17:0216(31)RO - Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX and NAGE Local R14-52, SEIU -- 1985 FLRAdec RP

 17 FLRA No. 31
 
 RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT
 TEXARKANA, TEXAS
 Activity
 
 and
 
 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL R14-52, SEIU
 (AFL-CIO, CLC)
 Labor Organization/Petitioner
 
                                            Case No. 6-RO-30007
 
                            DECISION AND ORDER
 
    Upon a petition duly filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority
 under section 7111(b)(1) of the Federal Service Labor-Management
 Relations Statute (the Statute), a hearing was held before hearing
 officers of the Authority.  The hearing officers' rulings made at the
 hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.  /1A/
 
    Upon the entire record in this case, the Authority finds:  The
 Petitioner, National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-52,
 SEIU (AFL-CIO, CLC), seeks an election in a unit composed of all
 nonappropriated fund (NAF) employees at the Red River Army Depot (Depot)
 in Texarkana, Texas including the NAF employees in the Central
 Nonappropriated Fund Payroll Office (CNPO).  The Activity contends that
 the unit sought is inappropriate, as it seeks to join the employees of
 the CNPO in a unit with the NAF Depot employees.  The Petitioner will
 not accept any unit of nonappropriated fund employees that does not
 include the CNPO employees.
 
    The Depot is under the command of the Army Materiel Development and
 Readiness Command (DARCOM).  According to the record, NAF Depot
 employees are located within three Depot directorates:  Administration
 and Services, Resource Management, and Management Information Services.
 They are engaged in work including accounting, food and beverage
 service, recreational services, and computer operations.  While most of
 the Depot's NAF employees perform functions affecting only the Depot,
 the employees of the Central Accounting Branch of the Resource
 Management Directorate operate an accounting system for NAF activities
 throughout DARCOM, including the Depot.  All NAF employees of the Depot
 report in the chain of command to the Depot Commander.
 
    By contrast, the CNPO is considered a tenant organization of the
 Depot, and is under the direct command of the Assistant Comptroller of
 the Army (ACOA) rather than DARCOM.  Its function is to provide payroll
 services for nonappropriated fund employees worldwide, except Korea.
 Unlike the other employees in the petitioned-for unit, the CNPO
 employees are physically located some 18 miles from the Depot and do not
 report to the Depot Commander.  In addition, unlike the other NAF
 employees at the Depot, CNPO employees are in a separate area of
 consideration for merit promotion purposes and a separate competitive
 area for reductions-in-force.  While CNPO receives some personnel
 support such as record-keeping and storage from the NAF Personnel Office
 at the Depot pursuant to an Inter-Service Support Agreement with the
 ACOA, the personnel policies, practices and matters affecting the
 working conditions of CNPO employees are established by the ACOA.
 
    Based upon the foregoing, the Authority concludes that the employees
 in the CNPO do not share a clear and identifiable community of interest
 with the NAF employees located at the Depot, and that the unit sought,
 which would include CNPO employees with the NAF Depot employees, is not
 appropriate under section 7112(a)(1) of the Statute.  /1/ In this
 regard, it is noted particularly that CNPO has a mission which is
 separate and distinct from the NAF functions at the Depot;  that the
 CNPO employees are separately considered for merit promotion and RIF
 purposes;  and that the CNPO employees are under separate supervision
 and a separate command than the other employees in the petitioned-for
 unit.  Accordingly, the Authority concludes that the petitioned-for unit
 is not appropriate for exclusive recognition under section 7112(a)(1) of
 the Statute and the petition shall therefore be dismissed.  /2/
 
                                   ORDER
 
    IT IS ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 6-RO-30007 be, and it
 hereby is, dismissed.  
 
 Issued, Washington, D.C., March 12, 1985
 
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
                                       Chairman
                                       William J. McGinnis, Jr., Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1A/ On April 6, 1984, the Authority issued an Order Remanding Case
 to the Regional Director for the purpose of reopening the hearing and
 developing a full and complete record in this proceeding, as the record
 initially contained insufficient facts and evidence upon which to decide
 the issues presented.
 
 
    /1/ Section 7112(a)(1) provides in pertinent part:
 
          Sec. 7112.  Determination of appropriate units for labor
       organization representation
 
          (a)(1) The Authority shall determine . . . any unit to be an
       appropriate unit only if the determination will ensure a clear and
       identifiable community of interest among the employees in the unit
       and will promote effective dealings with, and efficiency of the
       operations of, the agency involved.
 
 
    /2/ In order to be found appropriate, a proposed unit must meet all
 of the three criteria for appropriateness established in section
 7112(a)(1) of the Statute;  a failure to satisfy any one of them must
 result in a finding that the unit sought is inappropriate.  Department
 of the Navy, Navy Publications and Printing Service Branch Office,
 Vallejo, California, 10 FLRA 659 (1982);  United States Army Corps of
 Engineers, Fort Worth District, Somerville Project Office, 15 FLRA No.
 160 (1984).