USPS declines to extend contract talks; NALC ‘disappointed’
Union to seek agreement in mediation

Jan. 20, 2012 -- The U.S. Postal Service today announced that it was declining to further extend its collective-bargaining negotiations with NALC.

The Postal Service’s decision officially triggers an impasse, which automatically sends contract talks to mediation under the supervision of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

If no agreement between NALC and USPS is reached within a 60-day period of mediation, the issues will be submitted for final and binding resolution before an interest arbitration panel, which under law must consider all the evidence presented by both parties.

The terms of the 2006-2011 National Agreement remain in effect while the process unfolds. Federal law forbids postal workers from going on strike.

If the parties fail to reach an agreement through mediation, the law then calls for NALC and USPS each to name an arbitrator to a three-person panel, with both parties working together to choose a neutral arbitrator to serve as chairman. And if both parties cannot agree on a chairman, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service steps in to help choose one.

Once this panel is established, the arbitration process begins as soon as both parties agree to a schedule of hearings. Both sides are then given a chance to present evidence and testimony to support their positions. Such hearings typically feature formal presentations and documentary evidence as well as outside witnesses called by each side, such as economists and other academics.

The panel renders an decision shortly after hearings conclude.

Fredric Rolando, President of NALC, issued the following statement:

“I am disappointed by the Postal Service’s decision. We have been making steady progress in negotiations, right up through this afternoon. Our negotiations have been innovative, professional and productive and have been conducted at the highest level.

“Now that the formal litigation process has begun, we will pursue a negotiated agreement through mediation and prepare to vigorously defend our members in Interest Arbitration, if it reaches that step.

“Notwithstanding this turn of events, NALC continues to believe that a negotiated agreement is in the best interests of the parties, the businesses that rely on us and the nation we serve. We will continue to negotiate in good faith as mediation takes place under the law’s dispute-resolution process even as we prepare for binding arbitration, and we will work with Congress on vitally needed reforms. We also will work with our external expert advisers to advance a new business model that will revitalize and preserve the USPS as a vital element of the nation’s business and cultural infrastructure.”

Anyone interested in learning about the history of postal bargaining may wish to consult this time line or read the NALC’s official history, Carriers in a Common Cause, available from the NALC Supply Department.