This episode features a three-hour interview (Part 1) with David Noble, a candidate for NALC president. Noble provides a lengthy personal history, highlighting his long career as a letter carrier and union activist, including his close relationship with former NALC President Vince Sombrotto. He emphasizes his extensive experience handling grievances and his role in past contract negotiations.
Noble discusses his lawsuit against the NALC, aiming to increase transparency and candidate access to communication channels with the membership. He criticizes the current NALC leadership, particularly Brian Renfroe, for failing to address contract violations and for the creation of the CCA classification, which he advocates eliminating. He proposes several key policy changes, including increasing arbitration access, enhancing member education through training and resources like podcasts, and reforming the grievance process to increase efficiency and accountability.
He advocates for merging the NALC and the rural carriers’ union and for open bargaining. He expresses a preference for adversarial grievance procedures and criticizes management’s use of scanner data for disciplinary actions. Noble also clarifies past allegations against him and defends his long-term pursuit of legal actions against NALC officers, detailing specific instances of malfeasance. The interview ends with plans to continue in a future episode.