17:0183(28)CU - Army Missile Command; Army Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Support Group, Redstone Arsenal, AL and AFGE Local 1858; Army Missile Command, Army Communications Command Agency - Redstone Arsenal, AL, Army Commissary, Army Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Support Group, Redstone Arsenal, AL -- 1985 FLRAdec RP

 17 FLRA No. 28
 
 U.S. ARMY MISSILE COMMAND; U.S. ARMY
 TEST, MEASUREMENT AND DIAGNOSTIC
 EQUIPMENT SUPPORT GROUP,
 REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA
 Activity/Petitioner
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1858, AFL-CIO
 Labor Organization
 
                                            Case No. 4-CU-30013
 
 U.S. ARMY MISSILE COMMAND; U.S. ARMY
 COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND AGENCY -
 REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA; U.S. ARMY
 COMMISSARY; U.S. ARMY TEST, MEASUREMENT
 AND DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT SUPPORT GROUP,
 REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA
 Activity/Petitioner
 
 and
 
 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
 EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1858, AFL-CIO
 Labor Organization
 
                                            Case No. 4-CU-30014
 
      DECISION AND ORDER AMENDING CERTIFICATIONS AND CLARIFYING
 UNITS
 
    Upon petitions 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
 contentions of the parties, the Authority finds:
 
    On May 8, 1967, the American Federation of Government Employees,
 Local 1858, AFL-CIO (Local 1858) was recognized as the exclusive
 representative for a unit of all nonprofessional employees of the United
 States Army Missile Command (MICOM).  This recognition was amended on
 June 26, 1975, to add the name of the U.S. Army Communications Command
 (USACOM) Agency - Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (herein MICOM/USACOM).  On
 September 28, 1976, Local 1858 was certified as the exclusive
 representative for a unit of all professional employees of MICOM.  /1/
 On May 6, 1983, Local 1858 was certified as the exclusive representative
 for a unit of all professional and nonprofessional employees of the
 Patriot Project Office, Air Defense Missile System (herein Patriot
 Project Office).
 
    In Case No. 4-CU-30013, the Petitioner seeks, first, to amend the
 Activity's name in the MICOM unit of professional employees by adding
 USATMDE, in order to reflect partly what has always been true, and to
 reflect changes that have taken place by reorganization.  In Case No.
 4-CU-30014, the Petitioner seeks to amend the name of the MICOM/USACOM
 unit of nonprofessional employees by adding the U.S. Army Commissary
 (herein Commissary) and USATMDE, in order to reflect changes that have
 taken place by reorganization.  Local 1858 does not object to the
 amendments of the names of the Activities, as requested by the
 Petitioner.
 
    Due to an organizational restructuring, on February 1, 1976, the
 Commissary, formerly under MICOM Command, became an element of the U.S.
 Army Troop Support Agency.  In a reorganization on July 11, 1982, the
 USATMDE was transferred from the MICOM Command to the U.S. Army Materiel
 Development and Readiness Command (DARCOM).  Prior to these
 reorganizations, the professional employees of the USATMDE were members
 of the MICOM professional unit, and the nonprofessional employees of the
 Commissary and the USATMDE were members of the MICOM/USACOM
 nonprofessional unit.  The reorganizations did not change the existing
 bargaining relationships for the professional or nonprofessional USATMDE
 employees or the nonprofessional Commissary employees.  The Commanders
 of the Commissary and the USATMDE have remained signatories to the MICOM
 professional, and the MICOM/USACOM nonprofessional, collective
 bargaining agreements.
 
    In view of these facts, noting that the changes requested are in
 order to reflect what is now an accurate identification of the
 Activities in both of these bargaining units, and that the Union does
 not object thereto, the requests are hereby granted.  Accordingly, the
 Authority shall order that the certification of the MICOM professional
 unit be amended to include the name USATMDE, and that the certification
 of the MICOM/USACOM nonprofessional unit be amended to include the names
 of the USATMDE and the Commissary.
 
    In Case No. 4-CU-30013, the Petitioner, in addition to the name
 change granted above, seeks to clarify the MICOM professional unit to
 reflect the accretion of the professional employees of the Patriot
 Project Office, who have been part of Local 1858's certified mixed unit
 of professional and nonprofessional employees, into the MICOM
 professional unit.  In Case No. 4-CU-30014, the Petitioner, in addition
 to the name change granted above, seeks to clarify the MICOM/USACOM
 nonprofessional unit to reflect the accretion of the nonprofessional
 employees of the Patriot Project Office, who have been part of Local
 1858's certified mixed unit of professional and nonprofessional
 employees, into the MICOM/USACOM nonprofessional unit.  Local 1858
 opposes these requested changes, arguing only that, as the professional
 employees voted for inclusion with the nonprofessional employees, the
 Patriot Project Office mixed unit should remain intact.
 
    As noted above, Local 1858 was certified on May 6, 1983, as the
 exclusive bargaining representative of all professional and
 nonprofessional employees of the Patriot Project Office.  On June 20,
 1983, the Patriot Project Office was transferred from DARCOM to MICOM.
 No collective bargaining agreement had yet been negotiated when this
 reorganization took place.  As a result of the transfer, the MICOM
 personnel office, on July 26, 1983, informed Local 1858 that it would
 consider the provisions of the MICOM professional unit's collective
 bargaining agreement applicable thereafter to the professional employees
 of the Patriot Project Office, and the provisions of the MICOM/USACOM
 nonprofessional unit's collective bargaining agreement applicable
 thereafter to the nonprofessional employees of the Patriot Project
 Office.
 
