duty to provide information to the union in grievance … · in grievance matters ... duty to...

To arrange for this or any other Training for Supervisors course, or to ask about legal issues raised by the coursematerials, contact the Law Department Field Office that serves your office or facility. See the Law DepartmentField Office listings on our Web site at blue/uspslaw.

This publication is intended only for internal training purposes and as a general reference to be used in conjunction withtraining sessions conducted by the Law Department. It is not equivalent to an official handbook, manual, or policy statement,and may contain representations that are subject to interpretation and potential change in the law. All examples areintended as teaching exercises and not as representations of actual Postal Service events or practices.

L A W D E P A R T M E N Tuspslaw

Training forSupervisors

Duty toProvideInformationto the Unionin GrievanceMatters

October 2002 Prepared by the Law DepartmentUnited States Postal Service

Visit the Law Department Web site at blue/uspslawfor course and reference materials, directory listings,publications, and more.

Training for SupervisorsDuty to Provide Information to the Union in Grievance Matters

10/2002

CONTENTS

A. General principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 1

• Sources of obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 1

• What information must be provided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 1

• Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 1

• Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 2

• Relevant information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 3

• Continuing nature of duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 4

• Time for complying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - 5

B. Information that is presumed relevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B - 1

• Presumption of relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B - 1

• Overcoming the presumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B - 1

• When the relevance is questionable, question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B - 2

C. Certain information is not presumed relevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C - 1

• Matters excluded from grievance process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C - 1

• Employees not represented by requesting union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C - 2

• Postal hiring practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C - 2

• Moot grievance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C - 2


CONTENTS – continued

ii10/2002

D. Privilege and confidentiality concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D - 1

• Exercise caution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D - 1

• Privileged information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D - 1

• Confidential information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D - 2

• Accommodating confidentiality concerns and information needs . . . . . . D - 3

E. The magnitude and cost of information requests . . . . . . . . . . . . E - 1

• Both parties' duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E - 1

• Limits on fishing expedition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E - 1

• Limits on costs to USPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E - 2

• Nonlocal requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E - 3

F. Practical advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F - 1

G. Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G - 1


A - 110/2002

A. Generalprinciples

Sources of obligation

Sources of principles:

# National Labor Relations Act

# Collective bargaining agreement

What information must be provided

Management must provide information toa requesting union when required by:3 the collective bargaining agreement

("contract")3 or the National Labor Relations Act

("NLRA")+ Although the contract and the NLRA

largely overlap, one sometimes doesimpose obligations uponmanagement that the other does not.

Requirements

3 Request

3 Potentially relevant information

3 Continuing nature of duty to respond

3 Time for complying with request


A - 210/2002


(cont’d)

Request

# A request must be made.C Under the NLRA, no duty to provide aunion information arises until a requestor a demand has been made.

CAVEAT: Even prior to a request,management has the duty to develop anddisclose relevant facts.

# Once a request is made, both unionand management . . . . . . must develop "all necessaryfacts, including the exchange ofcopies of all relevant papers ordocuments in accordance withArticle 31." – Article 15.2.Step 2(d) of majorNational Agreements

+ A union may requestinformation . . .

# to investigate an existing grievance and . . .

# to investigate a matter in order todetermine whether or not to bring agrievance.

+ The NLRB’s definition of informationnecessary to process grievances ismuch broader than the definitionunder the collective bargainingagreement.


A - 310/2002


(cont’d)

Relevant information

Management must almost always providea union with . . . # requested information . . . # that is potentially relevant in the

investigation of . . . C a grievance . . . C or a possible grievance.

+ What is relevant:A document is relevant when itreasonably . . . # could contain useful

information . . . # or could lead to useful information.

A supervisor’s disagreement as to adocument’s relevance does notnecessarily make the document irrelevantto the union, nor provide a valid reasonnot to disclose it. The union needs toshow that the document is possiblyrelevant to its pending or potentialgrievance.

When an information request includes ademand for both relevant andirrelevant information:3 the whole request cannot be denied;3 management must provide the

information that is relevant.


A - 410/2002


(cont’d)

Relevant information (cont’d)

+ As examined below in Part D,confidentiality concerns and claims ofprivilege may affect how or evenwhether relevant information isdisclosed.

Continuing nature of duty

Duty to respond to information requests iscontinuing.

Management still has duty to respond toinformation requests at further stages ofgrievance process (Step 3, arbitration).


A - 510/2002


(cont’d)

Time for complying

Timeliness: Management has anobligation to respond to an informationrequest in a timely manner.

+ What is timely?# No concrete guidelines:

3 Depends on situation andreason

3 Delay of a few weeks mayviolate NLRA.

# Apply a rule of reason to difficultrequests.3 Examples: Archived information,

voluminous information,information requiring the aid ofindividuals on vacation, etc.

+ Unnecessary delay in completingan information request will result inthe filing of an unfair labor practicecharge with the National LaborRelations Board.

