United States Postal Service

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

Nov 24, 2020

19-CA-234857 (N.L.R.B. Nov. 24, 2020)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
and Cases 19-CA-234857
19-CA-242254
19-CA-242271
19-CA-242595
19-CA-242596
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION,
PORTLAND AREA LOCAL 128, AFL-CIO
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Cases
On October 30, 2020, the United States Postal Service (the Respondent),
American Postal Workers Union, Portland Area Local 128, AFL–CIO (the Union), and
the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board entered into a Formal
Settlement Stipulation, subject to Board 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 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 We note 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, 345 NLRB 426
(2005), enfd. 486 F.3d 683 (10th Cir. 2007); United States Postal Service, 28-CA-
017383 et al., unpublished order issued November 4, 2002, enfd. Case 02-9587 (10th
Cir. 2003). These broad orders, as enforced by the United States Courts of Appeals,
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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 provides postal services for the United States and operates
various facilities throughout the United States in performing that function, including its
facilities in Portland, Oregon. The Board has jurisdiction over the Respondent and this
matter by virtue of Section 1209 of the Postal Reorganization Act (PRA).
2. The labor organizations involved
At all material times, the Union has been a labor organization within the meaning
of Section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), and a constituent local of
the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (the National Union).
At all material times, the National Union has been a labor organization within the
meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
3. The appropriate unit
(a) The following employees of the Respondent (the unit) constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b)
of the Act:
At all present and subsequently acquired installations, facilities, and operations of
the Employer, wherever located: Maintenance Employees, Motor-Vehicle
Employees, Postal Clerks, Mail Equipment Shops Employees, Material
Distribution Centers Employees, Operating Services and Facilities Services
Employees; but excluding all managerial and supervisory personnel, professional
employees, confidential employees, Postal Inspection Service employees, rural
letter carriers, mail handlers, and letter carriers.
(b) For at least 20 years, and at all material times, the Respondent has
recognized the National Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of
the unit. This recognition has been embodied in successive collective-bargaining
agreements, the most recent of which is effective from September 21, 2018, to
September 20, 2021.
remain in effect, and the Board’s approval of this stipulation does not modify these
orders in any respect.
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(c) At all material times, based on Section 9(a) of the Act, the Union, as a
constituent local of the National Union, has been the exclusive collective-bargaining
representative of the unit.
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, the
National Labor Relations Board orders that:
The Respondent, United States Postal Service, at the MVS department located
at 7007 NE Cornfoot Road, Portland, Oregon (the Portland MVS department), its
officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Failing and refusing to provide the Union with information in its possession or
control that is relevant and necessary to its role as the bargaining representative of unit
employees and/or refusing to request that information from third parties.
(b) Delaying in providing the Union with information in its possession or control
that is relevant and necessary to its role as the bargaining representative of unit
employees and/or delaying in either requesting or providing that information or the
responses to those requests for information, from third parties.
(c) Failing, refusing, and/or delaying in informing the Union that the information
that the Union had requested, which is relevant and necessary to its role as the
bargaining representative of unit employees, is not available or does not exist.
(d) Providing the Union with misleading, incomplete, and/or inaccurate
information as a means of refusing and/or delaying in providing the Union with the
information it has requested.
(e) In any like or related manner interfering with employees’ rights under Section
7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the
Act.
(a) To the extent not already provided, provide the Union with accurate, legible,
and complete copies of all the relevant requested information as described in the
consolidated complaint that issued on April 14, 2020. If the Respondent is unable to
locate or secure any of the requested information, the Respondent will promptly provide
an explanation to the Union as to the reasons for the unavailability of such information.
(b) Waive, for 30 days following the issuance of the Board’s Order or the
Respondent providing the information, whichever is longest, any contractual deadlines
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to allow grievances related to the requested information where the Union missed those
deadlines in whole or part due to the Respondent’s delay.