    Prior to the transfer to MICOM, Patriot Project Office personnel
 records were maintained at the MICOM personnel office and the MICOM
 personnel office furnished all personnel support and services for the
 Patriot Project Office pursuant to a service agreement with the Patriot
 Project Office Commander.  Eligibility for vacancies in the Patriot
 Project Office were MICOM-wide.  The record also shows that the
 employees in the Patriot Project Office and the other MICOM project
 offices had and continue to share similar job classifications, duties
 and skills.  There was no physical movement of employees, or changes in
 job classifications or duties, in any of the offices as a result of the
 transfer of the Patriot Project Office's function to MICOM.  So far as
 the record shows, there has been only one grievance filed by an employee
 of the Patriot Project Office since the transfer;  it was filed and
 processed under the MICOM professional agreement, without objection from
 Local 1858.
 
    The Authority notes particularly that the professional employees of
 the Patriot Project Office share similar job classifications, duties and
 skills with the professional employees in the MICOM unit;  likewise, the
 nonprofessional employees in the Patriot Project Office share similar
 job classifications, duties and skills with the nonprofessional
 employees in the MICOM/USACOM unit.  The Authority also notes that
 eligibility for job vacancies among the professional or nonprofessional
 employees, respectively, have been and continue to be MICOM-wide;  that
 personnel services are uniformly shared;  and that the only reason for
 the separation of the Patriot Project Office employees from the MICOM
 bargaining units prior to reorganization would appear to have been that
 such employees were under separate DARCOM Command.  Furthermore, the
 Authority notes that Local 1858 has been and continues to be the
 exclusive representative of all employees involved.  In view of the
 above, the Authority shall grant the requested clarification of the
 MICOM unit of professional employees to include the professional
 employees in the Patriot Project Office, and the Authority shall also
 grant the requested clarification of the MICOM/USACOM unit of
 nonprofessional employees to include the nonprofessional employees in
 the Patriot Project Office, as all such employees share respective
 communities of interest, and as such units, as clarified, will promote
 effective dealings and efficiency of agency operations.  Department of
 the Navy, Naval Hospital, Submarine Base Bangor Clinic, Bremerton,
 Washington, 15 FLRA No. 23 (1984).
 
    Accordingly, the Authority shall order that the MICOM professional
 unit be clarified by including the professional employees of the Patriot
 Project Office, and that the MICOM/USACOM nonprofessional unit be
 clarified by including the nonprofessional employees of the Patriot
 Project Office.
 
                                   ORDER
 
    IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, in Case No. 4-CU-30013, that the unit of all
 professional employees of the U.S. Army Missile Command, located in
 Huntsville, Alabama, for which the American Federation of Government
 Employees, Local 1858, AFL-CIO, was certified as the exclusive
 bargaining representative on September 28, 1976, be, and it hereby is,
 clarified to include in said unit all eligible professional employees of
 the Patriot Project Office previously under the U.S. Army Materiel
 Development and Readiness Command, and who are now under the U.S. Army
 Missile Command.
 
    IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDERED, in Case No. 4-CU-30013, that the
 certification of the bargaining unit of all professional employees be,
 and it hereby is, amended to reflect the change of the Activity's name
 from U.S. Army Missile Command to U.S. Army Missile Command;  U.S. Army
 Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Support Group, Redstone
 Arsenal, Alabama.
 
    IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, in Case No. 4-CU-30014, that the unit of all
 nonprofessional employees of the U.S. Army Missile Command, located in
 Huntsville, Alabama, for which the American Federation of Government
 Employees, Local 1858, AFL-CIO, was recognized as the exclusive
 bargaining representative on May 8, 1967, as amended on June 27, 1975,
 to include the U.S. Army Communications Command Agency - Redstone
 Arsenal, Alabama, be, and it hereby is, clarified to include in said
 unit all eligible nonprofessional employees of the Patriot Project
 Office previously under the U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness
 Command, and who are now under the U.S. Army Missile Command.
 
    IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDERED, in Case No. 4-CU-30014, that the
 certification of the bargaining unit of all nonprofessional employees
 be, and it hereby is, amended to reflect the change of the Activity's
 name from U.S. Army Missile Command, U.S. Army Communications Command
 Agency Redstone Arsenal, Alabama to U.S. Army Missile Command;  U.S.
 Army Communications Command Agency - Redstone Arsenal, Alabama;  U.S.
 Army Commissary;  U.S. Army Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment
 Support Group, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.  Issued, Washington, D.C.,
 March 11, 1985
                                       Henry B. Frazier III, Acting
                                       Chairman
                                       William J. McGinnis, Jr., Member
                                       FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------
 
 
    /1/ The parties are in agreement that this unit included all
 professional employees of the U.S. Army Test, Measurement and Diagnostic
 Equipment Support Group (USATMDE), although USATMDE does not appear by
 name in the certification.