39 U.S.C. § 1203

Recognition of labor organizations

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(a) The Postal Service shall accord exclusive recognition to a labor organization when the organization has been selected by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit as their representative.(b) Agreements and supplements in effect on the date of enactment of this section covering employees in the former Post Office Department shall continue to be recognized by the Postal Service until altered or amended pursuant to law.(c) When a petition has been filed, in accordance with such regulations as may be prescribed by the National Labor Relations Board—(1) by an employee, a group of employees, or any labor organization acting in their behalf, alleging that (A) a substantial number of employees wish to be represented for collective bargaining by a labor organization and that the Postal Service declines to recognize such labor organization as the representative; or (B) the labor organization which has been certified or is being currently recognized by the Postal Service as the bargaining representative is no longer a representative; or(2) by the Postal Service, alleging that one or more labor organizations has presented to it a claim to be recognized as the representative;the National Labor Relations Board shall investigate such petition and, if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists, shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. Such hearing may be conducted by an officer or employee of the National Labor Relations Board, who shall not make any recommendations with respect thereto. If the National Labor Relations Board finds upon the record of such hearing that such a question of representation exists, it shall direct an election by secret ballot and shall certify the results thereof.(d) A petition filed under subsection (c)(1) of this section shall be accompanied by a statement signed by at least 30 percent of the employees in the appropriate unit stating that they desire that an election be conducted for either of the purposes set forth in such subsection.(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the waiving of hearings by stipulation for the purpose of a consent election in conformity with regulations and rules of decision of the National Labor Relations Board.(Pub. L. 91–375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 734.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (b), means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 91–375, which was approved Aug. 12, 1970.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date

Section effective July 1, 1971, pursuant to Resolution No. 71–9 of the Board of Governors. See section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1971–2025 · leading case: Janus v. State, Cnty., & Mun. Employees, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018).
Janus v. State, Cnty., & Mun. Employees, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018). “Although permitted to choose an exclu­ sive representative, Postal Service employees are not required to pay an agency fee, 39 U. S. C. §§1203 (a), 1209(c), and about 400,000 are union members.”
Darrell D. McNair v. United States Postal Serv., 768 F.2d 730 (5th Cir. 1985). “USPS is required by statute to recognize labor organizations that its employees have selected as their bargaining representatives, see 39 U.S.C. § 1203 (a), and is authorized to execute collective bargaining agreements with those organizations that “include any procedures for…”
Acosta v. Potter, 410 F. Supp. 2d 298 (S.D.N.Y. 2006). “is recognized pursuant to 39 U.S.C. § 1203 as the exclusive collective bargaining representative nationwide of postal employees who are postal clerks” and that “Metro .”
Nat'l Post Off. Mail Handlers, Watchmen, Messengers & Grp. Leaders Div. of the Laborers' Int'l Union v. Johnson (In Re Johnson), 139 B.R. 163 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1992). “The Union is recognized by the Postal Service as a labor organization, 39 U.S.C. § 1203 , and the Union deals with the Postal Service concerning grievances and contract administration.”
Nat'l Ass'n of Letter Carriers v. Sombrotto, 449 F.2d 915 (2d Cir. 1971). · cites it 3× “” Branch 36 argues that, far from furnishing a basis for disciplining the local and its officers, actions taken by the local to petition for a new local area bargaining unit are expressly protected by § 1203(c) of the Postal Reorganization Act, 39 U.S.C. § 1203 (c). That…”
Withers v. United States Postal Serv., 417 F. Supp. 1 (W.D. Mo. 1976). “39 U.S.C. § 1203 (b) (1970). In any event, the parties have not provided the Court with the relevant dates concerning the labor agreements in question and it is obvious that the provisions of the 1968-1971 Agreement were invoked by ' the parties in plaintiff’s case.”
Whisman v. Robbins, 55 F.3d 1140 (6th Cir. 1995). · cites it 2× “In support, he cites 39 U.S.C. § 1203 (a), which provides that “[t]he Postal Service shall accord exclusive recognition to a labor organization when the organization has been selected by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit as their representative,” 39 U.”
Malone v. United States Postal Serv., 526 F.2d 1099 (6th Cir. 1975). “The Union has been recognized in accordance with 39 U.S.C. § 1203 as the exclusive representative of the employees in the mail handlers unit.”
Weber v. Potter, 338 F. Supp. 2d 600 (E.D. Pa. 2004). “Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. § 1203 (a), the NALC is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for employees of the USPS.”
Winston v. United States Postal Serv., 585 F.2d 198 (7th Cir. 1978). “Through PRA, Congress brought USPS employees into the labor relations mode of the private sector.”
Teamsters Local Union No. 2000 v. Hoffa, 284 F. Supp. 2d 684 (E.D. Mich. 2003). “Under the relevant provision of the Postal Reorganization Act, 39 U.S.C. § 1203 (c), the court found that when an employee or labor organization seeks a new bargaining representative while still maintaining membership in the national union, they are not immune from discipline by…”
Nat'l All. of Postal & Fed. Employees v. Klassen, 369 F. Supp. 747 (D.D.C. 1974). “39 U.S.C. § 1203 (a). Indeed, it is a well-settled labor law rule in the private sector that an employer’s refusal to bargain with the recognized majority representative may constitute an unfair labor practice under Section 8(a) (5) of the NLRA, supra.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.