17:0368(57)CA - HHS, SSA, and Office of Hearings and Appeals, Region II and AFGE Local 1760 -- 1985 FLRAdec CA

 17 FLRA No. 57
 
 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
 SERVICES, SOCIAL SECURITY
 ADMINISTRATION, AND OFFICE OF
 HEARINGS AND APPEALS, REGION II
 Respondent
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1760, AFL-CIO
 Charging Party
 
                                            Case No. 2-CA-20324
 
                            DECISION AND ORDER
 
    This matter is before the Authority pursuant to the Regional
 Director's "Order Transferring Case to the Federal Labor Relations
 Authority" in accordance with section 2429.1(a) of the Authority's Rules
 and Regulations.
 
    Upon consideration of the entire record in this case, including the
 stipulation of facts, accompanying exhibits, and the parties'
 contentions, the Authority finds:
 
    The complaint alleges that the Respondent violated section 7116(a)(1)
 and (5) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the
 Statute) when it failed and refused to negotiate over the ground rules
 for impact and implementation bargaining concerning two
 management-proposed changes in conditions of employment.
 
    The record reflects that the parties met on November 12, 1981, to
 commence impact and implementation negotiations concerning the opening
 of a New Bronx Hearing Office and the relocation of the Syracuse Hearing
 Office.  The Union presented the Respondent with written proposals
 concerning the ground rules for such negotiations.  In a letter dated
 November 30, 1981, the Respondent stated that, "It is our position that
 . . . (the Statute) . . . does not require the establishment of formal
 ground rules prior to engaging in impact and implementation
 negotiations." Thereafter, the Respondent took the position that while
 it would meet at mutually convenient times and places, it would not
 negotiate over the Union's ground rule proposals.  Subsequent to that
 date, negotiations did take place over the impact and implementing
 procedures of the two management-proposed changes in conditions of
 employment.
 
    In a decision issued subsequent to the parties' stipulation of facts
 herein which involved essentially similar facts and similar positions of
 the parties, /1/ the Authority concluded that an agency's refusal to
 bargain over a union's ground rule proposal based solely on its
 contention that it was inappropriate except during formal contract
 negotiations constituted a failure to fulfill its obligation to bargain
 in good faith in violation of section 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute.
  Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Columbia, Missouri, 16 FLRA
 No. 126 (1984).  The Authority similarly concludes herein that the
 Respondent's refusal to negotiate over the ground rules proposed by the
 Union for impact and implementation bargaining concerning
 management-proposed changes in conditions of employment constituted a
 failure to fulfill its obligation to bargain in good faith in violation
 of section 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute.  Moreover, as in Harry S.
 Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, the Authority concludes that the
 purposes and policies of the Statute will be best effectuated by an
 order requiring the Respondent to bargain in good faith regarding ground
 rule proposals