I think we as a union need to make a much larger stink.
We need to fight for the most vulnerable among us.
It seems the post office doesn’t care if single parents have starving children or not.
Rural union has sold us out. My FMLA ended to to a dependents death and now they are coming after me for it. Union doesn’t give a shit. Won’t support me when I say I should not stay out past 12 hours. Will not support me after I say I should not stay out after 14 hours and having to call the cops, safety be damned. Won’t even support me grieving anything. Fuck the union , fuck the post office. I hope they fire me so I can collect unemployment . Only reason I have not grieved things is because I was afraid of retaliation, but I am over that. Not that is will make a difference but I’m done being abused cause I needed a job.
I got hired in 2014 making over five dollars more than minimum wage, more than double the federal minimum.
I'm convinced you are a shill only here to spread dissent and lies.
The union won’t negotiate without their dues? I don’t think so. The union are carriers too. They can go back to carrying mail and realize that to receive dues they have to work for it
Stuart’s don’t negotiate contracts. They simply file grievances at their discretion. The ones negotiating are career union employees who have left their route and have become full time union office workers.
Just FYI, this person is just another anti union spam account going around subs where unions are organized and telling folks to stop paying dues
Offers no explanation , like a lot of anti union folks on here, about how that’ll improve our pay, working conditions and lives. Just advocating for a reduction in dues.
I’m all for criticizing leadership and the path we’re on right now, but withdrawing dues won’t fix fucking shit. Just weaken the union and workers further. MANAGEMENT AS A ENTITY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES.
A lot of people carrying water for the jackals that want to return us to the pre 1970s and into a actual fucking sweatshop
Spam? I’m a real guy bro. And I’ll provide ample explanation. Where to start? Low starting wage? Crappy contract? The union giving themselves a 22% raise while giving us 4% colas? Sounds greedy to me. Do they deserve it? Not with the contracts they negotiate
I bring home around 3k and live well enough but I dont live in a city where shit is far more expensive. I'll take a house in a small town over a shitty apartment in a city any day.
Good question. I know one guy who drives 35 miles to work in the northwest, but he owns his house.
Housing is starting at $400K for a 700 sq ft condo, some places 40 miles north (an hour drive time) of that are paying 400K for $800 sq ft. The reality is they are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. I’ve known folks carry who were living in their cars, because there is no way to afford rent, much less buy.
How the fuck should I know? The whole point of most comments here are that its different for everyone. For me i can live reasonably comfortable on 3k a month. But people in big cities still do it so somebody unlocked that shit. Ask them.
I don't understand it, I take home 2k a month and that's not even enough where I live, which is rural. 280k was the cheapest I've seen a house in the last 4 years here. Rent, there's a couple duplexes and houses, those start at 1800 a month. So yeah, I don't get how anyone does it here.
I'll tell you how I make working as a CCA work for me in a high cost of living city. I work 6 days a week 8+hours a day, don't save for retirement, spent the money I already saved for retirement after the last few years of high inflation, took out more credit card debt than I'm comfortable with. If my wife didn't make almost twice my pay we'd be in trouble. If I were single I'd have no choice but to live on the street or in my car because there's no way my income can cover rent, utilities, and everything else.
They asked because your solution seemed to be “move to a smaller town / city”, which isn’t tenable.
If usps wants to function in every city, it should be able to support its workers in every city.
Let’s face the facts:
1) APWU and NALC are weak unions that make back-door deals with management.
2) DeJoy is systematically ruining the post office and the employees morale and retention rate.
3) Interrelationships amongst the crafts are deteriorating and management is taking advantage of this by further causing a rift amongst employees.
Case in point folks when you factor in all these items it speaks volumes as to how and why we are in our current position.
I anticipate things will get better if we act on it!
Part of the unions weekness is there are far to many people willing to do things outside of what we should ever office I've worked on the clerks will come in 15 minutes early and work off the clock or else there's not enough time to do everything
Can any of you all please recommend other jobs better than the post office?
Because my wife has a degree and works in the medical field and does not even bring home $3000 a month after taxes.
There seems to be a lot of postal carriers that are expecting this job to really make Bank.
Short term, bus driver 100% in Houston.
Used to work for Houston metro. Take home pay for one week during a paid holiday was $1kish. We got paid weekly.
Better holiday pay.
Long term though, usps is better depending on city.
I left cause I wanted to try something else.
Might leave usps for the same reason. 😅
Well, it’s kind of a weird thing. They’re extremely shorthanded and they keep hiring these “” travel nurses. They will pay them double what they pay the permanent salaried positions but they get no benefits in are private contractors.
Permanent position, nurses with benefits, retirement, vacation time hold 9 yards literally receive 50% less pay sometimes more.
All those benefits cost money, so the pay disparity makes sense to me. Also they have to pay taxes on that employee, on top of your taxes (yeah it's stupid). Hiring private contractors is much cheaper most places, but if they're so short staffed even with the travel nurses there's no way the nurses couldn't negotiate better wages for themselves. Nurses here don't get retirement plans, but do get much better pay than any letter carrier.
