19:0161(14)NG - AFGE Local 12 and Labor -- 1985 FLRAdec NG

 19 FLRA No. 14
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 12
 Union
 
 and
 
 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 Agency
 
                                            Case No. O-NG-1040
 
                 DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE
 
    The petition for review in this case comes before the Federal Labor
 Relations Authority (the Authority) pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(E) of
 the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute),
 and presents an issue concerning the negotiability of the following
 Union proposal
 
          In meeting GSA mandated guidelines or making space changes as a
       result of such guidelines, there will be no change or reduction in
       the average or absolute space for bargaining unit employees in the
       Department of Labor.
 
    Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the
 parties' contentions, the Authority makes the following determination.
 The proposal, on its face, would require the Agency to implement the
 General Services Administration (GSA) guidelines on space reduction in
 such a manner that the average or absolute space for the Agency's
 bargaining unit employees would not be changed or reduced.  The Agency
 has refused to bargain over the disputed proposal, contending, without
 contravention, /1/ that the proposal is inconsistent with GSA Federal
 Property Management Regulation (FPMR), Temporary Regulation D-68, /2/
 asserting that as the regulation is a Government-wide regulation, the
 proposal is outside the duty to bargain.
 
    In agreement with the Agency, the Authority finds that the disputed
 proposal herein is inconsistent with GSA's FPMR Temporary Regulation
 D-71, and, thus, is outside the duty to bargain under section 7117(a)(1)
 of the Statute.  /3/ The cited regulation has the objective of an
 overall utilization rate for office space of 135 square feet or less per
 person and mandates that "(e)ach agency is responsible for establishing
 and implementing work space management plans and procedures.  These
 plans must be consistent with the office utilization goals established
 by this regulation." The record establishes that the Agency's interim
 goal is to reduce its employees' office space to an average of 180
 square feet per employee by the end of the 1984 Fiscal Year.  The
 Union's proposal, which by its language precludes the Agency from
 changing or reducing the average space of its bargaining unit employees,
 would prevent the Agency from achieving both its interim space reduction
 goal and GSA's overall utilization rate objective and is clearly
 inconsistent with the GSA regulation on work space reduction.
 
    The Authority further concludes that the GSA regulation at issue
 herein is a Government-wide regulation.  Federal Property Management
 Regulations are Government-wide regulations within the meaning of
 section 7117(a)(1) of the Statute because, pursuant to section 41 CFR
 Part 101-17 (1985), they apply to the Federal civilian work force as a
 whole.  National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 6 and Internal
 Revenue Service, New Orleans District, 3 FLRA 748, 751-55 (1980).
 Therefore, insofar as the Union's proposal herein is inconsistent with
 FPMR Temporary Regulation D-71, 50 Fed.Reg. 26,516 (1985), a
 Government-wide regulation, it is outside the duty to bargain under
 section 7117(a)(1) of the Statute.  /4/
 
    Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and
 Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and
 it hereby is, dismissed.  Issued, Washington, D.C., July 16, 1985
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
                                       Chairman
                                       William J. McGinnis, Jr., Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ The Union filed no reply to the Agency's Statement of Position.
 
 
    /2/ FPMR Temporary Regulation D-68, originally effective from March
 8, 1983 until January 31, 1984, and extended until May 15, 1985, has
 been superceded by FPMR Temporary Regulation D-71, effective July 1,
 1985 to June 30, 1987, unless sooner revised or superceded.  50 Fed.Reg.
 26,516 (1985).
 
 
    /3/ Section 7117(a)(1) of the Statute provides as follows:
 
          Sec. 7117.  Duty to bargain in good faith;  compelling need;
       duty to consult
 
          (a)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the duty to
       bargain in good faith shall, to the extent not inconsistent with
       any Federal law or any Government-wide rule or regulation, extend
       to matters which are the subject of any rule or regulation only if
       the rule or regulation is not a Government-wide rule or
       regulation.
 
 
    /4/ Since the Authority concludes that the disputed proposal is
 outside the duty to bargain under section 7117(a)(1), it is unnecessary
 to consider the Agency's additional contentions concerning the
 nonnegotiability of the proposal.