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15:0962(179)CU - Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Administration Services Region Cleveland, Defense Contract Administration Services Plant Representative Office, Goodyear Aerospace, Akron, OH and NFFE Local 73 and AFGE Sixth District; Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Administration Services Region Cleveland, Defense Contract Administration Services Plant Representative Office, Goodyear Aerospace, Akron, OH and AFGE Sixth District -- 1984 FLRAdec RP



[ v15 p962 ]
15:0962(179)CU
The decision of the Authority follows:


 15 FLRA No. 179
 
 DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
 DEFENSE CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
 SERVICES REGION CLEVELAND, DEFENSE
 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION SERVICES
 PLANT REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE,
 GOODYEAR AEROSPACE, AKRON, OHIO
 Activity
 
 and
 
 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES,
 LOCAL 73
 Labor Organization/Petitioner
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, SIXTH DISTRICT
 Intervenor /1/
 
                                            Case No. 5-CU-30008
 
 DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
 DEFENSE CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
 SERVICES REGION CLEVELAND, DEFENSE
 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION SERVICES
 PLANT REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE,
 GOODYEAR AEROSPACE, AKRON, OHIO
 Activity
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES,
 AFL-CIO, SIXTH DISTRICT
 Labor Organization/Petitioner
 
                                            Case No. 5-RO-30012
 
                 DECISION, ORDER AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
 
    Upon petitions duly filed under section 7111(b)(1) and (2) of the
 Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), a
 consolidated hearing was held before a hearing officer of the Authority.
  The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
 prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
 
    Upon the entire record in this case, including the contentions of the
 parties, the Authority makes the following findings:  The Petitioner in
 Case No. 5-CU-30008, National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 73
 (NFFE), seeks to accrete approximately 43 non-professional employees of
 the Defense Contract Administration Services Plant Representative
 Office, Goodyear Aerospace (DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace) to its existing
 unit consisting of non-professional employees at Defense Contract
 Administration Services Region Cleveland Headquarters (DCASR Cleveland
 Headquarters), Defense Contract Administration Services Management Area
 Cleveland (DCASMA Cleveland) and DCASPRO Gould.  The NFFE contends that
 the employees at issue should accrete to its current unit, as such unit
 would be more appropriate than the unit proposed by AFGE in its petition
 in Case No. 5-RO-30012.  In arguing this position, the NFFE asserts that
 the non-professional employees of DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace share a
 greater community of interest with the non-professional employees in its
 current unit than with the non-professional employees in AFGE's current
 unit.
 
    AFGE, the Petitioner in Case No. 5-RO-30012, seeks elections among
 the employees of DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace to determine whether the
 non-professional employees wish to be represented by AFGE as part of the
 consolidated AFGE-Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) non-professional unit
 and whether the professional employees wish to be represented by AFGE as
 part of the consolidated AFGE-DLA professional unit.
 
    The Activity's position is that either the unit proposed by NFFE
 Local 73 or the two units proposed by AFGE would be appropriate based on
 the parties' bargaining history and current labor-management dealings.
 The Activity further contends that the DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace
 non-professional employees did not accrete to the existing NFFE Local 73
 unit, and that an election is the proper method for either union to gain
 exclusive recognition.
 
    The event that led to the filing of these petitions was a transfer of
 plant contract services at Goodyear Aerospace from the Navy Sea Systems
 Command to DCASR Cleveland on June 27, 1982.  From the record, it does
 not appear that the employees sought were represented by any labor
 organization while they were under the Navy Sea Systems Command.
 
    DCASR Cleveland is one of nine field regions of the Defense Logistics
 Agency.  It provides contract administration services in support of the
 Department of Defense and other Federal agencies.  The Activity has a
 regional headquarters and other offices in various locations throughout
 the geographic area under its jurisdiction which are responsible for
 achieving the Activity's mission.  These second level offices are called
 "DCASMAs" and "DCASPROs." DCASMAs perform contract administration
 services for government agencies served by the Activity in a particular
 geographical area, while the DCASPROs are established to serve a single
 contractor and to provide specified operational contract administration
 services in support of agencies served by the Activity.  Each reports
 directly to the Activity.  AFGE represents employees in three of the
 five Activity DCASMAs, including those in Detroit, Grand Rapids and
 Ottawa, as part of its professional and non-professional consolidated
 nationwide AFGE-DLA units.  NFFE Local 75 represents professional and
 non-professional employees of DCASMA Dayton in a single unit.  NFFE
 Local 73 represents non-professional employees of DCASMA Cleveland as
 part of its DCASR Cleveland non-professional unit.  There are currently
 four DCASPROs within DCASR Cleveland, including DCASPRO Goodyear
 Aerospace.  DCASPROs Williams International and Teledyne CA & E are part
 of the AFGE-DLA consolidated nationwide units.  /2/ DCASPRO Gould is
 part of the NFFE Local 73 DCASR Cleveland non-professional unit.  NFFE
 Local 73 also represents the non-professional employees of DCASR
 Cleveland Headquarters.  In sum, both AFGE and NFFE currently represent
 employees in units similar to the employees sought at DCASPRO Goodyear
 Aerospace.  The only unrepresented employees of DCASR Cleveland are the
 DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace professional and non-professional employees
 and the professional employees of DCASR Cleveland Headquarters, DCASMA
 Cleveland and DCASPRO Gould.
 
