Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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NFFE Local 1363 and Headquarters, United States Army Garrison, Yongsan, Korea
NFFE Local 1363 and Army Garrison Yongsan (FLRA O-NG-347): Settlement ended negotiability dispute
NFFE Local 1363 disputed whether the Army Garrison at Yongsan had to bargain over ration control and disposal of duty free goods. The union also charged that the garrison implemented a rationing regulation without bargaining. The parties then signed a settlement establishing procedures to discuss…
Veterans Administration, Hines Hospital and Service Employees International Union Local 73
VA Hines Hospital and SEIU Local 73 (FLRA 5-CA-667): Bargaining opportunity required before shift change
VA Hines Hospital abolished an 11:30 a.m. food service shift and reassigned employees to a second shift. The Administrative Law Judge found that the hospital could decide the staffing change itself but had failed to give SEIU Local 73 an adequate chance to bargain over its impact and implementation…
Matter of Shuen
Bond amount raised while work restriction rejected
The respondent, a citizen of China facing deportation proceedings, challenged a $5,000 appearance-and-delivery bond and a condition barring unauthorized employment. In its May 25, 1984 decision, the Board raised the bond from $2,500 to $5,000 but dismissed the Service's appeal concerning the…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Turner Brothers, Inc.
Turner Brothers (FMSHRC CENT 84-5 and related dockets): Three penalties resolved, loader finding changed
MSHA brought four penalty cases against Turner Brothers involving equipment brakes, mine facilities, and hard hat use at two surface coal mines. Judge George A. Koutras approved a $30 settlement for a scraper brake citation and a $20 settlement for a facilities citation after MSHA extended the…
Robin D. Mullen v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Robin D. Mullen v. Jim Walter Resources (FMSHRC SE 82-57-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Robin Mullen alleged that Jim Walter Resources disciplined her and denied or removed her from a motorman position because of safety complaints at its Number Four Mine. Judge William Fauver found that the company had addressed her reported safety concerns without discrimination and that its later…
Harrison Western Corporation v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
Harrison Western Corporation (FMSHRC CENT 81-249-RM): Imminent danger withdrawal order upheld
A worker died after a steel wedge fell into an unprotected hoist conveyance during construction of a shaft at the Mt. Taylor uranium mine. MSHA issued an accident investigation withdrawal order and then an imminent danger withdrawal order covering the shaft work. Harrison Western, the shaft…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 644 and U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Health and Safety Administration, Morgantown, West Virginia
AFGE Local 644 and Mine Health and Safety Administration (FLRA O-NG-858): Workspace partition proposal negotiable
AFGE Local 644 proposed changes to office workstations, telephone availability, and responsibility for mine inspection equipment at the agency's Morgantown office. The Authority found the workstation partition proposal negotiable because the agency had not shown that the open office design was tied…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 1760 and Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration
AFGE Local 1760 and SSA (FLRA O-NG-720): Some performance review procedures negotiable
AFGE Local 1760 proposed 18 rules for defining errors, sampling Social Security Administration employees' work, and measuring productivity. The Authority found all six proposed error definitions outside the duty to bargain because they set performance standards reserved to management. It held three…
American Federation of Government Employees Locals 112, 3269, 3383 and 3831 and Department of Health and Human Resources, Food and Drug Administration, Region V
AFGE locals and FDA Region V (FLRA O-NG-544): Performance rating and step increase proposals rejected
Four AFGE locals proposed performance appraisal rules for Food and Drug Administration Region V employees. One proposal would set the levels of performance needed for overall ratings; the other would make employees with specified ratings entitled or eligible for a quality step increase. The…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 15 and Internal Revenue Service, North Atlantic Region
