United States Postal Service

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

Dec 11, 2015

15-CA-098739 (N.L.R.B. Dec. 11, 2015)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
and Cases 15-CA-098739
15-CA-098744
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION, 15-CA-100240
LOCAL 1414 15-CA-106030
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Case
On August 22, 2013, the United States Postal Service (the Respondent), the
American Postal Workers Union, Local 1414 (the Local 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 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.
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 a
facility located at 1336 Sherman Avenue, Panama City, Florida.
The Board has jurisdiction over the Respondent and this matter by virtue of
Section 1209 of the Postal Reorganization Act, 39 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.
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2. The labor organization involved
The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (the National Union) and the
Local Union are labor organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
3. The appropriate unit
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:
All employees in the bargaining unit for which the American Postal
Workers Union, AFL-CIO, has been recognized and certified at the
national level, excluding 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, 1201(2), all Postal Inspection Service Employees,
and employees in the supplemental work force as defined in Article 7,
Rural Letter Carriers, Mail handlers, and Letter carriers.
Since about 1971, 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 by its terms from November 21, 2010, through May 20,
2015.
At all material times since about 1971, based on Section 9(a) of the Act, the
National Union has been the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the unit.
Since about 1971, and at all material times, the Local Union has been recognized
by the Respondent as the National Union’s agent for administering the collective-
bargaining agreement at the Respondent’s facility in Panama City, Florida.
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, 1336 Sherman Avenue, Panama
City, Florida, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall
1. Cease and desist from
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(a) Failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the exclusive representative
of its APWU-represented employees in a unit appropriate for collective bargaining by
failing and refusing to furnish the Local Union, in a timely manner, information requested
by the Local Union which is relevant to and necessary for the Local Union’s
representation of employees as the local agent of the National Union.
(b) Failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the exclusive representative
of its APWU-represented employees in a unit appropriate for collective bargaining by
failing to provide the Local Union with information requested by the Local Union which is
relevant to and necessary for the Local Union’s representation of employees as the
local agent of the National Union.
2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the
Act.
(a) Conduct a prompt and diligent search for information requested by the Local
Union that is relevant and necessary, and timely provide the Local Union as the agent of
the National Union with relevant information it requests.
(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 there has
been compliance with the terms of this Order.
(c) Within 14 days of service by the Region, post at all of its facilities in Panama
City, Florida, copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix A.” The final posted
notice shall be on forms provided by Region 15, signed by the Respondent’s authorized
representative, and 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. In addition to physical posting of paper notices,
notices shall be distributed electronically, such as by email, posting on an intranet or an
internet site, and/or other electronic means, if the Respondent customarily
communicates with its employees by such means. 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 facility 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
the closed facility at any time since January 1, 2013.
(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 11, 2015.
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________________________________
Mark Gaston Pearce, Chairman
________________________________
Kent Y. Hirozawa, 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 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 upon request, refuse to bargain in good faith with the American Postal
Workers Union, Local 1414 (Local Union) as the exclusive collective-bargaining
representative of our employees in the following appropriate unit:
All employees in the bargaining unit for which the American Postal
Workers Union, AFL-CIO, has been recognized and certified at the
national level, excluding 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, 1201(2), all Postal Inspection Service Employees,
and employees in the supplemental work force as defined in Article 7,
Rural Letter Carriers, Mail handlers, and Letter carriers.
WE WILL NOT fail and refuse to provide the Local Union with requested information
that is relevant and necessary.
WE WILL NOT delay diligently searching for information requested by the Local Union
that is relevant and necessary.
WE WILL NOT delay in providing the Local Union with requested information in our
possession.
WE WILL NOT insist that the Local Union clarify an information request when the
request is clear on its face.
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.
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WE WILL, upon request, bargain in good faith with the American Postal Workers Union
or its Local Union as agent for administering the collective-bargaining agreement at the
Panama City, Florida, facilities.
WE WILL furnish in a timely manner relevant and necessary requested information.
WE WILL, in a timely manner, diligently search for information requested by the Local
Union that is relevant and necessary for it to perform its duties as the National Union’s
agent.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
The Board’s decision can be found at www.nlrb.gov/case/15-CA-098739 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.