Federal Employees Metal Trades Council and Department of the Navy, Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Authority decision, July 29, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority resolved the negotiability petition described below. An aggrieved person may seek judicial review of a final Authority 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 searches of handheld items occur at perimeter entrances to Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The Navy argued it needed discretion to choose search locations as an internal security practice. The Authority agreed that the proposal would prevent searches in other areas of the shipyard and interfere with that management right. It dismissed the negotiability petition on the merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Negotiability review under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7105(a)(2)(E) and 7117(a).
• Outcome: Proposal found outside the duty to bargain; petition dismissed.
• Key point: Search locations were part of the Navy’s internal security decisions.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p361 ]

12:0361(78)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 78

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES METAL
TRADES COUNCIL
Union

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,
MARE ISLAND NAVAL SHIPYARD,
VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA
Agency

Case No. O-NG-607

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 presents issues relating to the negotiability of the following Union proposal:

The Federal Employees Metal Trades Council proposes that the searching of hand held items such as lunch boxes, purses and brief cases be conducted at the perimeter entrances to Mare Island Naval Shipyard (North, Main Gates and Ferry Landing).

Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following determination.

The dispute herein arose when the Agency decided to institute security searches at access points to its Controlled Industrial Area (CIA). More particularly, the Agency decided to conduct searches of hand-held items such as lunch boxes, purses and briefcases at the CIA gates in order to prevent the theft of property and the transfer of contraband to and from the controlled area. The Union's proposal would require the Agency to conduct these searches at the entrances to the shipyard.

Section 7106(a)(1) of the Statute reserves to management the right to determine the internal security practices of the agency, and there is no dispute that management herein has the right to institute searches of hand-held items in order to prevent theft and transfer of contraband.
/1/ With respect to the specific internal security practice of searching employees' hand-held items, the Agency has determined to limit its application to those employees who enter and leave the controlled area. The Union states that, in order to make the Agency's security plan more effective, it is seeking in its proposal to require the Agency to extend the practice of searching employees to all employees who enter and leave the shipyard at the entrance gates. /2/ Thus, contrary to the Union's contention that the proposal only concerns where the searches will be conducted and establishes a negotiable procedure under section 7106(b)(2) of the Statute, the proposal has the effect of substantively modifying the Agency's practice by requiring the Agency to search all employees who enter or leave the shipyard, including those who have no access to the controlled area. In this regard, the proposal conflicts with the Agency's decision that to prevent theft of property and transfer of contraband to and from the CIA, it is necessary only to search employees' hand-held items as they enter and leave the controlled area. Therefore, the Union proposal is outside the duty to bargain under section 7106(a)(1) of the Statute because it is inconsistent with the Agency's right to determine its internal security practices.

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., July 29, 1983 Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman Ronald W. Haughton, Member Henry B. Frazier III, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

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

/1/ Cf. American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 15 and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, North Atlantic Region, 2 FLRA 875 (1980) (an agency's right to determine internal security practices under the Statute extends to the establishment of rules to prevent disruption of its operations, unwarranted disclosure of privileged information, and destruction of its property).

/2/ Union Reply Brief at 1.