Opinion ID: 559551
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The VA's Duty to Negotiate Over Working Conditions

Text: 44 Citing VA Minneapolis, the union argues its nurses are employees under the Civil Service Reform Act who have the right to organize into unions and demand that the VA bargain in good faith with them in an effort to reach an agreement over the proposed changes in their working conditions. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7117. The union maintains that nothing in section 4108(a) or section 4119 of the DM & S statute precludes this right. 45 The VA and FLRA concede there is language in the VA Minneapolis decision which would support the union's position. Both submit, however, that the VA Minneapolis court was presented only with the issue of the exclusive nature of the disciplinary procedures contained in section 4110 of the DM & S statute; the effect of section 4108(a) on the Administrator's duty to bargain over working conditions was neither presented to nor decided by the court. See Colorado Nurses, 851 F.2d at 1491 (distinguishing VA Minneapolis on this basis). This observation is undoubtedly true, since at the time of the VA Minneapolis decision both agencies appeared to concede that the Civil Service Reform Act required the VA to bargain with Title 38 employees over matters unrelated to discipline, including the employees' working conditions. See VA Minneapolis, 705 F.2d at 957 n. 5; Veterans Administration Medical Center, Northport, New York, 732 F.2d 1128, 1131, 1132 (2d Cir.1984). Both agencies now argue the VA has no duty to bargain over working conditions under the Civil Service Reform Act, relying on sections 4108(a) and 4119 of the DM & S statute. 12 46 As in VA Minneapolis, we begin with the proposition that the Civil Service Reform Act applies to the VA, absent other overriding provisions of law. See VA Minneapolis, 705 F.2d at 955. Section 7102 of the Act grants employees the right to bargain over conditions of employment, defined to include personnel policies, practices, and matters, whether established by rule, regulation, or otherwise, affecting working conditions, except ... to the extent such matters are specifically provided for by Federal statute. 5 U.S.C. Secs. 7102, 7103(a)(14). The VA argues that working conditions are beyond the scope of mandatory bargaining under the Civil Service Reform Act because the matter of working conditions for DM & S employees is specifically provided for by Federal statute, namely, section 4108(a) of the DM & S statute. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7103(a)(14)(C); id. Sec. 7117 (duty to bargain limited to the extent not inconsistent with Federal law). 47 Section 4108(a) of the DM & S statute provides that [n]otwithstanding any law, Executive order, or regulation, the Administrator of Veterans Affairs, now the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 13 shall prescribe by regulation the hours and conditions of employment of Title 38 professional employees. 38 U.S.C. Sec. 4108(a). Pursuant to the authority granted in section 4108, the VA has issued a manual containing those policies which are applicable to the overall conduct of the personnel program for those subject to 38 U.S.C. ch. 73 [DM & S professionals]. VA Personnel Policy Manual, MP-5, Part II 1-1 (June 1, 1964). The Manual has chapters pertaining to appointments (chapter 2), pay (chapter 3), probationary employment (chapter 4), advancement (chapter 5), proficiency evaluations (chapter 6), duty and leave (chapter 7), disciplinary actions, grievances and hearings (chapter 8), separations (chapter 9), physical requirements (chapter 10), recruitment and placement (chapter 11), overseas employment of non-U.S. citizens under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 4114(a)(1)(A) (chapter 12), and outside professional activities (chapter 13). See VA Personnel Policy Manual, MP-5, Part II & DM & S Supplement to VA Personnel Policy Manual, MP-5, Part II. 48 Both the VA and the FLRA also cite section 4119 of the DM & S statute, which indicates, again [n]otwithstanding any other provision of law, that no provision of Title 5 pertaining to the civil service system which is inconsistent with any provision of the DM & S statute shall be considered to supersede, override or otherwise modify the DM & S statute unless the Title 5 provision specifically indicates that the Title 38 provision is to be overridden or modified. 38 U.S.C. Sec. 4119. According to the VA Minneapolis court, section 4119 requires us to resolve any conflict between the DM & S statute and the Civil Service Reform Act in favor of the DM & S statute. VA Minneapolis, 705 F.2d at 958. 