From APWU.org

The pay schedule changes under the 2024-2027 Collective Bargaining Agreement will be implemented on September 19, 2026. For employees covered by the main agreement who are on the post-2011 pay schedule in Grades 4-7, a new top stop step will be added. Officially, the change applies to workers in Rate Schedule Codes (RSCs) P7, K7, and C7.

Employees in these RSCs will now progress to the following top steps:

• Grade 4 Top Step J
• Grade 5 Top Step L
• Grade 6 Top Step M
• Grade 7 Top Step M

“Starting with the 2015 national negotiations, the leadership of the APWU has always made reclaiming the top steps a priority in negotiations. These new top steps are another example of the APWU working to claw back the full pay scale for our members”, Industrial Relations Director Charlie Cash said.

“Every step we reclaim means more money in our members’ pockets and higher lifetime earnings,” said APWU President Jonathan Smith. “As we prepare for our next round of negotiations, the APWU will continue fighting to make sure postal workers get the wages and benefits they deserve.”

Under the terms of the agreement, once the new steps are implemented, employees will reach the new top step after 36 weeks in the current stop of the respective grade. Any time spent in the current top step, including time in that step prior to implementation, will count towards the step waiting period calculation for advancement to the new top step.

This means that an employee who is currently in the top step for Grades 4-7 and has been in that top step for at least 36 weeks on September 18, 2026, will be moved the new top step in their grade on September 19, 2026.

In terms of real dollars, that means:

• Grade 4 Step I employee moves to Step J, an increase of $1,196
• Grade 5 Step K employee moves to Step L, an increase of $1,125
• Grade 6 Step L employee moves to Step M, an increase of $1,062
• Grade 7 Step L employee moves to Step M, an increase of $1,004

The Industrial Relations Department has identified about 1,125 employees currently in the top steps of these grades who will move to a new top step upon implementation.

For these employees, with the most recent COLA of $1,414, the additional step, and the 1.5% pay increase due on November 14, 2026, will result in overall increases of approximately $3,500 to their annual pay in just over two months. Depending on the grade, this equates to annual salary increases of between 4.5% and 5.1%.

This change does not just apply only to employees who are currently in the top steps. Any employee who is currently in these grades, is converted to a career position in these grades, or is hired directly into one of these grades will benefit from these changes as well.

These employees will now have a new top step they can reach, providing them additional lifetime earnings. The Industrial Relations Department has identified over 109,000 employees who will eventually progress to one of these new top four steps.

Over the years, the APWU has successfully made significant changes to the pay provisions of the employees in the new pay schedule.

Grade 3 was completely eliminated in the 2024-2027 contract. Grade 8 saw the elimination of all the lower steps and new top step P was added in the 2021-2024 contract, putting all Grade 8 employees on the same pay scale.

In the 2010-2015 contract, the new pay schedule’s top step was five steps below the top step of the old pay schedule in Grades 5-7 and six steps below the old pay schedule’s top step in Grade 4.

Upon implementation of the new steps this year, the APWU will have reclaimed—with no concessions on full COLA for all career employees—three steps in Grades 6 and 7, two steps in Grade 5, and one step in Grade 4 as well as eliminated the lowest step in grade 4.

These changes can mean tens of thousands of dollars in additional pay over the lifetime of anemployee. With each pay increase, COLA added to the annual salaries, or additional step reclaimed, further general wage increase in the next round of bargaining will be calculated on a higher dollar level before. Each increase in the annual salary, no matter how small, adds up for each general wage increase.

As the APWU moves into negotiations in 2027, we will be prepared to negotiate an economic package that benefits all those we represent. Reclaiming more top steps will remain a continued demand in negotiations.

You can watch an explanatory video at: New Top Steps Take Effect Sept. 19 | American Postal Workers Union