Opinion ID: 6641617
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Collective Bargaining

Text: The FLRA, supported by the Union as intervenor, maintains that the right to information secured by 5 U.S.C. § 7114(b)(4) may be grounded on the full range of a union’s representational activities, and is not confined to the negotiation and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements. This assertion, we conclude, is incompatible with a statutory text that first ties information release to “[t]he duty of an agency and an exclusive representative to negotiate in good faith,” 5 U.S.C. § 7114(b) (emphasis added), and then delineates, precisely, what information shall be disclosed: “data ... necessary for ... discussion, understanding, and negotiation of subjects within the scope of collective bargaining.” 5 U.S.C. § 7114(b)(4)(B) (emphasis added). Attempting to accommodate its construction to the language of section 7114(b)(4)(B), the FLRA urges that “subjects within the scope of collective bargaining” means all subjects within the statutory definition of “collective bargaining,” even if no collective bargaining is mandated, and no collectively-bargained agreement exists, in the particular case. See Brief for the FLRA at 23-24 & n. 10. “[Cjollective bargaining,” the Authority points out, is defined as the “mutual obligation” of employer and union to bargain on “conditions of employment,” 5 U.S.C. § 7103(a)(12), and “conditions of employment” encompass “personnel policies, practices, and matters ... affecting working conditions.” 5 U.S.C. § 7103(a)(14). Section 7103(a)(14), however, continues: “except that [conditions of employment] does not include policies, practices, and matters ... specifically provided for by Federal statute.” Title 38 is such an overriding statute, see Colorado Nurses, 851 F.2d at 1492, one that, until 1991, left no room for the collective bargaining commanded by the FSLMRS. See supra note 1. We note, furthermore, that the FLRA decision under review did not refer to 5 U.S.C. § 7103(a)(12) & (14). As a rule, “courts may not accept appellate counsel’s post hoc rationalizations for agency action.” K N Energy, Inc. v. FERC, 968 F.2d 1295, 1303 (D.C.Cir.1992) (citation omitted). In sum, the existence or requirement of collective bargaining is critical to the information right described in 5 U.S.C. § 7114(b)(4)(B). Because the VA medical personnel involved in this ease had no information-rights-generating collective bargaining agreement with the agency, and no statutory right to engage in bargaining, 4 the FLRA’s order is unauthorized by the FSLMRS. 5