USPS Signs Third Union Pact.(National Postal Mail Handlers Union)(United States Postal Service)(contracts)(Brief article)

BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher

The United States Postal Service and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union on Dec. 13 reached a tentative five-year contract agreement.

NPMHU will publish the precise terms of the settlement on its Web site at 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 14, when the union's national officers will conduct a nationwide telephone conference call with the presidents from all thirty-seven local unions prior to ratification.

If ratified by union members, the agreement will run through Nov. 20, 2011, and affect approximately 55,000 career employees who are engaged in bulk transfer, loading and unloading of mail. The contract provides wage improvements …