Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg has issued an award finding that the Postal Service breached its agreement with the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) when it unilaterally made changes to its Employee and Labor Relations Manual to prohibit Union Leave without pay for purposes of engaging in partisan political activity.The Service's action was triggered by a report of the Office of Special Counsel asserting that leave for that purpose was prohibited by the Hatch Act. (OSC Report) The OSC investigation was triggered by a complaint submitted by Senator Ron Johnson, Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. The Senator had received information from a constituent that thePostal Service was incurring unnecessary overtime costs by granting LWOP for employees to participate in election activities sponsored by the AFL-CIO. These activities included door-to-door canvassing, phone banks, and "get out the vote"…
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