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59 FLRA No. 97
U. S. Dept. of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Fort Lee, Virginia and NAGE Local R4-27 (Youngblood, Arbitrator) 0-AR-3708 (Decided January 5, 2004)
The Arbitrator sustained a grievance alleging that the Agency violated the selection procedure in the collective bargaining agreement. The Arbitrator initially ordered the Agency to recreate the selection process and to give each candidate full and fair consideration for advancement. In a supplemental award, based on a motion for clarification filed jointly by the parties, the Arbitrator stated that when recreating the selection process, the Agency could consider any of the factors in the collective bargaining agreement, but must consider grade, time in grade and seniority.
The Authority concluded that the exceptions could not be resolved without additional clarification and remanded the case to the parties for re-submission to the Arbitrator, absent settlement, to determine the requirements placed on the Agency in the supplemental award. The Authority noted that it was not clear whether the Arbitrator mandated consideration or selection and the Authority is thus unable to analyze the exceptions. In that regard, if the award was intended to require selection, the award would affect management's right to select and would be analyzed under a different framework than if it intended to require consideration.