United States Postal Service

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 12, 2014

10-CA-120885 (N.L.R.B. Sep. 12, 2014)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
and Case 10-CA-120885

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER
CARRIERS BRANCH 4862
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Case
On July 16, 2014, the United States Postal Service (the Respondent), the
National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 4862 (the Union), and the General
Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board entered into a Formal Settlement
Stipulation, subject to the Board’s approval, providing for the entry of a consent order by
the Board and a consent judgment by any appropriate United States Court of Appeals.
The parties waived all further and other proceedings before the Board to which they
may be entitled under the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and the Board’s
Rules and Regulations, and the Respondent waived its right to contest the entry of a
consent judgment or to receive further notice of the application therefor.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding
to a three-member panel.
The Formal Settlement Stipulation is approved and made a part of the record, and
the proceeding is transferred to and continued before the Board in Washington, D.C.,
for the entry of a Decision and Order pursuant to the provisions of the Formal
Settlement Stipulation. 1

1 Member Hirozawa notes that the remedy to which the parties have agreed differs in
some respects from previous broad orders that the Board has issued against the
Respondent in cases alleging that the Respondent has violated Sec. 8(a)(5) of the Act
by failing and refusing to provide relevant information. See, e.g., United States Postal
Service, 28-CA-17383 et al., unpublished order issued November 4, 2002, enfd. Case
02-9587 (10th Cir. 2003); and United States Postal Service, 345 NLRB 426 (2005),
enfd. 486 F.3d 683 (10th Cir. 2007). These broad orders, as enforced by the United
States Courts of Appeals, remain in effect, and the Board’s approval of this stipulation
does not modify these orders in any respect.
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Based on the Formal Settlement Stipulation and the entire record, the Board
makes the following:
Findings of Fact
1. The Respondent’s business
The Respondent is and has been, at all material times, an independent
establishment of the Executive Branch of the Government of the United States, and
operates various facilities throughout the United States in the performance of its basic
function to provide postal services to the Nation, including the Main Postal facilities, the
Carrier Annex (Roswell Annex) and postal stores located in Roswell, Georgia
(collectively, the Roswell, Georgia facilities).
The Respondent is now and has been at all material times an entity subject to
the Board’s jurisdiction by virtue of Section 1209 of the Postal Reorganization Act, 39
U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. (PRA).
2. The labor organization involved
At all material times, the Union has been a labor organization within the meaning
of Section 2(5) of the Act.
ORDER
Based on the above findings of fact, the Formal Settlement Stipulation, and the
entire record, and pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended, the National Labor Relations Board orders that:
The Respondent, United States Postal Service, Roswell, Georgia, its officers,
agents, successors, and assigns shall:
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively and in good faith with the National
Association of Letter Carriers Branch 4862 (the Union) as the exclusive bargaining
representative of its employees in an appropriate unit by unduly delaying in furnishing
information to the Union, that is relevant and necessary to the Union's performance of
its duties as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the bargaining unit
employees in the following unit:
Employees set forth in Article 1 of the current National Agreement
between the Respondent and the Union, including employees employed
by Respondent at the Roswell, Georgia facilities.
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(b) In any other like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing
employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the
Act.
(a) On request, provide the Union with necessary and relevant information in a
timely and appropriate manner.
(b) Each information request tendered by the Union, orally or in writing, shall be
recorded in a log at Respondent's Roswell, Georgia facilities. The log shall include the
following information: a brief description of the information requested; the name of the
individual who is making the request; the name of the supervisor who received the
request; the date the request was made; and the date that Respondent's manager or
supervisor provided the Union with the requested information.
If the manager or supervisor, having reviewed the documents requested, believes that
the Respondent will need additional time, the manager or supervisor will inform the
Union in writing, requesting additional time and explaining the need for the additional
time.
(c) Each manager and supervisor who is designated to receive union requests
for information at the Respondent's Roswell, Georgia facilities will receive annual
training which encompasses how to maintain the log, and how to tender the relevant
information requested by the Union; each such supervisor and manager will sign an
acknowledgment form attesting to the fact that he or she has completed said training. A
copy of this acknowledgement form shall be maintained in the supervisor's or manager's
training and history files. Union stewards will be granted access to the log, on request.
supervisors or managers who fail to reasonably supply relevant information to the Union
will have this fact mentioned in the "corrective action" column of the semi-annual audit
