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**OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE**LA 200, John Adams Building, 110 Second              Street, S.E.              Washington, D.C. 20540-1999
_________________________International Brotherhood of  Electrical Workers, Local 26,      Petitioner,                                                       Case No. 01-LMR-02            andOffice of the Architect  of the Capitol,      Employing Office_________________________
Before the Board of Directors; Susan S. Robfogel,              Chair; Barbara L. Camens; Alan V. Friedman; Roberta L. Holzwarth;              Barbara Childs Wallace, Members.

DECISION OF THE BOARD OF              DIRECTORS

I. Statement of the Case

This case requires that we examine the negotiability              of two proposals to provide premium pay for work on holidays and              on Sundays, respectively. The matter is before the Board pursuant              to §7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor Management Relations              Statute ("FSLMRS"), 5 U.S.C. §7105(a)(2)(E), as applied by              §220(c)(1) of the Congressional Accountability Act ("CAA"),              2 U.S.C. §1351(c)(1). 

The petitioner International Brotherhood of Electrical              Workers, Local 26 ("IBEW Local 26" or "Union") is the certified              representative of a unit of electricians employed in the Construction              Management Division of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol              ("Employing Office" or "AOC"). These employees are employed on an              "as-needed" basis for various construction projects undertaken by              the Employing Office. The parties are negotiating for an initial              collective bargaining agreement that will cover terms and conditions              of employment, including pay.

The Union has submitted a proposal that would              require covered employees who work on holidays to be paid not less              than two times the straight-time rate for all time worked. Under              a separate proposal, the employees who undertake a tour of duty              including worktime on a Sunday would receive in addition to their              basic rate of pay a premium of 25% of the basic hourly rate, or              a greater rate if provided by applicable law. The Employing Office              contends that these proposals are nonnegotiable. 

As framed by the arguments of AOC, this case              raises the identical legal issues that are presented in *Plumbers              Local 5, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the              Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada              and Office of the Architect of the Capitol*(*"Plumbers Local**5"*), 01-LRM-01, also decided this day. In that case, the              negotiability of a holiday premium pay proposal offered by Plumbers              Local 5 is disputed. The AOC advanced essentially the same arguments              there that it presented here. The Board has ruled today in *Plumbers              Local 5* that the grounds asserted by AOC for nonnegotiability              are not well founded. For the same reasons articulated in that decision,              we likewise conclude here that the premium pay proposals of IBEW              Local 26 are negotiable.

II. Proposals In Dispute

"Article XV (Holidays)                "If Employees are needed to work on a federal holiday prescribed                by current or future law or a special holiday designated by the                President of the United States, the Employer will first seek qualified                volunteers. . . . *An Employee who works on a holiday shall                be paid at a rate not less than two (2) times the straight-time                rate for all hours work.*

"Article XII (Wages)                "Section 3. Any Employee whose regular work schedule includes                an (8) hour period of work a part of which is on Sunday is entitled                to pay for all hours worked during each period at his basic rate                of pay *plus a premium of 25% of his basic hour wage rate, or                a greater rate if provided by law*."

The italicized portions are in dispute.

III. Positions of the Parties

 A. Employing Office

The Employing Office argues that the premium              pay proposals would create an inconsistency with Federal law and              hence are nonnegotiable under §7117(a) of the FSLMRS, 5 U.S.C.              §7117(a), as applied by §220(c)(1) of the CAA, 2 U.S.C.              §1351(c)(1). It rests this argument on three statutory grounds.              The Employing Office argues that the electricians are paid at prevailing              wage rates established pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C.              §276a et seq., and to the Prevailing Rate Systems Act (PRSA),              5 U.S.C. §5349(c), and that such statutes do not authorize              the payment of premium pay. Secondly, AOC argues that the unit employees,              as "prevailing rate employees," are not entitled to holiday pay              by virtue of a definitional exclusion in the premium pay statute              that allows certain Federal employees to earn a wage premium for              working on Sundays and holidays. See 5 U.S.C. §5541(2)(C)(xi).              (1) Payment of a holiday premium to the electricians would              supposedly be "inconsistent" with this exclusion. A third "inconsistency"              would be created, according to the AOC, citing 31 U.S.C. §3101(a),              were it to agree to expend appropriated funds for holiday premium              pay. Under this section, "appropriations shall be applied only to              the objects for which the appropriations were made except as otherwise              provided by law." The AOC contends that the exclusion of prevailing              wage employees under 5 U.S.C. §5541(a)(2)(C)(xi) removes holiday              premium pay as a lawful object for which the Employing Office would              be allowed to spend appropriated money.

Finally, the AOC insists that because the pay              for the electricians here is established through the prevailing              wage rate determinations by the Department of Labor under the Davis-Bacon              Act, (2) the Employing Office is              left with no discretion or control in the setting of such compensation.              According to AOC, under case law interpreting FSLMRS, matters beyond              the control and discretion of an employing agency are outside the              duty to bargain.

