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58 FLRA No. 22
U. S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Forrest City, Arkansas and AFGE, Council of Prison Locals 33, Local 0922, (Woodward, Arbitrator) 0-AR-3422 (Decided September 30, 2002)
The Arbitrator found that the Agency violated the parties' collective bargaining agreement by leaving work posts vacant for administrative convenience and/or to avoid paying overtime, and ordered the Agency to cease and desist from doing so. In 58 FLRA No. 21 (2002), issued today, the Authority addressed another arbitrator's award involving the same provision, and set forth the standard for reviewing exceptions alleging that an award does not constitute an appropriate arrangement under 53 FLRA 146 (1997). Applying the standard described in 58 FLRA No. 21, the Authority found that the award was deficient and set it aside.
The Authority concluded that the award was contrary to § 7106 of the Statute. The Authority found that the Arbitrator's enforcement of Article 27 in the initial award excessively interfered with management's rights to determine its internal security practices under § 7106(a)(1) of the Statute and to assign work under § 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute.