Starting Salary for Postal Workers
Federal jobs offer great benefits including health insurance, life insurance, paid vacation time, paid sick leave and 10 paid holidays a year. Finding information on the jobs and interpreting salary scales can sometimes be difficult. Here is a breakdown of job classifications and entry level salaries for the United States Postal Service.
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Job Types
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Jobs at the U.S. Postal Service are categorized as bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit as well as career and non-career. The pay scales for bargaining unit jobs are set by collective bargaining agreements. The pay scale for non-bargaining positions is set by the Postal Service. This pay scale, called the Executive and Administrative Schedule (EAS), covers a variety of jobs from administrative assistant to lead economist. Non-career employees include temporary and casual employees hired and released based on work volumes. In the U.S. Postal Service's 2008 annual report, the agency had 663,238 career employees and 101,850 non-career employees. "More than 85 percent of (the) career employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements," according to the Postal Service annual report.
APWU
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The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is the largest postal union representing more than 260,000 career postal employees. The APWU is for postal employees in the clerk, maintenance and motor vehicle services crafts. Effective Aug. 30, 2008, the entry level salary level for workers in the APWU is $33,443.
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Letter Carriers
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The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is the second largest postal union, representing approximately 214,000 career employees. The NALC covers carriers who deliver mail to homes and businesses on city delivery routes. Effective Nov. 22, 2008, the entry level salary level for workers in the NALC is $41,888.
Mail Handlers
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The National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) represents nearly 58,000 career postal employees. Mail handlers are responsible for unloading sacks of incoming mail, separating and delivering mail to sorting machines and sometimes rewrapping packages damaged in mail processing machines. The starting salary for NPMHU employees is $32,553 per year.
Rural Letter Carriers
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Rural carriers deliver the mail on routes outside of the city delivery area. They are paid based on the hours they work each week, and they use their own vehicle instead of a Postal Service delivery vehicle. The entry level salary for a rural carrier who works a 48-hour work week is $51,170.
Other Jobs
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Career jobs at the Postal Service also include EAS positions and part-time and flexible positions. The entry level salary level for an EAS employee is $20,875. Part-time and flexible employees work less than 40 hours per week and their work hours change based on the needs of the Postal Service. These positions include a variety of jobs from maintenance worker to security guard and entry level pay ranges vary. The lowest rate for these positions is $12.29 per hour.
Non-career employees are hired on an as-needed basis for periods not to exceed two 89-day employment terms in a calendar year. Pay for these positions varies, but the entry level salary is approximately $11 per hour.
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References
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