In the Clinton campaign case, the Postal Service relieved union members of their postal duties for weeks at a time and encouraged employees to do union-funded work for various Democratic candidates while on leave, even in the face of local post office managers' complaints of understaffing. Door-to-door efforts and phone banks were used to promote Clinton's campaign; while the workers requested leave without pay, they were compensated through the union's political action committee.
These were not just a few rogue postal workers. The National Association of Letter Carriers allegedly sent a list of individuals who would be participating in the campaign to USPS headquarters. Later, a senior labor relations official forwarded the information to other locations across the country.
When faced with these accusations, Postmaster General Megan Brennan said "senior postal leadership did not in any way guide union leadership in selecting the candidates for whom NALC employees could campaign."
But it's no surprise that the NALC lists were interpreted as explicit directives from the top that participants were to be given leave without pay so they could work on campaigns. Investigators said the practice of giving union employees leave to participate in campaign activity was "long-standing" and has been going on for about two decades.