(c) Upon request, provide the Union with information necessary and relevant to
fulfill its statutory obligation as the exclusive bargaining representative. The
Respondent will provide to union stewards of any union with which the Respondent has
an exclusive collective-bargaining relationship at the Portland MVS department the
name of the manager or supervisor who is designated to receive union requests for
information in the MVS department and when that designated manager or supervisor
has changed.
(d) The MVS manager or acting MVS manager, at the Respondent’s Portland
MVS department, will maintain an information request log that tracks when all requests
for information are made, by whom the requests are made, a description of the
information sought, to whom the requests are made, the information provided in
response to the requests for information, and the dates the Respondent responds to the
requests for information. The Respondent will provide all unions who represent
employees at the Portland MVS department with reasonable access to the logs, described
above, that pertain to their information requests.
(e) Require its legal or labor relations department to conduct semi-annual audits
of the above-referenced logs at the Respondent’s Portland MVS department, to ensure
that the information requests of any union which represents employees at the Portland
MVS department are being handled in a timely and appropriate manner and to ensure
the logs are being properly maintained.
(f) Schedule annual training sessions on how to timely and appropriately
respond to information requests and how to properly maintain information logs and
require that all supervisors and managers at the Respondent’s Portland MVS
department attend the training.
(g) Regarding the training sessions above in paragraph 2(f), within 180 days of
the approval of this Agreement, the Respondent will hold at least two mandatory
trainings for all supervisors and managers at the Respondent’s MVS department,
regardless of any prior training received. The Respondent will incorporate the
information request training into its regular training program for new supervisors and
managers at the Portland MVS department.
(h) Within 14 days of the service by the Region, post at the Respondent's
Portland MVS department located at 7007 NE Cornfoot Road in Portland, Oregon,
copies of the attached Notice to Employees (Notice) marked “Appendix A,” on forms
provided by Region 19, after being signed by the Respondent's authorized
representative. The Notice shall be posted by the Respondent for a period of sixty (60)
days, in conspicuous places, including all places where notices to employees are
normally posted.
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(i) Within twenty (20) days of the issuance of the Board's Order, file with the
Regional Director of Region 19 of the Board a sworn affidavit from a responsible official
describing with specificity the manner in which the Respondent has complied with the
terms of the Board's Order, including the locations of the posted copies of the Notice.
Dated, Washington, D.C., November 24, 2020.
___________________________________
John F. Ring, Chairman
___________________________________
Marvin E. Kaplan, Member
___________________________________
Lauren McFerran, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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APPENDIX A
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 a representative 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 interfere with, restrain, or coerce you in the exercise of the above rights.
American Postal Workers Union, Portland Area Local 128, AFL-CIO (the Union), is
the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the following unit of employees
working in the Oregon and Washington communities of Portland, Astoria, Aurora,
Banks, Battleground, Beaverton, Boring, Brush Prairie, Canby, Columbia City,
Estacada, Gladstone, Gresham, Hillsboro, Kelso, Lake Oswego, Longview, Marylhurst,
McMinnville, Moro, Mosier, Newberg, Oregon City, Rufus, St. Helens, Sherwood, The
Dalles, Troutdale, Tualatin, Wasco, West Linn, Wilsonville, Woodburn, and Woodland:
All Maintenance Employees, Motor-Vehicle Employees, Postal Clerks,
Mail Equipment Shops Employees, Material Distribution Centers
Employees, Operating Services and Facilities Services Employees; but
excluding all managerial and supervisory personnel, professional
employees, confidential employees, Postal Inspection Service
employees, rural letter carriers, mail handlers, and letter carriers.
WE WILL NOT refuse to timely notify the Union that information does not exist after it
requests information that is relevant and necessary to its role as your bargaining
representative.