# Therefore, all requests must bepromptly answered, and in all casesmust be answered within 21 days.

# If a longer period of time is needed,a letter should be sent to therequesting party explaining thereasons for the delay.


B - 110/2002

B. Informationthat is

presumedrelevant

Presumption of relevance

Certain information is presumed to berelevant. This means:

+ Unless management has a goodreason for not disclosing it, it mustbe provided to the union uponrequest.

Presumed to be relevant information:C pertaining to the wages, hours, andworking conditions . . . C of individuals represented . . . C by the requesting union.

Overcoming the presumption

# The presumption of relevance can bedefeated.

# The burden is upon management toshow:

C that the information requested, . . . C even though it concerns individualsrepresented by the union, . . . C is in fact irrelevant.


B - 210/2002

B. Informationthat is

presumedrelevant (cont’d)

When the relevance isquestionable, question

When the relevance of requestedinformation is not obvious or apparent, it is proper, wise, and safe to:

3 first ask the union, in writing, toexplain the relevance of theinformation sought

When the request is unclear:3 ask the union, in writing, for

clarification as to the nature of itsrequest;

3 do not deny the request merelybecause the relevance of theinformation requested is unclear.


C - 110/2002

C. Certaininformation isnot presumed

relevant

Certain information is generallypresumed to be not relevant

# Information about matters which arenot grievable because they areexcluded from the grievanceprocedure

# Information about employees notrepresented by the requesting union

CAVEAT: In some matters, e.g., ajurisdictional dispute betweenunions concerning workassignments, or claims of morefavorable discipline of asupervisor, this information maybe clearly relevant.

# Information about postal hiringpractices

# Information relating to a grievancematter that has become moot

Matters excluded from grievanceprocess

# Information about matters . . .

C that are not grievable . . . C because those matters are excludedfrom the grievance procedure (e.g.,probationary employees).


C - 210/2002

C. Certaininformation isnot presumedrelevant (cont’d)

Employees not represented byrequesting union

# Union carries the burden to show theinformation and documents arerelevant; only if it meets that burdenis there an obligation to disclose.

Postal hiring practices

# Information about postal hiringpractices

+ unless . . . 3 the union indicates that it is

investigating . . . 3 and the requested information is

relevant in determining . . . 3 whether there is EEO-type

discrimination operating in thosematters.

Moot grievance

# Information relating to a grievancematter that has become moot.Moot = no longer remains an issuethat can be remedied in thegrievance procedure

After a grievance matter has becomemoot, there is no duty to produceinformation about that grievance.


C - 310/2002



Moot grievance (cont’d)

3 Example: If a discipline grievance issettled, a later request going to thebasis for the discipline need not behonored, due to mootness.

CAVEAT: If the request is relevant whenmade, but later becomes moot, delay inproviding the information maynonetheless violate the NLRA.+ Keep in mind:# What may appear to be a clearly

winning procedural defense (e.g.,timeliness) or a winning defense onthe merits (e.g., the contract clearlydoes not say what the unioncontends) will not render a matterirrelevant. The union has the right tomake its full case, and to conduct arelevant investigation in order to doso.

# There may be rare occasions whenthe very burdensomeness of a requestcould justify its refusal. Thatdetermination should be made withthe approval of Labor Relations.


D - 110/2002

D. Privilegeand

confidentialityconcerns

Exercise caution

Certain information is privileged and/orconfidential and may not be disclosed.

+ If you are unsure whether certaininformation is privileged or confiden-tial, or whether circumstances requiredisclosure, contact Labor Relations.

+ The Law Department is available toconsult with Labor Relations and/orpostal supervisors as complex legalquestions arise.

Privileged information

Certain information is privileged and mustnot be disclosed.Examples of privileged information:# the identity of confidential informants# internal management communica-

tions about the strengths and weak-nesses of management's grievanceand arbitration positions

# documents covered by the attorney-client privilege


D - 210/2002

D. Privilegeand

confidentialityconcerns (cont’d)

Confidential information

Certain information is confidential andmay not be subject to disclosure.

Examples of confidential information:# Social security numbers# Medical and psychological records# IQ tests+ What to do when the union requests

confidential information:3 Don't flatly refuse to provide it. A

flat refusal to provide evenconfidential information will beconsidered a violation of theNLRA.

3 Instead of denying it automati-cally –

C identify the confidential infor-mation and . . . C invite the union, in writing, toexplore ways with you to . . . C produce the information thatwill minimize or avoid the confi-dentiality problem . . . C while meeting the union's le-gitimate needs.


