31:1110(91)NG - AFGE Local 3369 and SSA, Cypress Hills District Office -- 1988 FLRAdec NG

 31 FLRA NO. 91
    31 FLRA 1110 (1988)
     
 31 MAR 1988


AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT

EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, LOCAL 3369

                   Union

      and

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
CYPRESS HILLS DISTRICT OFFICE

                   Agency

Case No. 0-NG-1486

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 a single proposal which would allow
employees a working smoke break. For the following reasons, we
find the proposal to be negotiable.

     II. Proposal

     Employees shall be allowed, consistent with U.S.C. 7106
A1-2, working smoke intervals between the earliest break and
lunch, lunch and the latest break, and dismissal during the
regular tour.

     III. Positions of the Parties

     The Agency did not file a statement of position in this
case. In a written statement to the Union, the Agency, without
supporting arguments, declared the proposal nonnegotiable for the
following reasons:

     (1) It interferes with management rights to assign work and
direct employees under section 7106(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the
Statute;

     (2) It interferes with management's right to determine the
methods and means of performing work under section 7106(b)(1) of
the Statute; and

     (3) The April 27, 1987 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
between the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the American
Federation of Government Employees General Committee (AFGE)
limited such local negotiations to bargaining solely over the
configuration of designated smoking areas.

     The Union contends that the proposal provides a Working
Smoke Interval for employees who smoke. The Union defines the
Working Smoking Interval as "an interval in the normal workday,
analogous to