Article 31 Union-Management Cooperation

Article 31 Union-Management Cooperation

Section 31.1 Membership Solicitation

The Union may, through employees employed by the Employer, solicit employees for membership in the Union and receive Union dues from employees in non-work areas of the Employer's premises, provided such activity is carried out in a manner which does not interfere with the orderly conduct of the Employer's operation.

CIM

Section 31.1 specifies the right of the union to solicit employees for membership and to receive dues payments from employees in non-work areas of postal installations, subject to a requirement that the activity does not interfere with postal operations.

Question: Are new employees permitted to fill out applications for membership in the Union during employee orientation?

Answer: Yes. New employees can complete SF-1187, Authorization for Deduction of Union Dues, during employee orientation. The completion of the forms should be carried out in areas designated by management.

Source: Step 4 Grievance H4N-4J-C 2536, dated August 29, 1985.

Section 31.2 Electronic Communication

The Employer shall, on an accounting period basis, provide the Union at its national headquarters with electronic communication containing information as set forth in the Memorandum of Understanding regarding Article 31.

[See Memo and Letter, pages 199-200]

CIM

This language requires the Postal Service to provide specified detailed information about each member of the mail handlers bargaining unit represented by the NPMHU. The Union uses this information to conduct its representation functions and administer its membership information system. The referenced Memorandum of Understanding Article 31 – Computer Tape Accounting Period Report, and a Letter of Intent Article 31 – Information/Reports outlining certain additional reports and indicating their cost and frequency of production, are reprinted at the end of this article.

Section 31.3 Information

1. The Employer will make available for inspection by the Union all relevant information necessary for collective bargaining or the enforcement, administration or interpretation of this Agreement, including information necessary to determine whether to file or to continue the processing of a grievance under this Agreement. Upon the written request of the Union, the Employer will furnish such information, provided, however, that the Employer may require the Union to reimburse the USPS for any costs reasonably incurred in obtaining the information.
2. Requests for information relating to purely local matters should be submitted by the local Union representative to the installation head or designee. All other requests for information should be directed by the Union to the Vice President, Labor Relations.
3. Nothing herein shall waive any rights the Union may have to obtain information under the National Labor Relations Act, as amended.

CIM

This language sets forth the parameters for providing information when requested by the union. Management must provide the union with all relevant information necessary for collective bargaining or for the enforcement, administration or interpretation of the agreement, including information necessary to determine whether to file or to continue processing a grievance. The union’s request for information must be made in writing.

The union is required only to give a description of the information it needs and to make a reasonable claim that the information is needed to enforce or administer the contract. An explanation of the relevance of the information is required; the union is not permitted to conduct a “fishing expedition” into employer records.

Paragraph C of this section recognizes the Union’s legal right to obtain USPS information under the National Labor Relations Act, which may be enforced through the filing of an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

Examples of types of information covered by this provision include:

Employee attendance records;

Employee payroll records;

Documents in an employee’s official personnel file;

Internal USPS instructions and memoranda;

Employee disciplinary records;

Handbooks and manuals;

Reports and studies;

Seniority lists;

Overtime Desired List and Volunteer List records;

Bid records and

Postal Inspection Service Investigative Memoranda (IM) relating to employee discipline.

Settlements and arbitration awards have addressed the Union’s entitlement to information in certain specific areas:

A completed PS Form 2608, Supervisor’s Step 1 Grievance Summary, will be provided upon request at Step 2 or at any subsequent step of the grievance procedure.

Source: Step 4 Grievance H1M-1J-C 10717, dated March 22, 1984.

Any and all information upon which the parties rely to support their position in a grievance is to be exchanged between the representatives to assure that every effort is made to resolve the grievance at the lowest possible level.

Source: Step 4 Grievance H8C-5K-C 14259, dated April 23, 1981.

Minutes of Quality of Work Life meetings must be submitted to a non- participating union when that union asserts a need for specific minutes in order to determine whether or not to file a grievance and provides a reasonable explanation of that need.

Source: National Arbitration Award H4T-2A-C 36687, Arbitrator R. Mittenthal, dated November 16, 1990.

Restricted sick leave lists will be provided upon union request, pursuant to the routine use provisions of the Privacy Act.

Source: Pre-arbitration Settlement H8C-5D-C 8083, dated April 14, 1981.

Question: What is the proper level at which the Union should generate and file requests for information relating to purely local matters?

Answer: Requests relating to purely local matters should be submitted by the local union representative to the installation head or his/her designee.

Information regarding costs chargeable for providing information to the union is found in Chapter 4 of the AS-353; note that the union is in the AS-353 category of “All Other Requesters.” Currently, the AS-353 provides for the waiver of information fees for the first 100 pages of duplication and the first 2 hours of search time; after the first 100 pages, duplication costs are charged at the rate of $0.15 per page. While relevant excerpts from that handbook are reprinted below, a review of the complete AS-353 language is recommended.

4-6.2Aggregate Requests

When a custodian reasonably believes that a requester is attempting to break a request down into a series of requests to avoid fees, the custodian may aggregate the requests and charge accordingly. Multiple requests pertaining to unrelated subject matters are not aggregated. Requests made by more than one requester may be aggregated when a custodian has a concrete basis to conclude that requesters are acting together to avoid fees.

4-6.5 How to Assess Fees

1. Fees Not Assessed. The Postal Service does not charge for responding to the following: requests for records if fees do not exceed $10 ...

Question: How are payments for requested information handled?

Answer: The union agrees that it will be required to reimburse the Postal Service for any costs reasonably incurred in gathering requested information, in keeping with the provisions of the ASM (now AS-353). Management should provide the union with an estimate of the fees involved and may require payment in advance. Thus, requests for information should not be denied solely due to compliance being burdensome and/or time consuming.

Source: Step 4 Grievance H4C-1K-C 41761, dated June 14, 1988.

Section 31.4 Committee

The Employer and the Union, believing that improvements in the work life can heighten employee job satisfaction, enhance organizational effectiveness, and increase the quality of service and that these objectives can be best accomplished by joint effort, hereby continue, at the national level, a joint Committee to Improve the Quality of Work Life.

CIM

This paragraph establishes the Quality of Work Life or QWL process as part of the parties’ contractual relationship.

The following Memorandum of Understanding is referenced in Section 31.2.

(The preceding Article, Article 31, shall apply to Mail Handler Assistant employees.)