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33 FLRA No. 98

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

LOCAL 341

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WAPATO IRRIGATION PROJECT AND THE YAKIMA AGENCY

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

0-NG-1585

 

ORDER

This matter is before the Authority pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 7105(a)(2)(E) on a petition for review of a negotiability issue filed by the Union. The Union has failed to provide a written allegation of nonnegotiability from the Agency. Therefore, the petition must be dismissed.

The record indicates that during the course of wage negotiations the Union submitted its proposal to the Agency. The Union claims that the Agency orally declared the Union's proposal nonnegotiable, but did not respond to the Union's written request for a written allegation of nonnegotiability. The Union then filed its petition for review with the Authority without a written allegation of nonnegotiability.

On October 7, 1988, the Authority issued an Order informing the Union of the deficiency in its petition for review and directed the Union to cure the deficiency. The Union responded by letters dated October 13 and 21, 1988.

In its submissions, the Union submits a copy of the August 8, 1988, handwritten note requesting a negotiability determination on its proposal. The Union fails to indicate whether further attempts were made to obtain a written allegation of nonnegotiability pursuant to the Authority's Order of October 7, 1988. Since the handwritten note submitted by the Union does not contain an addressee, it cannot be considered admissible.

The Authority has previously held an allegation of nonnegotiability to be a prerequisite for the Authority's review of a negotiability issue. See American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2910 and Library of Congress, 11 FLRA 632 n.1 (1983). Thus, the conditions governing review of a negotiability issue include a requirement that there be an "alleg[ation] that the duty to bargain in good faith does not extend to the matter proposed to be bargained."

In absence of any further documentation by the Union of the Agency's failure to provide a written allegation of nonnegotiability, we conclude that the Union's petition for review was prematurely filed and does not meet the conditions for review set forth in 5 U.S.C. § 7117 and 5 C.F.R. § 2424.1. Accordingly, the Union's petition for review is dismissed.

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C.,

___________________________
Clyde B. Blandford, Jr.
Acting Executive Director

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FOOTNOTES:
(If blank, the decision does not have footnotes.)
 

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