AFGE Local 15 and IRS North Atlantic Region (FLRA O-NG-541): Promotion and performance proposals outside duty to bargain
AFGE Local 15 proposed rules for promotion qualifications, performance based pay increases, and steps before action against employees with unacceptable performance at the IRS North Atlantic Region. The Authority held that the first proposal restricted management's right to set promotion selection…
Patent and Trademark Office and Patent Office Professional Association
Patent and Trademark Office and POPA (FLRA O-AR-764): Ground rules arbitration award upheld
The Patent and Trademark Office and the Patent Office Professional Association reached an impasse over rules for negotiating a successor labor agreement. An arbitrator issued a binding ground rules agreement, and the union challenged limits on bargaining teams and official time, scheduling…
Veterans Administration Data Processing Center, Hines, Illinois and Service Employees International Union Local 73
VA Hines Data Processing Center and SEIU Local 73 (FLRA O-AR-568): Agency access to arbitration restored
An arbitrator ruled that the VA Hines Data Processing Center could not invoke arbitration under a labor agreement negotiated before the federal labor statute took effect. The Authority held that the statute requires agencies to have access to negotiated grievance and arbitration procedures once a…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 51 and U.S. Department of the Mint, Old Mint Building, Customer Service Division
AFGE Local 51 and Old Mint Building (FLRA O-AR-496): Backpay removed from downgrade award
An arbitrator found that the Mint's Customer Service Division violated its labor agreement by downgrading clerk typists without a proper evaluation. He awarded half of their lost pay because he could not determine whether proper evaluations would have kept them at the higher grade. The Authority…
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service and National Immigration and Naturalization Service Council, American Federation of Government Employees Local 2805
INS and AFGE Local 2805 (FLRA O-AR-427): Higher grade detail backpay start date delayed
An arbitrator awarded backpay to an Immigration and Naturalization Service employee who had performed higher grade duties during an extended detail. The Authority rejected the agency's challenges to the arbitrator's reading of the labor agreement and held that the grievance concerned pay for a…
Veterans Administration, Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital and American Federation of Government Employees Local 3511
Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital and AFGE Local 3511 (FLRA O-AR-397): Continued agreement barred management grievance
An arbitrator held that management at the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital could not file a grievance under a labor agreement negotiated before the federal labor statute took effect. The hospital argued that the current statute required the arbitrator to read the agreement as allowing agency…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Prison System and American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals Local 1741
Federal Prison System and AFGE Local 1741 (FLRA O-AR-389): Reassignment remedy set aside
The Federal Prison System reassigned a security officer to a senior specialist position. An arbitrator found the reassignment deficient under the labor agreement and ordered reinstatement with a 60-day trial period in the former job. The Authority held that the remedy improperly conditioned…
Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Department of the Army and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2154
Fort Sam Houston and AFGE Local 2154 (FLRA O-AR-261): Steward appointment award upheld
An arbitrator sustained Fort Sam Houston management's grievance that AFGE Local 2154 had not followed the labor agreement's limits on appointing union stewards. The union argued that management filed its grievance late and that the steward provisions stopped binding it when the agreement expired…
Copperweld Steel Company
Runway charge remanded for possible amendment to the specific standard
Copperweld Steel Company used an elevated runway to reach cranes and as an emergency escape route in its steel plant. OSHA cited the unguarded runway under the general duty clause, and the judge affirmed. On review, both parties agreed that the specific runway standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.23(c)(2)…
Bay State Smelting Co., Inc.
Split Commission leaves judge's lead and posting rulings in place
Bay State Smelting operated a workplace where employees were exposed to excessive lead. The judge affirmed numerous serious lead-standard violations, including prohibited prophylactic chelation, but declined to classify the chelation violation as willful. The judge also vacated a citation-posting…
Department of the Air Force, San Antonio Air Logistics Center, Kelly Air Force Base and International Association of Firefighters Local F-89
Kelly Air Force Base and Firefighters Local F-89 (FLRA 6-CA-973): Official time denied for negotiations outside employee's unit
Kelly Air Force Base denied official time to an employee representing Firefighters Local F-89 in negotiations for a bargaining unit to which he did not belong. The Administrative Law Judge found the denial unlawful. The Authority rejected that finding because the statutory official time entitlement…
Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Administration Services Plant Representative Office, Goodyear Aerospace and NFFE Local 73 and AFGE Sixth District
Defense Logistics Agency Goodyear Aerospace office (FLRA 5-CU-30008, 5-RO-30012): Accretion denied and union elections directed
The Defense Logistics Agency took over contract services at Goodyear Aerospace, leaving its professional and nonprofessional employees unrepresented. NFFE Local 73 sought to add the nonprofessional employees to its existing unit without an election, while AFGE sought elections for both groups. The…
Veterans Administration and Veterans Administration Medical Center, Minneapolis and American Federation of Government Employees Local 3669
VA Minneapolis Medical Center and AFGE Local 3669 (FLRA 5-CA-902): Professional misconduct clause could not take effect
The VA Minneapolis Medical Center did not implement a locally negotiated disciplinary clause after the agency head disapproved it late. AFGE Local 3669 alleged that the refusal violated the duty to bargain and an interim agreement. The Authority found that the clause was not limited to ordinary…
Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Chicago Region and American Federation of Government Employees
SSA Chicago Region and AFGE (FLRA 5-CA-482): Small change to claims review did not require bargaining
The Social Security Administration's Chicago Region changed its Supplemental Security Income review process so that someone other than the employee who entered a claim checked the computer output. AFGE alleged that the agency should have bargained over the change's impact and implementation. The…
Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Base and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2225
Norfolk Naval Base and AFGE Local 2225 (FLRA 43-CA-2095): Routine observation of picketing did not violate labor law
Employees at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk conducted lawful informational picketing for AFGE Local 2225. A uniformed Norfolk Naval Base police officer watched for several minutes and wrote down the messages on their signs. The union alleged that this was unlawful surveillance that would…
Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 43-CA-1294): Steward's removal from fire alarm work was unlawful
Norfolk Naval Shipyard removed chief steward Richard Lake from fire alarm truck duties because of his union representational work. An Administrative Law Judge found that the removal unlawfully discriminated against him and interfered with employee rights. The Authority adopted the Judge's decision…
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Jacksonville District and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS Jacksonville District and NTEU (FLRA 4-CA-446): Bargaining required over specialized tax work groups
The IRS created specialized tax shelter work groups in its West Palm Beach and Jacksonville offices without telling NTEU before the change. The Administrative Law Judge found that the change could affect revenue agents' experience and promotion opportunities, so the IRS had to give notice and a…
Florida Air National Guard and National Association of Government Employees Locals R5-91, R5-107 and R5-120
Florida Air National Guard and NAGE locals (FLRA 4-CA-407): Uniform order complaint dismissed after remand
A Federal Services Impasses Panel order addressed what Florida Air National Guard technicians wore while performing civilian duties. The Authority had earlier found that the Guard's refusal to comply with the order was an unfair labor practice, but the court returned the case for further review. On…
Defense General Supply Center and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2047
Defense General Supply Center and AFGE Local 2047 (FLRA 34-CA-30048): Steward harassment complaint dismissed
AFGE Local 2047 alleged that Defense General Supply Center supervisors intimidated and harassed employee June Purser after she became a union steward. The complaint focused on management's handling of her official time, statements to her, and questions during a promotion interview. The…
Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees
SSA and AFGE (FLRA 3-CU-30007): Relocated teleservice employees remained in bargaining unit