    The record reveals that the commanders of DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace
 and DCASMA Cleveland report directly to the DCASR Cleveland Commander
 and that their organizational levels are parallel;  that DCASPRO
 Goodyear Aerospace Commander has hiring and promotion authority;
 personnel actions by the DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace Commander are
 reviewed by DCASR Cleveland for compliance with EEO statutes;  DCASPRO
 Goodyear Aerospace Commander has discharge authority with procedural
 review at DCASR Cleveland level;  the minimum area of consideration for
 merit promotion in grades one to six is the commuting area which
 includes DCASR Cleveland Headquarters, DCASMA Cleveland, DCASPRO Gould
 and DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace;  the Commander of DCASPRO Goodyear
 Aerospace has used a DCASR-wide area for merit promotions;  and for
 reductions-in-force, the competitive area would include DCASR Cleveland
 Headquarters, DCASMA Cleveland, DCASPRO Gould and DCASPRO Goodyear
 Aerospace.
 
    Job contact between DCASMA Cleveland and DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace
 employees is limited.  There are infrequent safety inspections during
 which DCASPRO employees accompany DCASMA employees at the plant, and
 some contact is made in performing Contract Data Input Function and
 Industrial Preparedness and Readiness Plant Preparation.  Also, with the
 transfer of function from Navy Sea Systems Command, DCASR Cleveland
 Headquarters, assumed responsibility for personnel, labor relations,
 some initial training, and fiscal servicing for DCASPRO Goodyear
 Aerospace.
 
    Based on the foregoing, the Authority finds that the non-professional
 employees of DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace share a community of interest
 with the employees currently in the non-professional unit represented by
 NFFE Local 73.  However, the record does not show that the DCASPRO
 Goodyear Aerospace employees accreted to NFFE's unit when they were
 transferred into DCASR Cleveland from Navy Sea Systems Command, as they
 have not become so intermingled with other employees in the NFFE Local
 73's unit as to lose their separate identity.  In this regard, the
 evidence shows that although the DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace employees
 are in the same commuting area as the employees NFFE currently
 represents, they are still geographically separate, have limited contact
 with and are organizationally independent of the employees represented
 by NFFE.  The Authority will find an accretion only where the evidence
 clearly shows that the employees at issue have been so organizationally
 and operationally integrated with the employees of the established
 exclusively recognized unit as to lose their separate identity.  Having
 found otherwise herein, the Authority shall dismiss NFFE's petition in
 Case No. 5-CU-30008 seeking to accrete the non-professional employees of
 DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace into its established exclusively recognized
 unit.  See e.g., U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 8
 FLRA 176 (1982).  /3/
 
    The Authority finds further that AFGE's petition in Case No.
 5-RO-30012 raises a question concerning representation regarding the
 employees of DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace.  The Activity's position is
 that either the non-professional unit proposed by NFFE Local 73 in Case
 No. 5-CU-30008 or the two units proposed by AFGE would be appropriate
 based on the parties' bargaining history and current labor-management
 dealings.  The Authority agrees.  Thus, based on past bargaining history
 and labor-management dealings, including a regional supplemental
 agreement for the AFGE unit employees in DCASR Cleveland, inclusion in
 either the AFGE-DLA consolidated nationwide units or the NFFE Local 73's
 DCASR Cleveland unit would result in effective dealings and efficiency
 of agency operations.  Further, the DCASPRO Goodyear Aerospace employees
 would share a community of interest with employees of either unit, since
 they share common agency missions and functions.  Therefore, both the
 unit, NFFE Local 73 sought through accretion, and the two units
 petitioned for by AFGE meet the criteria of section 7112(a)(1) of the
 Statute /4/ and are appropriate.  In view of this finding, which
 recognizes that the considerations in favor of each are evenly balanced,
 the determining factor should be the desire of the employees themselves.
  The Authority concludes that a self-determination election must be
 held.  /5/
 
    The Authority concludes that it would effectuate the purposes and
 policies of the Statute to allow NFFE Local 73, if it chooses, to
 participate in the election to be held.  This conclusion is based on the
 fact that NFFE Local 73 is considered by the Authority to be a party
 under section 2421.11 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations by reason
 of its filing of the petition in Case No. 5-CU-30008 seeking to accrete
 the non-professional employees in question and its being represented at
 the consolidated hearing in this matter.  Accordingly, NFFE Local 73 may
 be placed on the ballot if it submits to the appropriate Regional
 Director within 10 days of the date below sufficient showing of interest
 to support intervention.  /6/
 
    The elections will be conducted in the following voting groups:
 
          Voting Group (a):  All nonsupervisory professional employees of
       the Defense Contract Administration Services Region Cleveland,
       Defense Contract Administration Plant Representative Office,
       Goodyear Aerospace, Akron, Ohio, excluding all non-professional
       employees, management officials, supervisors and employees
       described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) of the
       Statute.
 
