NALC Contract Negotiations 2026: What City Carriers Should Watch For

Formal contract negotiations between the National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service officially opened on February 25, 2026, preceded by a national day of action on February 22. The current 2023-2026 National Agreement expires this year, and the next contract will be negotiated against the backdrop of the worst financial crisis in USPS history.

Here’s what’s at stake and what carriers should be paying attention to.

What the Last Contract Delivered

The 2023-2026 agreement was widely considered one of the better NALC contracts in recent memory. Over its 36-month term, it delivered an average total increase of 19.5 percent when you combine general wage increases, COLAs, and step increases. City carrier starting wages rose 14.1 percent. Every step in the pay scale increased by at least 9.2 percent, with Step P getting an additional $1,000 bump.

The contract also included six full cost-of-living adjustments, with the final $250 COLA taking effect March 7, 2026. That’s a strong baseline heading into negotiations — but the financial environment has changed dramatically since 2023.

The Financial Elephant in the Room

NALC is walking into these negotiations with a management team that just told Congress the agency could run out of cash in less than 12 months. USPS lost $9 billion last year. The postmaster general is talking about raising stamp prices, cutting delivery days, and hasn’t ruled out layoffs.

That doesn’t mean carriers should expect a bad deal. But it means management will push hard for cost containment, and the union will need to balance wage demands against the reality of the agency’s financial position. If negotiations go to arbitration, the arbitrator will weigh USPS’s ability to pay as a factor.

Key Issues to Watch

Wages and COLAs

The big question: will the next contract match the 19.5% total increase of the last one? Probably not, given the financial pressure. But NALC will push hard to maintain full COLA protection — which APWU achieved in their 2024-2027 contract. Full COLA is the single most important pay protection against inflation, and carriers have had it for decades. Losing it would be a major concession.

Table 1 vs. Table 2 pay gap

The two-tier pay system remains a sore point. Table 2 carriers (hired after 2013) top out significantly lower than Table 1 for the same work at the same step. Every contract narrows the gap slightly, but it hasn’t been eliminated. Expect this to be a priority for NALC, especially since Table 2 carriers now make up the majority of the workforce.

CCA conversion and staffing

CCA conversion timelines, working conditions, and the balance between career and non-career staffing will be central issues. Steiner has said USPS is “moving toward more pre-career employees,” which directly conflicts with NALC’s push to convert CCAs to career faster and limit the percentage of non-career workers.

Overtime and scheduling

Mandatory overtime remains one of the biggest quality-of-life issues for carriers. The union will push for stronger protections around forced overtime, equitable distribution of hours, and limits on consecutive days worked. Management will resist anything that reduces scheduling flexibility.

Route evaluation and adjustments

With package volume shifting and mail volume declining, route structures continue to change. How routes are evaluated, adjusted, and consolidated will affect carrier workload and earnings. If five-day delivery becomes a real possibility, route structures would need to be completely rethought.

Safety and working conditions

Dog attacks, extreme weather protocols, vehicle conditions, and scanner-based surveillance are perennial issues. The rise of package delivery has changed the physical demands of the job — heavier loads, more stops, more apartment access issues. Expect the union to push for stronger safety language.

Timeline: What Happens Next

Under the Railway Labor Act process that governs USPS labor relations, here’s the general timeline:

Bargaining phase (now through contract expiration) — Both sides exchange proposals and negotiate. This can take months.

If no agreement: Either side can request mediation through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). If mediation fails, the dispute goes to binding interest arbitration.

If it goes to arbitration: A neutral arbitrator (or panel) issues a binding decision on all unresolved issues. This has happened multiple times in NALC history. The last arbitrated contract was the 2013-2016 agreement (the Das Award).

If an agreement is reached: It goes to NALC members for ratification vote. The 2023-2026 contract was ratified by a strong majority.

We’ll keep this page updated as negotiations progress, proposals leak, and developments occur. This is the contract that will define carrier pay and working conditions for the next three years — it’s worth following closely.

Sources: NALC official announcements, NALC research and economics page, Federal News Network reporting.