Federal News Radio – 7/20/17 – Postal Service taking a ‘hands off’ approach to future union political action

Don’t look for Postal Service letter carriers out on the campaign trail in 2018.

The Postal Service will no longer permit leave without pay for union political activities, after it recommended a “hands off” approach to the service’s union political activities.

At issue is a complaint from Timm Kopp, a letter carrier based in Marshfield, Wisconsin. According to written and spoken testimony from Kopp — who testified during the hearing — during fall 2016, State NALC President Scott Van-Derven attended a local union meeting, and spoke about congressional bills the union was supporting and also mentioned a need for campaign volunteers for the upcoming election.

Several weeks later, a letter carrier informed Kopp that he was going to volunteer, and would be gone for five weeks — starting in just two days. At least one other nearby post office found itself in the same position, Kopp said, and for those weeks the employees were gone, supervisors scrambled to fill shifts through overtime and loaning out personnel. Read more at Federal News Radio and Gov’t watchdog: USPS violated law by allowing Clinton campaigning