Although postal workers are already paid 30% more than their counterparts in the private sector, according to the Postmaster General, their pay is going up again.

Under a new agreement with the postal union:

• Workers will receive a lump-sum payment equal to 2.78% of their base salary for the first year.

• In the second year, they will receive a 1.2% increase on top of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase.

• In the third year, they will receive a $400 lump-sum payment, plus the COLA.

• In the final year of the agreement, they will get a 1.2% increase plus the COLA.

The settlement, which was negotiated by a federal arbitration board, is expected to force a 3-cent increase in the cost of mailing a first class letter - to 35 cents - by 1998.

The president of the American Postal Workers Union commented that "we could have done a lot worse."