[ v13 p88 ]
13:0088(23)CU
The decision of the Authority follows:
13 FLRA No. 23
ADJUTANT GENERAL OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
STATE MILITARY RESERVATION
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE
157th AIR REFUELING GROUP
NEW HAMPSHIRE AIR NATIONAL GUARD
Activity/Petitioner
and
GRANITE STATE CHAPTER, ASSOCIATION OF
CIVILIAN TECHNICIANS
Labor Organization /1/
Case No. 1-CU-20007
DECISION AND ORDER CLARIFYING UNIT
Upon a petition duly filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority
under section 7111(b)(2) of the Federal Service Labor-Management
Relations Statute (the Statute), a 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 careful consideration of the entire record, including the
parties' contentions, the Authority finds: The Granite State Chapter,
Association of Civilian Technicians (ACT) was certified on June 5, 1973
as the exclusive bargaining representative for a unit of all Wage Board
and General Schedule Air National Guard technicians employed in the
State of New Hampshire. Essentially, the petition seeks to clarify the
unit status of four employees who the Activity/Petitioner contends
should be excluded from the bargaining unit on the grounds that they are
supervisors, management officials or both. /2/ SUPERVISORS /3/
The Activity/Petitioner contends that the following individuals are
supervisors within the meaning of section 7103(a)(10) of the Statute and
should be excluded from the unit: Thomas Bunting, Flight Instructor
(Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief, Scheduling Section KC 135A); John
Recher, Flight Instructor (Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief,
Standardization/Evaluation (KS 135A); and Hubert Burkhead, Flight
Instructor (Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief, Training Branch (KC 135A).
Of these, the record establishes that Burkhead assigns and directs the
work of civilian subordinates and that such duties are not merely
routine or clerical in nature but require the consistent exercise of
independent judgment. Accordingly, Burkhead is a supervisor within the
meaning of section 7103(a)(10) of the Statute and should be excluded
from the unit. /4/ The Authority further concludes that neither Bunting
nor Recher exercise any of the statutory indicia of supervisory
authority. Therefore, they are not supervisors within the meaning of
section 7103(a)(10) of the Statute. MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS /5/
The Activity/Petitioner contends that the following individuals are
management officials within the meaning of section 7103(a)(11) of the
Statute and should be excluded from the unit: Joseph Wright, Flight
Instructor (Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief of Safety; Thomas Bunting,
Flight Instructor (Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief, Scheduling Section
(KC 135A); and John Recher, Flight Instructor (Fixed Wing),
GS-2181-GM13 Chief, Standardization/Evaluation (KC 135A). In the lead
case of Department of the Navy, Automatic Data Processing Selection
Office, 7 FLRA No. 24 (1981), the Authority interpreted the statutory
definition of "management official" to include those individuals who:
(1) create, establish or prescribe general principles, plans, or courses
of action for an agency; (2) decide upon or settle upon general
principles, plans or courses of action for an agency; or (3) bring
about or obtain a result as to the adoption of general principles, plans
or courses of action for an agency. Applying these criteria to the
instant case, the Authority finds that Wright, Bunting, and Recher are
management officials and should be excluded from the bargaining unit.
Thus, the record establishes that Wright, the Activity's expert on
flying safety, has established Activity policy in the area of minimum
weather criteria for operation of the Activity's aircraft as well as
with respect to maximizing flying safety. He instituted changes in the
Activity's flying procedures to cope with problems resulting from the
air traffic controllers' strike and has instituted changes in the Air
Force Occupational Safety and Health Standard on bulk storage which has
affected Air Force installations all over the world. Bunting has
authored numerous policy regulations and operational procedures
including the Major Accident Response Exercise, Use of Flight Crew
Vehicles, Aerospace System Security, Pyramic Alert Notification/Recall
and Disaster Warning/Notification Procedures, Mandatory Calls to
Operations Control Center, and Crew Rest and Flight Duty Period
Restrictions. Recher has promulgated numerous policy procedures used by
the Activity in the areas of flying, ground activities, testing
activities and examinations, including the Standards of Evaluation
Criteria used in grading the performance of employees, the Fuel and
Alternative Airfield Requirements, and Minimum Interval Takeoff
Training. It follows that the responsibilities of all three of these
employees require and authorize them to formulate, determine, or
influence the policies of the agency within the meaning of section
7103(a)(11) of the Statute as interpreted by the Authority.
Accordingly, the Authority finds that they are management officials and
should be excluded from the unit.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that the unit sought to be clarified herein be, and it
hereby is, clarified by excluding from said unit the following
individuals: Joseph Wright, Flight Instructor (Fixed Wing),
GS-2181-GM13 Chief of Safety; Thomas Bunting, Flight Instructor (Fixed
Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief, Scheduling Section (KC 135A); John Recher,
Flight Instructor (Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief,
Standardization/Evaluation (KC 135A); and Hubert Burkhead, Flight
Instructor (Fixed Wing), GS-2181-GM13 Chief, Training Branch (KC 135A).
Issued, Washington, D.C., September 27, 1983
Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
Ronald W. Haughton, Member
Henry B. Frazier III, Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
/1/ The names of the Activity/Petitioner and the Labor Organization
appear as amended at the hearing.
/2/ During the course of the hearing the parties stipulated that the
incumbent in the job classification of Aircraft Engineer Mechanic
Foreman, WS-8602-07 was a supervisor and should be excluded from the
unit. The Authority deems such a stipulation to be a motion to amend
the petition which is hereby granted.
/3/ Section 7103(a)(10) of the Statute defines a "supervisor" as:
. . . an individual employed by an agency having authority in the
interest of the agency to hire, direct, assign, promote, reward,
transfer, furlough, layoff, recall, suspend, discipline, or remove
employees, to adjust their grievances, or to effectively recommend
such action, if the exercise of the authority is not merely
routine or clerical in nature but requires the consistent exercise
of independent judgment. . . .
/4/ Therefore, it is unnecessary to determine whether or not Burkhead
is also a management official within the meaning of the Statute.
/5/ Section 7103(a)(1) of the Statute defines a "management official"
as:
. . . an individual employed by an agency in a position the duties
and responsibilities of which require or authorize the individual
to formulate, determine, or influence the policies of the agency.
. . .