Laborers' International Union, Local 1276 and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency (Authority decision, May 19, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority resolved the union's negotiability petition. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review of this final order in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a). A petition does not itself stay the order.

Plain-English summary

The union proposed that a new entry level preservation servicer receive all training while working with a higher grade servicer. The Authority found that assigning the training function only to WG-7 employees would interfere with management's right to assign work. It also rejected the union's safety argument because requiring two employees on the project was negotiable only if the agency chose to bargain, and the agency had not. The Authority dismissed the petition on the merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Management rights under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7106(a)(2)(B) and 7106(b)(1).
• Outcome: Agency's nonnegotiability position sustained; petition dismissed on the merits.
• Key point: The proposal would dictate both who trained new employees and how many employees worked together.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p62 ]

12:0062(19)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 19

LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION,
LOCAL NO. 1276
Union

and

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE,
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Agency

Case No. O-NG-579

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) and raises the issue of the negotiability of the following Union proposal.

The selectee will receive all his/her training on the job working with a Preservation Servicer WG-7

Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following determinations. The proposal which resulted from impact and implementation bargaining over the Agency's establishment of the entry level position of Preservation Servicer, WG-5, would limit the assignment of a specific function (on the job training of entry level preservation servicers) to preservation servicers at the WG-7 grade level. In this regard, the proposal is to the same effect as Union Proposal 6, in National Treasury Employees Union and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, 7 FLRA No. 35 (1981), also requiring that certain work be performed by a particular employee or position, which was held to violate management's right under section 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute "to assign work." Thus, for the reasons stated in Internal Revenue Service, the instant proposal violates the Agency's section 7106(a)(2)(B) right "to assign work" and is outside the duty to bargain.

As to the Union's alternative contention that the instant proposal is also based on health and safety considerations, i.e., that the employees must work in pairs for reasons related to health and safety, and is therefore negotiable, the proposal is to the same effect as Union Proposal 6 in National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1167 and Department of the Air Force, Headquarters, 31st Combat Support Group (TAC), Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, 6 FLRA No. 105 (1981) which would have barred employees from working alone in certain health and safety situations. The Authority held in that case that the proposal concerned the management right under section 7106(b)(1) of the Statute to determine the number of employees assigned to any work project or tour of duty and, consequently, was negotiable only at the election of the agency. Thus, for the reasons stated in Homestead Air Force Base, the instant proposal is also not negotiable since the Agency has not elected to negotiate about it.

Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and it hereby is, dismissed. Issued, Washington, D.C., May 19, 1983 Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman Ronald W. Haughton, Member Henry B. Frazier III, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY