2025 No. 12 – December 12, 2025 (pdf)

You are reading the twelfth Contract Update produced and distributed by the NPMHU during the course of 2025 negotiations. These updates, along with the Union’s magazine and monthly bulletins, will keep mail handlers throughout the country informed and involved in the issues raised during this round of bargaining.

Discussions on economic issues between Deputy Postmaster General Douglas Tulino, National President Paul Hogrogian, and National Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Tabarus, Contract Administration Manager Teresa Harmon and NPMHU General Counsel Matthew Clash-Drexler have continued to intensify and become increasingly substantive.

Recent sessions have focused more on areas of disagreement, including the continued impact of the proportional COLA and persistent disparities between the Mail Handler wage scale and those of other postal unions. Throughout these discussions, the NPMHU Negotiations Team has consistently conveyed that securing a contract that fairly reflects the value, contributions, and lived economic realities of the membership remains its top priority.

In furtherance of that goal, the NPMHU Negotiations Team presented detailed cost analyses of its economic proposals to Deputy Postmaster General Tulino, clearly demonstrating both their reasonableness and their financial feasibility. The Team hopes that these proposals will receive serious consideration and looks to management to respond with meaningful movement that advances the parties toward an agreement.

The Postal Service is currently reviewing the NPMHU’s proposals in between bargaining sessions, and additional meetings have been scheduled to receive management’s response and to continue negotiations.

Throughout this process, the NPMHU Negotiations Team remains steadfast in advocating for the best interests of the Mail Handler craft. The Team understands that fair wages and working conditions are essential not only to the well-being of the membership, but also to maintaining a strong and efficient Postal Service that serves the American mailing public. The NPMHU will continue to press for an agreement that supports the workforce and upholds the mission of the Postal Service.