Pay and Benefits | South Jersey Area Local 0526

More On Retroactive Pay

More information on the retroactive pay from Charlie Cash

Retroactive payments owed to the APWU represented employees under the main agreement were made and will show on the April 10, 2026, paychecks. Employees not covered by the main agreement (Nurses, HRSSC, IT/AS, or any Private Sector APWU contract) are not entitled to this payment. You Employees can tell if they are entitled to the payment by looking on their paystub at the column labeled as “RSC” (Rate Schedule Code). If the letter in that column is a P, C, or K, the employee is entitled to a retroactive payment for the hours listed for that RSC.

I have already received many questions about retroactive payments or been told employees did not receive their retroactive payments. Couple things to remember:

This is a relatively short retroactive period of 20 pay periods. It includes one 1.3% pay increase (additional 1% for PSEs) and one COLA for career employees that equates to $0.19 (19 cents) per hour. The COLA only covers 12 pay periods.

Employees should not be comparing their retroactive pay to previous contracts, other union contracts, or even other employees’ payments. Each person’s payment is unique and based on their previously paid hours worked or paid leave.

Some employees will not receive retroactive payments for some, or all of the hours worked or paid. These include employees who were detailed to 204-b positions. As these are EAS details, those employees were paid under the EAS pay scale and not entitled to backpay. An employee who is/was being paid by OWCP would also not receive a payment from the Postal Service. Again, the RSC column on the paystub will detail what pay schedule an employee is for any particle number of hours each week of each pay period.

Employees should review the full long form paystub available on LiteBlue to determine if they received the retroactive pay and to see the details of the payments. I have attached an explanation and an example paystub of an active employee to illustrate how the retroactive payments appear on the paystub. The short form that some receive in the mail or if people look at a pay stub on their smartphones will not provide enough detail to make proper determinations.

Employees who question whether they received the retroactive pay or if it is incorrect must download the full paystub and go over it with their state or local officer/steward. If after this review a question remains, a national, state, or local officer can send the paystub to my office for review. I request that members or non-members do not email us directly. The initial questions must go through the state or local with jurisdiction so we are not inundated with questions that could have been answered by using the explanation and example to review the pay stub at the state or local level.

National, State, or Local Officers who have questions must email the employee’s name, EIN, full paystub, and the specific question being asked to Lee Branca at Lbranca@apwu.org for review and consultation.

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Message from Charlie Cash

The retroactive pay will be on paychecks this Friday. As with the last two retroactive payments made, I am already receiving calls that employees did not receive their retroactive payments or that it was not as much as it should have been. I am in the process of basically redoing the write up that we did for the last retroactive payments from the 2021-2024 national agreement. I hope to have that out either late today or early tomorrow.

Employees will not see the retroactive adjustments on the pay stub that they look at on their mobile phones or the small stub they may receive in the mail. They will need to download the full stub (which could be many pages long, the last stubs from the 2021-2024 retroactive payments were up to 20 pages long). There they will see each pay period adjustment. People also need to be reminded that the payments will have taxes withheld, TSP withheld, retirement withheld, etc.

Couple things to remember:

No one person’s retroactive pay will be identical to another. Retroactive pay is only made on paid work hours or paid leave that was used during the retroactive period.
If an employee was detailed to another pay scale (the most common is they were on a non-bargaining unit detail as a 204-b or such) they are not paid any retroactive payments for that.
Any employee who received payments from OWCP will not see retroactive payments from the Postal Service. Only hours paid by the postal service on the APWU pay schedule will be due retro active payments.

If people have doubts about their retroactive payments, they need to download and provide the full pay stub to their local leaders. If their local leaders have questions, they need to send the full pay stub to Lee Branca who will review them. If an issue is found, my department will address.

USPS Retiree Incentive and W-2 Request Steps

Coming from Charlie Cash, Industrial Relations Director

Union Family,

I have been asked a few questions in regards to those who have retired, are owed an incentive payments, and need a copy of a W-2, on how to update their addresses or request a new W-2. This especially applies to retirees who had wages and were paid an incentive in 2025. Those who retired under the incentive MOU will also receive an incentive payment in 2026 and be owed a W-2 for tax year 2026. That will be sent out in January of 2027. The Postal Service provided me the following response:

To update an address with USPS

The employee can contact HRSSC at 877-477-3272, to update their mailing address. If he/she can answer the security validation questions correctly, they will be able to update their mailing address with the phone agent. If he/she is unable to answer the security questions, they will need to mail a completed PS Form 1216 (can be googled) or a written letter providing the new address, EIN or SSN, emergency contact information, phone number, signature and date to:

Fax: 202-268-0357
USPS HRSSC
COA PROCESSING
PO BOX 970400
GREENSBORO NC 27497-0400

To Request a W2 reprint from HRSSC:

The individual can contact HRSSC at 877-477-3272. He/she will first need to follow the previous instructions for updating their mailing address, and once complete, they can request a w2 reprint be mailed to them. However, if he/she was unable to answer the security questions, a written request can be submitted with the following information:

o The tax years being requested

o Former employee’s name

o Last four of the Social Security Number/EIN

o Name and location of employing Federal agency

o Copy of their Driver’s License or a valid State issued ID

o New Mailing Address including ZIP+4

o Phone Number

o Signature

Submit the written request to:

Fax: 651-994-3543

USPS HRSSC
Attn: W-2
PO Box 970400
Greensboro NC 27497-0400

Note: Mailing is the HRSSC preferred method for receiving W2 requests because faxes tend to be received as a lower quality copy than the original. Documents that are illegible will cause the request to be returned unprocessed.

The W-2 Reprint(s) will be processed within 5-10 business days. The employee should allow 7-10 business days for mailing to receive the W-2. All requests will be returned by mail.

Special note: If the individual was on Leave Without Pay (OWCP, Military, Union, or Regular LWOP) for all 26 pay periods of the year and received no salary from the USPS, a W-2 will not be generated by the USPS. The employee will need to contact the appropriate agency (Military, Union, or Department of Labor) to request a W-2 or other documentation, if any, required to file their taxes.