Opinion ID: 497949
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: union observer

Text: 23 Pursuant to the Act, federal agencies have a duty to bargain with employees over conditions of employment. See 5 U.S.C. Secs. 7103(a)(12), (14), 7114(a)(4). Section 7106(a) exempts from this requirement certain enumerated substantive management rights which cannot be lawful subjects of negotiation. The procedures by which these rights may be exercised, however, are expressly declared to be negotiable. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7106(b)(2). A proposal, although cast in procedural language, which impinges on substantive management decisions is also nonnegotiable if [its] implementation would 'directly interfere' with the agency's basic right ... [as reserved] under section 7106(a).... American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1968 v. FLRA, 691 F.2d 565, 572 (D.C.Cir.1982) (quoting Department of Defense v. FLRA, 659 F.2d 1140, 1159 (D.C.Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 945, 102 S.Ct. 1443, 71 L.Ed.2d 658 (1982)); see also National Treasury Employees Union v. FLRA, 810 F.2d 1224 (D.C.Cir.1987). Section 7106 provides: 24 (a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, nothing in this chapter shall affect the authority of any management official of any agency-- 25 (1) to determine the mission, budget, organization, number of employees, and internal security practices of the agency; and 26 (2) in accordance with applicable laws-- 27 (A) to hire, assign, direct, layoff, and retain employees in the agency, or to suspend, remove, reduce in grade or pay, or take other disciplinary action against such employees; 28 (B) to assign work, to make determinations with respect to contracting out, and to determine the personnel by which agency operations shall be conducted; 29 (C) with respect to filling positions, to make selections for appointments from-- 30 (i) among properly ranked and certified candidates for promotion; or 31 (ii) any other appropriate source; and 32 (D) to take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency mission during emergencies. 33 (b) Nothing in this section shall preclude any agency and any labor organization from negotiating-- 34 (1) at the election of the agency, on the numbers, types, and grades of employees or positions assigned to any organizational subdivision, work project, or tour of duty, or on the technology, methods, and means of performing work; 35 (2) procedures which management officials of the agency will observe in exercising any authority under this section; or 36 (3) appropriate arrangements for employees adversely affected by the exercise of any authority under this section by such management officials. 37 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7106. 38 The question presented is whether the Authority properly determined that a proposal allowing a union observer on the Agency's Position Management Committee was outside the duty to bargain because the proposal directly interfered with management's deliberative process in reaching decisions and acting on management rights under section 7106(a) of the statute. 39 The Union disputes the Authority's interpretation of Proposal 2 pertaining to a union observer. Its main challenge is to the Authority's holding that the presence of a union observer would prevent management officials from engaging in free and open deliberations among themselves. American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2094, AFL-CIO, and Veterans' Administration Medical Center, New York, New York, 22 F.L.R.A. 710, 713 (1986) (quoting National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1431 and Veterans' Administration Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey, 9 F.L.R.A. 998, 1002 (1982) (VA Medical Center, East Orange)). 40 The Union contends that the Authority failed to identify exactly which management rights in section 7106 precluded bargaining over Proposal 2, pointing instead, to an implied right to engage in free and open deliberations. The Union asserts that only express, protected management rights are immune from the duty to bargain, and that, in their absence, the proposal is negotiable. 41 The Authority has consistently held that the enumerated management rights 'include more than merely the right to decide to take the final actions specified.'  National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 615 v. FLRA, 801 F.2d 477, 480 (D.C.Cir.1986) (quoting National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 108 and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers Home Administration, 16 F.L.R.A. 807, 808 (1984)); see American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Mint Council 157 and Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Mint, 19 F.L.R.A. 640, 643 (1985); National Federation Employees, Local 1431 and Veterans' Administration Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey, 9 F.L.R.A. 998, 999 (1982). This court has recognized management's right to take certain actions necessary for the exercise of its rights to discuss and deliberate on the various factors on which a determination will be made. See National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 615 v. FLRA, 801 F.2d at 480; National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1167 v. FLRA, 681 F.2d 886, 892 & n. 8 (D.C.Cir.1982). Thus, any claim that management's nonnegotiable rights are confined strictly to those listed or enumerated in section 7106 is without support and contrary to the weight of authority. 42 The Union concedes that certain implied rights may exist, but contends that in determining which implied rights will be recognized, this court must follow the narrow rule set forth in National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 615 v. FLRA, 801 F.2d 477 (D.C.Cir.1986). In that case, the court held that management rights under section 7106(a) may include certain implied rights only when the implication of the right is integral to the preservation of one of the enumerated rights. Id. at 480. The Union maintains that the presence of a union observer at the Agency's Position Management Committee implicates no substantive management right but, rather, is merely a procedural proposal. 43 The Authority, however, found the PMC's responsibilities to be nearly identical to those of the committee of the same name on which the union sought representation in VA Medical Center, East Orange, 9 F.L.R.A. 998. In that case, the Authority determined that the position management committee was an integral part of the agency's substantive decision-making process, and that union representation would impair the flexibility which Congress intended management officials to have under the Act. Id. at 1002; see Department of Defense v. FLRA, 659 F.2d at 1159-60. The Authority, therefore, held that the proposal would directly interfere with management's reserved rights under section 7106 of the Act. 44 The Authority has consistently held that union presence, whether active or passive, would interfere with an agency's right to engage freely in internal discussion and deliberation prior to making decisions to take actions which come within the purview of section 7106(a). See, e.g., National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 943 and Department of the Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, 16 F.L.R.A. 313, 315-16 (1984); National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1167 and Department of the Air Force, Headquarters, Combat Support Group (TAC), Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, 6 F.L.R.A. 574, 580 (1981), aff'd sub nom. Department of Defense v. FLRA, 685 F.2d 641 (D.C.Cir.1982). 45 The evidence in this case indicates that the PMC is responsible for reviewing and recommending approval, prior to implementation, of all changes in organization involving work design, occupational distribution, grade distribution, staffing requirements, and costs. The Authority found that management's discussions and deliberations of those activities is an implied right under section 7106, and this court agrees. A union representative in this all-management planning meeting could well inhibit management's decision-making as to its section 7106 rights. The Authority's finding, therefore, is entirely reasonable and consistent with the guiding purpose of the Act. 46 The Union's final argument on this point is that, even though the PMC is an integral part of the process by which management decides and acts pursuant to its rights under the Act, it is only a procedural aspect of these rights. Thus, according to the Union, the Authority must find the proposal negotiable unless the effect of [its] adoption would be to stop management from 'acting at all.'  See Department of Defense v. FLRA, 659 F.2d at 1152; see also National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 615 v. FLRA, 801 F.2d 477, 479 (D.C.Cir.1986). 47 The Authority, however, held that the union proposal was nonnegotiable because its adoption would directly interfere with the exercise of the PMC's substantive management rights. See Department of Defense v. FLRA, 659 F.2d at 1152; see also Local 32, AFGE v. FLRA, 728 F.2d 1526, 1529 (D.C.Cir.1984). The court agrees with the Authority's use of the direct interference standard because the proposal is not merely a procedure to be followed by the Agency in exercising its reserved rights, but rather would inhibit management in reaching decisions and in acting with respect to those rights. American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2094, AFL-CIO and Veterans' Administration Medical Center, New York, New York, 22 F.L.R.A. 710, 713 (1986). Since the Authority's interpretation of Proposal 2, as involving a substantive management right under section 7106, was reasonable and consistent with the legislative purpose, the order of the Authority is affirmed.