Monday, May 25, 2026
USPS, union extend contract talks
Negotiations with NALC will continue
USPS and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) have agreed to continue contract negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement through the mediation period.
Although the contract with the NALC expires on May 22, the Postal Service and the union mutually agreed to extend negotiations.
The NALC represents more than 200,000 letter carriers nationwide.
Here’s the winner of the Stamp Encore contest
The 2018 Mister Rogers stamp takes the prize
The Postal Service announced the Mister Rogers stamp from 2018 as the winner of last summer’s Stamp Encore contest.
The Postal Service created a list of 25 stamp panes released since 1997 for the contest.
Customers and USPS employees voted for their favorite from the choices by either visiting the USPS Stamps Forever website or by printing a paper ballot and mailing it in.
The announcement of the winning stamp was timed to coincide with the Boston 2026 World Expo stamp show, which began May 23.
The Mister Rogers stamp was dedicated on March 23, 2018. It honors the host and creative force behind the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” children’s TV show, which aired nationally from 1968 to 2001.
The series addressed the experiences of growing up — dealing with topics such as sharing and friendship — and featured a blend of music, puppets and visits to places like farms, factories and museums.
“Mister Rogers and his ‘Neighborhood of Make-Believe’ made the ups and downs of life easier to understand for the youngest members of our society,” said then-Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan, who led the ceremony which took place at the studio where the show was made in Pittsburgh.
The Mister Rogers stamp features Rogers wearing a red cardigan and standing with King Friday XIII, a character from the show’s fictional puppet kingdom
Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp using a photograph by Walt Seng.
“When we issued the Mister Rogers stamp in 2018, we ordered a print run of some 15 million. That may sound like a lot, but Mister Rogers really took us by surprise,” said Isaac Cronkhite, the Postal Service’s chief processing and distribution officer, who spoke at the announcement in Boston.
“Within just a few weeks, the stamps honoring this humble, softspoken man had sold out completely,” he said.
The Forever stamp, issued in panes of 20, and a new four-stamp Mister Rogers souvenir sheet, will be available at Post Offices and usps.com starting June 1.
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Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered May 17-23
Bald eagle stamps and a food drive roundup made news
The new Bald Eagle: From Hatchling to Adult stamps were dedicated at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN, as Link reported last week.
USPS also released a video about the new stamp set, one of several 2026 releases that celebrate America and its symbols in the run-up to the nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4.
“One of the reasons that the bald eagle was a very appropriate choice as a national symbol is that it is endemic to North America,” Robert Mulvihill, an ornithologist with the National Aviary, says in the video. “You can’t find it anywhere else in the world.”
Link went behind the scenes of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee in its “Primers” column; offered a roundup of reports from May 9’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive; and reported on Mailbox Improvement Week, held each year during the third week in May, when USPS urges customers to ensure their mailbox is in good shape, located in a convenient and safe location and easily accessible.
We published a customer FAQ edition of the “Mailin It!” podcast in which the hosts answer some of the questions USPS customers ask the most — from “Where’s my package?” to how mail is delivered across the country.
Link also highlighted the environmental regulations concerning washing vehicles; looked at the history of Memorial Day, which will be observed on Monday, May 25, this year; and told the story of Daniel J. Rams, a letter carrier in Cape Coral, FL, who helped a customer who had taken a hip-fracturing tumble.
Finally, we shared the news that Robert H. Raines Jr., international business vice president, is retiring May 29. Himesh Patel has been appointed to succeed him on an acting basis.
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