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57 FLRA No. 26
U.S. Dept. of The Army, U.S. Army Reserve Command, Fort Mcpherson, GeorgiaAnd U.S. Dept. of The Army, First U.S. Army, Fort Gillem, Georgia and AFGE, AFL-CIO, LOCAL 1759, Case No. AT-RP-0030 (Decided April 27, 2001)
The RD found that eligible employees of the First Army, Fort Gillem, Georgia have accreted into the bargaining unit for which the Union is the exclusive representative. The RD ordered that the existing unit be clarified to include these First Army employees. The Authority granted the application for review on the ground that the RD failed to apply established law and remanded this matter to the RD.
The Authority explained that accretion involves the addition of a group of employees to an existing bargaining unit without an election based on a change in agency operations or organization. Because accretion precludes employee self-determination, the accretion doctrine is narrowly applied. The Authority noted that it recently reiterated the elements necessary to find accretion. Specifically, the Authority considers whether there has been a change in an agency's organization or operations affecting the appropriate unit criteria concerning an existing unit. If there is such a change, then the Authority evaluates whether the petitioned-for unit is appropriate under § 7112(a) of the Statute, including consideration of whether the employees have become organizationally and operationally integrated into the existing unit.
The Authority found that the RD failed to apply established law by not addressing whether a change had occurred. The RD did not address whether there has been any change in the Agency's organization or operations affecting the appropriate unit criteria concerning the existing unit.
The Authority also found that the RD failed to apply established law in determining that the unit was appropriate. In determining whether a petitioned-for unit is appropriate, the Authority considers whether the unit would: (1) ensure a clear and identifiable community of interest among the employees in the unit; (2) promote effective dealings with the agency; and (3) promote efficiency of the operations of the agency. 5 U.S.C. § 7112(a). A proposed unit must meet all three appropriate unit criteria in order to be found appropriate.
Here, the Authority found that by finding a community of interest based only on one factor, without considering the other relevant factors, the RD failed to apply established law. Additionally, the Authority found that the RD did not assess any of the other factors that should be analyzed to n determine whether the unit would promote effective dealings or efficiency.