American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1533 and Department of the Navy, Navy Commissary Store Region Oakland and Navy Commissary Store Alameda, California (Authority decision, November 30, 1984)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority resolving a negotiability appeal. An aggrieved person may seek review in an appropriate United States court of appeals within 60 days after issuance under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a).

Plain-English summary

The union proposed that new employees at Navy commissaries retain the same paycheck delivery options as current bargaining unit employees, including workplace distribution. The Navy said the proposal would restrict its choice of methods for delivering pay. Relying on a closely related decision, the Authority held that the proposal interfered with management's right to determine the methods and means of performing work. It found the proposal outside the duty to bargain and dismissed the petition.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Management methods and means under 5 U.S.C. § 7106(b)(1).
• Outcome: Proposal outside the duty to bargain; petition dismissed.
• Key point: The agency could choose the method of distributing employee paychecks without bargaining over this proposal.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v16 p623 ]

16:0623(89)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

16 FLRA No. 89

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES,
LOCAL 1533
Union

and

DEPARTMENT OF NAVY,
NAVY COMMISSARY STORE REGION,
OAKLAND, AND NAVY COMMISSARY
STORE, ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA
Agency

Case No. O-NG-753

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 an issue regarding the negotiability of the following Union proposal.

New bargaining unit employees, will not have to accept direct deposit or mail as a condition of employment but will have the same options of current bargaining unit employees.

Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following determination. The Union's proposal would require the Agency to maintain for new employees the manner of paycheck distribution which is presently used in distributing paychecks to current employees, i.e. distribution of paychecks to the workplace. The Agency has refused to bargain over the proposal contending, among other things, that the disputed proposal concerns the technology, methods and means of performing work within the meaning of section 7106(b)(1) of the Statute and thus is negotiable only at the election of the Agency. Thus, the proposal and arguments raised by the Agency in the instant petition are identical in effect to those at issue in Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO, and Department of the Navy, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, 16 FLRA 88 (1984), wherein the Authority ruled that the Union's proposal interferes with the Agency's right to determine its methods and means of performing work and is therefore outside the duty to bargain. Hence, for the reasons stated and the cases cited in Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the Authority concludes that the Union's proposal interferes with the Agency's right to determine its methods and means of performing work and is therefore outside the duty to bargain under the Statute.
/1/

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., November 30, 1984 Henry B. Frazier III, Acting Chairman Ronald W. Haughton, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

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

/1/ In view of the decision herein, the Authority finds it unnecessary to address the remaining contentions of the Agency as to the negotiability of the proposal.