49:0073(12)NG - - Overseas Federation of Teachers and DOD Dependents Schools, Mediterranean Region - - 1994 FLRAdec NG - - v49 p73

49 FLRA No. 12

Before Chairman McKee and Members Talkin and Armendariz.

I. Statement of the Case

This case is before the Authority on a negotiability appeal filed by the Union under section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute). This appeal involves the negotiability of a single provision which was disapproved by the Agency head under section 7114(c) of the Statute, and which concerns priority reassignment for certain employees. For the following reasons, we conclude that the provision is negotiable.

II. Background and Provision

In response to the Agency's decision to limit tours of duty at the Lajes Air Base Schools (Lajes) to 3 years, the Union proposed that involuntarily reassigned employees be given priority to return to Lajes. The parties requested the assistance of the Federal Service Impasses Panel, which ordered them to adopt the following provision:

Current employees who were involuntarily reassigned from the Lajes Air Base Schools at the end of School Year 1991-92 shall be given priority to return to Lajes if: (1) a vacancy occurs; (2) the Employer decides to fill the vacancy; (3) the Employer decides to fill the vacancy through a reassignment of an employee from outside of Lajes; and (4) those employees wishing to return to Lajes are fully qualified and have a current performance rating of at least fully successful.

Statement of Position at 2.

The Agency head subsequently disapproved the provision under section 7114(c) of the Statute.

III. Positions of the Parties

A. Agency

The Agency argues that the provision interferes with its rights to assign employees and assign work under section 7106(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Statute because, according to the Agency, the provision requires it to reassign specific employees to vacant positions at Lajes.⁽¹⁾ The Agency also argues that the provision does not constitute an appropriate arrangement under section 7106(b)(3) of the Statute. In this regard, the Agency contends that the provision would excessively interfere with its rights because a substantial number of employees were reassigned from Lajes at the end of the 1991-92 school year and would