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57 FLRA No. 109
Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Lake Mead National Recreation Area Boulder City, Nevada and Fraternal Order of Police, First Federal Lodge 1-f , Case No. SF-RP-00052 (Decided November 6, 2001)
The Authority concluded that the Petitioner did not demonstrate that review of the RD's Decision was warranted. The Authority noted that 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. A proposed unit must meet all three appropriate unit criteria in order to be found appropriate. Moreover, the Authority does not specify the weight of individual factors to be considered in making appropriate unit determinations. However, the Authority noted that a proposed unit need not be the most appropriate or only appropriate unit in order to nonetheless be an appropriate unit. For a petitioned-for bargaining unit to be appropriate, the employees at issue must have significant employment concerns or personnel issues that are different or unique from those of other employees.
The Authority found that nothing in the RD's decision supported the Petitioner's assertion that the RD applied a "most appropriate unit" standard. Rather, the RD cited proper Authority precedent and accurately applied the above precedent in determining that the proposed unit of protection rangers, while having some unique employment conditions, was integrated both functionally and physically with the other employees of Lake Mead. The Authority denied the Union's application for review after concluding that the RD did not err in his community of interest analysis, and because all three criteria for determining whether a unit is appropriate under § 7112(a) must be met.