By Jory Heckman Federal News Radio The union representatives of the beleaguered Postal Service are pushing back on the USPS over a recent cyber attack and planned budget cuts set for the new year. Confronted with a cyber breach that comprised the sensitive data of more than 800,000 employees, the American Postal Workers Union has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the USPS. “We are demanding information from the USPS about the extent of the breach — both known and suspected — and what postal management knew, when they knew it, and what they did, or failed to do to protect employee information,” Mark Dimondstein, APWU president, said in a statement to union members about the NLRB complaint. “The Postal Service did not give the Union advance notice that would enable it to negotiate over the impacts and effects of the data breach on employees,” APWU said in its complaint to NLRB. USPS employees learned about the cyber attack on Monday morning, but the breach was first reported to the Postal Service inspector general in September. The union also alleges that the Postal Service made “unilateral changes in the wages, hours and working conditions by, among other things, providing free credit monitoring services to employees.” APWU seeks injunctive relief against the USPS. On Friday, postal employees representing four USPS unions will also challenge Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and the USPS Board of Governors over a program of cuts that will take effect on Jan. 5, 2015. In order to decrease its operating costs, USPS plans to close 82 mail sorting centers across the country. The Postal Service claims the closures will save $3.5 billion over the next five years. APWU and three other unions representing postal workers — the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Handlers Union and that National Rural Letter Carriers Association — say the cost-cutting measures will eliminate overnight delivery and delay first class mail in parts of the country where processing centers will close. Since 2012, more than 120 processing centers have already closed. “These cuts will cause hardships for customers, drive away business, cause irreparable harm to the U.S. Postal Service, and lead to massive schedule changes and reassignments for employees. They are part of a flawed management strategy that has unnecessarily sacrificed service and failed to address the cause of the Postal Service’s manufactured financial crisis,” the union presidents wrote in a letter urging their employees to join in Friday’s rallies. The rallies on Friday, which will take place at more than 125 sites, coincide with the Board of Governor’s final meeting of the year. RELATED STORIES Cyber breach at Postal Service leaves employees vulnerable USPS lacks funds to replace aging mail delivery trucks

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