The Social Security Administration closed its Laurel teleservice center and moved employees to centers in Westminster, Maryland, and Manassas, Virginia. It petitioned to remove those employees from an AFGE nationwide consolidated bargaining unit. The Authority found that they continued the same…
Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees Local 1923
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 3-CA-30433, 3-CA-30445): Performance records had to be furnished for grievances
AFGE Local 1923 requested Social Security Administration work experience reports to process employee grievances over 1982 performance appraisals. The agency refused, calling the requests vague and burdensome. On a stipulated record, the Authority found that the reports were normally maintained…
Federal Trade Commission and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2211
Federal Trade Commission and AFGE Local 2211 (FLRA 3-CA-30397): Advance notice satisfied national consultation duty
The Federal Trade Commission planned staffing reductions in several regional offices. AFGE Local 2211, which held national consultation rights, alleged that the Commission failed to provide advance notice and time for its views before the reductions. The Authority found that the Commission's…
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and National Treasury Employees Union
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and NTEU (FLRA 3-CA-20435): Picket observation complaint dismissed
Bureau of Engraving and Printing employees picketed outside an agency building after an NTEU representative's arrest. An agency labor relations officer watched the picketing and noted sign messages, statements, and participants' identities. The Administrative Law Judge found that this observation…
Immigration and Naturalization Service and National Immigration and Naturalization Service Council, American Federation of Government Employees
INS and National INS Council (FLRA 3-CA-1839): One stop airport inspection bargaining complaint dismissed
The Immigration and Naturalization Service introduced a one stop airport inspection process that combined checks formerly done separately by INS, Customs, and Agriculture officers. The National INS Council alleged that the agency improperly refused national level bargaining before the process began…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management
AFGE Local 32 and OPM (FLRA O-NG-907): Union representation and advance notice proposals negotiable
AFGE Local 32 proposed that Office of Personnel Management employees have union representation during classification reviews and receive ten workdays' notice before changes to duties or assignments. The Authority found the representation proposal concerned participation in meetings, not…
National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 55 and Internal Revenue Service, Columbia District
NTEU Chapter 55 and IRS Columbia District (FLRA O-NG-604): Office location proposals rejected, vacancy announcements negotiable
During an IRS Columbia District reorganization, NTEU Chapter 55 proposed where revenue employees should work and how two vacancies should be announced. The Authority held that four proposals assigning employees to particular posts of duty would prevent the agency from closing or consolidating…
United States Customs Service, Region I, Boston and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Service Boston and NTEU (FLRA O-AR-616): Late arbitration exceptions dismissed
The Customs Service challenged an arbitrator's award after asking him to clarify it. The Authority found that the agency filed its exceptions months after the deadline measured from service of the original award. The arbitrator's retention of jurisdiction for compliance questions and his later…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. United States Steel Corporation
United States Steel Corporation (FMSHRC LAKE 82-35-M and LAKE 82-6-RM): Safety line violation upheld, withdrawal order vacated
An MSHA inspector cited United States Steel after a maintenance foreman exited a cooler at its Minntac plant without a safety line near an opening above an 18-foot drop. The Commission upheld the judge's finding that this violated the fall protection standard and rejected the company's argument…
Exxon Company, U.S.A.
Split Commission leaves corrosion citation affirmed
A corroded dead-end pipe at Exxon's Linden, New Jersey refinery was the subject of a general duty clause citation. The judge affirmed the citation for failing to inspect the pipe periodically. Commissioner Cleary would have affirmed because the corrosion hazard was recognized and a five-year…
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Somerville Project Office and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2881
Army Corps Somerville Project Office and AFGE Local 2881 (FLRA 6-RO-30010): Proposed project office unit rejected
AFGE Local 2881 sought an election for employees at the Army Corps of Engineers' Somerville Project Office, or alternatively to add them to an existing Whitney Project Office unit. The Authority found Somerville employees shared work, supervision, and personnel policies with employees at other…
Department of Health and Human Services, Region VI and National Treasury Employees Union and Chapter 219
HHS Region VI and NTEU Chapter 219 (FLRA 6-CU-30002, 6-CU-30003): Inspector General employees excluded from units