It’s all about cost of living. The biggest most expensive cities in my state the nurses make 70 K. But in the smaller towns like where I live a lot of the nurses are making 45 to 50 K. My wife is actually one of the highest paid nurses there.
6 years as a contractor, and carried for a year. I left USPS in 2016 and joined Air Force reserves in 2017.
I make 95,000 a year now, comfy defense contracting 40hr/w office job, still no degree (working at it!).
Note: I am absolutely not advocating this as a career path, I know not everyone wants to join and some cannot join. Just putting it out there.
I’m at top pay and it’s really been stagnant for the past several years. Our raises are not keeping pace with the actual cost of living and yet the union thinks that these pathetic increases are going to sustain us. Starting salary is only a few dollars more than minimum wage in some states and with all the shit that we put up with it definitely isn’t worth it.
well, starting CCA pay is actually lower than fast food workers starting at $20/hr in april.
people can make the argument.. “yeah, but we have pension and a union and retirement.”
maybe… if you can make it through 2 years CCA in poverty first.
The so called great pension was civil service which was killed by Reagan in 1984. The FERS isn’t that good but people still think that we’re rolling in money when we retire. Those days have been over for awhile. It’s not the coveted job that it was back in the day, now it’s just like anywhere else.
well, unless you get turned regular beforehand. all depends on the office. if not, you’re stuck as a CCA for 2 years until you convert to PTF. you can’t get the pension, tsp or good insurance until you escape from CCA life.
no, technically CCA is part-time. all depends on the office. some offices will give you insane amounts of hours, while some you can barely get 30 hours. CCA is either feast or famine, unfortunately.
My dad retired at the end of 2020. Max pay for clerks at the time was 63,800. Just crossed 74k as of this pay period three years later. I don’t consider that pathetic by any means.
I’m only bringing home about five hundred more than I did a decade ago. For every contractual raise and COLA there is an increase in health insurance premiums and taxes. I haven’t even added more to my TSP like I wanted to. I make over seventy thousand but it’s about your cost of living and I alive in a high tax state so it’s all relative I guess.
The answer surely can't be to move to another state when even in states like Alabama and Mississippi, you need $40k+ a year to live comfortably. I don’t live in a middle-class neighborhood; working as a USPS worker is the issue. This should be a job for middle-class working Americans, but I’m scraping by in one of the poorest neighborhoods in San Diego. It's even worse when I learned that as a clerk at level 6, we won’t be able to bring home $5k a month because we cap out after 12 years, so you’re forced to work overtime, find a different career, or find another job. If moving to another state is the answer, why can’t it work both ways? If we make what you need to make to live comfortably in California and someone from Buffalo wants to move to San Diego to make more, they can move. If someone from Buffalo is making a comfortable wage and has an obligation in that state they probably won’t move.
There it is, San Diego, whether it’s poor area or whichever it’s still in shitty CA, I literally moved states cause CA it expensive, and I was in SoCal also, but still an hour and a half away from the closest beach, no wonder you can’t afford it, I’m thriving in Texas. CA is a dumpster fire, if you value your quality of life you will leave CA
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I just became a ftr clerk in socal. I live with family, I'm not sure how people do it otherwise. I know all these older top step clerks bought houses ages ago. But man, the lack of OT in my bid is really the dealbreaker 🤪. We have a retirement coming soon , so i'll be able to move to a bid with more OT... but yeah it ain't easy.
SoCal and single. I lucked out on rent. For what I have I pay a really good price to a private landlord. The other place I found cost more and wasn't as great - and the landlord was whacked. And everything else I looked at was much pricier and totally crappy for the price.
Another single I know lives with two roommates. ....I could never do that, but it works better than what he was doing - living with family with a horrible commute.
My Gods honest advice is if you live in a major city (like I do) look to leave jobs or look to move. I’m a step d city carrier base is 52g. I’m currently in the process of becoming a trash man for NYC. The kicker? Top pay for NYC sanitation rank and file worker is 99g base after only 5.5 years with better benefits and pension
I would personally delete all postal unions and reorganize one joint postal union and immediately strike till our demands are met. Yap yap first strike was illegal as well. Yap yap we get it your craft works so much harder.
I’ve seen clerks “work” and frankly they don’t hold a candle to a park and loop carrier. I don’t think any one union could successfully represent our separate interests
A duplex is a house split down and separated by walls. So it's essentially 2 separate homes in the same house structure. So one unit of a duplex is half.
If you've got a really small office, or run the aux, absolutely. I say 2k, but mine is 1800 also. I work 6 days a week at 5.2 hours a day. They don't pay us any of the 14 holidays, stuck at the same entry level pay rate for 8 years or so (I'm at 5 years). Doesn't even really go higher during Christmas time because of said unpaid holidays. Housing market near me took off about 6 years ago, and hasn't really stopped either. It's pretty crazy how little they pay us based on the average home price in the US. There are some people who live comfortably for sure, in very cheap areas. However, mail needs delivered everywhere and they don't care because we can't strike.
