Rural carrier union demands USPS pay ‘harsh penalties’ if payroll problems persist

Two separate payroll errors at the Postal Service over the past few months kept thousands of rural letter carriers from getting their full paychecks on time.

Now the union is demanding USPS modernize its payroll system, and that the agency pay “harsh penalties” to compensate rural carriers if these problems persist.

The National Rural Letter Carriers Association filed a national-level grievance this week over the Postal Service’s “repeated failure to pay rural carriers correctly and on time.”

USPS in September experienced a programming issue with its payroll system that caused more than 52,000 rural letter carriers to miss their regular paycheck, or to receive a partial paycheck for the pay period that ended on Sept. 1.