22:0131(12)NG - NTEU and DOE -- 1986 FLRAdec NG

 22 FLRA No. 12
 
 NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES 
 UNION
 Union
 
 and
 
 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
 Agency
 
                                            Case No. 0-NG-956
 
                 DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE
 
                         I.  Statement of the Case
 
    This case is before the Authority because 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 the following underlined portion of the Union proposal.
  /1/
 
          Article 22, Reduction in Force, Part III(E) The employer will
       prepare a report on each RIF, as soon as practicable, with the
       following information:
 
          (a) numbers and series of employees reassigned
 
          (b) numbers and series of employees downgraded
 
          (c) numbers and series of employees separated
 
          (d) six months after a RIF, the numbers and series of employees
       rehired by the Employer
 
          (e) cost of the RIF, such as administrative costs, severance
       pay, and pay retention.
 
                       II.  Positions of the Parties
 
    The Agency contends that the proposal is nonnegotiable because
 information as to the administrative costs of a reduction-in-force (RIF)
 does not concern the conditions of employment of unit employees.  The
 Union argues that such information is necessary to the performance of
 its representational responsibilities and, thus, is directly related to
 matters affecting unit employees' conditions of employment.
 
                       III.  Analysis and Conclusion
 
    The disputed portion of the proposal, as interpreted by the Union,
 would require the Agency to provide the Union with information regarding
 the costs of each reduction-in-force affecting unit employees,
 particularly administrative costs such as severance pay.  The Agency
 contends that information on the costs of a RIF