United States Postal Service

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

Jul 8, 2010

28-CA-022816 (N.L.R.B. Jul. 8, 2010)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
and Case 28-CA-22816
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION,
LOCAL NO. 402, AFL-CIO
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Case
On May 7, 2010, the United States Postal Service (the Respondent), the
American Postal Workers Union, Local No. 402, AFL-CIO (APWU Local 402),
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 Chairman Liebman notes that the remedy to which the parties have agreed is not
fully consistent with previous broad orders 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Postal Service, 28-CA-17383 et al., unpublished order issued November 4, 2002,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. However, because all
parties have agreed to the terms of this Formal Settlement Stipulation, Chairman
Liebman has determined that approval of the parties' settlement will effectuate the
purposes of the Act. The Board's approval of this stipulation does not modify
these orders in any respect.
2
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 provides postal services for the United States of America
and, in the performance of that function, has operated various facilities
throughout the United States, including the facilities located in Las Cruces, New
Mexico, which facilities are located in the Respondent’s Albuquerque District in
New Mexico.
The Board has jurisdiction over the Respondent and this matter by virtue
of Section 1209 of the Postal Reorganization Act, 39 U.S.C. Section 101, et seq.
(PRA).
2. The labor organization involved
The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (the National Union), is a
labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act and within the
meaning of the PRA.
APWU Local 402 is a labor organization within the meaning of Section
2(5) of the Act and within the meaning of the PRA.
APWU Local 402 is a constituent local of the APWU National Union.
3. The appropriate unit
The following employees of the Respondent, referred to in the parties’
collective-bargaining agreement described below, which include the
Respondent’s employees employed at the Respondent’s Las Cruces facilities,
and which is herein called the Unit, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective-bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act and Chapter
12 of the PRA:
All employees in the bargaining unit for which the National Union
has been recognized and certified at the national level as set forth
in Article 1 of the collective-bargaining agreement effective
February 3, 2007, through November 20, 2010, including
maintenance employees, motor vehicle employees, postal clerks,
equipment shop employees, and distribution center employees;
excluding all managerial and supervisory personnel, professional
employees, employees engaged in personnel work in other than a
purely non-confidential clerical capacity, security guards as defined
in Public Law 91-375, 1202(2), all postal inspection service
3
employees, employees in the supplemental workforce as defined in
Article 7 (of the collective-bargaining agreement), rural letter
carriers, mail handlers or letter carriers.
Since on or about 1971, and at all material times, the National Union has
been the designated exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the Unit
and since then the National Union has been recognized as the representative by
the Respondent. This recognition has been embodied in successive collective-
bargaining agreements, the most recent of which is effective from February 3,
2007, through November 20, 2010, herein called the Agreement.
At all material times, the National Union, based on Section 9(a) of the Act
and Chapter 12 of the PRA, has been the exclusive collective-bargaining
representative of the Unit.
At all material times the National Union has designated APWU Local 402
as its designee for the purpose of conducting certain of its functions as the
exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the Unit, including, but not
limited to, the filing and processing of grievances, and requesting information
pursuant to said grievances, under the Agreement at the Respondent’s Las
Cruces facilities, located in the Respondent’s Albuquerque District.
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, Las Cruces, New
Mexico, its officers, agents, successors and assigns shall:
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively with the American Postal Workers
Union, AFL-CIO, (the National Union) or its designee, American Postal Workers
Union, Local No. 402, AFL-CIO (the Union), herein collectively referred to as the
APWU, as the exclusive-collective-bargaining representative of the employees in
the following appropriate unit (the Unit):
All employees in the bargaining unit for which the National Union
has been recognized and certified at the national level as set forth
in Article 1 of the collective-bargaining agreement effective
February 3, 2007, through November 20, 2010, including
maintenance employees, motor vehicle employees, postal clerks,
equipment shop employees, and distribution center employees;
excluding all managerial and supervisory personnel, professional
employees, employees engaged in personnel work in other than a
purely non-confidential clerical capacity, security guards as defined
4
in Public Law 91-375, 1202(2), all postal inspection service
employees, employees in the supplemental workforce as defined in
Article 7 (of the collective-bargaining agreement), rural letter
carriers, mail handlers or letter carriers.
(b) Delaying in providing information requested by the APWU which is
relevant and necessary to the performance of its duties as the exclusive
collective-bargaining representative of Unit employees at the Respondent’s
facilities located in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
(c) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining or coercing
its employees in the exercise of their right to self-organization, to form labor
organizations, to join or assist the APWU or any other labor organization, to
bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing and to engage
in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other
mutual aid or protection, or to refrain from any and all such activities.
2. Take the following affirmative actions necessary to effectuate the policies
