Police Association of the District of Columbia and National Park Service, National Capital Region (Authority decision, March 14, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority resolved the union's negotiability petition. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review of this final order in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a). A petition does not itself stay the order.

Plain-English summary

The Park Police union proposed listing certain jobs as special assignment positions with added compensation. The Authority found that the proposal would classify positions as technician jobs for pay purposes, a matter excluded from conditions of employment under the labor statute. It dismissed that part of the petition on the merits. A separate provision became moot after the agency withdrew its objection to it.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Position classification exclusion under 5 U.S.C. § 7103(a)(14)(B).
• Outcome: Agency's nonnegotiability position sustained for the classification proposal; separate provision moot.
• Key point: A proposed pay category designation concerned position classification rather than bargaining conditions.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v11 p594 ]
11:0594(99)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

11 FLRA NO. 99

POLICE ASSOCIATION OF THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Union

and

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE,
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

Agency

Case No. 0-NG-525

DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE

The petition for review in this case comes before the Authority pursuant to Section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor - Management Relations Statute (the Statute), and presents the issue of the negotiability of the underscored portion of the following Union proposal which is part of a proposed article entitled "Special Preferred Assignment Positions and Temporary Duty": 1

Section 1. For the purpose of this contract, Special Assignment Positions are U.S. Park Police Private positions to which additional compensation is added to the basic salary as provided by the current District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Act. Positions to be classed as "Special" are HMP, M/C, K-9, Helicopter, EMT, I.D., CIB (Plainclothes), Divers, Marine, Master Patrolman, SETT and Communications Officers.

Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following determination. [ v11 p594 ] The Union's proposal herein would designate certain U.S. Park Police positions as "Special" for pay purposes. As stated by the Agency, which statement is uncontroverted in the record, 2 the effect of the proposal would be to classify such positions as "technician" positions for salary purposes under provisions of the D.C. Code. 3

In National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 862 and Tooele Army Depot, Tooele, Utah, 3 FLRA 454 (1980), the Authority essentially concluded that a proposal dealing with classification matters is not within the duty to bargain under section 7103(a)(14)(B) of the Statute. 4 The proposal here concerning which positions will be classified in the "Technician" category clearly concerns a matter relating to the classification of positions, which is not a condition of employment under section 7103(a)(14)(B) of the Statute. Therefore, the proposal is not within the duty to bargain. [ v11 p595 ]

Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations (5 CFR 2424.10), IT IS ORDERED that the petition for review as to the proposal be, and hereby is, dismissed.

Issued, Washington, D.C., March 14, 1983

Ronald W. Haughton, Chairman

Henry B. Frazier III, Member

Leon B. Applewhaite, Member

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

[ v11 p596 ]

FOOTNOTES

Footnote 1 In its Statement of Position, the
Agency withdrew its allegation that Section 2 of the proposed article is nonnegotiable. Therefore, the appeal as to Section 2 has been rendered moot and is therefore dismissed. See, e.g., Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association, Local 29 and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center, 8 FLRA No. 106 (1982).

Footnote 2 Because the Union did not file a
Response to the Agency's Statement of Position, the Authority may properly accept the Agency's uncontroverted assertions. See National Federation of Federal Employees v. FLRA, 681 F.2d 886 (D.C. Cir. 1982).

Footnote 3 Agency Statement of Position at
2.

Footnote 4 Section 7103(a)(14)(B) of the Statute provides as follows: 7103. Definitions; application (a) For the purpose of this chapter-- (14) 'conditions of employment' means personnel policies, practices, and matters, whether established by rule, regulation, or otherwise, affecting working conditions, except that such term does not include policies, practices, and matters-- (B) relating to the classification of any position(.)