schedule Codes:

A PS-06 Step E clerk, a PS-06 Step E maintenance employee, and a PS-06 Step E MVS employee all earn the same $67,894 a year. The rates are identical — what differs between crafts is which grade your particular position is assigned to, the seniority and bidding rules in your craft’s article of the contract, and the qualification systems for promotion. So if you’re in Maintenance or MVS, find your grade and step below and the number is yours.

The 2024–2027 National Agreement covers these crafts together — Clerk, Maintenance, Motor Vehicle Service, Operating Services, and Material Support — which is why the same COLAs and general wage increases land for every one of them on the same dates.

How APWU Pay Works

APWU-represented clerks are paid on a grade and step system. Your grade (PS-04 through PS-11) is determined by your position and level of responsibility. Your step advances over time based on your waiting period — from Step FF at the bottom to Step O (or P for grades 8–11) at the top.

Pay increases come from three sources: step increases (automatic, based on time in grade), general wage increases (GWI, negotiated in the contract), and cost of living adjustments (COLA, tied to CPI-W and applied every six months). The March 7, 2026 rates below reflect all three.

2026 APWU Pay Scale — All Three Crafts (PS Grades)

Annual salaries as of March 7, 2026. To get your biweekly gross, divide by 26. To get your hourly rate, divide by 2,080.

PS-04

PS-05

PS-06

PS-07

PS-08 through PS-11

Which Grade Is My Position? Maintenance Craft

Maintenance grades are set by position, with the assignments coming from national-level agreements between the APWU and USPS. The most common ones:

Two notes on that table. First, this grade ladder is exactly why the Revamped Maintenance Selection System (RMSS) matters so much in this craft — qualifying for a higher occupational group is how you move from PS-05 to PS-09 or PS-10 money, and that jump dwarfs any step increase. Compare PS-05 Step O against PS-10 Step P in the charts above and you can see the size of it. Second, some positions carry more than one grade depending on facility and assignment, so treat the table as the common case rather than a guarantee.

Which Grade Is My Position? Motor Vehicle Service

MVS positions — Motor Vehicle Operator (MVO), Tractor-Trailer Operator (TTO), Automotive Technician, Lead Automotive Technician, and Vehicle Operations Maintenance Assistant — are paid from the same PS schedule above under RSC P. Grade assignments vary by position and installation, and we’d rather point you to the authoritative source than print a number that might not match your facility: your grade is on your PS Form 50 and on your earnings statement. Once you have it, the charts above give you your exact annual, biweekly, and hourly rate.

One MVS-specific thing worth knowing: an MVO who isn’t yet tractor-trailer qualified is entitled to on-the-clock TTO training under Article 39.2.B.9, starting with the senior MVO when tractor-trailer assignments are established. Since TTO assignments generally sit at a higher grade than MVO, that training is a paid path toward a higher pay band — and a Step 4 settlement between the APWU and USPS reaffirmed both that entitlement and the fact that you don’t need to be TTO-qualified when hired as an MVO.

PSE (Postal Support Employee) Pay Rates

PSEs are non-career APWU employees. They have fewer steps and a different benefits structure than career clerks.

What Affects Your Actual Paycheck

The numbers above are gross annual salaries. Your actual take-home pay depends on several deductions that come out every pay period:

FERS Retirement — 0.8% if hired before 2013, 3.1% if hired in 2013 (RAE), 4.4% if hired 2014 or later (FRAE). On a $66,832 salary, the difference between 0.8% and 4.4% is about $2,400/year less in your pocket.

Social Security — 6.2% of covered wages up to $184,500 in 2026.

Medicare — 1.45% of all gross pay.

Federal & State Taxes — Varies by filing status, dependents, and state. Nine states have no income tax.

FEHB — Health insurance premiums vary widely by plan. Under the new PSHB program, premiums changed for many employees in 2025.

TSP — Whatever you elect to contribute. The 2026 regular limit is $24,500; catch-up is $8,000 for age 50+, or $11,250 for ages 60–63.

Premium Pay

Your base hourly rate is your annual salary divided by 2,080. Premium pay is calculated on top of this:

Overtime (O/T): 1.5x your base rate for hours over 8/day or 40/week.

Penalty Overtime (V-Time): 2x your base rate for hours over 10/day or 56/week. This is the double time clerks hit during peak season or heavy mandation.

Night Differential: APWU uses published flat-dollar hourly rates that vary by grade, step, and schedule. A fixed 2.0% schedule adjustment takes effect September 19, 2026. Use the official APWU night-differential tables or your earnings statement—not a generic percentage of base pay.

Sunday Premium: +25% of base rate for non-overtime hours worked on Sunday.

Holiday Worked: Base rate on top of holiday pay, effectively double time.

For a detailed breakdown of how all premium pay types work, see our overtime rules guide.

When Do You Get Your Next Step Increase?

Step increase waiting periods for APWU clerks depend on where you are in the scale. The time between steps is generally 36 to 52 weeks for lower steps and extends to 52 weeks for higher steps. Your waiting period starts from your last step increase date (or your career appointment date for your first step).

Check your most recent PS Form 50 or your eOPF for your current step and step increase date. If you believe your step increase is overdue, contact your steward — delayed step increases are a common grievance topic.

COLA & Future Pay Adjustments

APWU clerks receive COLA adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). The March 7, 2026 COLA is reflected in the current tables above. APWU announced a further $1,414 annual adjustment effective September 5, 2026; use the official schedule once that rate takes effect.

For more on how the March 2026 COLA affected your pay, see our COLA breakdown post.

If you’re also looking for information on APWU back pay or retro pay from the 2024–2026 contract, see our retro pay guide.