The election for a number of hotly contested NALC national officer positions is underway. Ballots were mailed out to members last week and must be received by 9 AM on Monday, October 20, 2014 in order to be counted.
In previous years the NALC election of National officers has been held without any fanfare. But this year a team of letter carriers led by David W. Noble called “NALC Clean Sweep 2014” are vying to replicate what happened in the APWU National Election. In the APWU election nearly all incumbent National officers were ousted by the membership.If readers may recall David Noble was employed at NALC headquarters from 1981 to 1993 as an assistant to the late NALC President Vincent R. Sombrotto. Noble’s job ended at NALC headquarters reportedly after he complained that the officers breached their fiduciary duties under federal law. After internal charges were dismissed at the National Convention against Sombrotto, former NALC President William H. Young and 10 other former NALC officers, Noble filed a lawsuit in federal court.
The suit, filed in February,1994 alleged that the officers breached their fiduciary duties under federal law by accepting in-town expenses, convention per diem payments, and FICA reimbursements. On September 30, 2005 the District Court found in favor of the officers and the Union on all issues.
However, on May 16, 2008 the Court of Appeals reversed in part and vacated in part. READ MORE: Court of Appeals Keeps Alive 14-Year-Old Lawsuit Against NALC (May 19, 2008)
Fast forward to 2014
David Noble, a candidate for NALC National President, is hoping to unseat current president Fredric Rolando.
Last month Noble requested that the court put the case on hold:
“…. the membership of the NALC will soon have an opportunity to decide the future of the union. If they opt for a change in leadership, the course of this litigation will certainly be affected. According to the NALC submission, the ballot count should be completed next month. Prudence would suggest that the resolution of this matter should be held until the results of the election are known. Such a short delay will not prejudice any party given the length of this proceeding.”
Noble also requested an extension of the case until October 15, 2014 so that he may gather certain documents. Could it be that Noble is well aware his 20 year quest to prove NALC National officers breached their fiduciary duties may be on its “Last Mile?” Only time will tell.
As a sidenote: Noble filed two other lawsuits.
In one lawsuit Noble filed against USPS for breaches of its collective bargaining agreement with the National Association of Letter Carriers and against , NALC and NALC Branch #142 for breaches of their duty of fair representation. The allegations stem from USPS working Noble on overtime more than 10 hours per day (25 of 83) of his scheduled days and NALC Branch 142 failing and refusing to process grievances. The case was dismissed in District Court.
Noble filed another lawsuit against USPS for the same issue. However, USPS and Noble reached a settlement agreement for $2,900.
I am not that familiar with Noble’s relationship with the Union but he does bring one important issue to light about the way our working conditions have deteriorated over the years and getting worse. A lot of routes were lost and the other routes in our station became over burdened whether contested or not. Despite leaving mail in the office we are now required to pivot with overburdened routes. Carriers are being pushed to do more street functions with the same or less amount of time, it is just not possible to ignore any longer. It does not seem to matter if you do everything right by the book you are going to be harassed, intimidated and humiliated until it becomes a very serious issue to the Carriers health, well being and dignity. Management and labor are once again dealing with hostile issues on the work room floor, people are being abused and the Union can’t do anything about it because there is no agreement in place to address this issue. No matter who wins the National Officers positions I hope they hear what we are saying about working conditions of Carriers throughout the Postal Service, just ask them about their working conditions as related to workload/time and unfair treatment. A lot will say they love carrying mail and serving their customers but the hate the Postal Service and management for being treated so horribly. What we need is positive management from the top down because they are doing the same old stupid management stunts and trickery that have failed us for decades. We need positive constructive smart management from our leaders or we need contractual protections for maintaining good working conditions with less condemnation for trying to do our jobs to the best of our ability.
The union has increased their salaries 25%….and that surprised you why? Look at your contract oh wise one…ALL contracts provide for AUTOMATIC salary increases for their officers. The APWU takes that one step further by having a (hush-hush)Officer only retirement fund paid for by union dues. The ordinary lemming member cannot access this fund BUT they sure as hell pay for it! Bring this up at any union meeting and you will be called OUT OF ORDER or it will be tabled. No one wants to talk about this but no one denies it either. Union officers live the good life AND…don’t have to touch the mail either! All courtesy of your dues. I, of course, don’t have that problem cause I’m a scab…what of it?
