Late Thursday, August 13, 2015, the NPMHU National Office filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service, claiming that the USPS breached its binding contractual obligations when it unilaterally announced a reversal of its earlier determination that the primary craft for operating the Small Parcel Sorting System is the Mail Handler craft. The NPMHU is seeking a declaration that the Postal Service has breached the tripartite agreement on jurisdictional craft assignments, as well as injunctive and monetary relief to remedy this breach. The APWU also has been named in the suit, as a required party to any litigation on this subject. The suit is now pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Legal actions raising related, but distinct challenges also have been initiated under the RI-399 Dispute Resolution Procedures and through unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board.