          Voting Group (b):  All nonsupervisory non-professional
       employees of the Defense Contract Administration Services Region
       Cleveland, Defense Contract Administration Plant Representative
       Office, Goodyear Aerospace, Akron, Ohio, excluding all
       professional employees, management officials, supervisors and
       employees described in section 7112(b)(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7)
       of the Statute.
 
    The employees in voting group (a) will be asked whether they wish to
 be represented for the purpose of exclusive recognition by AFGE or no
 union.  If a majority of the employees in voting group (a) vote for
 AFGE, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be included
 in the existing AFGE-DLA nationwide consolidated professional unit and
 the appropriate Regional Director will issue a certification to that
 effect.
 
    The employees in voting group (b) will be asked whether they wish to
 be represented for the purpose of exclusive recognition by AFGE, NFFE
 Local 73, /7/ or neither.  If a majority of the employees in voting
 group (b) vote for AFGE, they will be taken to have indicated their
 desire to be included in the existing AFGE-DLA nationwide consolidated
 non-professional unit and the appropriate Regional Director will issue a
 certification to that effect.  If a majority of the employees in voting
 group (b) vote for NFFE Local 73, they will be taken to have indicated
 their desire to be included in the existing NFFE Local 73 DCASR
 Cleveland non-professional unit and the appropriate Regional Director
 will issue a certification to that effect.
 
                      ORDER AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
 
    An election by secret ballot shall be conducted among the employees
 in the voting groups described above as soon as feasible.  The
 appropriate Regional Director shall supervise or conduct the election,
 as appropriate, subject to the Authority's Rules and Regulations.
 Eligible to vote are those in the respective voting groups who were
 employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date below,
 including employees who did not work during that period because they
 were out ill, or on vacation or on furlough, including those in the
 military service who appear in person at the polls.  Ineligible to vote
 are employees who have quit or were discharged for cause since the
 designated payroll period and who have not been rehired or reinstated
 before the election date.  Those eligible to vote in voting group (a)
 shall vote on whether they desire to be represented for the purpose of
 exclusive recognition by AFGE, or by no union.  Those eligible to vote
 in voting group (b), subject to the proviso above regarding NFFE Local
 73, shall vote whether they desire to be represented for the purpose of
 exclusive recognition by AFGE, by NFFE Local 73, or neither.
 
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 5-CU-30008 be,
 and it hereby is, dismissed.
 
    Issued, Washington, D.C., August 31, 1984
                                       Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
                                       Ronald W. Haughton, Member
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Sixth
 District (AFGE) was granted intervenor status in Case No. 5-CU-30008 at
 the hearing.
 
 
    /2/ See Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Administration
 Services Region, Cleveland, Ohio, 11 FLRA No. 97 (1983).
 
 
    /3/ NFFE's position is that the employees at issue should accrete to
 its unit because the employees have a greater community of interest with
 the employees in its unit than with the employees in AFGE's unit.  As
 noted, this is not the test for an accretion.
 
 
    /4/ Section 7112(a)(1) provides:
 
          Sec. 7112.  Determination of appropriate units for labor
       organization representation
 
          (a)(1) The Authority shall determine the appropriateness of any
       unit.  The Authority shall determine in each case whether, in
       order to ensure employees the fullest freedom in exercising the
       rights guaranteed under this chapter, the appropriate unit should
       be established on an agency, plant, installation, functional, or
       other basis and shall determine any unit to be an appropriate unit
       only if the determination will ensure a clear and identifiable
       community of interest among the employees in the unit and will
       promote effective dealings with, and efficiency of the operations
       of, the agency involved.
 
 
    /5/ See, e.g., Department of Defense Dependents Schools, 6 FLRA 297,
 310 (1981), wherein the Authority similarly concluded that a
 self-determination election would best effectuate the policies of the
 Statute.
 
 
    /6/ See Section 2422.5 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations where
 a showing of interest of 10 percent (10%) or more of the employees at
 issue is required for intervention.
 
 
    /7/ As noted above, NFFE Local 73 must submit a timely and sufficient
 showing of interest in order to appear on the ballot.