Mather Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1692 (Authority decision, July 16, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority denies the union's exceptions to an arbitration award rejecting an eight percent environmental pay differential for cleaning and plating shop employees. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), orders involving arbitral awards are generally excluded from judicial review unless they involve an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision does not state that it involves one.

Plain-English summary

AFGE Local 1692 sought an eight percent environmental pay differential for employees handling toxic chemicals in a Mather Air Force Base cleaning and plating shop. An earlier arbitrator had denied the differential after finding that protective devices and safety measures practically eliminated the risk of injury. In this grievance, the arbitrator found that shop conditions had not changed enough to warrant the differential. The union argued that the award misapplied personnel regulations and relied on arbitrary findings. The Authority found no statutory ground to set it aside and denied the exceptions, leaving the no-differential award in place.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Review of arbitration awards under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union's exceptions denied; eight percent environmental pay differential remains denied.
• Key point: The union did not show that the arbitrator's finding about unchanged shop conditions made the award legally deficient.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v28 p33 ]
28:0033(9)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

28 FLRA NO. 9

MATHER AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA

Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1692, AFL-CIO

Union

Case No. 0-AR-1321

DECISION

I. Statement of the Case

This matter is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Charles A. Askin filed by the Union under section 7122 (a) of the Federal Service Labor - Management Relations Statute (the Statute) and part 2425 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations.

II. Background and Arbitrator's Award

The grievance in this case concerned whether employees in the cleaning and plating shop were entitled to 8 percent environmental differential pay because of their exposure to toxic chemicals. The Arbitrator noted that in a prior arbitration award on the same question, another arbitrator had ruled that no environmental differential pay was warranted because the Activity had provided protective devices and safety measures which "practically eliminated the potential for . . . personal injury(.)" Arbitrator's award at 4. The issue in the present case was whether conditions in the cleaning and plating shop had so changed since the earlier award as to warrant the payment of 8 percent environmental differential pay in accordance with Federal Personnel Manual (FPM) Supplement 532-1, Appendix J. The Arbitrator found that conditions had not changed since the earlier award and ruled that payment of 8 percent environmental differential pay was not warranted.

III. Discussion

In its exceptions, the Union contends that the Arbitrator's award is deficient because it is contrary to the regulations at issue and because the Arbitrator's findings are arbitrary. Essentially, the Union contends that the Activity has not practically eliminated the potential for serious injury from handling toxic chemicals and therefore environmental differential pay is warranted under FPM Supplement 532-1, Appendix J.

We conclude that the Union has failed to establish that the Arbitrator's award is deficient on any of the grounds set forth in section 7122 (a) of the Statute; that is, that the award is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation or that it is deficient on other grounds similar to those applied by Federal courts in private sector labor-management relations. See Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia and Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, AFL - CIO, 10 FLRA 413 (1982) (the specific work situations for which an environmental differential is payable under FPM Supplement 532-1, Appendix J, are left to local determination, including arbitration). Accordingly, the Union's exceptions are denied.

Issued, Washington, D.C., July 16, 1987.

Jerry L. Calhoun, Chairman

Henry B. Frazier III, Member

Jean McKee, Member

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY