U.S. Marine Corps, Combat Development Command, Quantico Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1786 (Authority decision, November 20, 1992)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority dismissing an unfair labor practice complaint under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review by filing a petition in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a). Filing a petition does not stay the Authority's order unless the court orders a stay under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(c).

Plain-English summary

The union representing employees at the Quantico Marine Corps base requested bargaining unit employees' names and home addresses. The Marine Corps refused and relied on a prior agreement to provide names and work locations while allowing union literature distribution at work. An administrative law judge dismissed the union's unfair labor practice complaint. The Authority found that the union's conduct during 1990 contract negotiations waived its right to the requested names and home addresses for the life of that agreement. It affirmed the dismissal and found no violation from the refusal to provide them.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Information and bargaining duties under 5 U.S.C. § 7116(a)(1), (5), and (8).
• Outcome: Complaint dismissed; refusal to furnish home addresses did not violate the statute in this case.
• Key point: The union's agreement during negotiations waived the right to these employee names and home addresses for the 1990 agreement's term.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v46 p560 ]
46:0560(54)CA

The decision of the Authority follows:

46 FLRA No. 54

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. MARINE CORPS

COMBAT DEVELOPMENT COMMAND

QUANTICO MARINE CORPS BASE

QUANTICO, VIRGINIA

(Respondent)

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES

LOCAL 1786, AFL-CIO

(Charging Party/Union)

3-CA-10643

DECISION AND ORDER

November 20, 1992

Before Chairman McKee and Members Talkin and
Armendariz.

I. Statement of the Case

The Administrative Law Judge issued the attached decision in the above-entitled proceeding finding that the Respondent did not violate section 7116(a)(1), (5), and (8) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) by refusing to furnish the Union with the names and home addresses of the bargaining unit employees represented by the Union. Accordingly, the Judge dismissed the complaint. The Union filed exceptions to the Judge's decision. The Respondent filed an opposition to the Union's exceptions.(1) The General Counsel filed no submission.

Pursuant to section 2423.29 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations and section 7118 of the Statute, we have reviewed the rulings of the Judge made at the hearing and find that no prejudicial error was committed. We affirm the rulings. Upon consideration of the Judge's decision, the exceptions, the opposition, and the entire record, we find that the Union's conduct in 1990 prior to and during negotiations with the Respondent over the parties' new Master Labor Agreement (MLA) demonstrates that the Union waived its statutory right to receive unit employees' names and home addresses for the life of the 1990 MLA.(2) In this regard, as found by the Judge, the record shows that in 1990, the Union's representative "acceded to [the Respondent's] refusal to furnish the home addresses and agreed to continue the previous arrangement[,]" whereby the Respondent agreed to provide the Union with unit employees' names and work locations and also permitted the Union to distribute literature to unit employees during nonwork time in work areas. Judge's Decision at 9.

Accordingly, having found that the Union waived its statutory right to be furnished with unit employees' names and home addresses, we conclude that the Respondent did not violate section 7116(a)(1), (5), and (8) of the Statute by refusing to release the unit employees' names and home addresses requested by the Union. See U.S. Department of the Navy, United States Marine Corps (MPL), Washington, D.C. and Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, Georgia, 38 FLRA 632 (1990) (in a case involving the parties' 1985 MLA, the Authority found that the union waived its statutory right to receive unit employees' names and home addresses by negotiating over and agreeing to contractual provisions virtually identical to the provisions involved in the instant case).

II. Order

The complaint in this case is dismissed.

FOOTNOTES:
(If blank, the decision does not
have footnotes.)

1. The Respondent argues that the Union's exceptions
   should be dismissed "as failing to meet the requirements of 5 C.F.R. 2423.27(a)." Respondent's Opposition at 7. We conclude that the exceptions are sufficiently clear so as to satisfy the requirements of 5 C.F.R. 2423.27(a). See U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach, California, 39 FLRA 1347, 1347-48 (1991).

2. The Union disputes the Judge's conclusion that it did
   not withdraw its waiver of the right to unit employees' names and home addresses contained in the parties' 1985 MLA. In view of our conclusion that the Union's conduct in 1990 demonstrates that the Union waived its statutory right to receive unit employees' names and home addresses, we do not address or adopt the Judge's finding that the Union's letter of 1988 and statement to management in 1989 did not withdraw its 1985 waiver of that right.