WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) have agreed to extend contract negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. Although the contract with the APWU expired at midnight Wednesday, May 20, the Postal Service and the APWU have mutually decided to extend the negotiations deadline by one week to May 27, 2015.

The APWU represents more than 196,000 employees who work as clerks, mechanics, vehicle drivers, custodians and some administrative positions.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm. A complete list of the holiday shipping deadlines can be found at usps.com/holidaynews.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf. Follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/usps), Instagram (instagram.com/uspostalservice), Pinterest (pinterest.com/uspsstamps), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/usps), subscribe to our channel on YouTube (youtube.com/usps), like us on Facebook (facebook.com/usps) and view our Postal Postsblog (uspsblog.com).

For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.