 B. Union

IBEW Local 26 counters that its premium pay proposals              are in no way inconsistent with law so as to bar negotiations under              5 U.S.C. §7117(a), as applied by the CAA. The arguments advanced              by the Union closely parallel those that were urged by the petitioning              union in *Plumbers Local 5*, and therefore need only be summarized              here: First, neither the Davis-Bacon Act nor the PRSA limits the              authority and discretion of the AOC to negotiate holiday premium              pay. Second, the holiday premium proposals are not inconsistent              with the definitional provision in 5 U.S.C. §5541(2)(C)(xi)              that excludes "prevailing rate employees" from the Premium Pay chapter              of the United States Code. 5 U.S.C. §5541 et seq. Third, the              proposals are not inconsistent with the limitation in 31 U.S.C.              §3101(a) that appropriations may only be expended for an authorized              object. Finally, the Union argues that, by having discretion to              negotiate wage benefits of its prevailing rate employees, the Employing              Office must negotiate over proposals to provide holiday and Sunday              premium pay.

IV. Analysis and Conclusions

As indicated above, we believe that the rationale              of *Plumbers Local 5* fully supports a finding that the proposals              here are negotiable. To summarize, we believe that the holiday premium              proposals here, like the one in *Plumbers Local 5*, involve              bargainable conditions of employment under §7114(a)(4) and              §7102 of the FSLMRS, as applied by the CAA, and within the              contours established by 5 U.S.C. §5349 of the PRSA governing              the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. See *U.S. Department              of Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing and International              Association of Machinists, Lodge 2135*, 50 FLRA 677 (1995), *enf'd*,              88 F.3d 1279 (D.C. Cir. 1996)(Table), 1996 WL 311465 (unpublished              opinion); *AFGE, AFL-CIO, Local 1897, and**Department of              the Air Force, Eglin Air Force Base* (*"Eglin AFB"*), 24              FLRA 377 (1986). While wage determinations made by the Labor Department              under the Davis-Bacon Act may serve as a basis on which the prevailing              rate of basic pay is calculated, that Act does not limit the authority              and discretion of the AOC under the FSLMRS, as applied by the CAA,              and under the 5 USC §5349(a) to negotiate holiday premium pay.              Therefore, Davis-Bacon is not a law with which holiday premium pay              would create an inconsistency. Similarly, the definitional exclusion              in 5 U.S.C. §5541(2)(C)(xi) is not a prohibition on prevailing              rate employees receiving holiday pay and therefore creates no inconsistency              with law. Lastly, the limitation contained in 31 U.S.C. §3101              that restricts the expenditure of funds beyond an approved object              does not restrict payments for holiday premium pay, which would              otherwise be authorized as an element of salaries in the appropriations              act that funds the AOC.

 The AOC, in this case, urged that *United              Power Trades Organization and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North              Pacific Division* (*"North Pacific Division"*), 30 FLRA              639 (1987), supports its position that the Davis-Bacon Act provides              the exclusive authority and procedures for pay matters, even though              compensation for AOC's trades and craft employees are governed by              5 U.S.C. §5349(a) of the Prevailing Rate Systems Act. However,              that case is readily distinguishable.

In *North Pacific Division*, the wages of              certain bargaining unit employees of the Corps of Engineers were              governed by 5 U.S.C. §5343 of the PRSA, pursuant to which the              Department of Defense Wage Fixing Authority (DOD WFA) was vested              with responsibility for making prevailing rate determinations. However,              the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1982, P.L. 97-257, 96 Stat.              832, circumscribed DOD WFA's authority by mandating that wages for              the affected Engineering Corps employees be fixed in accordance              with wages paid to employees of the Departments of Interior and              Energy who perform similar work in the same geographic area. In              implementing this legislative directive, DOD WFA issued a wage determination              that eliminated the shift differential premium that had previously              been allowed under pre-1982 wage determinations. When the union              sought to negotiate the restoration of the shift differential and              the addition of other wage premiums, FLRA held that the proposals              were nonnegotiable as inconsistent with the Supplemental Appropriations              Act.

The AOC argues that the Davis-Bacon Act here              supersedes the PRSA in the same manner that the 1982 Supplemental              Appropriations Act did in *North Pacific Division*, and because              the wage determinations by the Labor Department do not include premium              pay, wage proposals for such premiums are nonnegotiable. As the              Union correctly observes, under 5 U.S.C. §5349(a), the AOC              is the pay-fixing authority here and there is nothing in the Davis-Bacon              Act that displaces or modifies that statutory authority. Davis-Bacon              in no sense supplants the PRSA.

As we concluded in *Plumbers Local 5*, decided              today, simply because the parties have opted to rely upon Davis-Bacon              wage determinations of the Labor Department to fix basic rates of              pay, it does not follow that AOC is ousted from negotiating further              elements of the pay package under 5 U.S.C. §5349(a). The situation              here stands in stark contrast to *North Pacific Division*,              where Congress clearly intended through the 1982 Supplemental Appropriations              Act to redefine the standard by which DOD WFA calculated the wages              of the Corps of Engineering employees.

V. Order

The Employing Office shall, upon request, or              as otherwise agreed to by the parties, bargain on the proposals              concerning holiday premium pay. (3)

Issued, Washington, D.C., December 3, 2001.

1 The exclusion,              in the form of a definition for purposes of the subchapter on premium              pay, reads in pertinent part: "'employee' . . . does not include              . . . an employee whose pay is fixed and adjusted from time to time              in accordance with prevailing rates under subchapter IV of chapter              53 of this title [5 U.S.C. §§5341-49] . . . ."            
2 See 40 U.S.C.              §276a.            
3 In finding the              proposal to be negotiable, we make no judgment as to its merits.            
 

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