U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C. and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32 (Authority decision, September 28, 1990)

Final FLRA decision. This is the Authority's final unfair labor practice order under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7116 and 7118. 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

AFGE Local 32 requested names and home addresses of employees in its bargaining unit. The Office of Personnel Management refused. An administrative law judge found an unfair labor practice, and the Authority agreed that the information had to be furnished. It rejected the agency's argument that the union waived disclosure by failing to negotiate a contract clause about addresses: the union was invoking a statutory right. The Authority ordered disclosure and a notice, with a change to who must sign it.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Information duty under 5 U.S.C. § 7114(b)(4); unfair labor practices under § 7116(a)(1), (5), and (8).
• Outcome: Violation affirmed with a modified remedial order.
• Key point: The statutory information right did not depend on a negotiated address disclosure clause.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v37 p784 ]
37:0784(63)CA

The decision of the Authority follows:

37 FLRA No. 63

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS
AUTHORITY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C.

(Respondent)

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES

LOCAL 32

(Charging Party)

3-CA-80267

DECISION AND ORDER

September 28, 1990

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 had engaged in the unfair labor practices alleged in the complaint by refusing to furnish, upon request of the Charging Party, the names and home addresses of bargaining unit employees. The Respondent filed exceptions to the Judge's Decision. No opposition was filed to the Respondent's exceptions.

Pursuant to section 2423.29 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations and section 7118 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), we have reviewed the rulings of the Judge made at the hearing and find that no prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon consideration of the Judge's Decision and the entire record, we adopt the Judge's findings, conclusions and modified recommended Order(*) for the reasons fully set forth in U.S. Department of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 37 FLRA No. 39 (1990).

The Respondent contends that "[a]t no time during the collective bargaining process did the [U]nion propose that the [A]gency turn over to it the home addresses of bargaining unit employees, thus waiving any right it arguably had to negotiate about home addresses of bargaining unit employees[.]" Respondent's Post-Hearing Brief at 4 (argument reasserted at 7 of that brief and incorporated at Exceptions at 3 n.2). This contention is inapposite because this case concerns the Respondent's violation of a statutory right, not the Union's right to negotiate about home addresses of unit employees. Although a union may negotiate to obtain a contractual provision regarding home addresses, it need not do so in order to enforce its statutory right under section 7114(b)(4). Further, for the reasons stated by the Judge, we reject the Respondent's argument that the Authority's decisions in Farmers Home Administration Finance Office, St. Louis, Missouri, 23 FLRA 788 (1986) and National Treasury Employees Union and Department of the Treasury and U.S. Customs Service, 31 FLRA 181 (1988) are inconsistent.

Finally, we reject the Respondent's contention (at 10 of its brief in support of exceptions) that, "[i]nasmuch as the case at bar is entirely within the jurisdictional confines of the District of Columbia Circuit," the Authority is "required to follow" the decision of that court in FLRA v. Dep't of the Treasury, Financial Management Service, 884 F.2d 1446 (D.C. Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 110 S. Ct. 863 (1990) (Dep't of the Treasury). See Yellow Taxi Company of Minneapolis v. NLRB, 721 F.2d 366, 384 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (Wright, J., concurring).

II. Order

Pursuant to section 2423.29 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations and section 7118 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management shall:

(Footnote continued from previous page.)

1. Cease and desist from:

(a) Refusing to furnish, upon request of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32, AFL-CIO, the exclusive representative of certain of its employees, the names and home addresses of all employees in the bargaining unit it represents.

(b) In any like or related manner, interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of the rights assured them by the Statute.

2. Take the following affirmative action in order to
   effectuate the purposes and policies of the Statute:

(a) Furnish the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32, AFL-CIO, the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit of certain of its employees, the names and home addresses of all employees in the bargaining unit it represents.

(b) Post at all facilities where bargaining unit employees represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32, AFL-CIO are located, copies of the attached Notice on forms to be furnished by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Upon receipt of such forms, they shall be signed by the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and shall be posted in conspicuous places, including all bulletin boards and other places where notices to employees are customarily posted, and shall be maintained for 60 consecutive days thereafter. Reasonable steps shall be taken to ensure that such notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.

(c) Pursuant to section 2423.30 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, notify the Regional Director, Region III, Federal Labor Relations Authority, in writing, within 30 days from the date of this Order as to what steps have been taken to comply.

NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES

AS ORDERED BY THE FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS
AUTHORITY

AND TO EFFECTUATE THE POLICIES OF
THE

FEDERAL SERVICE LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS
STATUTE

WE NOTIFY OUR EMPLOYEES THAT:

WE WILL NOT refuse or fail to furnish, upon request of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32, AFL-CIO, the exclusive representative of certain of our employees, the names and home addresses of all employees in the bargaining unit it represents.

WE WILL NOT, in any like or related manner, interfere with, restrain, or coerce our employees in the exercise of the rights assured them by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

WE WILL furnish the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32, AFL-CIO, the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit of certain of our employees, the names and home addresses of all employees in the bargaining unit it represents.

______
(Activity)

Dated:__
By:___

(Signature) (Title)

This Notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from the date of posting, and must not be altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.

If employees have any questions concerning this Notice or compliance with its provisions, they may communicate directly with the Regional Director, Region III, Federal Labor Relations Authority, whose address is: 1111 18th Street, N.W., 7th Floor, P.O. Box 33758, Washington, D.C. 20033-0758 and whose telephone number is: (202) 653-8500.

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

*/ The Judge's recommended Order requiring that the Notice be signed by a "responsible official" has been modified to require that the Notice be signed by an official designated by the Authority rather than one determined by the Respondent. See Department of the Air Force, Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base, California, 35 FLRA 1230, 1231-32 (1990).