Opinion ID: 559551
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Colorado Nurses

Text: 31 The VA's obligation to negotiate with DM & S professionals over non-disciplinary grievance procedures and conditions of employment was squarely presented in Colorado Nurses Association v. FLRA, 851 F.2d 1486 (D.C.Cir.1988). The Colorado Nurses Association had begun the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with VA Medical Center officials in Fort Lyons, Colorado. The union had made proposals concerning work schedules and a grievance procedure for disputes regarding conditions of employment unrelated to disciplinary actions. The VA refused to bargain over any of the proposals, claiming that section 4108 of the DM & S statute gave the VA Administrator the exclusive authority to determine working conditions. The FLRA rejected this argument, but found that two of the union's proposals were nonnegotiable because they would infringe upon rights specifically reserved to management under the Civil Service Reform Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7106. Colorado Nurses, 851 F.2d at 1487-88. 32 The D.C. Circuit reversed the FLRA, holding that section 4108(a) of the DM & S statute requiring the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to prescribe by regulation the hours and conditions of employment of DM & S professionals granted exclusive authority to the Administrator to determine the working conditions of DM & S professionals. Id. at 1492. The Colorado Nurses court began its analysis by viewing section 4108(a) of the DM & S statute as an integral part of an independent DM & S personnel system Congress created in 1946. Id. at 1489. Rejecting the notion that the Civil Service Reform Act impliedly overrode provisions of the DM & S statute, the court concluded that provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act can be just as intrusive as standards imposed by civil service laws. Id. at 1491. Finally, the court held that even assuming the Civil Service Reform Act applied to DM & S professionals in 1978, Congress' passage of section 4119 in 1980 reaffirmed the preeminence of the DM & S statute with regard to DM & S professional personnel. Id. at 1492. 33 The court reconciled its holding with portions of the 1980 legislative history which refer to the need to respect DM & S employees' rights under existing collective bargaining agreements by noting that the VA Administrator could voluntarily agree to recognize and negotiate with a union over terms and conditions of employment. According to the court, the Explanatory Statement accompanying the 1980 legislation may therefore reasonably be read as an indication that Congress did not wish to upset the settled expectations of those VA employees working 'under existing collective bargaining agreements.'  Id. at 1491 (emphasis supplied by Colorado Nurses court).