United States of America

BEFORE THE FEDERAL SERVICE IMPASSES PANEL

 

In the Matter of DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE PLANT PROTECTION AND QUARANTINE DETROIT, MICHIGAN
and LOCAL 20, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AGRICULTURE EMPLOYEES	Case No. 97 FSIP 72

 

DECISION AND ORDER

    Local 20, National Association of Agriculture Employees (Union) filed a request for assistance with the Federal Service Impasses Panel (Panel) to consider a negotiation impasse under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (Statute), 5 U.S.C. § 7119, between it and the Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Detroit, Michigan (Employer).

    After investigation of the request for assistance, which concerns the basic workweek, the Panel directed the parties to participate in an informal conference with a Panel representative for the purpose of resolving the outstanding issues. The parties were advised that if no settlement were reached, the representative would report to the Panel on the status of the dispute, including the parties’ final offers and his recommendations for resolving the impasse. After considering this information, the Panel would take whatever action it deemed appropriate to resolve the impasse, including the issuance of a binding decision.

    Pursuant to this procedural determination, Panel Representative (Staff Attorney) Harry E. Jones met with the parties on July 8, 1997, at Metro Airport in Detroit, Michigan. At the close of the proceeding, the parties remained deadlocked over the time period for implementing a Monday through Saturday workweek. Mr. Jones has reported to the Panel, and it has now considered the entire record.

BACKGROUND

    The Employer’s mission is to prevent the introduction of foreign plant and animal pests into the United States. To accomplish this mission, Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) officers and technicians inspect arriving international aircraft, passenger baggage, and cargo at Detroit Metro Airport; at other locations, they also conduct inspections of cargo arriving by ship, rail, and private vehicle. The Union represents 15 employees at the local level -- 12 PPQ officers (GS-7/9/11) and 3 technicians (GS-4/5) -- who are part of a nationwide bargaining unit represented by the National Association of Agriculture Employees (NAAE). The parties are governed by the terms of the master agreement between PPQ and NAAE, which is currently being renegotiated; the prior contract remains in effect at the present time.

    The Detroit operation is based at Metro Airport, which is the only duty station affected by this dispute; with the exception of two slots, all of the rotational assignments are located there.⁽¹⁾ Metro Airport is a general aviation airport, which means that there are no restrictions on landing times; in essence, it is a round-the-clock operation. Currently, the basic workweek is Monday through Friday; Saturday and Sunday are regularly scheduled overtime days, and hours worked on those days are paid at premium rates.⁽²⁾ This dispute arose when the Employer proposed that the basic workweek be changed to Monday through Saturday, which would result in scheduled Saturday hours being paid at straight time.

ISSUE

    The sole issue in dispute is the time period for implementing a Monday through Saturday workweek.

POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES

1. The Employer’s Position

    The Employer’s proposal is as follows:

Implementation immediately for the following staffing pattern: Officers: One working Monday through Saturday tour of duty; three continuing a Saturday overtime tour of duty. Technicians: One working a Monday through Saturday tour of duty; one working a Saturday overtime tour of duty. At regular intervals of 26 weeks, to be completed in 104 weeks, Monday through Saturday additional tours of duty will be implemented. The final conversion from an overtime tour to a Monday through Saturday regular work tour will be a technician’s shift. When relief is required on Saturday, overtime compensation will be paid. Overtime will be scheduled at the Canadian border location in Detroit on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays for a 4-hour period.

This proposal would phase in a Monday through Saturday workweek over a 2-year period by converting one scheduled Saturday overtime tour of duty to straight time every 26 weeks; upon full implementation, the plan would result in an annual reduction in overtime costs of approximately $60,000. By taking a gradual approach, employees would have adequate time to adjust to the resulting reduction in overtime pay. Moreover, any loss in pay would be offset somewhat by additional weekend and holiday overtime at the Canadian border. Since Saturday work is predictable and regularly occurring, it is more appropriate to extend the basic workweek rather than pay overtime on a recurring basis; this would be consistent with the practices of PPQ operations at most U.S. airports as well as those of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and Customs Service operations at Metro Airport. A Monday through Saturday workweek should give employees more regularly scheduled days off and would allow them to be scheduled in accordance with existing work requirements, thereby avoiding "overstaffing" on Monday through Friday. In addition, the provision requiring the payment of overtime for employees who are called in on Saturday is fair, as those hours are unscheduled and, therefore, involve a disruption to employees’ personal lives. Overall, this proposal is consistent with the Agency’s goal of reducing overtime costs and broader principles of "good government."

