DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY DEFENSE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT COMMAND BOEING PHILADELPHIA RIDLEY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA and LOCAL 1984, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

    The Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Management Command Boeing Philadelphia, Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (Employer) and Local 1984, National Federation of Federal Employees (Union) filed a joint request for assistance with the Federal Service Impasses Panel (Panel) to consider a negotiation impasse under section 7119 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. After investigation of the request for assistance, the Panel asserted jurisdiction and directed that the parties’ dispute over issues in a successor collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) be submitted to the undersigned for mediation-arbitration. Accordingly, on July 22, 1999, I met with the parties at the contractor’s facility. At the outset, the Union withdrew its proposal on Article 31 and, during mediation, another three issues were resolved (portions of Article 17, 21 and 23). Only one issue remains at impasse requiring an award from the Arbitrator. On the remaining issue, the parties were afforded an opportunity to submit proposals and make supporting arguments. The record is now closed.

    The mission of the Defense Contract Management Command, which in the continental United States is divided into East and West Districts, is to manage Department of Defense weapons contracts; typically, employees are stationed at the contractor’s site, in this case, a Boeing helicopter plant in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, 5 miles southwest of Philadelphia. The Employer is part of the Defense Contract Management Command District East.⁽¹⁾ The Union represents a mixed bargaining unit of approximately 67 professional and non-professional employees; typical bargaining-unit positions are aerospace engineer, quality assurance specialist, contract specialist, property management specialist, as well support staff positions. The parties’ current CBA, which was to have expired on December 6, 1998, has been extended until