Department of Defense, Office of Dependents Education and Overseas Education Association, National Education Association (Authority decision, August 9, 1984)

Final FLRA representation decision. This order amends a bargaining unit certification in part and dismisses the rest of the petition. The decision concerns the description of a bargaining unit under 5 U.S.C. § 7112. Section 7123(a)(2) expressly excludes an Authority order involving an appropriate-unit determination under § 7112 from the 60-day judicial-review provision in § 7123(a).

Plain-English summary

The Overseas Education Association asked the Authority to change the activity name and recast its school employee unit as a broad national unit excluding two regions represented by other unions. The Defense Dependents Schools and an intervening union opposed those broader changes. The Authority found one actual organizational change: the Germany North and Germany South regions had merged. It amended the certification to name the single Germany Region but rejected the proposed activity name and broader unit description. The outcome is mixed because only the amendment reflecting the merger was granted.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Certification amendment petition under 5 U.S.C. § 7111(b)(2).
• Outcome: Germany regions merged in certification; rest of petition dismissed.
• Key point: A certification amendment can reflect an actual organizational change but cannot expand the unit based on hypothetical future changes.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v15 p493 ]

15:0493(106)AC

The decision of the Authority follows:

15 FLRA No. 106

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE,
OFFICE OF DEPENDENTS EDUCATION /1/
Activity

and

OVERSEAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Petitioner/Labor Organization

and

OVERSEAS FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT, AFL-CIO
Intervenor/Labor Organization

Case No. 3-AC-30009

DECISION AND ORDER

Upon a petition duly filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority under section 7111(b)(2) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the Authority. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.

Upon the entire record, including the parties' contentions, the Authority finds: The Petitioner, Overseas Education Association, National Education Association (OEA), seeks to amend its certification of representative by changing the name of the Activity from Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDS) to Department of Defense, Office of Dependents' Education, and further seeks to amend the description of its bargaining unit contained in the Regional Director's "Certification of Representative," dated June 22, 1982, which was issued pursuant to an election directed by the Authority in Department of Defense Dependents Schools, 6 FLRA 297 (1981).

Pursuant to the above "Certification of Representative," OEA was certified as the exclusive bargaining representative for the following unit of employees:

All nonsupervisory professional school-level personnel employed by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Atlantic Region; excluding all nonprofessional employees, substitute teachers, management officials, supervisors and employees described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6), and (7) of the Statute.

All nonsupervisory professional school-level personnel employed by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Germany North Region; excluding all nonprofessional employees, substitute teachers, management officials, supervisors and employees described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the Statute.

All nonsupervisory professional school-level personnel employed by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Germany South Region; excluding all nonprofessional employees, substitute teachers, management officials, supervisors, and employees described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the Statute.

All nonsupervisory professional school-level personnel employed by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Pacific Region; excluding all nonprofessional employees, substitute teachers, management officials, supervisors and employees described in Section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the Statute.

In addition, also as a result of elections directed in DODDS, 6 FLRA 297 (1981), the Intervenor, Overseas Federation of Teachers, AFT, AFL-CIO (OFT), was certified as the exclusive representative for a unit of employees in the Activity's Mediterranean Region, and the Panama Canal Federation of Teachers, Local 29, AFT, AFL-CIO (PCFT), was certified as the exclusive bargaining representative in a unit of employees in the Activity's Panama Region.

The OEA seeks to amend its certified bargaining unit description to read as follows:

All nonsupervisory professional school-level personnel employed by the Department of Defense, Office of Dependents' Education, except those employed in the current Panama and Mediterranean Regions; excluding all nonprofessional employees, substitute teachers, management officials, supervisors and employees described in Section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the Statute.

The OEA states that it seeks the above-noted change in its unit description to make clear that its level of recognition is at the Activity's national level. Thus, OEA notes that the election directed by the Authority in DODDS, supra, resulted in its certification at the national level although the certification of representative indicated a region-by-region description of the unit. Further, OEA maintains that it seeks the change in the name of the Activity only to assure that the certification reflects the "true name" of the Activity as established by the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978, 20 U.S.C. 921 et seq. (Supplement II, 1978).

The Activity opposes the proposed amendment of certification changing the Activity's name on the ground that there has been no actual change in its name and the proposed change would cause confusion. The Activity supports only such amendment of the certification as would reflect a merger of the DODDS Germany North Region and the DODDS Germany South Region which occurred because of a reorganization subsequent to the June 22, 1982 certification. It maintains that further amendment as sought by OEA, which in effect would describe its unit as including all professional school-level personnel of the Activity except those two units currently represented by other labor organizations, including the Intervenor, is not proper, since any future reorganizations could result in the inclusion in the Petitioner's proposed unit description of regions currently represented by other labor organizations or regions not yet created.

The OFT also opposes the proposed amendment to the OEA's certified bargaining unit description. Its primary concern is that such an amendment could mean that the creation of a new region by DODDS or a change in the existing Mediterranean or Panama Regions would allow the OEA to automatically accrete employees without the filing of a CU or representation petition. Further, OFT asserts, there is no dispute among the parties that the level of recognition for the OEA unit is at the Activity's national level.

There is no assertion of any change in OEA's certified unit subsequent to the certification on June 22, 1982, except for the merger of DODDS Germany North Region and Germany South Region. Therefore, the Authority shall grant the petition to amend certification to reflect this change in organization. However, further amendment of certification, as sought by the Petitioner, shall be denied. Thus, an amendment to certification petition is intended to accommodate a nominal or technical change of an activity or exclusive representative. See, e.g., National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters, Administration Division, 12 FLRA No. 37 (1983). As there has been no change in the Activity's name, nor has there been any reorganization or other change in the certified unit other than as noted above in respect to the DODDS Germany North Region and Germany South Region subsequent to OEA's certification, there is no basis for such amendment.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that the unit of employees for which the Overseas Education Association, National Education Association was certified as the exclusive representative on June 22, 1982, be amended by deleting reference to Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Germany North Region and Germany South Region, and substituting in its place, Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Germany Region.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the remainder of the petition in Case No. 3-AC-30009 be, and it hereby is, dismissed.

Issued, Washington, D.C., August 9, 1984
Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
Ronald W. Haughton, Member
Henry B. Frazier III, Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------

/1/ The name of the Activity in the caption appears as it was set forth by the Petitioner/Labor Organization in the petition herein. The Activity considers that its proper designation continues to be the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, as it was identified in the certification of representative which the Petitioner/Labor Organization seeks to amend.