report provided to the district manager and district manager of human resources. A
repeated violation could lead to discipline of said supervisor or manager.
(d) Union stewards must be notified when the manager or supervisor who is
designated to receive Union requests for information at Respondent's Roswell, Georgia
facilities has changed.
(e) The Respondent's legal department or its labor relations department shall
conduct semi-annual audits of the logs at the Respondent’s Roswell, Georgia facilities
to ensure that the information requested by the Union is being handled in a timely and
appropriate manner, and to ensure the logs are being properly maintained. Following
the audit, the legal department or labor relations department shall tender, in writing, a
written report that will be forwarded to the district manager and district manager of
human resources.
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(f) Within 14 days of service by the Region, post at its Roswell, Georgia facilities,
copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix." Copies of the notice, on forms
provided by the Regional Director for Region 10, after being signed by Respondent's
authorized representative, shall be posted by Respondent and maintained for 60
consecutive days in conspicuous places, including all places where notices to
employees are customarily posted. Copies shall also be sent to the Respondent's
supervisors at its Roswell, Georgia facilities. In addition to physical posting of paper
notices, Respondent shall distribute notices electronically, by email, posting on an
intranet or internet site, and/or other electronic means, if the Respondent customarily
communicates with its employees by such means. Respondent will take reasonable
steps to ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced or covered by any other
material. In the event that, during the pendency of these proceedings, the Respondent
has gone out of business or closed the facility involved in these proceedings,
Respondent shall duplicate and mail, at its own expense, a copy of the notice to all
current employees and former employees employed by the Respondent at any time
since June 2013.
(g) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file with the Regional Director a
sworn certification of a responsible official on a form provided by the Region attesting to
the steps the Respondent has taken to comply. The Regional Director shall be supplied
a copy of the documents signed by the district manager of labor relations, attesting to
the dates that the notices were received at each facility, and the dates that the notices
were posted.
Dated, Washington, D.C., September 12, 2014.
_________________________________
Phillip A. Miscimarra, Member
_________________________________
Kent Y. Hirozawa, Member
_________________________________
Harry I. Johnson, III, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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APPENDIX
NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
PURSUANT TO A STIPULATION PROVIDING FOR A BOARD ORDER
AND A CONSENT JUDGMENT OF ANY APPROPRIATE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FEDERAL LAW GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO:
Form, join or assist a union
Choose representatives to bargain with us on your behalf
Act together with other employees for your benefit and protection
Choose not to engage in any of these protected activities
WE WILL NOT unduly delay furnishing information requested by the National
Association of Letter Carriers Branch 4862 that is necessary for and relevant to the
Union's performance of its duties as the exclusive collective bargaining representative
of the following appropriate bargaining unit:
Employees set forth in Article 1 of the current National Agreement
between the Respondent and the Union, including employees employed
by Respondent at the Roswell, Georgia facilities.
WE WILL NOT in any other like or related manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce you
in the exercise of the rights guaranteed you by Section 7 of the Act.
WE WILL, upon request, provide the Union with necessary and relevant information in a
timely and appropriate manner.
WE WILL record, orally or in writing, each information request tendered by the Union in
a log at Respondent's Roswell, Georgia facilities. If the manager or supervisor, having
reviewed the documents requested, believes that the Respondent will need additional
time, the manager or supervisor will inform the Union in writing, requesting additional
time and explaining the need for the additional time.
WE WILL conduct annual training with each manager or supervisor, designated to
receive union requests for information at Respondent's Roswell, Georgia facilities, on
how to maintain the log and how to tender the relevant information requested by the
Union.
WE WILL notify union stewards when the manager or supervisor who is designated to
receive union requests for information at Respondent's Roswell, Georgia facilities has
changed.
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WE WILL conduct, through Respondent's legal department or its labor relations
department, semi-annual audits of the logs at Respondent's Roswell, Georgia facilities
to ensure that the information requested by the Union is being handled in a timely and
appropriate manner, and to ensure the logs are being properly maintained. Following
the audit, the legal department or labor relations department shall tender, in writing, a
written report that will be forwarded to the district manager and district manager of
human resources.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
The Board’s decision can be found at www.nlrb.gov/case/10-CA-120885 or by using the
QR code below. Alternatively, you can obtain a copy of the decision from the Executive
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1099 14th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
20570, or by calling (202) 273-1940.