How the NALC Grievance Procedure Works: A Letter Carrier's Plain-English Guide

June 1, 2026

Educational guide only — not legal advice, and not affiliated with or endorsed by the NALC or USPS. Always verify current contract language and consult your shop steward or NBA office before acting.

If you're a city letter carrier and management has done something that violates your contract, the grievance procedure is how the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) enforces the National Agreement. It can feel intimidating the first time, but the process is actually a clear, negotiated sequence of steps with defined roles and deadlines. Here's how it works in plain English.

What a grievance actually is

A grievance is the formal way the union challenges a violation of the National Agreement, a local Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), or a relevant USPS handbook or manual. The whole process lives under Article 15 of the National Agreement, which spells out what a grievance is, the timelines for filing and appealing, and how the case moves toward arbitration if it isn't resolved.

A key idea to understand up front: the union is the "moving party." That means the union — through your steward — carries the responsibility of moving the grievance forward and meeting every deadline. If a time limit is missed on the union's side, the grievance can be lost on procedure alone, no matter how strong the underlying issue is.

The most important number: 14 days

For city letter carriers, the clock to raise a grievance is generally 14 days. That window begins the day after the event happened — or the day after you (or the union) first became aware of it. This is why the single most useful habit a carrier can build is simple: tell your steward right away when something seems wrong. Waiting can run out the clock.

If an issue affects more than one carrier in the office, the union can file a class grievance on behalf of everyone affected, rather than one grievance per person.

The four steps of the grievance procedure

1. Informal Step A — the conversation

This is where almost everything starts. Your shop steward (and sometimes you) discusses the issue directly with your immediate supervisor. The point of this step is to give management a chance to fix the problem quickly, without much paperwork. Many grievances are resolved right here.

This is also where the foundation of a strong case gets laid: gathering the facts, identifying which contract or handbook provisions apply, and requesting an appropriate remedy.

2. Formal Step A — putting it in writing

If Informal Step A doesn't resolve the issue, the union may appeal to Formal Step A within 7 days of the Informal Step A discussion. This step is handled by the NALC branch president (or their designee) and the postmaster (or their designee).

Formal Step A is the step where, if discussion doesn't settle it, the case is reduced to writing: the issue statement, the undisputed facts, the union's disputed facts and contentions, and the requested remedy. A useful technique stewards use is to frame the issue as a question — for example: "Was there just cause for the letter of warning dated [date] issued to the grievant, and if not, what is the appropriate remedy?"

3. Step B — the two-person team

If the grievance still isn't resolved, it's appealed to Step B, where a two-person Dispute Resolution Team (one NALC representative and one USPS representative) reviews the complete case file and issues a decision. Because Step B reviews what's in the file, everything important needs to have been developed and documented at the earlier steps.

4. Arbitration — the final step

If the case can't be resolved at Step B, it can proceed to arbitration, where a neutral third-party arbitrator hears the case and issues a final and binding decision. Most grievances never reach this stage, but the possibility of arbitration is what gives the whole procedure its teeth.

Two contract articles worth knowing

People often confuse these, so here's the simple distinction:

• Article 15 is how you grieve — the procedure and timelines above.
• Article 16 is the discipline standard — it sets the "just cause" requirement, calls for progressive discipline, and requires higher-level management concurrence before suspensions or removals.

So if your grievance is about discipline, you're typically using the Article 15 procedure to challenge whether management met the Article 16 just-cause standard.

What makes a grievance strong

Across every step, the same things separate a strong grievance from a weak one:

• Speed — raise it within the time limits; the union must keep the case moving.
• Facts — dates, times, names, and what specifically happened.
• The right citations — the exact contract articles, handbook sections, or memos that apply, in their current language.
• A clear remedy — what you're actually asking management to do to make it right.
• Documentation — requests for information, statements, and records, gathered early.

Where to get help

Your first and best resource is always your shop steward and your National Business Agent (NBA) office. The NALC also publishes the full National Agreement and contract-administration resources at nalc.org, and stewards rely on the JCAM (Joint Contract Administration Manual) and the Materials Reference System for citations and precedent.

Sources: NALC "Understanding the grievance procedure"; the 2023-2026 USPS/NALC National Agreement (Articles 15 and 16); and NALC contract-administration materials at nalc.org. Procedures and time limits can change between National Agreements — always confirm the current language with your steward or NBA office.