Department of the Air Force, Detachment 4, Air Force Plant Representative Office, West Palm Beach and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2048 and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3846 (Authority decision, March 30, 1984)

FLRA representation decision. The Authority directed elections but did not decide their outcome or certify a representative. Its unit determination is excluded from the 60-day judicial-review provision by 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(2).

Plain-English summary

NFFE Local 2048 sought an election among employees at the Air Force's West Palm Beach plant representative office, where AFGE Local 3846 was the existing representative. The Air Force disputed the unit description, arguing that the broader Contract Management Division should be named as the employer. The Authority found that the local office still formed an appropriate unit because its commander controlled many employment matters and no material change had undermined the earlier unit certification. It directed separate votes for professional and nonprofessional employees, with professional employees also voting on whether to join a combined unit. This original Authority election order did not resolve which union, if any, would represent the employees.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Appropriate-unit and professional employee voting rules under 5 U.S.C. § 7112.
• Outcome: Separate representation elections directed; final unit composition depends on the professional employees' vote.
• Key point: A local office remained an appropriate unit despite the Air Force's preference for a broader employer description.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v14 p166 ]

14:0166(34)RO

The decision of the Authority follows:

14 FLRA No. 34

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
DETACHMENT 4, AIR FORCE CONTRACT
MANAGEMENT DIVISION, AIR FORCE PLANT
REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE, PRATT AND
WHITNEY AIRCRAFT GROUP
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
Activity

and

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 2048
Petitioner

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 3846, AFL-CIO
Intervenor

Case No. 4-RO-30009

DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION

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 Authority has reviewed the hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. The rulings are hereby affirmed.

Upon the entire record in this case, including the parties' contentions, the Authority finds: The Petitioner, National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2048 (NFFE), seeks an election in a unit composed of all professional and nonprofessional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding management officials, supervisors and employees described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the Statute. The foregoing unit of employees is identical to that for which the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3846, AFL-CIO (AFGE) was first certified as the exclusive representative by the Regional Director of Region 4 of the Authority on October 2, 1980. /1/ Intervenor AFGE is in agreement with the Petitioner as to the continuing appropriateness of the unit.

The Air Force Contract Management Division (AFCMD) contends that the unit described by the petition is not appropriate for purposes of exclusive recognition under the Statute. Thus, while AFCMD is in agreement as to the specific categories of employees to be included and excluded from the unit, and further admits that the unit sought, which is composed solely of employees whose duty station is West Palm Beach, Florida, has in the past been agreed to by AFCMD, it argues that the current unit description inaccurately sets forth the name of the "employer" as it misstates the organizational designation of the Activity as "Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4." It is the position of AFCMD that the employees at issue herein are employed by AFCMD and that the use of the Activity's name as employer is both inaccurate and unacceptable.

The existing unit consists of some 70 professional and nonprofessional employees assigned to the Air Force Plant Representative Office located at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in West Palm Beach, Florida. This office is one of more than 20 similar plant representative offices or "Detachments" colocated with civilian contractor facilities throughout the United States and abroad. AFCMD, with its headquarters at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is charged with the mission, through its plant representatives, of monitoring and evaluating the adequacy of Air Force contracts with civilian suppliers for the procurement and manufacture of military weapons systems. Individual detachments receive personnel and labor relations services from one of five different servicing personnel offices, depending upon the geographic location of the Detachment office. /2/

The on-site Detachment Commander at West Palm Beach, a commissioned Air Force officer who reports directly to AFCMD Headquarters, exercises day to day personnel management responsibility over the employees assigned to his Detachment, and enjoys considerable latitude in matters affecting the terms and conditions of employment of employees at West Palm Beach. Thus, the record reveals that each Detachment has one or two levels of civilian supervision reporting to the Detachment Commander and that the Commander at West Palm Beach possesses the authority to discipline and remove employees assigned to his facility, select candidates to fill vacancies under a merit promotion plan and to adjust employee grievances. Additionally, the competitive area to be utilized in the event of a reduction-in-force (RIF) includes only the immediate West Palm Beach commuting area. While the composition of management negotiating teams for the conduct of collective bargaining is determined at the Headquarters level, Detachment personnel are often assigned as members of such teams and Commanders have on occasion been delegated independent authority to engage in impact/implementation bargaining with exclusive representatives at the detachment level. Moreover, the Detachment Commander possesses independent authority to establish and adjust employees' hours of work to comport with contractor work schedules.

