Mississippi National Guard MATES Shop and Association of Civilian Technicians (Authority decision, August 22, 1983)

Final FLRA representation decision. The Authority resolved an appropriate-unit determination under 5 U.S.C. § 7112. Section 7123(a)(2) excludes such orders from the ordinary 60-day judicial-review provision.

Plain-English summary

The Association of Civilian Technicians sought to represent civilian employees at the Mississippi National Guard’s Camp Shelby maintenance site as a separate unit. The Authority found that these workers shared personnel policies, supervision, duties, and interchange with technicians elsewhere in the state. It concluded that they lacked a separate community of interest and dismissed the unit petition. The outcome is classified as other because this was an original representation petition, not review of a Regional Director decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 5 U.S.C. § 7112(a)(1).
• Outcome: Petition for separate Camp Shelby unit dismissed on the merits.
• Key point: Statewide personnel control and shared work defeated a separate site unit.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p618 ]

12:0618(117)RO

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 117

MISSISSIPPI NATIONAL GUARD
MATES SHOP, CAMP SHELBY,
MISSISSIPPI
Activity

and

ASSOCIATION OF CIVILIAN TECHNICIANS, INC.
Labor Organization/Petitioner

Case No. 4-RO-20015

DECISION AND ORDER

Upon a petition duly filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority under section 7111(b)(1) 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 in this case, including the parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following findings: The Petitioner, Association of Civilian Technicians, Inc. (the Union), seeks to represent all Federal wage grade and general schedule employees in the Mississippi National Guard, Mobilization and Training Equipment Site (MATES), Camp Shelby, Mississippi (the Activity), excluding all professional employees, management officials, supervisors, and employees described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the Statute. The Activity opposes the petitioned for unit, contending that it is not appropriate under the criteria set forth in section 7112(a)(1) of the Statute because the employees involved do not share a community of interest separate and distinct from other Federal employees of the Mississippi National Guard. It contends that only a state-wide unit of all nonsupervisory wage grade and general schedule employees would be appropriate. The Activity contends further that the petitioned for unit would lead to unwarranted fragmentation and proliferation of units and would not promote effective dealings and efficiency of agency operations.

The employees sought are civilian technicians working at MATES, which is one of 31 maintenance support units in the Mississippi National Guard. They are generally responsible for maintenance and repair of equipment used by the Mississippi National Guard as well as by units from other states. All of these support units are under the supervision of the State Maintenance Officer who reports to the Adjutant General.

Personnel policies and procedures for MATES employees are formulated within the guidelines of the joint Army and Air National Guard Regulations, which are enforced and administered by the Adjutant General. All such policies apply to all civilian technicians employed by the Mississippi National Guard, and are administered centrally by the Support Personnel Management Officer through a state-wide technician program under the authority of the Adjutant General. The MATES technicians are subject to a grievance procedure wherein informal grievances are resolved within MATES, but the Adjutant General is the final authority with respect to formal grievances as well as all personnel policies relating to assignment, promotion, leave, separation and wages.

MATES technicians are in a separate area of consideration for purposes of reductions-in-force. However, the competitive area for vacancies and merit placement for all technicians is state-wide. The record reflects occasional transfers from MATES to other support units of the Mississippi National Guard. Further, although MATES technicians possess classification series different from the technicians of other support units, they perform general repair and maintenance duties similar to technicians in other support units, with the exception of those of the Combined Support Maintenance Shop who perform additional specialized tasks; as a result, interchange among the various support units occurs on a regular basis. Moreover, MATES technicians regularly work on integrated teams with technicians outside of their unit under the same working conditions and common supervision, although it appears that the employees from other technicians' units sometimes are in military status when serving on such integrated teams.

In view of the foregoing, it is concluded that the employees sought herein do not share a clear and identifiable community of interest separate and distinct from other Federal civilian employees of the State of Mississippi National Guard inasmuch as all such employees share the same terms and conditions of employment, and perform similar duties under common supervision in the accomplishment of a shared mission. Accordingly, the Authority finds that the unit which the Petitioner to represent is not appropriate under section 7112(a)(1) of the Statute, and the petition shall be dismissed. See Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center, Davis Park, Providence, Rhode Island, 11 FLRA No. 44 (1983); Department of the Navy, Navy Publications and Printing Office, Vallejo, California, 10 FLRA No. 108 (1982).

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 4-RO-20015 be, and it hereby is, dismissed. Issued, Washington, D.C., August 22, 1983 Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman Ronald W. Haughton, Member Henry B. Frazier III, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY