Opinion ID: 591152
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute

Text: 6 In adopting the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, 5 U.S.C. § 7101 et seq., (the FLRS), Congress observed that 7 experience in both private and public employment indicates that the statutory protection of the right of employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their own choosing in decisions which affect them safeguards the public interest, contributes to the effective conduct of public business, and facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of disputes between employees and their employers involving conditions of employment. 8 5 U.S.C. § 7101(a)(1). Therefore, the Congress declared, labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest. 9 To facilitate collective bargaining in the public sector, the FLRS provides that a labor organization may serve as the exclusive bargaining representative of a group of public employees as long as it fulfills certain duties. In particular, the FLRS provides that [a]n exclusive representative is responsible for representing the interests of all employees in the unit it represents without discrimination and without regard to labor organization membership. 5 U.S.C. § 7114(a)(1). That is, the labor organization must represent the interests not only of its dues-paying members, but also the interests of those employees in the unit who choose not to join the union. Thus, the requests by the unions in this case for the names and addresses of employees in the relevant bargaining units were requests designed to allow the union to contact not its own members, but rather the other employees in the units, so that the unions could determine what issues were of concern to those employees. 10 The FLRS also imposes obligations on the employer. For instance, in order to facilitate the bargaining process, federal employers are required 11 to furnish to the exclusive representative involved, or its authorized representative, upon request and to the extent not prohibited by law, data which is reasonably available and necessary for full and proper discussion, understanding, and negotiation of subjects within the scope of collective bargaining. 12 5 U.S.C. § 7114(b)(4)(B). 13 The FLRA has taken the position that the names and addresses of employees in the bargaining unit is data which is reasonably available and necessary to the process of collective bargaining. The FLRA first took this position in its decision in Farmers Home Administration Finance Office v. American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3354, 23 FLRA 788 (1986) (Farmers Home Administration ), when it observed that 14 [s]ection 7114(a)(1) of the [FLRS] provides that an exclusive representative is responsible for representing the interests of all employees in the unit it represents without discrimination and without regard to labor organization membership. Under this provision, a union's statutory responsibilities extend to all bargaining unit members. It is obvious that a union must be able to identify and communicate with those bargaining unit members if it is to adequately represent them. 15 Id. at 796. The FLRA thus concluded that disclosure of the names and addresses was necessary because it would enable the Union to communicate effectively and efficiently, through direct mailings to individual employees. Id. Moreover, the FLRA held, the existence of alternative means of communication--such as desk drops, direct distributions, meetings, bulletin boards, and direct personal contacts--is insufficient to justify a refusal to release the [names and addresses]. Id. This is so 16 because the communication between unit employees and their exclusive representative which would be facilitated by release of names and home addresses ... is fundamentally different from other communication through alternative means which are controlled in whole or in part by the [employer] agency. When using direct mailings, the content, timing, and frequency of the communication is completely within the discretion of the union and there is no possibility of agency interference in the distribution of the message. Further, direct mailings reach unit employees in circumstances where those employees may consider the union's communication without regard to the time constraints inherent in their work environments, and in which any restraint the employee may feel as a result of the presence of agency management in the workplace is not present. 17 Id. at 796-97. The FLRA has recently reaffirmed its position in United States Dep't of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard v. International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, Local 4, 37 FLRA 515, 523 (1990) (Portsmouth ), and its orders in the two cases before this Court were based on the decisions in Farmers Home Administration and Portsmouth. 18 The FLRA's determination that the names and addresses are necessary for full and proper collective bargaining has been uniformly upheld in the federal courts of appeals. Initially, because the FLRA's position is one interpreting its own enabling statute, its interpretation cannot be upset by the federal courts as long as it is a reasonable and defensible construction of the statute. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms v. FLRA, 464 U.S. 89, 97, 104 S.Ct. 439, 444, 78 L.Ed.2d 195 (1983). That is, the FLRA's interpretation of the FLRS must be given controlling weight unless [it is] arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to the statute.... [A] court may not substitute its own construction of a statutory provision for a reasonable interpretation made by the administrator of an agency. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 843-44, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 2782, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). See also Department of Justice v. FLRA, 939 F.2d 1170, 1173 (5th Cir.1991) (FLRA is entitled to special deference when it exercises its special function of applying the general provisions of the FLRS to the complexities of federal labor relations). 19 There can be little question that the FLRA's position is a reasonable one. Every court of appeals that has reviewed the FLRA's determination that employees' names and address are necessary has found that to be a reasonable construction of the statute, and has upheld the FLRA's position. Most recently, the Ninth Circuit has ruled that it was not unreasonable for the FLRA to conclude that the employees' names and home addresses are necessary so that the union's direct-mail literature can reach employees free of the mediation of the employer-controlled workplace. FLRA v. United States Dep't of the Navy, Navy Resale & Services Support Office, 958 F.2d 1490, 1494 (9th Cir.1992). Similarly, the Second Circuit has recently held that alternatives to [the] direct communication afforded by mailings to all unit members--such as workplace visits or the use of bulletin boards--are not such effective alternatives as to make the FLRA's insistence on [home] mailings an arbitrary or capricious position. FLRA v. United States Dep't of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 958 F.2d 503, 507-08 (2d Cir.1992). While the D.C. Circuit also cited the advantages of home mailings over alternative means of communication, that Court further noted that the FLRA's position corresponds to that of private sector labor relations law. FLRA v. United States Dep't of Treasury, Financial Management Service, 884 F.2d 1446, 1449 (D.C.Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1055, 110 S.Ct. 863, 864, 107 L.Ed.2d 947, 948 (1990). Accordingly, the D.C. Circuit held the FLRA's interpretation was reasonable and should not be disturbed. Id. 20 At least three other circuits have also embraced the FLRA's position. See United States Dep't of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard v. FLRA, 840 F.2d 1131, 1137-39 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 881, 109 S.Ct. 632, 102 L.Ed.2d 170 (1988) (Because a union must have the information necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibility to represent all employees in the unit, we conclude that the FLRA did not err in holding that the requested information is necessary ...); 1 United States Dep't of Agriculture v. FLRA, 836 F.2d 1139, 1142 (8th Cir.1988), vacated and remanded, 488 U.S. 1025, 109 S.Ct. 831, 102 L.Ed.2d 964 (1989) (FLRA's position is not arbitrary or capricious); United States Dep't of Health and Human Servs., Social Security Administration v. FLRA, 833 F.2d 1129, 1131-34 (4th Cir.1987) (Communication between the Union and bargaining unit employees appears to be as important to the performance of the Union's representational duties in the interim between negotiations as it is during negotiations[, and] ... the Union cannot discharge its [statutory] obligation unless it is able to communicate with those in whose behalf it acts.). Indeed, in the face of this seamless expanse of authority, the federal agencies involved in this case do not contest the FLRA's position. They expressly acknowledge that the weight of authority supports the FLRA's view, and thus no longer dispute that the names and addresses of their employees are necessary to full and proper collective bargaining. 21