16:0271(38)RO - Army Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir and Local 16, Federal Firefighters Association and Local 1052, AFGE -- 1984 FLRAdec RP

 16 FLRA No. 38
 
 U.S. ARMY ENGINEER CENTER
 AND FORT BELVOIR
 Activity
 
 and
 
 LOCAL 16, FEDERAL FIREFIGHTERS
 ASSOCIATION
 Petitioner /1/
 
 and
 
 LOCAL 1052, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
 Intervenor
 
                                            Case No. 3-RO-30021
 
                            DECISION AND ORDER
 
    Upon a petition duly filed by the Authority under section 711 of the
 Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute), a
 hearing was held before a hearing officer of the Authority.  The
 Authority has reviewed the hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
 and finds that they are free from prejudicial error.  They are hereby
 affirmed.
 
    Upon careful consideration of the entire record, including the
 parties' contentions, the Authority finds:  Local 16, Federal
 Firefighters Association (Petitioner) seeks to represent a unit of all
 General Schedule fire prevention and protection employees employed by
 the employer at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.  Since November 1968, these
 employees have been part of a unit represented by Local 1052, American
 Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).  /2/ The Activity and AFGE
 contend that granting the petition would result in unnecessary
 fragmentation of an existing unit and would not ensure a clear and
 identifiable community of interest or promote effective dealings or
 efficiency of agency operations.
 
    In International Communication Agency, 5 FLRA 97 (1981), the
 Authority stated that when deciding a question concerning severance,
 such as that involved herein, it must apply the three criteria set forth
 in section 7112(a)(1) of the Statute for determining the appropriateness
 of any unit.  Thus, in resolving the instant case, the Authority must
 determine whether the unit sought by the Petitioner will ensure a clear
 and identifiable community of interest among employees and will promote
 effective dealings with, and efficiency of the operations of, the
 Activity.
 
    The record establishes that the Activity-wide unit currently
 represented by AFGE is appropriate, as all of the Activity's employees,
 including the fire prevention and fire protection employees, share a
 community of interest at the Activity level and as such unit promotes
 effective dealings and efficiency of agency operations.  Thus, all of
 the Activity's employees share a common mission, are subject to the same
 merit promotion policies and competitive areas, and have been part of a
 long-standing, established bargaining unit.  Further, the weight of
 evidence does not demonstrate that fire prevention and fire protection
 employees have not been represented fairly or that their bargaining
 concerns have been overlooked by AFGE.  /3/ Finally, and in agreement
 with the Activity, it is concluded that effective dealings and
 efficiency of operations of the Activity will be promoted by avoiding
 unnecessary fragmentation.  Accordingly, the Authority concludes that
 the Petitioner's petition seeks an inappropriate unit and therefore must
 be dismissed.  /4/
 
                                   ORDER
 
    IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 3-RO-30021 be, and
 it hereby is, dismissed.  Issued, Washington, D.C., October 26, 1984
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
                                       Chairman
                                       Ronald W. Haughton, Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ The names of the Activity and Petitioner appear as amended at the
 hearing.
 
 
    /2/ Local 1052, AFGE was granted exclusive recognition for a unit
 containing the above mentioned firefighter employees on November 18,
 1968.
 
 
    /3/ AFGE and the Activity have negotiated a series of collective
 bargaining agreements dating back to 1972;  the collective bargaining
 agreement negotiated in 1978 was currently in effect at the time of the
 hearing.
 
 
    /4/ See U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Otis Air Force Base,
 Pocasset, Massachusetts, 10 FLRA 543 (1982) and Department of the Navy,
 Naval Air Station, Moffet Field, California, 8 FLRA 10 (1982).