14:0187(39)CU - The Adjutant General, State of Georgia, DOD, Military Division, Atlanta, GA and Georgia ACT -- 1984 FLRAdec RP

 14 FLRA No. 39
 
 THE ADJUTANT GENERAL, STATE OF GEORGIA
 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, MILITARY DIVISION
 ATLANTA, GEORGIA
 Activity /1/
 
 and
 
 GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF CIVILIAN TECHNICIANS
 Petitioner
 
                                            Case No. 4-CU-30007
 
                    DECISION AND ORDER CLARIFYING UNIT
 
    Upon a petition duly filed with the 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 Georgia Association of
 Civilian Technicians (ACT) was certified as the exclusive bargaining
 representative for a unit of all General Schedule and Wage Board
 Technicians employed by the Georgia Air National Guard.  Essentially,
 the petition seeks to clarify the bargaining unit status of eight
 employees in seven job classifications based on the Activity's
 allegations that they are supervisors and/or management officials.
 
    SUPERVISORS /2/
 
    The Activity contends that the incumbents in the following job
 classifications are supervisors and should be excluded from the
 bargaining unit:  Fire Chief, GS-0080-09, F5710001;  Production
 Controller (Elec), GS-1152-09, F3990000;  Testing Equipment Operator,
 WG-5439-11, F5439200;  Freight Rate Specialist, GS-2131-07, F6484100;
 Security Officer, GS-0080-09, F8143100;  Aircraft Electrician,
 WG-2892-11, F4538100;  and Fabric Worker, WG-3105-10, F4522200.  Of
 these, the record establishes that the incumbents in the job
 classifications of Production Controller (Elec) and Testing Equipment
 Operator assign and direct work, and have effectively recommended the
 hiring of, and promotions for, subordinates;  and that the incumbents in
 the job classifications of Freight Rate Specialist, Aircraft Electrician
 and Fabric Worker assign and direct work and have effectively
 recommended the hiring of subordinates.  Further, the Authority finds
 the above duties are not merely routine or clerical in nature, but
 require the consistent exercise of independent judgment.  The Authority
 further finds that the incumbent in the job classification Fire Chief
 assigns and directs work and has effectively recommended the hiring of
 subordinates, and that he devotes a preponderance of his employment time
 in exercising such duties which are not merely routine or clerical in
 nature, but require the consistent exercise of independent judgment.
 /3/ Accordingly, the above employees are supervisors within the meaning
 of section 7103(a)(10) of the Statute and shall be excluded from the
 unit.  /4/
 
    The Authority further finds that the incumbent in the job
 classification of Security Officer is not a supervisor within the
 meaning of section 7103(a)(10) as he does not supervise "employees." In
 this regard, section 7103(a)(2) of the Statute defines an "employee" as
 an individual "employed in an agency." Section 7103(a)(3) defines agency
 in principle part as "an Executive Agency." However, the individuals
 supervised by the Security Officer herein are employed by the State of
 Georgia which pays their salaries and fringe benefits and under whose
 laws they are covered.  Therefore, the Authority finds that the Security
 Officer is not a supervisor as defined in the Statute.  /5/
 
    MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS /6/
 
    Alternatively, the Activity contends that the Security Officer is a
 management official and must be excluded from the unit on that basis.
 In the lead case of Department of the Navy, Automatic Data Processing
 Selection Office, 7 FLRA 172(1981), the Authority interpreted the
 statutory definition of "management official" to include those
 individuals who:  (1) create, establish or prescribe general principles,
 plans, or courses of action for an agency;  (2) decide upon or settle
 upon general principles, plans or courses of action for an agency;  or
 (3) bring about or obtain a result as to the adoption of general
 principles, plans or courses of action for an agency.  Applying these
 criteria to the instant case, the Authority finds that the above
 incumbent is not a management official, but is a highly trained
 professional whose actions assist in implementing, as opposed to
 shaping, the Activity's policies.  Thus, while the incumbent, under the
 direction of his superiors, implements and supplements security
 requirements for his base, he does so within well defined guidelines
 established by Air Force security policy as set forth in Air Force
 Regulation 207-01 and other Air Force regulatory guidelines.  It follows
 that the Security Officer is not a management official in that he does
 not exercise any duties or responsibilities which require or authorize
 him to formulate, determine, or influence the policies of the Activity
 within the meaning of section 7103(a)(11) of the Statute.  Accordingly,
 the Authority finds that the Security Officer should be included in the
 bargaining unit.
 
                                   ORDER
 
    IT IS ORDERED that the unit sought to be clarified be, and it hereby
 is, clarified by excluding from said unit the incumbents in the
 following job classifications:  Fire Chief, GS-0080-09, F5710001;
 Production Controller (Elec), GS-1152-09, F3990000;  Testing Equipment
 Operator, WG-5439-11, F5439200;  Freight Rate Specialist, GS-2131-07,
 F6484100;  Aircraft Electrician, WG-2892-11, F4538100;  and Fabric
 Worker, WG-3105-10, F4522200.
 
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the unit sought to be clarified be, and it
 hereby is, clarified by including in said unit the incumbent in the job
 classification Security Officer, GS-0080-09, F8143100.
 
    Issued, Washington, D.C., April 6, 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(.)
 
 
    /3/ Fire Department, 4392d Aerospace Support Group, Vandenberg Air
 Force Base, California, 9 FLRA No. 120(1982).
 
 
    /4/ Therefore, it is unnecessary to pass upon the Activity's
 additional assertion that the above incumbents should also be excluded
 from the unit on the basis that they are management officials.
 
 
    /5/ See The Division of Military and Naval Affairs Public Security
 Building State Campus, Albany, New York 12226 National Guard Bureau, 13
 FLRA No. 42(1983).
 
 
    /6/ Section 7103(a)(11) of the Statute defines a "management
 official" as:
 
          . . . an individual employed by an agency in a position the
       duties and responsibilities of which require or authorize the
       individual to formulate, determine, or influence the policies of
       the
 
 agency . . .