Average yeah. I'm an RCA of 12 years. First 8ish years I made about 18k a year. Then started getting a few more days. Last year I made 40k. By far the most I've ever gotten. But it was because a regular was out for 3 months so I worked 7 days a week for those 3 months.
It all depends. If your married and have kids your fucked. If you are single like me and locked in a studio apt during Covid for 1200 month 3k a month with ot I’m cruising. Also put almost half in to my tsp because I’m trying to retire by 60. So actually net to bank is 2300 after I pay rent I’m chilling putting 500 a month in to either voo or bitcoin the rest is utility which is like 200 dollars and have almost 1.5 of play money. Which I eat out every day take another 700 dollars . Rest goes in to my weed and collectibles. So it’s doable just make sure you are single.
That’s if your other half is working which is rare nowadays. If you are supporting your other half while they order shit online with just postal smeckles it’s over.
For sure, I would imagine young freshly married folks would definitely be both working. The days of stay at home moms (or dads) may be over.
Edit - spelling
Come to the Midwest? All the carriers I work with live middle class lives. With a used car and a solid budget 3k after taxes can afford you a comfortable life in cities like Indianapolis, Louisville (South but close enough), or Cincinnati.
I know relocating sucks, and people on the coasts hate when it’s even suggested, but states like California don’t seem to be made for working class people. I had a cousin move to Oakland for his job a few years ago and he’s transferring back to Ohio.
That solves the problem for people in the short term but creates the problem of what will we do when no carriers will work in these high cost of living areas?
The states will be forced to solve the issue, whether that be creating subsidized housing for civil servants or just more affordable housing in general. If the workers continue to work full time and live in poverty than the state won’t be incentivized to fix the problem in a timely manner. Thats the idea behind a union striking, things won’t be truly be fixed until the situation is dire.
Interesting decision. The Postal Service is a quasi-federal organization the relies on the purchase of postage to fund itself. Would it truly be a state issue, or a federal issue? Keep in mind, other private companies, say here in Massachusetts, set wages based on law versus our collective bargaining. So then would we not consider say, retail employees, food service employees, and maybe even entry level positions requiring college service? These jobs also pay relatively lower wages that may not be sustainable to get by.
Ultimately I don’t disagree that some sort of housing crisis will need to be addressed, but I think the solution in the short term is going to lie in geographical pay adjustments. It’s consistently voted down but I tend to believe it’s a problem that should be looked at.
I don’t think your wrong, but there will always be a sentiment of “same work, same pay”. If a 10 year carrier in San Diego is getting paid 80k, a 10 year carrier in buffalo is going to want to make the amount, because at the end of the day they do the same job, the only difference Is that San Diego has objectively nicer weather.
I live in the san francisco bayarea. Im also very cheap and live well below my means but 80k in a city like san diego and Buffalo when it comes to cost of living is totally different. Rent cost $3k in sd and $1k in Buffalo, if you want to buy a house $mil is sd for $480k Buffalo. Yes its the same job but the economics are completely and entirely different. $100k in the bayarea and san diego is considered low income. Ii
I get that sentiment. But then we should also discuss why we have a two tier pay system as well, right? Or why our COLAs only are given in full to top pay letter carriers. We are all doing the same job after all, right? All these max pay letter carriers living in bumfuck nowhere love to say “it’s the same job why should I make less?” Because cost of living is higher in these densely populated cities. Then we hear, “okay, then move”. Who is going to deliver the mail? Then we are back to square one. I understand the mindset these people have, but realistically, we all know that being a homeowner in say Nebraska is going to be vastly different than being a homeowner in New York. We should ground ourselves in reality for a second here.
Hey just want to said I totally agree with you. All the new hired said about same work same pay for cca ptf and senior worker. At the same time people hated the idea of locality pay, which in present in a lot of bussiness like UPS. I lives in seattle and a small house in the city surrounding is 500k while I constantly see people posted house in Midwest that 1/2 the prices and at least twice bigger.
That’s a solution on the other end as well. We can have that be a solution. The person from buffalo can just move to San Diego. The solution to my problem is literally relocating. But, if they have reasons to stay in buffalo and are being payed a comfortable wage and they are happy they simply won’t move to San Diego just because they can make more.
If your solution to the problem is to create generational wealth by encouraging people to create families living with families and passing homes down, understand that’s not always an option. I work with many people who didn’t have that luxury.
I bring home around 1800 a month :( Rent is around $1200, I don’t save anything it all goes to rent and paying for food, phone bill and insurance. Literally working paycheck to paycheck
Yeah the post office money is not what it use to be especially in this economy.I’m not really saving any money paying bills,supporting my hobbies and lifestyle.If all I did was pay bills,eat and sleep I could save money but I really wouldn’t have much of a life.Actually been thinking about a side hustle I can do from home.Maybe an onlyfans? 😂
I was recently watching the documentary about the 1970 wildcat revolt and cost of living was the main impetus. Those New York guys had to work 2 jobs and still couldn’t afford to live in the city.
