National Labor Relations Board V. United States Postal Service

This case is before the court pursuant to an application of the National Labor Relations Board seeking enforcement of its order requiring two Detroit area facilities of the United States Postal Service to advise the Detroit area division of the American Postal Workers Union whether local union officials had applied for supervisory positions within the Postal Service. The Board adopted the Administrative Law Judge's determination that the Postal Service's refusal to provide such information was a violation of its duty under § 8(a)(1) and (5) of the National Labor Relations Act, to provide the union with relevant information needed by the union to perform its duties as the employees statutory bargaining representative. The Board also adopted the Administrative Law Judge's determination that the Postal Service's confidentiality concerns did not justify non-disclosure, and that the information sought fell within the purview of the "routine use" exception to the Privacy Act. For the reasons that follow, we direct enforcement of the Board's order.