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 est