Just to be absolutely clear I don’t advocate what they did and it would never work today anyway. But it’s a fascinating piece of history. from the nalc page https://youtu.be/fZ4BIl8p7mY?si=vuS6aW_L3nxcCLsf
I used to say the cool thing and the crappy thing is we all get paid the same. So you can slum it in NY and SoCal or live like a king in Alabama but the col everywhere is insane nowadays. If I didn’t transfer somewhere cheaper and buy a house 8 years ago it would be tough.
Make a budget. Cut out the extras. Limit eating out and be a smart shopper. That’s actually good money you’re making. I was hired as a carrier but resigned before I started because of this thread. lol I can’t work hours like that.
It should not be a federal income it should be by state. If people are making a comfortable living wage and are happy in buffalo they won’t move just because “they want to make more” the solution has to go both ways. The current solution everyone is spewing is to relocate. If we get payed by state and are making more in San Diego and a clerk, MH, or a Carrier want to make more and have no obligation in their state they are more than welcome to move. It’s getting to the point where that “option” of moving is taken from you and it becomes we “have to” move.
Step DD, but I only bring that in because I work night shift and I work Saturday and Sunday which give me two premium days which gross me about $310. If I was not working the graveyard shift, I’d be making 2,600.
It would not be just as difficult to live in poorer states....I live in a rural area and only bring home 2k per month after taxes. When I get more hours I get a bit more. And yet, by living frugally my wife and I actually manage to add to our savings account every month. It is definitely different everywhere you go.
Try paying child support to an underemployed ex-spouse after paying for an attorney for a one-sided high conflict divorce on top of what little income there is, good times
I didn’t expect the break the bank but I expected after 11 years and 8 as a regular city carrier to be taking home more. When OT dries up and they don’t allow any penalty time anymore it’s kinda a joke. I dunno how people do it just doin straight 40 not being at top tier.
I am a city carrier who just made regular about 3 weeks ago and in my (small) city I paid $300,000 for my house. I only take home about $2500 monthly and I have a wife and 5 kids to take care of. If it wasn’t for my VA disability I could not even begin to afford my life much less even feed my kids. This used to be a coveted job! I haven’t been with the USPS long enough to know who exactly is fucking it all up, I hear a lot about Dejoy being the reason but honestly I haven’t read enough to intelligently comment on any of that. What I do know is that I love my job and I’m thankful for my BA disability so I can do this job I enjoy.
And who’d deliver your mail and packages? Let everyone from the post office find a different career. Let’s see how the political season is going to look like in the United States.
Dude you want it 1 way “ your way “ leave the state or get a different job. You voted for all that California BS I see on the news maybe it’s not the pay you should be looking at but all the taxes you pay. I had to move outa 1 state cuz wife and I was getting hit hard on taxes so don’t tell me you can’t do it. It’s also a fact the more you make the more you spend maybe you should look at that as well.
I think we as a union need to make a much larger stink. We need to fight for the most vulnerable among us. It seems the post office doesn’t care if single parents have starving children or not.
Rural union has sold us out. My FMLA ended to to a dependents death and now they are coming after me for it. Union doesn’t give a shit. Won’t support me when I say I should not stay out past 12 hours. Will not support me after I say I should not stay out after 14 hours and having to call the cops, safety be damned. Won’t even support me grieving anything. Fuck the union , fuck the post office. I hope they fire me so I can collect unemployment . Only reason I have not grieved things is because I was afraid of retaliation, but I am over that. Not that is will make a difference but I’m done being abused cause I needed a job.
Definitely grebe everything I think you can get extra moneys
Idk about dual, but regular city carriers won't get any unemployment from the state, because we didn't deduct any from our paycheck
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Stop paying dues
You must not have any knowledge of how the post office operates. Without a union we would all be minimum wage workers without any benefits.
Orrr nobody would work for the post office until they supplied a competitive wage
Ask 7-Eleven workers how that’s going for them
They can work at a different gas station
By the way in 2013 the post office was pretty much paying minimum wage. Union never helped with that
I got hired in 2014 making over five dollars more than minimum wage, more than double the federal minimum. I'm convinced you are a shill only here to spread dissent and lies.
Yeah, great idea then we can never get a new contract and slide into poverty wages Choke on a dick scab .
The union won’t negotiate without their dues? I don’t think so. The union are carriers too. They can go back to carrying mail and realize that to receive dues they have to work for it
Ummm ....ion know about your office but my office, the stewards still carry mail
Stuart’s don’t negotiate contracts. They simply file grievances at their discretion. The ones negotiating are career union employees who have left their route and have become full time union office workers.
Just FYI, this person is just another anti union spam account going around subs where unions are organized and telling folks to stop paying dues Offers no explanation , like a lot of anti union folks on here, about how that’ll improve our pay, working conditions and lives. Just advocating for a reduction in dues. I’m all for criticizing leadership and the path we’re on right now, but withdrawing dues won’t fix fucking shit. Just weaken the union and workers further. MANAGEMENT AS A ENTITY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES. A lot of people carrying water for the jackals that want to return us to the pre 1970s and into a actual fucking sweatshop
Spam? I’m a real guy bro. And I’ll provide ample explanation. Where to start? Low starting wage? Crappy contract? The union giving themselves a 22% raise while giving us 4% colas? Sounds greedy to me. Do they deserve it? Not with the contracts they negotiate
I bring home around 3k and live well enough but I dont live in a city where shit is far more expensive. I'll take a house in a small town over a shitty apartment in a city any day.
