Per Article 3, Section 4(b) of the NALC Constitution, “The National President shall, once each year except in the year of the National Convention, call a national conference. This conference shall be voluntarily attended by only State and Branch Presidents or their designees, with their expenses to be borne by the State Association or Branch represented.”

The Rap Session on Sunday is open to any member in attendance; however, only current branch and state association presidents, or their authorized designees, are eligible to participate in the Rap Session.

If there have been any changes to your branch or state association president, please notify the Membership Department in writing as soon as possible. Updates should be mailed to:

Membership Department
National Association of Letter Carriers
100 Indiana Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001-2144

There will be two workshops on Saturday, which are open to all members in attendance. On Friday, attendees may register in the Lakeside Foyer located on the 3rd floor. On Saturday, registration will be on the 5th floor of the hotel near the workshops. During registration, each member will receive a wristband, which lets them know where to go for the workshops, and a NALC-branded “Fight Like Hell!” T-shirt, which should be worn during the Rap Session on Sunday.

The workshops on Saturday will be dedicated to educating the members about the collective-bargaining process and the ongoing work of the bargaining subcommittees. The subcommittees, which are comprised of members of the executive council as well as select headquarters letter carrier staff, will explain the subjects they are working on as NALC prepares for the next round of collective bargaining beginning next year. The workshops also will include a roundtable discussion between the subcommittees and the membership. Discussions during the workshops are open to everyone; not limited to the branch and state presidents, or their designees, unlike the Rap Session on Sunday.

A complete schedule of events is provided below.

NALC 2025 RAP SESSION

Hilton Cleveland Downtown | Nov. 21-23

Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

NALC Registration & Workshop Sign-up

2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Lakeside Foyer | 3^rd Floor

NALC Exhibits

2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

3^rd Floor

Welcome Reception

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Hope Ballroom | 3^rd Floor

Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025

Continental Breakfast

7 a.m. – 7:45 a.m.

Superior Foyer Area | 5^th Floor

NALC Registration & Workshop Sign-up

7 a.m. – 8 a.m.

5^th Floor

NALC Exhibits

7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

5^th Floor

NALC Workshops

8 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.

10 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

1:15 p.m. – 3 p.m.

3:15 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Superior C & D | 5^th Floor

Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025

Continental Breakfast

7 a.m. – 7:45 a.m.

Superior Foyer Area | 5^th Floor

NALC President Registration

7 a.m. – 8 a.m.

5^th Floor

NALC National Rap Session

8 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Superior Ballroom | 5^th Floor

Internal bargaining subcommittees—made up of Executive Council members and Headquarters staff—have been assigned specific articles of the National Agreement. These groups are meeting regularly to review relevant materials and draft proposals. A list of subcommittees and their assigned National Agreement articles is available here.

Subcommittees are currently reviewing materials, including official NALC bargaining positions adopted through national convention resolutions, proposals from previous rounds of bargaining, collective-bargaining agreements from other unions, and reports from the Rank-and-File Bargaining Committee. Click here for more information.

At the upcoming National Rap Session scheduled for Nov. 21-23 in Cleveland, OH, subcommittees will share information with branch and state leaders about their progress and what’s ahead.

The Executive Council is scheduled to meet again in early November. NALC will continue to provide updates on the collective-bargaining preparation process.

Open Season and service hours update

Open Season for the 2026 plan year begins Monday, Nov. 10, and continues through Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. This is the annual opportunity for Postal Service employees and annuitants to evaluate their health insurance options, compare plan features, and make any necessary changes to their enrollment.

To better support members during Open Season and beyond, the Plan is implementing a second customer service shift beginning Nov. 10, 2025. With this change, representatives will now be available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.

For more information about 2026 benefits, rates, or Open Season enrollment, visit nalchbp.org or contact the Plan directly during the new extended service hours at 888-636-NALC (6252).

Internal bargaining subcommittees, composed of Executive Council members and Headquarters staff, have been assigned specific articles of the National Agreement and are meeting on a regular basis to review information and develop proposals for submission in the bargaining process. Click here for a list of the subcommittees that each Executive Council member has chosen to serve on, along with the related National Agreement articles.

Each subcommittee is tracking its progress by preparing and submitting reports following each meeting. These reports detail information including which articles were discussed, what materials were reviewed, the status of proposal drafts, and when the subcommittee is scheduled to meet next.

Subcommittees are reviewing the following materials:

• Official NALC bargaining positions — Resolutions submitted by branches and state associations that have been debated, voted on and adopted at past national conventions dating back to 1970.
• Prior bargaining proposals — Proposals from previous rounds of collective bargaining that can potentially be reworked or resubmitted.
• Collective-bargaining agreements of other unions — Contract items and elements that might translate well into our craft or prompt ideas relevant to city letter carrier issues.
• Rank-and-File Bargaining Committee reports — Ideas developed by the Rank-and-File Bargaining Committees comprised of Branch Leaders, Contract Enforcers and Newer Members. These committees met in the Washington, DC, area in mid-September and underwent a weeklong review process similar to the one followed by the Executive Council and staff bargaining subcommittees. Click here for more information.

The Executive Council is scheduled to meet at Headquarters again later this month. NALC will continue to provide updates about the work of the subcommittees involved in the collective-bargaining preparation process.

The first dispute arises from a position recently taken by management representatives on Step B teams regarding the arbitrability of grievances. The interpretive issue to be decided is whether a grievance appealed to Step B ceases to be arbitrable if the Step B team fails to issue a decision on the grievance within 14 days, absent an extension agreement.

The second interpretive dispute is over the Postal Service’s refusal to comply with the June 30, 2025, national-level award by Arbitrator Margo Newman, commonly referred to as the “NACI Award.”

Arbitrator Newman’s award held, in relevant part, that a grievance challenging the removal of an employee terminated because of an unfavorable National Agency Check with Inquiries report is arbitrable so long as the employee completed probation prior to the removal. Since the award was issued, USPS has failed to comply with it. USPS recently sued to vacate Arbitrator Newman’s award in federal court. The interpretive issue to be decided is whether USPS violates the National Agreement by refusing to comply with the national-level award.

NALC has requested to meet with USPS to discuss these issues pursuant to the process in Article 15.3.F of the National Agreement. Further updates will be provided as they become available.

Here are instructions on activating an account.

Letter carriers work and are paid as normal.

Because USPS is an independent, self-funded federal agency not funded by tax dollars, the Postal Service is not affected by the shutdown.