While AFCMD asserts that it should be designated as the "employer" herein on the basis that personnel policies and practices affecting Detachment employees emanate from and are uniformly applied by AFCMD Headquarters throughout all its Detachment Offices, and as the locus of responsibility for the conduct of collective bargaining resides not in the Detachment Commander but with AFCMD Headquarters, the record discloses and the Authority notes particularly that AFCMD and its constituent detachments are not serviced by a single centralized personnel/labor relations staff, but rather that as many as five separate personnel offices, through servicing agreements, provide these services to various AFCMD components. Moreover, AFCMD concedes that it did not contest the appropriateness of the unit description first adopted by the Regional Director in 1980 when AFGE was certified as exclusive representative for the unit in question, and the record does not disclose that any change in the mission, organization or working conditions of AFCMD or its Detachment Office at West Palm Beach has occurred since that date which would serve as a basis for rendering the currently certified unit inappropriate. Thus, it is concluded, in view of the facts set forth above, that the petitioned-for unit continues to ensure a clear and identifiable community of interest among employees and to promote effective dealings with, and efficiency of the operations of, the Agency so as to continue to be appropriate for the purpose of exclusive recognition under section 7112 of the Statute. Accordingly, the Authority shall direct an election in the following unit:

All professional and nonprofessional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding management officials, supervisors and employees described in 5 USC 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7).

It is noted that this unit includes professional employees. As prescribed by section 7112(b)(5) of the Statute, the Authority is prohibited from including professional employees in a unit with nonprofessional employees unless a majority of the professional employees vote for inclusion in such a unit. Accordingly, the desire of the professional employees as to inclusion in a unit with nonprofessional employees must be ascertained by a self determination election. The Authority, therefore, directs separate elections in the following groups:

Voting Group (a): All professional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding all nonprofessional employees, management officials, supervisors, and employees described in 5 USC 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7).

Voting Group (b): All nonprofessional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding all professional employees, management officials, supervisors, and employees described in 5 USC 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7).

The employees in the nonprofessional Voting Group (b) will be asked, on their ballots, whether they desire to be represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2048; by the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3846; AFL-CIO; or by neither.

The employees in the professional Voting Group (a) will be asked two questions on their ballots: (1) whether they wish to be included with the nonprofessional employees for the purpose of exclusive recognition, and (2) whether they wish to be represented for the purpose of exclusive recognition by the National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2048; by the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3846, AFL-CIO; or by neither. In the event that a majority of the valid votes in Voting Group (a) is cast in favor of inclusion in the same unit with the nonprofessional employees, the ballots of Voting Group (a) shall be combined with those of Voting Group (b).

Unless a majority of the valid votes of Voting Group (a) is cast for inclusion in the unit with nonprofessional employees, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate unit, and an appropriate certification will be issued indicating whether or not these employees desire to be represented for the purpose of exclusive recognition by the National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2048; by the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3846, AFL-CIO; or by neither.

Thus, the unit determination in this case is based in part upon the result of the election among the professional employees. However, the Authority makes the following findings with regard to the appropriate unit:

1. If a majority of the professional employees vote for inclusion in
   a unit with nonprofessional employees, the following employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of exclusive recognition within the meaning of section 7112 of the Statute:

All professional and nonprofessional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding management officials, supervisors and employees described in 5 USC 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7).

2. If a majority of the professional employees do not vote for
   inclusion in a unit with nonprofessional employees, the following two groups of employees constitute separate units appropriate for the purpose of exclusive recognition within the meaning of section 7112 of the Statute:

(a) All professional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding all nonprofessional employees, management officials, supervisors and employees described in 5 USC 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7).

(b) All nonprofessional employees of the Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 4, Air Force Contract Management Division, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, West Palm Beach, Florida, excluding all professional employees, management officials, supervisors, and employees described in 5 USC 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7).

DIRECTION OF ELECTION

Elections by secret ballot shall be conducted among employees in the voting groups described above as soon as feasible. The appropriate Regional Director shall supervise or conduct the elections, as appropriate, subject to the Authority's Rules and Regulations. Eligible to vote are those in the voting group who were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date below, including employees who did not work during that period because they were out ill, on vacation or on furlough, including those in the military service, who appear in person at the polls. Ineligible to vote are employees who have quit or were discharged for cause since the designated payroll period and who have not been rehired or reinstated before the election date. Those eligible to vote within the appropriate unit or units shall vote whether they desire to be represented for the purpose of exclusive recognition by the National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2048; by the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3846, AFL-CIO; or by neither.

Issued, Washington, D.C., March 30, 1984
Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
Ronald W. Haughton, Member
Henry B. Frazier III, Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

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

/1/ At the hearing, the petition was amended to conform the unit description to the current statutory scheme so that employees "engaged in administering the provisions of this chapter" as described in section 7112(b)(4) of the Statute are excluded from the unit. It is neither alleged nor here found that such nominal or technical change constitutes a material alteration in the preexisting unit description.

/2/ While both AFCMD Headquarters and Detachment 4 at West Palm Beach receive personnel and labor relations services from the central personnel office of the 1606th Air Base Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, other detachments receive similar support through servicing agreements with civilian personnel offices located at Los Angeles, California; McClelland Air Force Base, California; Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia; and Bitburg, West Germany.