December 4, 2015- The NPMHU has prevailed in the first phase of its National arbitration against the Postal Service challenging many of the proposed closings and consolidations of mail processing plants under the Area Mail Processing guidelines found in Handbook PO-408.
National Arbitrator Shyam Das has concluded, in his interim award, that the Handbook PO-408 is incorporated into the National Agreement through Article 19, and has ordered the parties to schedule a hearing on the merits of the NPMHU grievance. The Postal Service had argued that the PO-408 was unenforceable by the NPMHU and other postal unions, but that argument has now been rejected.
A complete copy of the award is available at this link. (pdf)
