[ v14 p709 ]
14:0709(95)NG
The decision of the Authority follows:
14 FLRA No. 95
FEDERAL UNION OF SCIENTISTS AND
ENGINEERS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, LOCAL R1-144
Union
and
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
Agency
Case No. O-NG-690
DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE
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 raises an issue
concerning the negotiability of the following Union proposal.
Does the Union . . . have the right to negotiate for a member
seat on the Commercial Activities (CA), formerly known as the
CITA, steering committee.
The Union describes the functions of the Commercial Activities
steering committee as follows: /1/
(a) the committee makes decisions on hiring procedures or
practices in the functions that are studied for transfer during
the study period prior to letting of the contract. (b) the
committee decides on the content or extent of the contract, i.e.,
whether to contract out all the functions being studied under one
contract versus a number of individual contracts for each function
. . . . (c) guidelines are set by this committee on meetings with
employees in the unit over the definition of work to be performed
and specified in order to write contract specifications.
The Agency is in essential agreement with this description "except
that the decisions referred to by the union are recommendations, not
final decisions which would be implemented without consideration of
matters such as any relationship to the negotiated agreement or the
obligation to bargain." /2/
Thus, the committee on which the Union seeks membership is concerned
with overseeing, or "steering," studies to determine the feasibility of
contracting out Agency functions. The right "to make determinations
with respect to contracting out" is reserved to management by section
7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute. With regard to this specific right, the
Authority stated, in National Federation of Federal Employees, Local
1167 and Department of the Air Force, 31st Combat Support Group (TAC),
Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, 6 FLRA 574, 578, affirmed sub nom.
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1167 v. Federal labor
relations authority, 681 f.2d 886 (D.C. CIR. 1982), ". . . the right of
management officials under section 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute to make
determinations with respect to contracting out encompasses not only the
right to act in this regard but also the right to discuss and deliberate
concerning the relevant factors upon which such a determination will be
made." Further, concerning the management rights enumerated in section
7106, in National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1431 and
Veterans Administration Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey, 9 FLRA
998, 999, the Authority stated: "(W)hen management establishes formal
organizational structures to undertake such deliberations as an integral
part of its substantive decision-making process, a proposal which would
require union participation would have the effect of directly
interfering with management's statutory right to make the decisions
involved." Since, by means of the instant proposal, the Union seeks to
gain a seat on a committee established by management to make
recommendations on actions which management might take pursuant to its
right to contract out, the proposal is inconsistent with section
7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute and is not within the duty to bargain.
Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and
Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and
hereby is, dismissed. Issued, Washington, D.C., May 24, 1984
Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
Ronald W. Haughton, Member
Henry B. Frazier III, Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
/1/ Union Petition for Review at 1-2.
/2/ Agency Statement of Position at 1.