HHS moved employees from its Region VI health care financing office to a new Inspector General health financing integrity office. NTEU sought clarification of whether those employees stayed in its two existing bargaining units. The Authority found that the new employees had a separate mission…
Duluth International Airport, 4787th Air Base Group and American Federation of Government Employees Locals 502 and 1997
Duluth Air Base Group and AFGE locals (FLRA 5-RA-30001, 5-AC-30003): Bargaining obligation ended after local disbanded
The Air Force phased out its Duluth airport facility, leaving a small caretaker workforce. AFGE Local 502 told the activity it would disband, and AFGE Local 1997 later sought to become the employees' named representative. The Authority found no evidence that Local 1997 had represented the caretaker…
Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, State of Georgia Department of Defense Military Division and Georgia Association of Civilian Technicians
Georgia National Guard and Civilian Technicians Association (FLRA 4-CA-668): Uniform order refusal complaint dismissed
The Georgia National Guard refused to adopt a Federal Service Impasses Panel order that would let civilian technicians choose standard civilian attire for most daily duties. The technicians' union alleged several unfair labor practices based on that refusal. On a stipulated record, the Authority…
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Memphis Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS Memphis Service Center and NTEU (FLRA 4-CA-20234): Bargaining required over job changes
The IRS Memphis Service Center refused to bargain over a union proposal for first consideration if a GS-5 career ladder was restored, and transferred seven employees before a date it had agreed with NTEU. The Administrative Law Judge found both actions violated the agency's bargaining duty. The…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Cathedral Bluffs Shale Oil Company
Cathedral Bluffs Shale Oil Company (FMSHRC WEST 81-186-M): Operator's shaft gate citation dismissed
MSHA cited both a shaft construction contractor and Cathedral Bluffs' operating partner, Occidental, after finding a shaft landing protected only by a chain rather than a substantial safety gate. The contractor accepted its citation, while Occidental contested its separate citation. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Old Dominion Power Company
Old Dominion Power Company (FMSHRC VA 81-40-R and VA 81-65): Utility citation upheld, penalty reduced
An Old Dominion Power employee died while working on an energized transformer at a substation that supplied electricity to a coal mine. MSHA cited the company under a rule requiring high voltage lines to be deenergized and grounded before work. The Commission held that the substation was part of…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. U.S. Steel Mining Co., Inc.
U.S. Steel Mining Co., Inc. (FMSHRC PENN 83-70 and six consolidated dockets): Mine safety penalties total $3,921
MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining for safety violations at four Pennsylvania coal mines, and the company contested the significant and substantial findings and several penalties. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy reviewed 17 contested bench rulings while leaving 10 uncontested penalty rulings in place. He…
Richard E. Bjes v. Consolidation Coal Company
Bjes v. Consolidation Coal Company (FMSHRC PENN 82-26-D): Agreed discrimination relief ordered
The Commission had affirmed a finding that Consolidation Coal Company discriminated against Richard E. Bjes under the Mine Act and sent the case back to Judge George A. Koutras to determine relief. The parties then agreed on back pay, interest, expenses, and attorney fees. The judge ordered…
National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1379 and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office
NFFE Local 1379 and BLM Oregon State Office (FLRA O-NG-839): Reduction in force area proposal rejected
NFFE Local 1379 proposed a competitive area for reduction in force actions at the Bureau of Land Management's Oregon State Office. The proposed area included bargaining unit employees and wage supervisors, and could affect other employees eligible to move into affected jobs. The Authority held that…
National Labor Relations Board Union Local 21 and National Labor Relations Board
NLRB Union Local 21 and NLRB (FLRA O-NG-708): Temporary supervisor selection proposal rejected
National Labor Relations Board Union Local 21 proposed rules for selecting bargaining unit employees to fill temporary supervisory posts. The Authority held that most sections concerned supervisory jobs, a subject bargainable only if the agency elected to bargain, and the agency declined. Another…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 4 and Department of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
IFPTE Local 4 and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (FLRA O-NG-536): Fair reemployment pay proposal negotiable
IFPTE Local 4 proposed that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard use fair and reasonable discretion when setting the pay of former employees rehired into bargaining unit jobs. The agency disputed the proposal's negotiability. The Authority held that the provision concerned conditions of employment because it…
