14:0046(7)CU - VA Medical Center, Lyons, NJ and AFGE -- 1984 FLRAdec RP

 14 FLRA No. 7
 
 VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MEDICAL CENTER
 LYONS, NEW JERSEY
 Activity /1/
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO
 Petitioner
 
                                            Case No. 2-CU-36
 
                    DECISION AND ORDER CLARIFYING UNIT
 
    Upon an amended petition duly filed with the Federal Labor Relations
 Authority under section 7111(b)(2) of the Federal Service
 Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), a hearing was held
 before a hearing officer of the Authority.  The hearing officer's
 rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
 hereby affirmed.
 
    Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the
 parties' contentions, the Authority finds:  The American Federation of
 Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE) was certified as the exclusive
 bargaining representative for a nationwide consolidated unit of
 professional employees of the Veterans Administration.  Essentially, the
 amended petition seeks to clarify the status of 18 employees in the job
 classification of Head Nurse who AFGE contends should be included in the
 unit regardless of their supervisory duties since they allegedly do not
 devote a preponderance of their employment time to such duties.  /2/
 
    The Authority finds that the employees in the job classification of
 Head Nurse are supervisors within the meaning of section 7103(a)(10) of
 the Statute and must be excluded from the bargaining unit.  Thus, the
 record establishes, and there is no dispute, that the Head Nurses assign
 and direct work, effectively recommend disciplinary actions against
 subordinates, and effectively recommend subordinates for awards.  The
 Authority also finds that such duties are not merely routine or clerical
 in nature, but require the consistent exercise of independent judgment.
 Further, while the Head Nurses are also directly involved with patient
 care, their main responsibility is to supervise nursing activities in
 their units.  Accordingly, the Authority finds that the Head Nurses
 devote a "preponderance of their employment time" to the exercise of
 such supervisory authority.  See Veterans Administration, Washington,
 D.C. and Veterans Administration Medical Center Salisbury, North
 Carolina, 11 FLRA No. 39(1983), and Veterans Administration Medical
 Center, Fayetteville, North Carolina, 8 FLRA No. 115(1982).
 
                                   ORDER
 
    IT IS ORDERED that the unit sought to be clarified herein be, and it
 hereby is, clarified by excluding from said unit the incumbents in the
 job classification of Head Nurse.
 
    Issued, Washington, D.C., February 15, 1984
                                       Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
                                       Ronald W. Haughton, Member
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ The name of the Activity appears as amended at the hearing.
 
 
    /2/ Section 7103(a)(10) of the Statute defines a "supervisor" as:
 
          . . . an individual employed by an agency having authority in
       the interest of the agency to hire, direct, assign, promote,
       reward, transfer, furlough, layoff, recall, suspend, discipline,
       or remove employees, to adjust their grievances, or to effectively
       recommend such action, if the exercise of the authority is not
       merely routine or clerical in nature but requires the consistent
       exercise of independent judgment, except that, with respect to any
       unit which includes firefighters or nurses, the term 'supervisor'
       includes only those individuals who devote a preponderance of
       their employment time to exercising such authority(.)