The Postal Service is giving its supervisors, managers and postmasters a pay raise that will hit their paychecks starting in October.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced Wednesday that all Executive and Administrative Schedule (EAS) and Pay Band Non-bargaining unit employees will soon receive a 3% salary increase, “regardless of their current salary maximum.”

DeJoy, in a memo to USPS officers Wednesday, said the pay increase will go into effect Sept. 24 and will reflect on the employees’ Oct. 14 pay statement.

“As we continue our efforts to transform the Postal Service, recognizing the dedication and accomplishments of our management team has never been more important,” DeJoy wrote. “Much has been accomplished this past year in the face of significant challenges — the continued impact of a global pandemic and record inflation. Our management team consistently rises to overcome these and other challenges and perform at a high level.”

Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) employees will also receive a 3% salary increase “up to their current position’s salary maximum.”

Any amount exceeding the maximum allowable salary will be paid in a lump-sum payment. These pay increases will also be effective Sept. 24 and will reflect on the employees’ Oct. 14 pay statement.

The National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) said in a statement Wednesday that it welcomed DeJoy’s recognition of postal supervisors, managers and postmasters, but said “additional pay relief for EAS personnel will be required” to offset the nearly 9% rate of inflation over the past year.

“Members of USPS bargaining units will receive greater salary increases through their ongoing contractual and cost-of-living adjustments and step increases in the months ahead, and EAS employees should receive additional increases to maintain an adequate salary differential above the craft employees and compensation comparable to the private sector, as required by law,” NAPS wrote.

NAPS said DeJoy’s salary increase announcement does not settle the association’s ongoing lawsuit brought over the terms of its 2016-2019 pay package.

In that lawsuit, a federal appeals court ruled in February that USPS hasn’t been meeting legal requirements to ensure managers and supervisors are paid close to what they could make in the private sector, and ensure their compensation is higher than what the employees they oversee earn.

A three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in the ruling, found USPS violated the Postal Reorganization Act by failing to ensure its supervisors are paid a rate above the employees they oversee.

The appeals court’s ruling also gives NAPS greater leverage in advocating for higher pay and benefits for its members.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in its ruling, found USPS violated the law by failing to provide NAPS with a reason for rejecting its recommendations during pay talks covering fiscal years 2016 through 2019.

The lawsuit, which remains ongoing, has been sent back to the Federal District Court for D.C. for further proceedings.

NAPS claimed that the current pay structure for supervisors, managers, postmasters, and other professional and administrative workers that fall under EAS results in thousands of field supervisors earning less than the employees that they supervise.

The association claimed that many clerks and carriers represented by postal unions received more total compensation than their supervisors, because they earned overtime at higher rates and after fewer hours, and also received larger and more regular pay raises.

Under the Postal Reorganization Act, the salaries of rank-and-file employees, such as postal clerks and letter carriers, are determined through collective bargaining with postal unions.

The court also determined that NPS is able to represent nearly all USPS supervisors and managers, regardless of whether the agency classifies them as field, area or headquarters employees.

Supervisory and managerial personnel are excluded from representation in any collective bargaining unit, but the legislation directs USPS to “provide a program for consultation with recognized organizations of supervisory and other managerial personnel who are not subject to collective-bargaining agreements.”

USPS, prior to the lawsuit, recognized NAPS as an organization that represented EAS employees in the field, but not EAS employees designated as area or headquarters workers. The three-judge panel, however, said the USPS offered “no evidence” to support its claim that area or headquarters employees don’t work in supervisory positions.

More than 1,000 job titles and levels are covered under the EAS pay scale. These employees operate under the leadership of about 500 USPS executives.

The decision puts NAPS one step closer to representing a broader swath of the 49,000 USPS supervisors, managers, postmasters, and other professional and administrative workers that fall under EAS.

NAPS currently has more than 27,000 members who are active and retired supervisors, managers and postmasters.

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