I have to applaud gimpy !!! I have personally filed slam dunk grievances only to come back from the new system of arbitrators as a non win , !! I and I’m sure many carriers are left scratching your head wondering why am I paying dues to the NALC who rewards the inner core of nba’s regional reps and all the way up to Rolando with 7% increases annually !!
During the hardest times the postal service has endured (2006-2010) the union has increased their salaries 25% , while all carriers have seen a dramatic increase in parcels and sequential mail along with later start times and a whole new category of part time carrier who seems only to there now in order to keep overtime down on nsd days for regulars ??!!
We have been sold out brothers and sisters with an idea to save money from a made up crisis by issa and Donahue , with an assist by our nalc in return the union gets a 30% increase of union .
well said gimpy
Have to give Noble a chance as the current crew are ~~ well ~~ not very good.
Really? How can anyone believe this idiot? He has been and continues to sue us- the union- YES US and he wants to be our leader- he gets voted in- I’m done -after being a member for over 30 years and a branch officer- I will be done if Brian Noble gets in. I was at a lot of these National conventions and WE the body did vote for these “allegations”. Grow a set and be a man- admit you are wrong and move on- YOU OWE EVERY MEMBER OF THE NALC an apology. I sure will not vote for you , nor you so called clean sweep, hard to clean with a dirty mop.
He served his 12 years as officer. PO must have changed his route when he got back to his office. That just shows CORE process sucks now he wants his old JOB back. The members have spoken 21 years ago your outta here.
Noble could score an upset for sure given the overall dissatisfaction of a helluva lot of NALC letter carriers across the country. I voted for him because I think the current leadership from the DRT teams on up are ineffective as well, and doing little if anything to oust Donahoe, through informational pickets, public support and more than just “wah wah” letters to Congresspersons and Senators who are listening only if their constituents are really complaining and their own re-elections are in jeopardy. This is why we are still stuck with Donahoe and others in the USPS who are moving the service toward dissolving the unions and institute the same conditions carriers faced in the years prior to postal reform, where they were below the poverty line and eligible for welfare with no job security.
The DRT process has become a joke, with thousands of carriers sold out and many removed because the DRT’s either were in cahoots with management, or had personal beefs with individual branches and sabotaged them to try to force branch leaders out. NBA’s have done their part to hurt carriers too because many DRT’s I suspect were acting under NBA’s orders. That has to stop. And don’t tell me it doesn’t happen – I KNOW it does, and never you mind how I do, because you know what happens to whistleblowers now.
The CCA program is horrible. How could we have possibly allowed that to happen? I can think of several ways, none of which is acceptable, but I’ll refrain because it’s just one person’s opinion.
Perhaps Noble, if elected, would have the balls to stop the CCA program and reinstitute the PTF program, kick out all current DRT’s, put them on a rotating basis, review grievances where carriers lost their jobs to piss poor representation on the part of the DRT’s and stop the politicizing of representation. We pay for our protection. I served as an officer either steward or president 17 years and did my best, but I had no back up support from outside my branch. We want to help, but Noble must see to it all NALC members, not just those at mega branches and pet offices get the fair and best representation possible.
Mr. Noble, you have a powerful incumbency against you and the “Postal Record” will not be your friend either outside of placing an ad. I doubt you’ll win because you don’t have the time and resources to beat the good old company line boys, but I do not suggest you give up, either. Your running and making your positions known will help create a mandate for the letter carriers to rally behind. I just hope in the event you do win that you do not turn on us.
What did they concede? arbitrator Das unfairly imposed a two year pay freeze,lower paid CCA’s to replace TE’s,and small pay raises with employee’s contribution to health care going up 4%.
It is time to clean house!! Get new leadership NOW!! THE CURRENT LEADERS ARE INEFFECTIVE. THE UNION HAS BEEN GOING BACKWARDS WITH ALL OF THE CONCESSIONS!!
A ruling in his favor would virtually guarantee he wins the election. A ruling against him would almost guarantee he loses. What possible reason could he have for wanting to delay the ruling?