14:0709(95)NG - FUSE, NAGE, Local R-144 and Navy -- 1984 FLRAdec NG

 14 FLRA No. 95
 
 FEDERAL UNION OF SCIENTISTS AND
 ENGINEERS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, LOCAL R1-144
 Union
 
 and
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
 Agency
 
                                            Case No. O-NG-690
 
                 DECISION AND ORDER ON NEGOTIABILITY ISSUE
 
    The petition for review in this case comes before the Authority
 pursuant to section 7105(a)(2)(E) of the Federal Service
 Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), and raises an issue
 concerning the negotiability of the following Union proposal.
 
          Does the Union . . . have the right to negotiate for a member
       seat on the Commercial Activities (CA), formerly known as the
       CITA, steering committee.
 
    The Union describes the functions of the Commercial Activities
 steering committee as follows:  /1/
 
          (a) the committee makes decisions on hiring procedures or
       practices in the functions that are studied for transfer during
       the study period prior to letting of the contract.  (b) the
       committee decides on the content or extent of the contract, i.e.,
       whether to contract out all the functions being studied under one
       contract versus a number of individual contracts for each function
       . . . .  (c) guidelines are set by this committee on meetings with
       employees in the unit over the definition of work to be performed
       and specified in order to write contract specifications.
 
    The Agency is in essential agreement with this description "except
 that the decisions referred to by the union are recommendations, not
 final decisions which would be implemented without consideration of
 matters such as any relationship to the negotiated agreement or the
 obligation to bargain." /2/
 
    Thus, the committee on which the Union seeks membership is concerned
 with overseeing, or "steering," studies to determine the feasibility of
 contracting out Agency functions.  The right "to make determinations
 with respect to contracting out" is reserved to management by section
 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute.  With regard to this specific right, the
 Authority stated, in National Federation of Federal Employees, Local
 1167 and Department of the Air Force, 31st Combat Support Group (TAC),
 Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, 6 FLRA 574, 578, affirmed sub nom.
 National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1167 v. Federal labor
 relations authority, 681 f.2d 886 (D.C. CIR. 1982), ". . . the right of
 management officials under section 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute to make
 determinations with respect to contracting out encompasses not only the
 right to act in this regard but also the right to discuss and deliberate
 concerning the relevant factors upon which such a determination will be
 made." Further, concerning the management rights enumerated in section
 7106, in National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1431 and
 Veterans Administration Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey, 9 FLRA
 998, 999, the Authority stated:  "(W)hen management establishes formal
 organizational structures to undertake such deliberations as an integral
 part of its substantive decision-making process, a proposal which would
 require union participation would have the effect of directly
 interfering with management's statutory right to make the decisions
 involved." Since, by means of the instant proposal, the Union seeks to
 gain a seat on a committee established by management to make
 recommendations on actions which management might take pursuant to its
 right to contract out, the proposal is inconsistent with section
 7106(a)(2)(B) of the Statute and is not within the duty to bargain.
 
    Accordingly, pursuant to section 2424.10 of the Authority's Rules and
 Regulations, IT IS ORDERED that the Union's petition for review be, and
 hereby is, dismissed.  Issued, Washington, D.C., May 24, 1984
                                       Barbara J. Mahone, Chairman
                                       Ronald W. Haughton, Member
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ Union Petition for Review at 1-2.
 
 
    /2/ Agency Statement of Position at 1.