WE WILL NOT unreasonably delay in providing the Union with information that is
relevant and necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
WE WILL NOT refuse to provide the Union with information that is relevant and
necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
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WE WILL NOT provide incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading responses to information
requests made by the Union, where the information requested is relevant and
necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on May 3 and May 15, 2019; specifically, “the fair cost comparison the
Service conducted with the Union concerning contracting out shuttle of mail from
Target, Velotec, and Daddies Board Shop to the New Portland MOU.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on May 3 and May 15, 2019; specifically, “any and all Extra Trip
Authorizations PS Form 5397 and the corresponding PS Form 5429 issued to HCRs for
transportation of mail from Target, Velotec, and Daddies Board Shop to the New
Portland MOU.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on May 3 and May 15, 2019; specifically, “the Contract between the Postal
Service and the HCR's concerning the transportation of mail from Target, Velotec, and
Daddies Board Shop and the New Portland MOU.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on May 3 and May 15, 2019; specifically, “the Notification sent to the
APWU concerning contracting out of shuttling mail transportation of mail from Target,
Velotec, and Daddies Board Shop to the New Portland MOU.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on March 21, April 10, and May 15, 2019; specifically, “the Contract
between the Postal Service and the HCR's concerning the shuttle of mail between the
New Portland MOU and Amazon Facilities.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on March 21, April 10, and May 15, 2019; specifically, “the Notification
sent to the APWU concerning contracting out of shuttling mail between the New
Portland MOU and the Amazon Facilities.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on March 21, April 10, and May 15, 2019; specifically, “the fair cost
comparison the Service conducted with the Union concerning contracting out shuttle of
mail between the New Portland MOU and the Amazon Facilities.”
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WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, provide the Union with a complete,
accurate, and legible copy(s) of the information it requested on November 9, 2018, and
re-requested on March 21, April 10, and May 15, 2019; specifically, “any and all Extra
Trip Authorizations PS Form 5397 and the corresponding PS Form 5429 issued to
HCRs for performing shuttle of mail between the New Portland MOU and Amazon
Facilities.”
WE WILL, to the degree we have not already, upon request, provide the Union with
complete, accurate, and legible copies of any other information requested by that Union
and which were related to the charges in Cases 19-CA-234857, 19-CA-242254, 19-CA-
242271, 19-CA-242595, and 19-CA-242596.
WE WILL waive, for 30 days following the issuance of the Board’s Order or the
Employer providing the information, whichever is longest, any contractual deadlines to
allow the Union to file grievances related to the requested information where the Union
missed those deadlines in whole or part due to the Respondent’s delay.
WE WILL maintain at our MVS department, located at 7007 NE Cornfoot Road in
Portland, Oregon (the “Portland MVS department”), a log in which we will immediately
record each information request that any union at this facility with which we have an
exclusive collective-bargaining relationship makes, either orally or in writing, at the
Portland MVS department.
WE WILL provide all unions who represent employees at the Portland MVS department
with reasonable access to these logs that pertain to their information requests.
WE WILL provide annual training for each manager and supervisor who is designated
to receive union requests for information at our Portland MVS department. Such
training will encompass how to maintain the log and how to tender the relevant
information to any union with which we have an exclusive collective-bargaining
relationship at the Portland MVS department.
WE WILL provide to union stewards of any union with which we have an exclusive
collective-bargaining relationship at the Portland MVS department, the name of the
manager or supervisor who is designated to receive union requests for information in
the MVS department and when that designated manager or supervisor has changed.
WE WILL require our legal or labor relations department to conduct semi-annual audits
of the above-referenced logs at the Portland MVS department, to ensure that the
information requests of any union with which we have an exclusive collective-bargaining
relationship are being handled in a timely and appropriate manner and to ensure the
logs are being properly maintained.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner interfere with your rights under Section 7 of
the Act.
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UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
The Board’s decision can be found at www.nlrb.gov/case/19-CA-234857 or by using the
QR code below. Alternatively, you can obtain a copy of the decision from the Executive
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1015 Half Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.
20570, or by calling (202) 273-1940.