Jump to Navigation

# FLRA.gov

RSS FEEDS

## Search form

Menu

eFilingAvailable Here

            -  **Home 
            -              About            -              Introduction to the FLRA           
-              Mission           
-              Budget & Performance           
-              Organizational Chart           
-              FLRA Leadership           
-              Press Releases           
-              Public Affairs           
-              FLRA Job Postings           
Our Mission
Protecting rights and facilitating stable relationships among federal agencies, labor organizations, and employees while advancing an effective and efficient government through the administration of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.  
Feedback about www.FLRA.gov
Let us know what you think about our new and improved website by emailing us at EngagetheFLRA@flra.gov.
 
            -              Components & Offices            -              Components            -              The Authority           
-              Office of the General Counsel           
-              The Federal Service Impasses Panel           
 
-              Offices            -              Office of Administrative Law Judges           
-              Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (CADRO)           
-              Office of Case Intake and Publication           
-              Office of the Executive Director           
-              Office of Inspector General           
-              Office of the Solicitor           
 
Is the FLRA hiring?
Find a listing of all of the FLRA's current job openings.    
Contact Us
Find a listing of FLRA contacts that you can call for more information.  
 
            -              Case Types            -              File a Case           
-              Unfair Labor Practice           
-              Representation           
-              Arbitration           
-              Negotiability           
-              Negotiation Impasse           
-              Other Types           
Ready to file a case?
Find everything you need to know about filing a case with the FLRA.    
  
            -              Decisions            -              Authority Decisions           
-              Administrative Law Judges Decisions           
-              Federal Service Impasses Panel Decisions           
-              Solicitor's Briefs and Court Decisions           
-              Archival Decisions, Legislative History, & Foreign Service Decisions           
-              Quarterly Digest of Authority Decisions           
Quarterly Digest of Authority Decisions
Case digests provide a brief synopsis of the most pertinent principles in merits decisions issued by the Authority. 
Archival Decisions
Find historical decisions of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Labor-Management Relations and the Federal Labor Relations Council, as well as Foreign Service Labor Relations Board decisions.  
Legislative History 
View the legislative history of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, the Civil Service Reform Act, and the Foreign Service Act.
 
            -              Resources & Training            -              Resources            -              Quarterly Digest of Authority Decisions           
-              The Statute & Regulations           
-              Information by Case Type           
-              Policy Statements           
-              Guides & Manuals           
-              Forms & Checklists           
 
-              Training            -              Upcoming FLRA Training           
-              Training Contacts           
-              FLRA on YouTube           
-              Course Materials           
-              Video Training           
-              Customer Feedback           
 
FLRA Training on YouTube
Watch free online FLRA trainings on our Youtube channel and don’t forget to subscribe to receive updates on new videos.
  

## You are here

          - Home
          - [Decision Number]

# National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. (Petitioner)

**71 FLRA No. 91**

**FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY**

**WASHINGTON, D.C.**

**_____**

**NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION, INC.****(Petitioner)**

**0-PS-40**

**_____**

**DECISION ON REQUEST FOR**

**GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY OR GUIDANCE**

**December 23, 2019**

**_____**

**Before the****Authority:  Colleen Duffy Kiko, Chairman,and Ernest DuBester and James T. Abbott, Members**

**(Member DuBester concurring)**

**I.            Statement of the Case**

               On August 19, 2019, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc., (the Foundation) requested that the Authority issue a policy statement on the following topic:

[Whether] the [Federal Service Labor-Management Relations] Statute requires an election in each situation where a group of employees [is] added to a bargaining      unit in order to determine whether that union enjoys majority employee support?[1]

**II.          Background**

               In its request, the Foundation summarized the history of the Authority’s “accretion” doctrine as one that allows the addition of a group of employees to an existing bargaining unit without an election following a “triggering event” or change in agency operations or organization.[2]  The Foundation stressed that the doctrine disregards the principle of employee free choice, in particular bargaining-unit employees’ right to refrain from “union activity.”[3]  The request acknowledged that the Authority’s precedent accounts for employee self‐determination by applying the accretion doctrine narrowly.[4]  The Foundation then argued that the accretion doctrine is inconsistent with the terms of the Statute, specifically §§ 7111(a) and 7112(a), which provide for secret ballot elections by bargaining-unit employees so that they may select an organization to be the exclusive representative in appropriate bargaining units that allow these employees the “fullest” freedom to exercise their rights under the Statute.[5]

**III.         Discussion**

               The Authority has carefully considered this request and has determined that the request does not satisfy the standards governing the issuance of general statements of policy and guidance set forth in § 2427.5 of the Authority’s Regulations.[6]  The guidance sought by the Foundation can be more appropriately resolved in a case or controversy, and the Foundation provided no reason to conclude that the issuance of an Authority statement would prevent the proliferation of cases involving the same or similar question.   

               Likewise, while the request adequately summarized existing Authority precedent, we note that the request made no mention of a recent decision.  In *Department of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire*, the Authority announced that while considering petitions for severance elections, employees’ right to self-determination was a factor which should be given *equal* consideration with all other factors.[7]  This decision, read together with another 2019 case, *Export-Import Bank of the United States*,[8] more than demonstrates awareness on the part of the Authority of the statutory significance of bargaining-unit employees’ right to self-determination. 

              Finally, we find this request to be dependent upon the circumstances of the case at issue, so much so, that this issue of law and policy may be developed more fully in the context of an actual dispute.  Accordingly, any policy statement or guidance issued by the Authority would be unlikely to prevent the proliferation of future cases.

**IV.         Decision**

               We deny the Foundation’s request for a general statement of policy or guidance.

**Member DuBester, concurring:**

               I agree that the request does not satisfy the standards governing the issuance of general statements of policy or guidance.  Because the questions posed by the request can more appropriately be addressed in the context of facts and circumstances presented by parties in an actual dispute, I concur in the Decision to deny the request.

----

[1] Foundation Request at 1.

[2]*See U.S Dep’t of Interior, Bur. of Reclamation Columbia-Cascades Area Office, Yakima, Wash.*, 65 FLRA 491, 493 (2011).

[3] Foundation Request at 3.

[4]*Id.* (citing*U.S. Dep’t of the Navy Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atl. Program Dir., Fleet & Family Readiness, Norfolk, Va.*, 64 FLRA 782, 785 (2010)).

[5]*See* 5 U.S.C. §§ 7111(a), 7112(a).

[6] 5 C.F.R. § 2427.5.

[7] 70 FLRA 995, 999 (2018) (Member DuBester dissenting) (finding that while preventing unit fragmentation was an important consideration, employee interests, concerns, and self-determination were of equal importance when determining whether severance was warranted).

[8] 71 FLRA 248, 255 (2019) (Member DuBester dissenting).

### Federal Labor Relations Authority

1400 K Street, NWWashington, DC 20424 771-444-5801

### Footer Menu Col1

              - Home
              - About Us
              - Components & Offices
              - Contact Us

### Footer Menu Col2

              - Case Types
              - Decisions
              - Resources & Training

### Promo Menu Block

eFilingAvailable Here

### Footer Secondary Menu

              - FOIA
              - Inspector General
              - No FEAR Act & EEO
              - Whistleblower Protection
              - Vulnerability Disclosure
              - OpenGov
              - 508 Compliance
              - Privacy Policy