21:0905(105)NG - NAGE, Local R14-87 and Dept. of the Army, Kansas Army NG -- 1986 FLRAdec NG

 21 FLRA No. 105
 
 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENT 
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL R14-87
 Union
 
 and
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, 
 KANSAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
 Agency
 
                                            Case No. 0-NG-879
 
                DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUES
 
                         I.  Statement of the Case
 
    This case is before the Authority becuase of a negotiability appeal
 filed under section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service
 Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) and concerns the
 negotiability of two Union proposals involving bargaining unit employees
 who are transferred to different duty stations within the state of
 Kansas as the result of a reduction-in-force (RIF),
 
                           II.  Union Proposal 1
 
          Individuals affected will be furnished transportation and
       travel expenses until such time as they elect to move their
       families permanently.
 
                        A. Positions of the Parties
 
    The Agency contends that this proposal would require employees to be
 reimbursed for commuting expenses and, thus, is inconsistent with 5
 U.S.C. Section 5704.  In support, the Agency relies on the Authority's
 decision in National Treasury Employees Union and Department of
 Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, 9 FLRA 726 (1982).
 
    The Union argues that the case relied upon by the Agency concerns
 employees' commuting expenses from their residences to their regular
 place of employment and is not applicable to employees being transferred
 from one part of Kansas to another as a result of a RIF.  Finally, the
 Union argues that, by requiring a transferred employee to be reimbursed
 for travel and transportation expenses for a reasonable period of time
 until such employee permanently moves to the new job location, the
 proposal is an attempt to alleviate the impa