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61 FLRA No. 25
NAGE, LOCAL R3-32 AND U. S. DEPT. OF THE AIR FORCE, 913TH AIR WING WILLOW GROVE AIR RESERVE STATION, WILLOW GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA (Fleishman, Arbitrator), Case No. 0-AR-3869 (July 22, 2005)
The Agency filed a grievance alleging that the Union violated the Statute and the parties' collective bargaining agreement because the Union falsely claimed in a letter to the Authority that the Agency had failed to comply with an Authority Order in an unfair labor practice (ULP) case. The Arbitrator sustained the grievance and additionally found that the Union violated the parties' agreement and the Statute by failing to respond to the grievance. As a remedy, the Arbitrator ordered that: (1) the Union post a notice stating that it had violated the Statute and the agreement; (2) the Union assign a representative to replace its President in conducting all aspects of contract administration with the Agency for a period of six months; and (3) the parties' representatives hold monthly meetings during this six-month period to identify and resolve problem areas in the administration of the parties' agreement.
The Authority set aside the portion of the Arbitrator's award finding that the Union violated the Statute and the parties' agreement by repudiating Article 15 of the parties' agreement, making false statements in the Union's response to the FLRA's inquiry, and filing a ULP charge in response to the Agency's grievance. The Authority also set aside the portion of the award finding a statutory violation for the Union's failure to respond to the Agency's grievance. However, we deny the Union's exception to the Arbitrator's award finding a contractual violation for the Union's failure to respond to the Agency's grievance under Article 26, Section 11 of the parties' agreement and modified the language of the notice posting ordered by the Arbitrator to reflect that the Union violated only the agreement in this respect. Lastly, the Authority modified the award to eliminate the remedies ordering the Union to replace the President in conducting all aspects of contract administration for a period of six months, and requiring the parties' representatives to hold monthly meetings during this six-month period to identify and resolve problem areas in administration of the agreement.