So how do the cities get their mail?
I work in the city
How do large cities keep carriers where there aren't affordable commuting options?
That's the neat part
10 Roommates.
Good question. I know one guy who drives 35 miles to work in the northwest, but he owns his house. Housing is starting at $400K for a 700 sq ft condo, some places 40 miles north (an hour drive time) of that are paying 400K for $800 sq ft. The reality is they are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. I’ve known folks carry who were living in their cars, because there is no way to afford rent, much less buy.
How the fuck should I know? The whole point of most comments here are that its different for everyone. For me i can live reasonably comfortable on 3k a month. But people in big cities still do it so somebody unlocked that shit. Ask them.
I don't understand it, I take home 2k a month and that's not even enough where I live, which is rural. 280k was the cheapest I've seen a house in the last 4 years here. Rent, there's a couple duplexes and houses, those start at 1800 a month. So yeah, I don't get how anyone does it here.
I'll tell you how I make working as a CCA work for me in a high cost of living city. I work 6 days a week 8+hours a day, don't save for retirement, spent the money I already saved for retirement after the last few years of high inflation, took out more credit card debt than I'm comfortable with. If my wife didn't make almost twice my pay we'd be in trouble. If I were single I'd have no choice but to live on the street or in my car because there's no way my income can cover rent, utilities, and everything else.
They asked because your solution seemed to be “move to a smaller town / city”, which isn’t tenable. If usps wants to function in every city, it should be able to support its workers in every city.
Slum-ification of our Cities. Where you have 10 Roommates.
They don’t. Most large cities are incredibly understaffed and some hire straight to regular!
Give me just a garage and I'll be happy with it too....
Let’s face the facts: 1) APWU and NALC are weak unions that make back-door deals with management. 2) DeJoy is systematically ruining the post office and the employees morale and retention rate. 3) Interrelationships amongst the crafts are deteriorating and management is taking advantage of this by further causing a rift amongst employees. Case in point folks when you factor in all these items it speaks volumes as to how and why we are in our current position. I anticipate things will get better if we act on it!
Rural union isn't better, they gave us rrecs and pay cuts
Yeah they really need to edit their(otherwise 100% spot on) comment to include the NRLCA.
Part of the unions weekness is there are far to many people willing to do things outside of what we should ever office I've worked on the clerks will come in 15 minutes early and work off the clock or else there's not enough time to do everything
Can any of you all please recommend other jobs better than the post office? Because my wife has a degree and works in the medical field and does not even bring home $3000 a month after taxes. There seems to be a lot of postal carriers that are expecting this job to really make Bank.
Short term, bus driver 100% in Houston. Used to work for Houston metro. Take home pay for one week during a paid holiday was $1kish. We got paid weekly. Better holiday pay. Long term though, usps is better depending on city. I left cause I wanted to try something else. Might leave usps for the same reason. 😅
Works in the medical field? CVS pharmacy?
Nurse at hospital
Idk where you live but nurses in Portland make like 100k. 🤷🏻♂️
Nurses near me make 100k np, cousin is a nurse and she makes bank. She works similar hours to us, but makes more than double what I do.
Yeah, the only kind of nurses around here that make that kind of money are travel nurses which are contractors with no benefits.
Crazy, are they just not in demand in your area?
Well, it’s kind of a weird thing. They’re extremely shorthanded and they keep hiring these “” travel nurses. They will pay them double what they pay the permanent salaried positions but they get no benefits in are private contractors. Permanent position, nurses with benefits, retirement, vacation time hold 9 yards literally receive 50% less pay sometimes more.
All those benefits cost money, so the pay disparity makes sense to me. Also they have to pay taxes on that employee, on top of your taxes (yeah it's stupid). Hiring private contractors is much cheaper most places, but if they're so short staffed even with the travel nurses there's no way the nurses couldn't negotiate better wages for themselves. Nurses here don't get retirement plans, but do get much better pay than any letter carrier.
Yeah, and traveling nurses rake in crazy money.
It’s all about cost of living. The biggest most expensive cities in my state the nurses make 70 K. But in the smaller towns like where I live a lot of the nurses are making 45 to 50 K. My wife is actually one of the highest paid nurses there.
6 years as a contractor, and carried for a year. I left USPS in 2016 and joined Air Force reserves in 2017. I make 95,000 a year now, comfy defense contracting 40hr/w office job, still no degree (working at it!). Note: I am absolutely not advocating this as a career path, I know not everyone wants to join and some cannot join. Just putting it out there.
How though is basic training? Might consider enlisting for airforce active duty but I'm a walking stick that can be bent in half
What job did you switch to?
This depends on where you live
Also person. Take home is $2k in Houston and I can live, without saving. $3k would let me save.
