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59 FLRA No. 131
U. S. Dept. of Homeland Security, Border and Transportation, Security Directorate Bureau of Customs and Border Protection Washington, D.C. and NTEU Case No. WA-CA-02-0189
The Judge concluded that the Respondent did not violate § 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute by implementing a change in its in-stream boarding policy without giving the Union prior notice and an opportunity to bargain over the impact and implementation of the change. The Judge stated that where, as here, an agency's change in a condition of employment involves the exercise of a management right under § 7106 of the Statute, the agency has a statutory obligation to bargain concerning the impact and implementation of the change only if the effect, or the reasonably foreseeable effect, of the change on bargaining unit employees' conditions of employment is more than de minimis. The Judge determined that the effect, or the reasonably foreseeable effect, of the Respondent's change on bargaining unit employees' conditions of employment was de minimis. Accordingly, he concluded that the Respondent had no obligation to bargain over the impact and implementation of its change, and he dismissed the complaint.
Upon considering the entire record, the Authority adopted the Judge's findings, conclusions and recommended order. In so ruling, the Authority found that in concluding that the impact of the change on conditions of employment was de minimis, the Judge examined both the actual and the reasonably foreseeable effects of the change. The Judge's conclusion in this regard was supported by the record as a whole, and nothing in the GC's exception established that the Judge erred in applying the applicable legal principles to the facts of this case.