AFGE Council 236 and General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service (Authority decision, August 12, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority resolved the negotiability petition 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

AFGE Council 236 proposed a term during negotiations over implementation of an arbitration award. National level representatives later determined that the subject was already covered by their agreement and recommended ending local negotiations. The Authority found that the remaining question concerned the duty to bargain locally under that agreement, not the proposal’s negotiability. It dismissed the petition without a merits ruling.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 5 U.S.C. §§ 7117 and 7118.
• Outcome: Petition dismissed without deciding negotiability.
• Key point: An agreement coverage dispute could be addressed through agreed procedures or an unfair labor practice case.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p548 ]

12:0548(105)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 105

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, COUNCIL 236, AFL-CIO
Union

and

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION,
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS
SERVICE
Agency

Case No. O-NG-788

ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR REVIEW

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 one Union proposal. For the following reasons, the Union's petition for review must be dismissed.

The record indicates that the disputed proposal was proffered by the Union in negotiations over implementation of an arbitrator's award. The Agency contended, inter alia, that the proposal would change or amend the parties' national agreement and therefore declined to bargain on it. Subsequent to the filing of the instant petition, the Agency, as provided in the national agreement, submitted the proposal to the parties at the national level to ascertain whether the proposal was consistent with the national agreement. The Union and Agency representatives at the national level determined that the subject matter of the proposal was already covered by the national agreement and recommended that negotiations at the local level on the proposal be discontinued and that the petition filed in this case be withdrawn.

The Authority concludes that the circumstances herein do not give rise to a negotiability dispute which the Authority may properly review at this time pursuant to section 7117 of the Statute and part 2424 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations. The essence of the dispute between the parties now concerns the question of the Agency's obligation to bargain, i.e., whether negotiation at the local level on the Union's proposal is barred by provisions of the national agreement, or whether the Agency has otherwise refused to bargain over the proposal, and not the negotiability of the proposal itself. Thus, resolution of the dispute, which turns on interpretation of provisions of the national agreement, should be accomplished through use of whatever mechanisms the parties have established for that purpose in their national agreement, or by resort to the unfair labor practice procedures under section 7118 of the Statute, as may be appropriate. See, e.g., American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 1917 and U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, New York City District Office, 4 FLRA No. 25 (1980).

Accordingly, apart from other considerations, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and it hereby is, dismissed. Issued, Washington, D.C., August 12, 1983 Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman Ronald W. Haughton, Member Henry B. Frazier III, Member FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY