Postal workers union files complaint to NLRB after data breach

Postal workers are taking their frustrations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after a U.S. Postal Service data breach exposed 800,000 employees’ information.

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which filed the complaint, says the Postal Service didn’t work with them to address the issue during the two months between the breach’s discovery and the Post Office’s public announcement on Monday.

{mosads}“I received a phone call Sunday night from Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe about the incident, but it was just a ‘courtesy call,’ not a discussion with the APWU about how to deal with the problem and its negative consequences to the workforce,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein.

The complaint protests the Postal Service’s “failure to bargain over the impact of the security breach.”

“While the Postal Service has been aware of the security problems for months, they kept you and your union leadership in the dark,” Dimondstein said in a statement to union members.

The breach compromised employees’ names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses. No customer data is thought to have been affected.

Hackers had access to the system as far back as January.

“We are outraged that this happened,” Dimondstein said. “We do not know at this point whether management did everything in their power to protect our privacy, but they bear the ultimate responsibility.”

House Oversight Committee members have also said they will press the Postal Service for more information. Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said the incident illustrates the need to reform government data security standards.