    The Union’s proposal, on the other hand, is unacceptable, as it fails to recognize that scheduled Saturday overtime can no longer be justified now that staffing has been increased. In this regard, the Agency’s overtime practices are currently being reviewed by the General Accounting Office and have, on prior occasions, been criticized by the Office of Management and Budget. The Union’s attempt to link the implementation of a Monday through Saturday schedule to the opening of the new international terminal would create uncertainty, as project delays may cause it not to be completed on schedule. Finally, the Union’s proposal may be contrary to an Office of Personnel Management regulation which requires the agency head to "schedule the work of his or her employees to accomplish the mission of the agency."⁽³⁾

2. The Union’s Position

    The Union’s proposal is to "maintain a Monday through Friday workweek until the new international terminal is completed. Implement a Monday through Saturday workweek when the new terminal is opened." This would provide a fair trade-off, as it would link the implementation of the Monday through Saturday schedule, and the resulting reduction in overtime pay, to a benefit for employees. In this regard, the opening of the new international terminal is likely to require additional PPQ staffing; with a larger pool of employees, management should be able to develop a rotational schedule which allows employees consecutive days off on a more frequent basis. In addition, allowing employees 3½ years to plan for the change is fair, since a Monday through Saturday workweek will result in an annual loss in pay to each employee of approximately $5,000. Finally, continuing the Monday through Friday workweek for the time being is consistent with the practice of similarly-sized PPQ operations at other airports.

    The Employer’s proposal should not be adopted, since there has been no demonstrated need for immediate implementation. In this regard, scheduled overtime has been included in the Employer’s budget request for FY 1998, and it expects to be "straightlined" for the next fiscal year. Moreover, reducing employees’ pay with no offsetting benefit is likely to have a devastating impact on morale. Overall, the Employer’s proposal is too one-sided, as it fails to address the underlying concern involving consecutive days off.

CONCLUSIONS

    Having reviewed the record in this case, in our view a modified version of the Employer’s proposal should serve as the basis for resolving the parties’ dispute. In this regard, we agree, in principle, with the idea of phasing in a Monday through Saturday workweek, as this should allow employees to adapt gradually to resulting reductions in pay. In determining the time frame for implementing the Monday through Saturday workweek, however, we believe a somewhat longer period of adjustment is appropriate. This conclusion was reached after carefully weighing employees’ concerns over the adverse effects of losing approximately $5,000 per year in overtime pay against the Employer’s legitimate need to control overtime costs. Accordingly, we shall order that a 3-year phase-in period be implemented. Finally, because the other portions of the Employer’s proposal also should help to mitigate the effects of the change, they too shall be ordered adopted by the parties.

ORDER

    Pursuant to the authority vested in it by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, 5 U.S.C. § 7119, and because of the failure of the parties to resolve their dispute during the course of proceedings instituted under the Panel’s regulations, 5 C.F.R. § 2471.6(a)(2), the Federal Service Impasses Panel under § 2471.11(a) of its regulations hereby orders adoption of the following:

Implementation immediately for the following staffing pattern: Officers: One working Monday through Saturday tour of duty; three continuing a Saturday overtime tour of duty. Technicians: One working a Monday through Saturday tour of duty; one working a Saturday overtime tour of duty. At regular intervals of 39 weeks, to be completed in 156 weeks, Monday through Saturday additional tours of duty will be implemented. The final conversion from an overtime tour to a Monday through Saturday regular work tour will be a technician’s shift. When relief is required on Saturday, overtime compensation will be paid. Overtime will be scheduled at the Canadian border location in Detroit on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays for a 4-hour period.

 

By direction of the Panel.

H. Joseph Schimansky

Executive Director

July 29, 1997

Washington, D.C.

 

1.The other two assignments are at the Canadian border and the maritime port. One PPQ officer is stationed at each of those locations.

2.On average, PPQ officers earn approximately $35,000 per year in overtime. This includes Saturday overtime, which is paid at time and one-half; Sunday overtime, which is regularly scheduled double time in accordance with agency directives; and irregular overtime, which occurs when an employee is called in to work unscheduled hours.

3.See 5 C.F.R. § 610.121(b) (1997). At the informal conference, the Employer also mentioned that the Union’s original proposal, which would have required the Employer to maintain the status quo, had been rejected in accordance with the provisions of 5 C.F.R. § 610.121(a). That section of the regulations requires agency heads to establish a Monday through Friday workweek except upon a determination that the agency would be “seriously handicapped in carrying out its functions or that costs would be substantially increased.” The Employer had suggested that because it had been determined that a Monday through Friday workweek would have such an effect, the Employer would be within its rights in deviating from that schedule.