14 49 In finding section 7121 of the Civil Service Reform Act conflicted with section 4110 of the DM & S statute, the VA Minneapolis court reviewed the legislative history of section 4110 and concluded that when Congress enacted the DM & S statute in 1946, it intended the section 4110 disciplinary procedures to be the exclusive means for disciplining DM & S professionals. The concept that these procedures were to be exclusive conflicted with the union's alternative grievance procedure proposals; hence, under section 4119 the VA had no obligation to bargain with the union over these procedures. Id. at 957. 50 The VA and the FLRA argue Congress intended the same exclusivity with regard to the Secretary's authority to set hours and conditions of employment pursuant to section 4108(a), and the Colorado Nurses court agreed. See Colorado Nurses, 851 F.2d at 1489. The agencies argue before this Court that because the Civil Service Reform Act's mandatory duty to bargain over working conditions is inconsistent with the Secretary's exclusive authority to set these conditions, the DM & S statute must prevail. 51 The union responds that the general authority to set working conditions contained in section 4108 is different from the specific disciplinary procedures Congress addressed in section 4110. The union attempts, in the words of the Colorado Nurses court, to drive an analytical wedge between [section 4108] and other provisions of the [DM & S] law that are admittedly exclusive in their application. Colorado Nurses, 851 F.2d at 1489. The sparse legislative history of section 4108 reveals Congressional concern over the rigid application of civil service rules in the context of providing a professional service. See 91 Cong. Rec. 11,662-63 (1945). 15 This same concern motivated Congress to provide a more efficient disciplinary scheme in section 4110. The union has failed to provide any convincing support for the proposition that Congress intended exclusivity in matters of discipline, but did not so intend with regard to the hours and conditions of employment of Title 38 employees. 52 The union further argues that its proposals regarding changes in nursing documentation are not inconsistent with the Secretary's authority to prescribe regulations concerning working conditions so long as the subject of documentation is not covered by any provision in the VA Personnel Policy Manual. The union urges us to remand the negotiability issues to the FLRA for a determination of whether any of the union's specific proposals regarding nursing documentation are contrary to any Personnel Policy Manual provisions. 53 The VA and the FLRA maintain that any inconsistency between section 4108 and the duty to bargain over working conditions derives not from actual conflicts between existing regulations or provisions in the Personnel Manual and specific union proposals. Rather, they argue the inconsistency stems from the Secretary's authority to set hours and conditions of employment [n]otwithstanding any law, Executive order, or regulation. 38 U.S.C. Sec. 4108(a). According to the agencies, a mandatory duty to bargain over any proposals, whether over an issue dealt with in the Personnel Manual or not, conflicts with the Secretary's exclusive authority to determine hours and conditions of employment. 54 In VA Minneapolis, this Court found an inconsistency between the alternate grievance procedures proposed by the union and the disciplinary peer review board procedure set forth in section 4110 even when the proposed procedure culminated in final review by the Administrator (now the Secretary), because the union's proposal added red tape which conflicted with Congress' attempt to simplify disciplinary procedures. VA Minneapolis, 705 F.2d at 957 n. 4. The same inconsistency is present in the case at bar with regard to the Secretary's duty to bargain over working conditions. Requiring the VA to bargain over the changes in reporting procedures could subject the VA to a Federal Service Impasses Panel order forcing adoption of the union's proposals. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7119. 16 It is the compulsory nature of bargaining over working conditions, not any particular union proposal, which conflicts with Congress' expressed intent that the Secretary be allowed to act independently of all other laws, Executive orders, and regulations in establishing the hours and conditions of employment for DM & S professionals. See Colorado Nurses, 851 F.2d at 1491-92. 55 We thus hold that assuming the Civil Service Reform Act requires mandatory bargaining over conditions of employment for Title 38 employees, the express language of the DM & S statute and the reasoning employed by this Court in VA Minneapolis requires us to resolve any conflict between the DM & S statute and the Civil Service Reform Act in favor of the DM & S provisions. The Authority's decision in Case No. 90-1379, 34 FLRA No. 40, dismissing the union's negotiability appeals is therefore affirmed. 56