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56 FLRA No. 118
U.S. Department of The Air Force Air Force Materiel Command Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and International Association of Firefighters Local F-88, Case No. CH-CA-70577 (Decided September 26, 2000)
This unfair labor practice case was filed by the Respondent to the decision of the Administrative Law Judge on remand by the Authority in U.S. Department of the Air Force, Air Force Material Command Wright-Patterson, Air Force Base, Ohio and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local F-88, 55 FLRA 968 (1999). The Judge concluded that the Respondent violated section 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute when it terminated the practice of permitting employees to smoke inside the fire stations at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base without affording the Union an opportunity to negotiate.
The Authority adopted the Judge's findings and conclusion that the Respondent violated section 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute by unilateral terminating the practice of smoking inside the Respondent's fire stations without affording the Union an opportunity to negotiate the change. However, the Authority modified the Judge's recommended order.
The Authority noted that the refusal to bargain occurred at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and there was no indication that any official other than at the installation level was in any way responsible for the violation. The Authority further noted that the General Counsel requested that the notice be signed by the Base Commander and the Judge did not provide any reason why he disregarded this request and, instead, ordered that the notice be signed by the Commander, Air Force Material Command. Thus, the Authority granted the Agency's request that the proposed order be modified to provide that the notice be signed by the Base Commander, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.