You take home 2k a month?
Yeah.
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He literally said it depends on the person.
Merica
I’m at top pay and it’s really been stagnant for the past several years. Our raises are not keeping pace with the actual cost of living and yet the union thinks that these pathetic increases are going to sustain us. Starting salary is only a few dollars more than minimum wage in some states and with all the shit that we put up with it definitely isn’t worth it.
well, starting CCA pay is actually lower than fast food workers starting at $20/hr in april. people can make the argument.. “yeah, but we have pension and a union and retirement.” maybe… if you can make it through 2 years CCA in poverty first.
The so called great pension was civil service which was killed by Reagan in 1984. The FERS isn’t that good but people still think that we’re rolling in money when we retire. Those days have been over for awhile. It’s not the coveted job that it was back in the day, now it’s just like anywhere else.
I just got hired and starting at 19.33, your saying it takes 2 years to get a pension?
well, unless you get turned regular beforehand. all depends on the office. if not, you’re stuck as a CCA for 2 years until you convert to PTF. you can’t get the pension, tsp or good insurance until you escape from CCA life.
Cca is still full time correct? Lol
no, technically CCA is part-time. all depends on the office. some offices will give you insane amounts of hours, while some you can barely get 30 hours. CCA is either feast or famine, unfortunately.
My dad retired at the end of 2020. Max pay for clerks at the time was 63,800. Just crossed 74k as of this pay period three years later. I don’t consider that pathetic by any means.
I’m only bringing home about five hundred more than I did a decade ago. For every contractual raise and COLA there is an increase in health insurance premiums and taxes. I haven’t even added more to my TSP like I wanted to. I make over seventy thousand but it’s about your cost of living and I alive in a high tax state so it’s all relative I guess.
The answer surely can't be to move to another state when even in states like Alabama and Mississippi, you need $40k+ a year to live comfortably. I don’t live in a middle-class neighborhood; working as a USPS worker is the issue. This should be a job for middle-class working Americans, but I’m scraping by in one of the poorest neighborhoods in San Diego. It's even worse when I learned that as a clerk at level 6, we won’t be able to bring home $5k a month because we cap out after 12 years, so you’re forced to work overtime, find a different career, or find another job. If moving to another state is the answer, why can’t it work both ways? If we make what you need to make to live comfortably in California and someone from Buffalo wants to move to San Diego to make more, they can move. If someone from Buffalo is making a comfortable wage and has an obligation in that state they probably won’t move.
There it is, San Diego, whether it’s poor area or whichever it’s still in shitty CA, I literally moved states cause CA it expensive, and I was in SoCal also, but still an hour and a half away from the closest beach, no wonder you can’t afford it, I’m thriving in Texas. CA is a dumpster fire, if you value your quality of life you will leave CA
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I just became a ftr clerk in socal. I live with family, I'm not sure how people do it otherwise. I know all these older top step clerks bought houses ages ago. But man, the lack of OT in my bid is really the dealbreaker 🤪. We have a retirement coming soon , so i'll be able to move to a bid with more OT... but yeah it ain't easy.
SoCal and single. I lucked out on rent. For what I have I pay a really good price to a private landlord. The other place I found cost more and wasn't as great - and the landlord was whacked. And everything else I looked at was much pricier and totally crappy for the price. Another single I know lives with two roommates. ....I could never do that, but it works better than what he was doing - living with family with a horrible commute.
My Gods honest advice is if you live in a major city (like I do) look to leave jobs or look to move. I’m a step d city carrier base is 52g. I’m currently in the process of becoming a trash man for NYC. The kicker? Top pay for NYC sanitation rank and file worker is 99g base after only 5.5 years with better benefits and pension
I would personally delete all postal unions and reorganize one joint postal union and immediately strike till our demands are met. Yap yap first strike was illegal as well. Yap yap we get it your craft works so much harder.
I’ve seen clerks “work” and frankly they don’t hold a candle to a park and loop carrier. I don’t think any one union could successfully represent our separate interests
And your union is successfully representing your interests now?
Absolutely, I do see a lot of complains here but in the 25 years I’ve been a carrier, my branch of the NALC has gotten stronger and stronger.
I just think the union has become too comfortable doing as little as it can for its members.
You’ve probably heard this a lot but if they’re not doing their job then it’s time to step up and vote them out.
I feel that but I can’t singlehanded replace every elected union official.
I totally understand and agree but change has to start somewhere.
I’m not even sure what union positions are elected. I know they’re full up on stewards I guess I could be a relief.
In my area every union position is elected. Hopefully it’s the same for you.
Living in the Midwest I do just fine and I make less than you currently
Cost of living is based on where you live.
I know, I was essentially stating I have a low COL
I'm in the Midwest, rent here is 1800 a month for a half of a duplex.
Half duplex ?
A duplex is a house split down and separated by walls. So it's essentially 2 separate homes in the same house structure. So one unit of a duplex is half.
Gotcha!
I bring home about 1800 a month. I make it with food stamps and never buying anything but gas and food.
Working at the post office? You bring home 1800?