National Treasury Employees Union and Department of the Treasury, Customs Service
NTEU and Customs Service (FLRA O-NG-1024): Late negotiability petition dismissed
The Customs Service sent NTEU a written allegation that a proposed matter was outside its bargaining duty. The union's deadline to petition for Authority review was July 3, 1984, accounting for service by mail. NTEU filed on July 5. The Authority dismissed the petition as untimely without deciding…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 3399 and Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital
AFGE Local 3399 and Truman Veterans Hospital (FLRA O-AR-817): Removal award outside Authority jurisdiction
An arbitrator upheld the removal of a Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital employee for failure to follow orders. AFGE Local 3399 filed exceptions with the Authority. The Authority held that removal is an adverse action listed in the statute and therefore outside its jurisdiction to review arbitration…
Veterans Administration Medical Center, Sepulveda and American Federation of Government Employees Local 1697
VA Sepulveda Medical Center and AFGE Local 1697 (FLRA O-AR-461): Extra shift pay award set aside
VA Sepulveda changed two wage board employees' work schedules without the advance notice required by their labor agreement. An arbitrator found a contract violation and awarded additional half time pay for the hours they worked on the changed schedules. The Authority held that the employees had not…
American Federation of Government Employees Local 1917 and United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
AFGE Local 1917 and INS (FLRA O-AR-451): Performance standards grievance award set aside
An INS arbitrator considered a grievance challenging numerical performance standards for criminal investigators and the designation of a job element as critical. He rejected the challenge to the numerical standards but ordered the agency to make the disputed element noncritical. The Authority held…
Internal Revenue Service, Brookhaven Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 99
IRS Brookhaven Service Center and NTEU Chapter 99 (FLRA O-AR-297): Priority consideration award made binding
An arbitrator found an IRS Brookhaven employee entitled to priority consideration for a future vacancy but described the remedy as advice rather than a binding order under an older labor agreement. NTEU Chapter 99 had objected to continuing that advisory arbitration term before this grievance. The…
Department of the Army, Headquarters XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg and American Federation of Government Employees Local 1770
Fort Bragg and AFGE Local 1770 (FLRA 4-CA-803, 4-CA-895): Union's chosen representative had to be recognized
AFGE Local 1770 designated Eugene Reed as a steward and a representative specializing in matters affecting employees with disabilities at Fort Bragg. The Army refused to recognize the broader designation and, after Reed's employment ended, refused to recognize him as a union representative or…
National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center, Bruce Geyman and National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1982
Harpers Ferry Center and NFFE Local 1982 (FLRA 3-DR-30003): Decertification election allowed during contract gap
A National Park Service employee petitioned to decertify NFFE Local 1982 at the Harpers Ferry Center. The union argued that its locally signed labor agreement barred an election. The Authority found that the agency head had disapproved that agreement before the employee filed, and the replacement…
Department of the Air Force, Griffiss Air Force Base and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2612
Griffiss Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2612 (FLRA 1-CA-384, 1-CA-559, 1-CA-588): Union dues recoupment violation remedied
Griffiss Air Force Base offset current union dues allotments to recover earlier erroneous payments, leaving AFGE Local 2612 short of dues. The Authority had originally found no unfair labor practice, but a court set aside that result and held the recoupment inconsistent with the agency's dues…
National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1001 and Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg Air Force Base
NFFE Local 1001 and Vandenberg Air Force Base (FLRA 0-NG-463): Grievance representative and selection panel provisions rejected
NFFE Local 1001 challenged Vandenberg Air Force Base's disapproval of several local agreement provisions. The Authority held that one provision allowing employees to choose a union approved personal representative in a negotiated discrimination grievance conflicted with statutory representation…
Allied Chemical Corporation v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
Allied Chemical Corporation (FMSHRC WEST 79-165-M): Missing roof support bolts violated equipment rule
MSHA cited Allied Chemical after inspectors found two missing bolts in hydraulic roof support units at its Wyoming trona mine. Allied argued that the equipment defect rule for loading, hauling, and dumping did not cover roof support chocks, and that the units were being repaired. The Commission…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.