  the national association of letter carriers (nalc) is an american labor union, representing non-rural letter carriers employed by the united states postal service. it was founded in 1889. ==early history== the national association of letter carriers started in 1889 and grew quickly. it had 52 branches with 4,600 members in 1890, and 335 branches by 1892. it focused on forcing postmasters to honor federal law mandating an 8 hour day for federal employees. in 1893 won a supreme court decision and $3.5 million in back overtime pay. local postmasters vigorously opposed the union, even though it did not sponsor strikes. it joined the american federation of labor (afl) in 1917.see "national association of letter carriers, afl-cio," nalc facts and history by the mid-1960s it had 175,000 members in 6,400 local branches. ==1970 strike== letter carrier morale plummeted during the mid-1960s as inflation eroded carriers' salaries. a growing sense of militancy developed as carriers and their families in big cities neared the poverty level. in new york city's branch 36, a storm of protest erupted when president richard nixon provided only a 4.1 percent pay raise in 1969, far below what was needed. events escalated as the christmas mail rush neared and nixon called nalc president james rademacher to the white house to forge a compromise that tied a pay raise in 1970 to the concept of an independent postal authority to bargain with postal unions. the nixon-rademacher agreement incensed letter carriers and when a house committee the following march approved a bill reflecting the nixon-rademacher compromise, calls for a strike were shouted in new york's branch 36 and other branches. despite being barred from participating in a strike, on march 17, 1970, the votes were counted in branch 36, and a long
AFLaCIO Mail_carriers National_Association_of_Letter_Carriers Postal_trade_unions Trade_unions_established_in_1889 UNI_Global_Union United_States_Postal_Service