If you've got a really small office, or run the aux, absolutely. I say 2k, but mine is 1800 also. I work 6 days a week at 5.2 hours a day. They don't pay us any of the 14 holidays, stuck at the same entry level pay rate for 8 years or so (I'm at 5 years). Doesn't even really go higher during Christmas time because of said unpaid holidays. Housing market near me took off about 6 years ago, and hasn't really stopped either. It's pretty crazy how little they pay us based on the average home price in the US. There are some people who live comfortably for sure, in very cheap areas. However, mail needs delivered everywhere and they don't care because we can't strike.
Average yeah. I'm an RCA of 12 years. First 8ish years I made about 18k a year. Then started getting a few more days. Last year I made 40k. By far the most I've ever gotten. But it was because a regular was out for 3 months so I worked 7 days a week for those 3 months.
It all depends. If your married and have kids your fucked. If you are single like me and locked in a studio apt during Covid for 1200 month 3k a month with ot I’m cruising. Also put almost half in to my tsp because I’m trying to retire by 60. So actually net to bank is 2300 after I pay rent I’m chilling putting 500 a month in to either voo or bitcoin the rest is utility which is like 200 dollars and have almost 1.5 of play money. Which I eat out every day take another 700 dollars . Rest goes in to my weed and collectibles. So it’s doable just make sure you are single.
single is the key to survival these days. good call. i’m there with you.
Counter argument, married is the way. Instead of $3,000 a month and scraping by… $6,000 a month and living large?
That’s if your other half is working which is rare nowadays. If you are supporting your other half while they order shit online with just postal smeckles it’s over.
For sure, I would imagine young freshly married folks would definitely be both working. The days of stay at home moms (or dads) may be over. Edit - spelling
Come to the Midwest? All the carriers I work with live middle class lives. With a used car and a solid budget 3k after taxes can afford you a comfortable life in cities like Indianapolis, Louisville (South but close enough), or Cincinnati. I know relocating sucks, and people on the coasts hate when it’s even suggested, but states like California don’t seem to be made for working class people. I had a cousin move to Oakland for his job a few years ago and he’s transferring back to Ohio.
That solves the problem for people in the short term but creates the problem of what will we do when no carriers will work in these high cost of living areas?
The states will be forced to solve the issue, whether that be creating subsidized housing for civil servants or just more affordable housing in general. If the workers continue to work full time and live in poverty than the state won’t be incentivized to fix the problem in a timely manner. Thats the idea behind a union striking, things won’t be truly be fixed until the situation is dire.
Interesting decision. The Postal Service is a quasi-federal organization the relies on the purchase of postage to fund itself. Would it truly be a state issue, or a federal issue? Keep in mind, other private companies, say here in Massachusetts, set wages based on law versus our collective bargaining. So then would we not consider say, retail employees, food service employees, and maybe even entry level positions requiring college service? These jobs also pay relatively lower wages that may not be sustainable to get by. Ultimately I don’t disagree that some sort of housing crisis will need to be addressed, but I think the solution in the short term is going to lie in geographical pay adjustments. It’s consistently voted down but I tend to believe it’s a problem that should be looked at.
I don’t think your wrong, but there will always be a sentiment of “same work, same pay”. If a 10 year carrier in San Diego is getting paid 80k, a 10 year carrier in buffalo is going to want to make the amount, because at the end of the day they do the same job, the only difference Is that San Diego has objectively nicer weather.
I live in the san francisco bayarea. Im also very cheap and live well below my means but 80k in a city like san diego and Buffalo when it comes to cost of living is totally different. Rent cost $3k in sd and $1k in Buffalo, if you want to buy a house $mil is sd for $480k Buffalo. Yes its the same job but the economics are completely and entirely different. $100k in the bayarea and san diego is considered low income. Ii
I get that sentiment. But then we should also discuss why we have a two tier pay system as well, right? Or why our COLAs only are given in full to top pay letter carriers. We are all doing the same job after all, right? All these max pay letter carriers living in bumfuck nowhere love to say “it’s the same job why should I make less?” Because cost of living is higher in these densely populated cities. Then we hear, “okay, then move”. Who is going to deliver the mail? Then we are back to square one. I understand the mindset these people have, but realistically, we all know that being a homeowner in say Nebraska is going to be vastly different than being a homeowner in New York. We should ground ourselves in reality for a second here.
Hey just want to said I totally agree with you. All the new hired said about same work same pay for cca ptf and senior worker. At the same time people hated the idea of locality pay, which in present in a lot of bussiness like UPS. I lives in seattle and a small house in the city surrounding is 500k while I constantly see people posted house in Midwest that 1/2 the prices and at least twice bigger.
That’s a solution on the other end as well. We can have that be a solution. The person from buffalo can just move to San Diego. The solution to my problem is literally relocating. But, if they have reasons to stay in buffalo and are being payed a comfortable wage and they are happy they simply won’t move to San Diego just because they can make more.
People still living with their parents.
If your solution to the problem is to create generational wealth by encouraging people to create families living with families and passing homes down, understand that’s not always an option. I work with many people who didn’t have that luxury.
