UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 23, 2016

15-CA-122723 (N.L.R.B. May. 23, 2016)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
and Cases15-CA-122723
15-CA-140463
15-CA-140989
15-CA-142354
15-CA-142572
15-CA-151413
NATIONAL POSTAL MAIL HANDLERS 15-CA-153680
UNION, LOCAL 329 15-CA-158826
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Cases
On March 18, 2016, the United States Postal Service (the Respondent), National
Postal Mail Handlers Union, Local 329 (the Local 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 Chairman Pearce and Member Hirozawa 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2007); United States Postal Service, 28-CA-017383 et al., unpublished order issued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, remain in effect, and 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 United States Postal Service (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 facility located at 1921 Elvis Presley Blvd.,
Memphis, TN 18136, the only facility at issue here. The Board has jurisdiction over the
Respondent and these matters by virtue of Section 1209 of the Postal Reorganization
Act (PRA) (39 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.).
2. The labor organizations
The National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Local 329 (the Local Union) is a labor
organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29
U.S.C. §151 et seq., (Act) and acts as the local agent of the exclusive bargaining
representative and National Union known as the National Postal Mail Handlers’ Union
(NPMHU).
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, 1921 Elvis Presley Blvd.,
Memphis TN 18136, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the exclusive representative
of its National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 329-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 local agent of the
National Union, National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU).
(b) Failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the exclusive representative
of its National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 329-represented employees in a unit
appropriate for collective bargaining by failing and refusing to furnish the Local Union
information requested by the Local Union which is relevant to and necessary for the
Local Union’s representation of employees as local agent of the National Union.
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(c) 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) Cease failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the exclusive
representative of its National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 329-represented
employees by informing, in writing, the Local Union as local agent of the National Union
that the Respondent will timely provide it with relevant requested information in the
future and that the Local Union may request relevant information from the Respondent.
(b) 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.
(c) Waive, for 60 days following issuance of the Board’s Order, or the
Respondent providing the requested information, whichever is longest, any contractual
deadlines for filing and pursuing grievances related to the requested information, where
the NPMHU and/or NPMHU Local 329 missed those deadlines due to the Respondent’s
delay in providing the information and/or informing the NPMHU or NPMHU Local 329
that the information does not exist.
(d) 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
Respondent has complied with the terms of this Order.
(e) Within 14 days of service by the Region, post at its 1921 Elvis Presley Blvd.,
Memphis, TN facility, copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix A.”2 Copies of
the notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for 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. 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

2 If this Order is enforced by a judgment of a United States Court of Appeals, the words
in the notice reading “Posted by Order of the National Labor Relations Board” shall read
“Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an
Order of the National Labor Relations Board.”
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current employees and former employees employed by the Respondent at the closed
facility at any time since August 23, 2013.
(i) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file with the Regional Director for
Region 15 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., May 23, 2016
___________________________________
Mark Gaston Pearce, Chairman
_________________________________
Philip A. Miscimarra, Member
_________________________________
Kent Y. Hirozawa, 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 do anything to prevent you from exercising the above rights.
The National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) is the employees’ representative in
dealing with us regarding wages, hours and other working conditions of the employees
in the following unit (Unit):
Included: the Employer recognizes the NPMHU as the exclusive bargaining
representative of all employees in the bargaining unit for which the NPMHU has
been recognized and certified at the national level – Mail Handlers; Excluded:
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), Postal
Inspection Service employees, Employees in the supplemental work force as
defined in Article 7, Rural Letter Carriers, City Letter Carriers, Maintenance
employees, Special Delivery Messengers, Motor Vehicle Employees, Postal
Clerks, Mail Equipment Shop employees, and Mail Transport Equipment Centers
and Supply Center employees.
WE WILL NOT, upon request, refuse to bargain in good faith with NPMHU Local 329 as
the National Union’s designated agent for administering the collective-bargaining
agreement at the Employer’s Memphis, Tennessee facility.
WE WILL NOT refuse to provide NPMHU Local 329 with information that is relevant
and necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
WE WILL NOT unreasonably delay in providing NPMHU Local 329 with information that
is relevant and necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
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WE WILL NOT unreasonably delay in responding to NPMHU Local 329 with regard to
requested information that is relevant and necessary to its role as your bargaining
representative.
WE WILL NOT fail to respond to NPMHU Local 329 with regard to requested
information that is relevant and necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
WE WILL NOT insist that NPMHU Local 329 clarify a request for information when the
request is already clear on its face.
WE WILL NOT delay in diligently searching for information requested by NPMHU Local
329 that is relevant and necessary to its role as your bargaining representative.
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.
WE WILL, upon request, bargain in good faith with the NPMHU or NPMHU Local 329
as agent for administering the collective-bargaining agreement at the Memphis,
Tennessee facility.
WE WILL, within 14 days of the posting of this notice, provide NPMHU Local 329 with
the information it requested, if we have not already done so, as alleged in the Third
Order Further Consolidating Cases, Third Consolidated Complaint and Notice of
Hearing, which information is relevant and reasonably necessary for NPMHU Local 329
to administer the collective-bargaining agreement and to process pending grievances.
WE WILL, in a timely manner, notify NPMHU Local 329 that requested information is
not available because it does not exist.
WE WILL waive, for 60 days following issuance of the Board's Order or our
providing the requested information, whichever is longest, any contractual deadlines for
filing and pursuing grievances related to the requested information, where the NPMHU
or NPMHU Local 329 missed those deadlines due to our delay in providing the
requested information and/or informing NPMHU or NPMHU Local 329 that the
information does not exist.
WE WILL, if the information NPMHU Local 329 requested as alleged in the Third Order
Further Consolidating Cases, Third Consolidated Complaint and Notice of Hearing does
not exist, notify NPMHU Local 329 that the requested information does not exist, if we
have not already done so.
WE WILL, in a timely manner, diligently search for information requested by NPMHU
Local 329 that is relevant and necessary for it to perform its duties as the National
Union's agent.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
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The Board’s decision can be found at www.nlrb.gov/case/15-CA-122723 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.