D - 310/2002

D. Privilegeand

confidentialityconcerns (cont’d)

Accommodating confidentiality concernsand information needs

Some examples:# Seeking the consent of the individual

to whom the confidential matters per-tain for their release

# Sanitizing the diagnosis of a medicalcondition (e.g., cancer or AIDS) froman OWCP form when all the unionneeds to know are the employee'swork restrictions

# Releasing information to a medicalprofessional retained by the unionwho can perform an independent re-view for the union (perhaps determin-ing that a medical diagnosis does ordoes not support certain work restric-tions) while yet being ethically boundnot to release the medical diagnosisitself


E - 110/2002

E. Themagnitudeand cost ofinformation

requests

Both parties' duty

It's the duty of the union, as well asmanagement:

# Under the NLRA, a union has thesame obligation as management toprovide relevant information uponrequest.

Limits on fishing expedition

# Management may deny aninformation request that constitutes a"fishing expedition."

# Union must have some reasonablebasis for suspecting the informationis relevant.

# Use caution in denying a request onthis basis:C Clear cases of "fishing expedition"are rare.C Consult Labor Relations beforedenying the request.


E - 210/2002


requests (cont’d)

Limits on costs to USPS

The Postal Service may charge forreasonable expenses incurred in providingrequested information to a union.3 Allowed by Article 31.3 of major

National Agreements+ In determining what to charge, follow

the Administrative Support Manual(ASM) Section 352.7 regardingFreedom of Information Requests.

# The ASM provides that with respect toa given request:C The first two hours of search timeand the first 100 pages ofphotocopying are free.C For additional time or copies,specified charges can be imposed.

# Should a sizable union request forinformation be made, review thequestion of charging for it with LaborRelations.

+ For a voluminous request, a goodpractice is to provide the union adetailed estimate of the costs to beincurred for the information, with aninquiry to the union as to whether itstill desires the information. Thesupervisor at this time can alsorequest that the union providepayment if it still wants theinformation.


E - 310/2002


requests (cont’d)

Nonlocal requests

Refer them to national level.# Under Article 31.3 of the major

agreements, when a union requestsinformation that is not purely local tothe installation where the request ismade, that part which is not local"shall be directed by the NationalPresident of the Union to the VicePresident for Human Resources."


F - 110/2002

F. Practicaladvice

+ Keep in mind:# If you have any questions or

reservations, seek the advice ofLabor Relations and/or the LawDepartment.

# Even if you think a request ismeritless, do not ignore it!

# Treat all requests in a timelymanner.

+ Keep a log of all requests andresponses. To better track whetherand when information is provided,designate someone to log in allrequests, noting when the informationhas been provided or, if not, thereason for the denial.

+ This training material is only a guide.You may well face informationrequests that are difficult tocategorize or go outside of thesituations covered here. Informationrequests regarding confidentialinformation can be especially difficultto handle. In those cases, seek theadvice of Labor Relationsprofessionals before responding tothe requests.

+ Among the most troublesome casesinvolving the Postal Service that arebrought before the National LaborRelations Board, the agency thatenforces the NLRA, are those arisingfrom information matters. In many


F - 210/2002

F. Practicaladvice (cont’d)

cases, relevant information requestedby a union either was not provided orwas not provided in a timely manner.When requests are handled in thisway, these are difficult cases todefend. Even if you think a request isimproper, do not ignore it.

+ Because of the volume of requests,the local relationship with a union, orpast disputes about the time or eventhe fact of the transmission ofinformation given in response, it is agood idea to maintain a log of aunion's requests and of yourresponses. It is also advisable tohave the union's representatives signreceipts when information has beenprovided.

+ Finally, when in doubt, call LaborRelations. The Law Department isavailable to consult with LaborRelations and/or postal supervisorsas complex legal questions arise.


G - 110/2002

G. Checklist 9 Has the union made a request forinformation?

9 Is the information potentiallyrelevant to the investigation of agrievance or a possible grievance?

9 May any document requestedreasonably contain usefulinformation or information thatcould lead to useful information?

9 Does the information requestedpertain to the wages, hours, orworking conditions ofindividuals represented by theunion?

9 If the request is questionable, haveI asked the union in writing toexplain the relevance of theinformation sought?

9 If the request is unclear, have Iasked the union in writing forclarification of the nature of therequest?

9 Is the information requestedconfidential?

9 If so, have I written to the union,inviting it to discuss ways toproduce the information which mayavoid the confidentialityproblem, while meeting the union'slegitimate needs?

9 Is the information privileged?


G - 210/2002

G. Checklist(cont’d)

9 If the information is confidential, priv-ileged, ambiguous, or of question-able relevance, or the request is sobroad as to appear to be a fishingexpedition, have I conferred withLabor Relations?

9 If the information sought is notpurely local, have I referred this tothe national level?

9 If a demand for both relevant andirrelevant information has beenmade, have I provided the relevantinformation?

9 If the request is voluminous, have Iprovided the union with a detailedestimate of the costs and asked theunion if it still wants the information?

9 Have I provided the information in atimely manner?

9 Have I kept a log of the union'srequests and our responses?

9 Have I obtained a signed receiptfor provided information from theunion representative?

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