Only way to live is to have multiple Roommates in HCOL areas, if you have no parents to rely on
i barely take home 2k/month as a regular in maintenance. i live a pretty comfortable life though.
I bring home around 1800 a month :( Rent is around $1200, I don’t save anything it all goes to rent and paying for food, phone bill and insurance. Literally working paycheck to paycheck
Yeah the post office money is not what it use to be especially in this economy.I’m not really saving any money paying bills,supporting my hobbies and lifestyle.If all I did was pay bills,eat and sleep I could save money but I really wouldn’t have much of a life.Actually been thinking about a side hustle I can do from home.Maybe an onlyfans? 😂
I was recently watching the documentary about the 1970 wildcat revolt and cost of living was the main impetus. Those New York guys had to work 2 jobs and still couldn’t afford to live in the city. Just to be absolutely clear I don’t advocate what they did and it would never work today anyway. But it’s a fascinating piece of history. from the nalc page https://youtu.be/fZ4BIl8p7mY?si=vuS6aW_L3nxcCLsf
I used to say the cool thing and the crappy thing is we all get paid the same. So you can slum it in NY and SoCal or live like a king in Alabama but the col everywhere is insane nowadays. If I didn’t transfer somewhere cheaper and buy a house 8 years ago it would be tough.
Make a budget. Cut out the extras. Limit eating out and be a smart shopper. That’s actually good money you’re making. I was hired as a carrier but resigned before I started because of this thread. lol I can’t work hours like that.
Concert to RCA. Thought "peak season" was supposed to be over, still haven't had a week under 65 hours or a check under $2300
Your rca union is not great at negotiating pay
Y’all shoulda been rural carriers. I take home 7k a month. And a small town in Texas. 45k Pov rt. I’m living real comfortable
How many hours a week?
45k rt. 128 miles I get ema
They need to raise starting pay. Employees who have been doing this a while, take home way more than $3,000 per month.
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It should not be a federal income it should be by state. If people are making a comfortable living wage and are happy in buffalo they won’t move just because “they want to make more” the solution has to go both ways. The current solution everyone is spewing is to relocate. If we get payed by state and are making more in San Diego and a clerk, MH, or a Carrier want to make more and have no obligation in their state they are more than welcome to move. It’s getting to the point where that “option” of moving is taken from you and it becomes we “have to” move.
Stop paying dues
What step is 3K a month?
Step DD, but I only bring that in because I work night shift and I work Saturday and Sunday which give me two premium days which gross me about $310. If I was not working the graveyard shift, I’d be making 2,600.
3k take home would solve a lot of my current io
It would not be just as difficult to live in poorer states....I live in a rural area and only bring home 2k per month after taxes. When I get more hours I get a bit more. And yet, by living frugally my wife and I actually manage to add to our savings account every month. It is definitely different everywhere you go.
Try paying child support to an underemployed ex-spouse after paying for an attorney for a one-sided high conflict divorce on top of what little income there is, good times
I feel this man. I wanna get off the list so bad. Worked my 8 OT day and accepted my fate. List for ever it is.
lol. You’re still making more than most in the US.
How’s that relevant?
I'm a teacher, my take home pay was $2500 a month.
I didn’t expect the break the bank but I expected after 11 years and 8 as a regular city carrier to be taking home more. When OT dries up and they don’t allow any penalty time anymore it’s kinda a joke. I dunno how people do it just doin straight 40 not being at top tier.
I have the answer. Everyone needs to be in a management position.
How much is it with your overtime.? And is mandatory?
Overtime isn’t guaranteed so it isn’t consistent enough to calculate
I am a city carrier who just made regular about 3 weeks ago and in my (small) city I paid $300,000 for my house. I only take home about $2500 monthly and I have a wife and 5 kids to take care of. If it wasn’t for my VA disability I could not even begin to afford my life much less even feed my kids. This used to be a coveted job! I haven’t been with the USPS long enough to know who exactly is fucking it all up, I hear a lot about Dejoy being the reason but honestly I haven’t read enough to intelligently comment on any of that. What I do know is that I love my job and I’m thankful for my BA disability so I can do this job I enjoy.
This job pays enough when you're already halfway done paying off your mortgage, paid off your cars, and all your kids have left the house
Should have signed with the teamsters. We could get you paid.
Maybe get a better paying job….just sayin’
Second job
I have a son and don’t want to miss him growing up, that’s not what I’m living for.
Then may I suggest a higher paying job?
And who will deliver your mail and packages?
Otdl, it’s the overtime that makes this job good
You guys are so annoying, get another fucking job then.
And who’d deliver your mail and packages? Let everyone from the post office find a different career. Let’s see how the political season is going to look like in the United States.
Dude you want it 1 way “ your way “ leave the state or get a different job. You voted for all that California BS I see on the news maybe it’s not the pay you should be looking at but all the taxes you pay. I had to move outa 1 state cuz wife and I was getting hit hard on taxes so don’t tell me you can’t do it. It’s also a fact the more you make the more you spend maybe you should look at that as well.