NFFE Local 1363 and U.S. Army Garrison, Yongsan, Korea (Authority decision, August 25, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority resolved the matter described below. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a), a person aggrieved by a final Authority order may generally seek judicial review within 60 days of issuance. A review petition does not itself stay the order.

Plain-English summary

NFFE Local 1363 proposed barring membership associations at the Yongsan garrison from serving alcoholic beverages to people on duty. The Authority found that serving alcohol in these associations principally concerned employees’ nonwork activities while off duty. It held that the matter was not a condition of employment under the statute. The agency therefore had no duty to bargain, and the petition was dismissed.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 5 U.S.C. § 7103(a)(14).
• Outcome: Proposal held outside the duty to bargain; petition dismissed.
• Key point: Alcohol service in membership associations was not directly related to employees’ work situation.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p635 ]

12:0635(125)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 125

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1363
Union

and

UNITED STATES ARMY
GARRISON, YONGSAN, KOREA
Agency

Case No. O-NG-480

DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE

The petition for review in this case comes before the Authority pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute). The issue presented to the Authority is the negotiability of the following Union proposal:

Alcoholic beverages will not be dispensed to persons on duty.

Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following determinations. The Union's proposal concerns the dispensation of alcoholic beverages in certain membership associations of nonappropriated fund instrumentalities (NAFIs). The effect of the Union's proposal is to prohibit the dispensation of alcoholic beverages only to persons on duty, as opposed to prohibiting the dispensation of such beverages to all employees during duty hours, as provided under an Agency regulation. The sole contention of the Agency is that dispensation of alcoholic beverages in membership association NAFIs is not a condition of employment within the meaning of section 7103(a)(14) of the Statute, and therefore is outside the scope of bargaining.

The duty to bargain under the Statute extends only to "conditions of employment," i.e., personnel policies, practices, and matters affecting working conditions. /1/ In construing that statutory phrase, the Authority has found proposals which concern matters directly affecting "the work situation and employment relationship" of bargaining unit employees to be within the duty to bargain. E.g., National Treasury Employees Union and Internal Revenue Service, 3 FLRA 693 (1980). See also American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO and Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 2 FLRA 604, 606 (1980), enforced as to other matters sub nom. Department of Defense v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, 659 F.2d 1140 (D.C. Cir. 1981), cert. denied sub nom. AFGE v. FLRA, 455 U.S. 945, 102 S.Ct. 1443 (1982).

In this case, the Authority concludes that the dispensation of alcoholic beverages in membership association NAFIs has no direct relationship to the work situation and the employment relationship of unit employees. Nor does the proposal directly relate to an Agency policy requiring, as a precondition to the employment relationship, the provision of essential facilities and services so as to ensure reasonable standards of health and decency for unit employees. /2/ Rather, the dispensation of such beverages in membership association NAFIs principally relates to activities of employees involved in non-work activities while in a non-duty status. See International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO, CLC, Local F-116 and Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, 7 FLRA No. 18 (1981).

Hence, the Authority finds that the disputed proposal regarding the dispensation of alcoholic beverages in the NAFIs does not concern matters which are "conditions of employment" within the meaning of section 7103(a)(14) of the Statute. Therefore, the Agency is not obligated to bargain with respect to the proposal.

Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the petition for review be, and it hereby is, dismissed. Issued, Washington, D.C., August 25, 1983 Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman Ronald W. Haughton, Member Henry B. Frazier III, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

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

/1/ Section 7103(a)(14) of the Statute.

/2/ Cf. National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1363 and Headquarters, U.S. Army Garrison, Yongsan, Korea, 4 FLRA No. 23 (1980) (matter of ration control is condition of employment since directly related to reasonable standards of health and decency for unit employees which the agency required as a precondition to their employment in an overseas command).