Labor Talks With Postal Unions Reach Impasse

Contract talks with two unions representing 242,000 letter carriers and mail handlers are at an impasse and a mediator may be called in to resolve differences, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Agreements with the National Association of Letter Carriers, with 196,000 members, and the National Postal Handlers Union and its 46,000 members expired in November, Bloomberg said.

Talks were extended twice, to Dec. 16 and then midnight tonight, the U.S. Postal Service statement said in a statement.

As a first step, the parties may seek mediation and, if the effort fails, would ask an arbitrator to determine a final resolution, USPS said.

Letter-carriers union President Frederic Rolando said negotiators had been making “steady progress,” Bloomberg reported.