[ v19 p1183 ]
19:1183(131)NG
The decision of the Authority follows:
19 FLRA No. 131
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES,
LOCAL 1363
Union
and
U.S. ARMY GARRISON,
YONGSAN, KOREA
Agency
Case No. O-NG-854
DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE
The petition for review in this case comes before the Authority
pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(D) and (E) of the Federal Service
Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) and raises an issue
concerning the negotiability of two Union proposals. Upon careful
consideration of the entire record, including the parties' contentions,
the Authority makes the following determinations.
Union Proposal 1
We propose that employees continue to be authorized to ship
their privately owned ammunition as part of household goods.
Union Proposal 2
We propose that the agency's policy of prohibiting shipment of
privately-owned ammunition as part of household goods be postponed
and modified as follows. For employees who have not yet completed
their transportation agreement, the policy will commence 90 days
after that agreement expires. For employees who have presently
completed their transportation agreement, the policy will commence
six months after the date of this agreement. In both cases,
employees will be granted authority, upon their request, to make
advance partial shipment of household goods which shall include
shipment of ammunition. Employees shall be authorized to place
such ammunition in non-temporary storage. Further, even after the
policy goes into effect, that policy shall not restrict employees
from shipping either inert cartridge brass or inert bullets. We
propose further that this agreement shall be published in every
edition of the agency's civilian personnel newsletter from the
data (date) of the agreement and for the next two years.
Based on the language of the proposals and the record in this case,
both proposals deal with the proposed establishment of an Agency
regulation banning the shipment of privately owned ammunition as
household goods. /1/ Union Proposal 1 would essentially prevent the
Agency's proposed regulation from being implemented. /2/ Union Proposal
2, alternatively, would merely delay the implementation of the new
policy and provide for interim shipments, non-temporary storage of
ammunition, and the exclusion of inert cartridge brass or inert bullets
from the definition of ammunition for purposes of the proposed policy
change. /3/
As to the Union proposals, the Agency contends, among other things,
that because they conflict with a Government-wide regulation both are
nonnegotiable. Specifically, the Agency argues that the applicable
Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), Chapter 2-1.4h /4/ as interpreted by
the Comptroller General (CG) prohibits the shipment of an employee's
live ammunition as household goods. /5/
The regulations at issue, the FTRs, are incorporated by reference in
Part 101-7 of the Federal Property Management Regulations (41 CFR 101-7)
promulgated by the Administrator of General Services. These regulations
were issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 5721-5733. They are
applicable to the travel and transportation expenses of civilian
employees of Government agencies, including civilian employees of the
Department of Defense, as authorized under 5 U.S.C. 5721-5733. By their
terms, these regulations generally apply to and are binding on the
Federal civilian work force as a whole, though not, of course, to every
Federal employee. As such, these regulations are generally applicable
throughout the Federal government and are "Government-wide regulations"
within the meaning of section 7117(a). See American Federation of
Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 3483 and Federal Home Loan Bank
Board, New York District Office, 13 FLRA 446 (1983).
The particular regulation involved herein does not precisely define
all the items which may properly constitute "household goods and
personal effects." Although the term "household goods" may lack a
precise definition, the Comptroller General has noted that various
recreational items, such as boats, airplanes and camper trailers, are
expressly excluded from the scope of "household goods" under paragraph
2-1.4h of the FTR. To the Secretary of the Navy, 44 Comp.Gen. 65
(1964). When faced with a recreation item that was not expressly
excluded by the FTR as within the purview of the term household goods,
the Comptroller General examined whether the item was "the type of
personal property so closely associated with (the employee's) home and
person as to come within the scope of the term household goods." Matter
of: Guy T. Easter, 62 Comp.Gen. 45, 47 (1982). Further, the CG has
noted that "household goods" in its general and ordinary sense "refers
to furniture and furnishings or equipment-- articles of a permanent
nature-- used in and about a place of residence for the comfort and
accommodation of the members of a family." To the Secretary of the Navy,
44 Comp.Gen. 65, 66 (1964).
Specifically, with reference to ammunition in a situation involving
shipment of household goods under the Foreign Service Act of 1946, the
CG stated in the Memorandum cited by the Agency that:
As ordinarily understood, therefore, and in the absence of
special considerations, it does not appear that 129 pounds of
ammunition would be considered to be furniture, household goods,
or personal effects, and, consequently, there is no legal
authority for charging to public funds the cost of this
transportation. /6/
The Union has not introduced any evidence in the record which would
provide sufficient support for the assertion that privately owned
ammunition is so closely associated with an employee's home and person
as to constitute "household goods." Moreover, there is nothing to
indicate that the term "household goods" in the applicable regulation is
to be given anything other than its ordinary meaning. Thus, in light of
the above cited precedent, the Authority finds that an employee's
privately owned ammunition is not within the purview of those items
which constitute "household goods" under the FTR. Consequently, because
they are inconsistent with a Government-wide regulation, both union
proposals are outside the duty to bargain.
Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and
Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the petition for review be, and it
hereby is, dismissed. /7/
Issued, Washington, D.C., August 30, 1985
Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
Chairman
William J. McGinnis, Jr., Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
/1/ Reimbursement for the expenses of transporting a government
employee's household goods and personal effects in this case is
authorized under 5 U.S.C. 5724(a)(2).
/2/ Union Petition for Review at 2.
/3/ Id.
/4/ The applicable Federal Travel Regulation provides in pertinent
part:
2-1.4. Definitions
. . . .
h. Household goods. All personal property associated with the
home and all personal effects belonging to an employee and the
immediate family when shipment or storage begins, which can be
legally accepted and transported as household goods by an
authorized commercial carrier (see advisory note below) in
accordance with the rules and regulations established or approved
by an appropriate Federal or State regulatory authority, except
the items listed in (1) through (4) below. Snowmobiles and
vehicles with two or three wheels, e.g., motorcycles, mopeds, and
golf carts, may be shipped as household goods.
(1) Automobiles, trucks, vans and similar motor vehicles;
boats; airplanes; mobile homes; camper trailers; and farming
vehicles;
(2) Live animals, birds, fowls, and reptiles;
(3) Cordwood and building materials; and
(4) Property for resale, disposal, or commercial use rather
than for use by the employee or the immediate family.
/5/ No argument was presented regarding whether the shipment of
ammunition, under the circumstances, would be otherwise prohibited.
/6/ B-130583-O.M., May 8, 1957.
/7/ In view of the decision herein, the Authority finds it
unnecessary to consider the Agency's additional contentions as to the
nonnegotiability of the proposals under consideration.