of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended:
(a) Upon request, bargain collectively with the APWU as the exclusive
representative of the Unit employees at the Respondent’s facilities located in Las
Cruces, New Mexico, including by promptly furnishing information requested by
the APWU which is relevant and necessary to the performance of its duties as
the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the Unit at the Respondent’s
facilities located in Las Cruces, Mexico.
(b) Within 14 days of service by Region 28 of the National Labor Relations
Board (Region 28), post at all of its Las Cruces, New Mexico, facilities, copies of
the attached notice marked “Appendix”. Copies of the attached notice, on a form
provided by Region 28, after being signed by the Respondent’s authorized
representative, shall be posted by the Respondent and maintained for 60
consecutive days in conspicuous places, including all places where notices to
employees are customarily posted. The 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 facilities involved in these
proceedings, the Respondent shall duplicate and mail, at its own expense, a
copy of the notices to all current employees and former employees employed by
the Respondent at any time since December 15, 2009.
(c) Within 14 days after service by Region 28, transmit by way of written
or electronic means a copy of the Board’s Order and the Appendix to all of its
Postmasters in the Albuquerque District, with instructions to the Postmasters in
the Albuquerque District to inform their managers and supervisors of the
obligations set forth in the Notice.
5
(d) Within 21 days after service Region 28, file with the Regional Director
for Region 28 a sworn certification of a responsible official on a form provided by
Region 28 attesting to the steps that the Respondent has taken to comply.
Dated, Washington, D.C., July 8, 2010.
__________________________________
Wilma B. Liebman, Chairman
__________________________________
Craig Becker, Member
__________________________________
Mark Gaston Pearce, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
6
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES
Posted by Order of the
National Labor Relations Board
An Agency of the United States Government
Posted 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; and
Choose not to engage in any of these protected activities.
WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain collectively with the American Postal Workers
Union (APWU or National Union), or its designee, the American Postal Workers
Union, Local No. 402, AFL-CIO (the Union), regarding the wages, hours, and
other terms and conditions of employment of the employees in the following
appropriate unit (the Unit):
All employees in the bargaining unit for which the National Union
has been recognized and certified at the national level as set forth
in Article 1 of the collective-bargaining agreement effective
February 3, 2007, through November 20, 2010, including
maintenance employees, motor vehicle employees, postal clerks,
equipment shop employees, and distribution center employees,
excluding all managerial and supervisory personnel, professional
employees, employees engaged in personnel work in other than a
purely non-confidential clerical capacity, security guards as defined
in Public Law 91-375, 1202(2), all postal inspection service
employees, employees in the supplemental workforce as defined in
Article 7 (of the collective-bargaining agreement), rural letter
carriers, mail handlers or letter carriers.
WE WILL NOT fail or refuse to bargain collectively with the APWU, or its
designee, the Union, by delaying in providing information requested by the
APWU, or its designee, the Union, which is relevant and necessary to the
performance of its duties as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of
Unit employees employed at our facilities located in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce
you in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to you by Section 7 of the Act.
7
WE WILL, upon request, bargain collectively with the APWU, or its designee, the
Union, as the exclusive representative of the Unit employees at our facilities
located in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
WE WILL promptly furnish information requested by the APWU, or the Union,
which is relevant and necessary to the performance of its duties as the exclusive
collective-bargaining representative of Unit employees at our facilities located in
Las Cruces, New Mexico.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
____________________________
(Employer)
DATE: ________________BY:________________________________
(Representative) (Title)
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent Federal agency created in
1935 to enforce the National Labor Relations Act. We conduct secret-ballot
elections to determine whether employees want union representation and we
investigate and remedy unfair labor practices by employers and unions. To find
out more about your rights under the Act and how to file a charge or election
petition, you may speak confidentially to any agent with the Board’s Albuquerque
Resident Office set forth below. You may also obtain information from the
Board’s website: www.nlrb.gov.
National Labor Relations Board, Region 28
2600 North Central Avenue, Suite 1800; Telephone: 602-640-2160
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Hours of Operation: 815 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Si quiere, usted puede hablar con un agente de la Junta Nacional de Relaciones
del Trabajo en confianza. [A Board agent who speaks Spanish can be made
available to speak with you in confidence.] La página electrónica de red de la
Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo también tiene información en espanol:
www.nlrb.gov. [Information in Spanish is also available on the Board’s website:
www.nlrb.gov].
505 Marquette NW, Suite 1820 Telephone: (505) 248-5125
Albuquerque, NM 87102 FAX: (505) 248-5134
Hours of Operation: M-F 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Si quiere, se puede hablar con un agente de La Junta Nacional de Relaciones
del Trabajo en confianza. [A Board agent who speaks Spanish can be made
available to speak with you in confidence.] La pagina electronica de red de la
8
Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo tambien tiene informacion es español:
WWW.nlrb.gov [Information in Spanish is also available on the Board’s website:
WWW.nlrb.gov]