United States Postal Service

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

Dec 19, 2011

15-CA-019942 (N.L.R.B. Dec. 19, 2011)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
and Case 15-CA-19942(P)
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION,
PLAYGROUND AREA LOCAL 5643
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Case
On November 22, 2011, United States Postal Service (the Respondent);
American Postal Workers Union, Playground Area Local 5643 (the Local Union); and
the Acting 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 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.
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 the performance of that function,
including the facilities located at 175 Main Street in Destin, Florida, and 322 Miramar
Beach Drive, Miramar Beach, Florida.
The Board has jurisdiction over the Respondent and these matters by virtue of
Section 1209 of the Postal Reorganization Act, 39 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. (PRA).
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2. The labor organization involved
The Local Union is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 151 et seq. (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, 175 Main Street, Destin,
Florida, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Restricting employees from engaging in protected discussions about terms
and conditions of employment.
(b) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing
employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the
Act.
(a) Rescind any overbroad policy restricting employees from engaging in
protected discussions about terms and conditions of employment.
(b) Preserve and, within 14 days of request, make available to the Board or its
agents for examination and copying, all records necessary to determine that the terms
of this Order have been complied with.
(c) Within 14 days of service by the Region, post at its Destin, Florida and
Miramar Beach, Florida facilities copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix A.”
Copies of the notice, on forms provided by Region 15, 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 notice to all
current employees and former employees employed by the Respondent at any time
since February 1, 2011.
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(d) 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 that the Respondent has taken to comply.
Dated, Washington, D.C., December 19, 2011
___________________________________
Mark Gaston Pearce, Chairman
___________________________________
Craig Becker, Member
___________________________________
Brian E. Hayes, 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 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 interfere with, restrain, or coerce you in regard to the exercise of these
rights. More specifically:
WE WILL NOT unlawfully restrict your ability to complain about working conditions.
WE WILL NOT in any 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 rescind any overbroad rules restricting your ability to complain in a protected
manner about working conditions, and WE WILL inform you that we have done so.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
______________________________
(Employer)