National Treasury Employees Union and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, National Office (Authority decision, July 29, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismissed this negotiability appeal without deciding whether the proposal was within the duty to bargain. 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).

Plain-English summary

The union proposed message display boards in IRS National Office buildings with at least 25 employees during negotiations over a message system. The IRS first alleged the proposal was nonnegotiable, then withdrew that allegation. The Authority found no remaining negotiability issue and dismissed the union’s petition without deciding the proposal’s merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Negotiability appeal under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7105(a)(2)(E) and 7117(a).
• Outcome: Petition dismissed after IRS withdrew its nonnegotiability allegation.
• Key point: Withdrawal of the allegation left no negotiability dispute.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v12 p385 ]

12:0385(81)NG

The decision of the Authority follows:

12 FLRA No. 81

NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
(Union)

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY,
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, NATIONAL OFFICE
(Activity)

Case No. O-NG-857

ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR REVIEW

This case is before the Authority pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute on a petition for review of a negotiability issue filed by the union.

From the submissions of the parties, the record before the Authority in this case indicates that during the course of negotiations over implementation of the "Z-Pem" message system, the union submitted a proposal that a message display board should be placed in all National Office buildings with 25 or more employees. The activity alleged the union's proposal to be nonnegotiable. The union then sought the Authority's determination, pursuant to section 7117(a)(1) of the Statute and section 2424.1(a) of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as to whether the disputed proposal was within the duty to bargain. Subsequently, in a letter dated July 8, 1983, the activity withdrew the allegation of nonnegotiability.

Since the activity has withdrawn the allegation concerning the union's proposal, there is no longer an issue as to whether the proposal is within the parties' duty to bargain under the Statute. Accordingly, and apart from other considerations,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the instant petition for review be dismissed. For the Authority. Issued, Washington, D.C., July 29, 1983 James J. Shepard, Executive Director