14:0757(99)PS - Order Denying Request for General Ruling -- 1984 FLRAdec PS

 
 14 FLRA No. 99
 
                 ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR GENERAL RULING
 
    The Federal Service Impasses Panel (the Panel), pursuant to section
 2429.4 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, /1/ has requested that
 the Authority issue a general ruling on certain issues which have arisen
 in proceedings before it.  Specifically, the Panel seeks rulings on the
 following issues:
 
          1.  Did the Authority intend by its decision in International
       Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO, NASA
       Headquarters Professional Association and National Aeronautics and
       Space Administration, Washington, D.C., 8 FLRA No. 46 (1982), to
       exclude from the duty to bargain those proposals which define
       competitive areas for purposes of a reduction-in-force?
 
          2.  If not, are proposed competitive areas which satisfy
       applicable regulatory requirements (i.e., are defined in
       organizational and geographic terms) within the obligation to
       bargain even though they typically include at least some employees
       who are not members of the designated bargaining unit?  That is,
       an administrative authority or geographical area normally
       encompasses persons who are not considered "employees" under
       section 7103(a)(2) of the Statute (e.g., supervisors and
       management officials) as well as employees who are either members
       of other bargaining units or unorganized.
 
    The Authority has carefully considered the Panel's request and has
 determined that the questions raised can more appropriately be resolved
 on a case by case basis.  In this regard, a finding with respect to the
 duty to bargain over proposals which define competitive areas is
 governed by the particular circumstances presented by the record
 developed by the parties in individual cases.  See American Federation
 of Government E